amazing but facts

• The word "queue" is the only word in the English language that is still pronounced the same way when the last four letters are removed.
• Beetles taste like apples, wasps like pine nuts, and worms  like fried bacon.
• Of all the words in the English language, the word 'set' has the most definitions!
• What is called a "French kiss" in the English speaking world is known as an "English kiss" in France.
• "Almost" is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order.
• "Rhythm" is the longest English word without a vowel.
• In 1386, a pig in France was executed by public hanging for the murder of a child
• A cockroach can live several weeks with its head cut off!
• Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete.
• You can't kill yourself by holding your breath
• There is a city called Rome on every continent.
• It's against the law to have a pet dog in Iceland!
• Your heart beats over 100,000 times a day!
• Horatio Nelson, one of England's most illustrious admirals was throughout his life, never able to find a cure for his sea-sickness.
• The skeleton of Jeremy Bentham is present at all important meetings of the University of London
• Right handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people
• Your ribs move about 5 million times a year, everytime you breathe!
• The elephant is the only mammal  that can't jump!
• One quarter of the bones in your body, are in your feet!
• Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different!
• The first known transfusion of blood was performed as early as 1667, when Jean-Baptiste, transfused two pints of blood from a sheep to a young man
• Fingernails grow nearly 4 times faster than toenails!
• Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin!
• The present population of 5 billion plus people of the world is predicted to become 15 billion by 2080.
• Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
• Adolf Hitler was a vegetarian, and had only ONE testicle
• Honey is the only food that does not spoil. Honey found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs has been tasted by archaeologists and found edible.
• Months that begin on a Sunday will always have a "Friday the 13th."
• Coca-Cola would be green if colouring weren't added to it.
• On average a hedgehog's  heart beats 300 times a minute.
• More people are killed each year from bees than from snakes.
• The average lead pencil will draw a line 35 miles long or write approximately 50,000 English words.
• More people are allergic to cow's milk than any other food.
• Camels have three eyelids to protect themselves from blowing sand.
• The placement of a donkey's eyes in its' heads enables it to see all four feet at all times!
• The six official languages of the United Nations are: English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish.
• Earth is the only planet not named after a god.
• It's against the law to burp, or sneeze in a church in Nebraska, USA.
• You're born with 300 bones, but by the time you become an adult, you only have 206.
• Some worms will eat themselves if they can't find any food!
• Dolphins sleep with one eye open!
• It is impossible to sneeze with your eyes open
• The worlds oldest piece of chewing gum is 9000 years old!
• The longest recorded flight  of a chicken is 13 seconds
• Queen Elizabeth I regarded herself as a paragon of cleanliness. She declared that she bathed once every three months, whether she needed it or not
• Slugs have 4 noses.
• Owls are the only birds who can see the colour blue.
• A man named Charles Osborne had the hiccups for 69 years!
• A giraffe can clean its ears with its 21-inch tongue!
• The average person laughs 10 times a day!

Client Infographic: The Mobile Advantage

Nuance Communications has released a new infographic, The Mobile Advantage, sharing the results of their own mobile consumer preference research. Designed by InfoNewt, this infographic design tells the story of how important mobile apps are to brands.

If you’re a consumer-facing organization hoping to use mobile to build a strong, long-lasting relationship with your customers, there's some good news! A new survey shows that smartphone owners are increasingly downloading not just games but customer service apps - especially from their mobile carrier, bank and favorite retailers. In fact, 84% of consumers surveyed generally prefer to use a company's mobile app for routine inquiries (checking balance, check flight status, etc.) rather than calling the company on the phone.

As a B2B communication tool, this infographic does a great job sharing the key findings from the research statistics. Since Nuance performed the research behind how apps form positive customer service experiences for customers, the infographic is a good tool to share that unique knowledge with their customers.

Broken into a three-part story, the design starts with some basic information about the growth of mobile devices. The center section focuses on the huge impact on the customers’ view of a company when they have a customer service app. And finally, the last section explores what customers would like to see in a customer service app.

A History of Western Typefaces

We all love to poke fun at people for using Comic Sans in inappropriate places. But there is even more complexity to the usage and properness of various fonts. Did you know some guy in the 18th century claimed that a certain font would blind readers? I guess some people don’t mess around with typeface. In today’s world, font is very important in establishing an identity or brand, as is seen by the distinct fonts in Facebook and Google. Saving the environment even influences people’s font choice. The University of Wisconsin changed their standard font to save ink on prints.

Totally random story that I just thought of- A couple of weeks ago I finished a large group report of 30+ pages with words, figures, equations, etc. After submitting it, I decided to change the font to Webdings; it was the best laugh I’ve had in a very long time. Maybe it was the release of stress from finishing the report.

Anyhow, hope all the history buffs out there enjoy this infographic, there are some interesting little bits of info. There are definitely some potential Jeopardy questions in there. [Via]

Meet Tyson the terrifying swan

With the sun shining and the water calm, it seemed like the perfect day for messing about in his boat. But this hapless kayaker didn’t bank on Tyson – an enormous swan which stalks this pretty waterway.

The bird, standing 4ft tall with an 8ft wingspan, batters anyone who dares to venture near his nest. Locals say he has attacked at least three people in the past month.

His antics have meant that a two-mile stretch of the popular Grand Union Canal in Bugbrooke, Northamptonshire, is now a ‘no-go area’ for children and families.

Joe Davies feels the wrath of Tyson the swan on the Grand Union Canal in Bugbrooke, Northamptonshire