Yahoo! Answers

Hey Guys,

I can never remember how many liters are in a gallon or what 18 degrees Celsius means in Fahrenheit, but there is one conversion I never forget. The number of dog years in a human year.

The answer, of course, is seven, but how did that come to be? Is there a reason why we say a dog ages seven years for every “real” year?

Well, kind of. I covered this topic back in 2004 for Ask Yahoo!. Originally, the idea was to divide the average human life span by the average dog life span. A fine idea, but it’s often not very accurate in practice. First off all, as Snopes explains, most dogs reach adulthood by the time they are 18 months (even though they might not act like adults). Now, 18 months for a dog would be equal to about 10 or 11 years of age for a human. And, we all know a 10-year-old kid is about as far from an adult as you can get.

A conversion site on the Web suggests that a better formula might be to say a dog ages 10.5 years during each of his or her first two years of life. After that, the dog ages about four dog years for every human year. You can also go further by noting the differences between breeds, sizes, and general physical condition of the pooch.

And that’s the scoop on dog years. Got any questions you’d like me to answer in a future blog? Please leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading,

Mike

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

*Secret Revealed*

IBM’s first notebook computer went on sale in 1992. The name ThinkPad was borrowed from a notebook they already made — a paper notebook.

In the 1920s, IBM’s corporate slogan was “THINK!”

For inspiration, employees and customers were given paper notebooks with the word “THINK” embossed in the cover.

While on a coffee break, IBM researcher Denny Wainwright was inspired by the notepad and came up with the name for their notebook computer line, “ThinkPad.” In fact, the idea for the notebook computer was first conceptualized on the paper inside one of the brown leatherette notepads.

In 2005, IBM sold the ThinkPad brand for approximately $1.75 billion. While they’re not known for style, both IBM and Lenovo manufactured ThinkPads are renown for high quality and reliability.

Chad Upton is the editor-in-chief of Broken Secrets and an official Yahoo Answers contributor.

Photo: Chris Metcalf

Sources: Lenovo, ACL, Wikipedia (ThinkPad, Lenovo)

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Hey Guys,

One of the most popular questions on Yahoo! Answers is also one of the simplest: Where does the phrase “OK” come from? There are a slew of sites dedicated to the origin of this all-purpose term. Here, everything you need to know about the phrase few of us could live without.

According to legend, the term “OK” got its start as a campaign slogan for President Martin Van Buren. Nicknamed “Old Kinderhook” for his place of birth in New York, Van Buren unsuccessfully ran for re-election in 1840. His supporters were known as the “OK Club.” In the many years since, some have credited Van Buren (or his campaign team) with coming up with the phrase. But, with apologies to Old Kinderhook, that isn’t exactly true.

According to The Straight Dope, the phrase got its start decades earlier. Originally, “OK” stood for “Oll Korrect.” As Ask Yahoo! put it, “The phrase comes from a curious fad for ‘comical abbreviations’ that swept the country in the 1830s and 1840s.” Van Buren and his team certainly helped to make the phrase popular, but it was already in the lexicon before his campaign.

And while the phrase is only two letters, its popularity can’t be overestimated. According to Word Origins, the term is the most popular American phrase of all time. By the early 20th century, it was being spoken by people all around the world.

In the years since, the phrase has been extended (and shortened) in all sorts of bizarre ways. From the text message friendly “K” to the Ned Flanders version, “Okily-dokily.”

Thanks for reading,

Mike

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Hey Guys,

When driving, it’s important to keep an eye on your mirrors. As many have no doubt noticed, the mirror on the passenger side has a warning printed near the bottom: “Objects in mirror may be closer than they appear.” Why is that?

At first I thought it might be due to the driver’s position. Perhaps because the driver is further away from the passenger side mirror, the objects in the mirror don’t appear as close as they really are. Sounded plausible, but that’s not really the case.

According to the Straight Dope, the reason has to do with the way the mirrors are made. The mirror on the driver’s side is a simple flat mirror. However, the mirror on the passenger side is convex, meaning it bulges outwards.

This comes with positives and negatives. On the plus side, a convex mirror allows the driver to see a wider angle of what’s behind them. That helps with blind spots. But, as the mirror’s warning suggests, the objects in the mirror aren’t shown at an accurate distance.

So, that’s that. Now on to an even more pressing question. Got any theories as to why the gas tank is sometimes on the left hand side of the car and sometimes on the right? Is there any logic to this? Got a theory? Please leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading,

Mike

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Being a true human lie detector like Dr. Cal Lightman on “Lie to Me” has to be a pretty nifty party trick.

The Yahoo! Answers team wants to protect you against all those sneaky liars looking to deceive you. With this in mind, we’ve created a list with a number of tips that will help you identify day to day lies. We hope they’ll be useful!

Experts in deception know that:

> Truth tends to make sense: Words, body language and actions fit into each other nicely when someone’s telling the truth.

> There’s one emotion for every reaction: If an honest person likes your shoes, they will smile first and compliment them or vice versa. A “liar”, on the other hand, will do both at the same time and their reactions will last less than normal.

> When responding to a direct question, a liar will use the same words used by the person interrogating them. For example: “Did you break the vase?” “No, I did not break the vase”.

> Emotions are mirrored in our whole face: Someone who really smiles does so with eyes and brows, too. Liars smile just with their lips.

> Liars tend to touch different parts of their faces when they tell a lie. Nose scratching, lip-biting and head-scratching are some of the tell-tale signs of deceitful statements.

> A liar will take a little longer answering a question than a person who is telling the truth.

> When someone is guilty, they become aggressive when defending themselves. An innocent person will question the reasons they’re being blamed rather than become defensive.

> A liar will try to keep communication to a minimum when it comes to the person they’re lying to. If they must talk to this person, they will be visibly uncomfortable on most cases.

> Liars don’t emphasize different parts of their speech while someone who is telling the truth will accentuate the important bits of information in a story.

> Liars tend to speak more than necessary or change the subject immediately after lying.

> Some liars rub their eyes unconsciously to avoid eye contact with their listener.

> If a person shakes their head while making an affirmative comment, it’s likely that they’re lying.

> When lying, people place objects (glasses, pens, books) between them and the person being lied to.

> Someone who lies will make up excuses before they’re asked to give them.

To find more information on the subject, you can visit the following sites:

How to detect lies – http://www.blifaloo.com/info/lies.php

The truth about lying – http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/may/12/psychology-lying-microexpressions-paul-ekman

Thanks for reading,

Yahoo! Answers Latin America Team

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!