Chit-chat fodder

Years ago, I bought something from the US and I was randomly assigned a customs broker. This one time transaction unexpectedly resulted in a delightful monthly e-newsletter that brings me interesting tidbits about the world.

In anticipation of the weekend, and all those parties that you'll no doubt be attending, I'll list some of the most interesting facts I've gathered from the e-newsletter recently. By regurgitating this trivia, you'll either be the life of the party or the one everyone ignores - it all depends on the party.

Bubble Wrap was created in the 1950s by two men working in a New Jersey garage who thought they had created a new textured wallpaper.

A U.S study has found that people who live within a mile of a grocery store have a 26 per cent higher risk of being in an auto accident, and thus pay higher insurance rates, second only to those living within a mile of a restaurant who have a 30 per cent higher risk of being in a car crash. The study looked at over 15 million policyholders and 2 million claims mapping the closeness of the vehicle owners' addresses to various businesses.

A British supermarket is launching the ultimate life-enhancing snack, the musical sandwich. In a trial certain to be welcomed by the estimated one million Britons who eat their lunch at their desks each day, technology similar to that used in singing greeting cards will be used to sell musical sandwiches. Opening the top of the sandwich box will activate a tiny sound module that plays a selection of music.

A Tokyo company has announced that the first elevators controlled by magnetic levitation will be in operation as early as 2008. Using no cables, they will employ so-called maglev technology, capable of suspending objects in midair through the combination of magnetic attraction and repulsion to control the elevators. The maglev elevators will be quieter and more comfortable and will travel at 300 metre per minute, not as fast as conventional elevators which can
move up to 1010 metres a minute. This technology has already been used to develop high-speed trains

Experts forecast that 2006 will not be the year when India becomes the next big driver of commodities, pushing prices even higher. India's economy is still focused primarily on services rather than commodity-intensive manufacturing that is driving China's boom. India makes up only two per cent of the world's demand for copper, aluminum and nickel. By comparison, China consumes about 22 per cent of the world's copper, 23 per cent of its aluminum and 16 per cent of its nickel.

Today, the average American puts in 36 hours more than the Japanese (1,825 versus 1,789). The hardest workers are the South Koreans with 2,394 hours a year, followed by the Greeks, Poles, Turks and Czechs. The land of leisure is Norway whose average worker spends just 1,364 on the job.

Norway is planning to build a "doomsday vault" inside a mountain on an Arctic island to hold a seed bank of all known varieties of the world's crops. Located on Spitsbergen, it will be designed to withstand global catastrophes like nuclear war or natural disasters. that would destroy the planet's sources of food. There are currently about 1,400 seed banks around the world, but a large number are in countries that are either olitically unstable or face threats from the natural environment.

Finally: Most TVs, VCRs and other electronic devices remain in a standby mode when not in use, silently using up energy to the tune of 1,000 kilowatt hours a year per household. A computer left on can draw nearly as much power as an efficient refrigerator. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency claims that Americans spend more money to power DVD players when the machines are turned off than when they are actually in use. - Joe, are you listening?