November 27th, 2003 with .
Witness one of the earliest commercials for the Nintendo Entertainment System, predating the launch of the new console in 1985. As the announcer explains:
“Will you be the one to witness the birth of the incredible Nintendo Entertaiment System? The one to play with ROB, the extraordinary video robot. Batteries no included. He helps you tackle even the toughest challenge. Will you be the first to raise the incredibly accurate Zapper and play games like Duck Hunt, or action-packed Hogan’s Alley and high-flying Kung Fu? Each sold separately. Will you be the one to experience the Nintendo Entertainment System? Comes with ROB, Zapper, control deck, two controllers, Gyromite, and Duck Hunt.”
November 24th, 2003 with .
According to The Register “In a move that has surprised naïve observers, the US Patent Office has announced that from now on it will consider ‘serious’ applications to patent specific integer numbers.”
As far as I’m concerned this only means one thing; I own the number 101 because it’s the second half of my often used moniker on Instant Messenger. From now on anyone that uses this particular number integer will have to pay royalties in the form of $.50 for every instance used of said number. Failure to comply with this “patent” will result in an automatic court summonance (not optional by the way).
November 21st, 2003 with .
The question on everyone’s mind these days is whether or not Jell-O is made from animal hides and bones. Well, look no further because according to Snopes.com “Sometimes the most innocuous of foodstuffs contain constituents whose origins are less than appetizing.”
The specific article in mind sheds light on this pondering explaining that “underneath JELL-O’s jiggly wholesomeness lurks a secret many consumers are disconcerted to learn: JELL-O is made from gelatin, an animal product rendered from the hides and bones of animals.”
According to the article, creating gelatin begins with the process of boiling the skins, hides and bones of cows and pigs which secretes a protein rich collagen. This substance is then boiled and filtered numerous times and then ground into a fine powder and according to Government regulation the result is neither categorized as animal or meat.
The popular rumor is that Jell-O is made with the hooves of horses and cows, which according to parent company Kraft is a misconception considering the hooves do not contain the necessary ingredients for the collagen.
November 18th, 2003 with .
Today marks the 75th Birthday of Mickey Mouse, pop culture icon originally created by Walter Elias Disney in 1928. I can honestly say that Mickey Mouse for me was the personification of all that is, was and always will be Walt Disney. The character has symbolized the professionalism of Disney throughout the 75 years since Mickey was originally conceived by Mr. Disney himself.
According to http://www.geocities.com/disneysmouse:
“Mickey Mouse was born in Walt Disney’s imagination early in 1928 on a train ride from New York to Los Angeles. Walt was returning with his wife from a business meeting at which his cartoon creation, Oswald the Rabbit, had been wrestled from him by his financial backers. Only 26 at the time and with an active cartoon studio in Hollywood, Walt had gone east to arrange for a new contract and more money to improve the quality of his Oswald pictures. The moneymen declined, and since the character was copyrighted under their name, they took control of it. ”
. . . So I was all alone and had nothing,” Walt recalled later. “Mrs. Disney and I were coming back from New York on the train and I had to have something I could tell them. I’ve lost Oswald so, I had this mouse in the back of my head because a mouse is sort of a sympathetic character in spite of the fact that everybody’s frightened of a mouse including myself” Walt spent the return train ride conjuring up a little mouse in red velvet pants and named him “Mortimer,” but by the time the train screeched into the terminal station in Los Angeles, the new dream mouse had been rechristened. Walt’s wife, Lillian, thought the name “Mortimer” was too pompous and suggested “Mickey.” A star was born!”
