Useless Information Thread

[Whozjama]

On that note, Believe - Cher was the first song to use auto-tune. Though they didn't call it that.
I actually liked it! A lot! But then there's this anti-auto-tune sentiment which is understandable.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Orson Welles' last role was the voice of "Unicron" in the 1986 Transformers movie.

[Sleet]

On that note, Believe - Cher was the first song to use auto-tune. Though they didn't call it that.
I actually liked it! A lot! But then there's this anti-auto-tune sentiment which is understandable.

Not quite. It was the first song to "abuse" autotune. Autotune was originally created to fix a singer's pitch, and it's still used for that purpose today. But when singers like Cher (and, more contemporarily, T-Pain and friends) used it, they deliberately allowed their pitches to fluctuate beyond the range autotune corrects, giving the robotic staircase-shaped pitches you hear when you think of autotune.

[Punchy]

Diet Rite was the first ever diet soda. (1958. Tab - 1963. Diet Pepsi - 1964)

[Amazee Dayzee]

That may be true Sleet, but it did give T-Pain a lot of hits in his early days.

[Whozjama]

On that note, Believe - Cher was the first song to use auto-tune. Though they didn't call it that.
I actually liked it! A lot! But then there's this anti-auto-tune sentiment which is understandable.

Not quite. It was the first song to "abuse" autotune. Autotune was originally created to fix a singer's pitch, and it's still used for that purpose today. But when singers like Cher (and, more contemporarily, T-Pain and friends) used it, they deliberately allowed their pitches to fluctuate beyond the range autotune corrects, giving the robotic staircase-shaped pitches you hear when you think of autotune.

Would it be abuse if they made something people enjoyed though? What about, 'repurposed'.

[dtlux1]

The risk of human extinction before the year 2100 is at 19%

[GreatKitsune]

The Falkland Isles (population of about 2,000) has over 700,000 sheep (350 per person).

[Sleet]

On that note, Believe - Cher was the first song to use auto-tune. Though they didn't call it that.
I actually liked it! A lot! But then there's this anti-auto-tune sentiment which is understandable.

Not quite. It was the first song to "abuse" autotune. Autotune was originally created to fix a singer's pitch, and it's still used for that purpose today. But when singers like Cher (and, more contemporarily, T-Pain and friends) used it, they deliberately allowed their pitches to fluctuate beyond the range autotune corrects, giving the robotic staircase-shaped pitches you hear when you think of autotune.

Would it be abuse if they made something people enjoyed though? What about, 'repurposed'.

I put it in quotes. Heck, most music comes from "abusing" things intended for other purposes. The now-ubiquitous electric guitar sound comes from using amplifiers in an unintended fashion. They originally just existed to make the guitar louder (but still sound acoustic). Didn't exactly work, and we love it for that.

That doubles as an extra piece of useless information!

[Amazee Dayzee]

While you can buy mistletoe-scented air fresheners, candles and soap, real mistletoe has no discernible smell.

[Punchy]

In June 1947, boxer Sugar Ray Robinson backed out of a fight because he had a dream that he was going to kill his opponent in the ring. After a priest and a minister convinced him to fight, Robinson went into the ring and killed his opponent, Jimmy Doyle.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Tattoos have been around for a long time. Ancient Greeks used them to brand spies, Romans used them to mark slaves, M?ori used them as symbols of rank and lineage, and Ainu women were tattooed as a prerequisite for marriage and the afterlife.

[dtlux1]

I still have my hat and party blower from New Years sitting here next to me. My party hat is on top of the plunger that has also been sitting next to me since New Years.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Why do you have a plunger sitting next to you?

[Whozjama]

I would suppose having a plunger at hand and not needing it is many orders better than not having a plunger at hand and needing it.

[JeffCvt]

I suppose one must ask though: Wouldn't the plunger be more useful to have in the bathroom instead of next to the computer? While I'm sure there are many things one can do with a plunger at the computer, the important things it does are best left to the room for bathing in.

[Sleet]

"Fancy ketchup" actually refers to the density of the ketchup; it's about 4% denser than "standard ketchup."

[dtlux1]

My plunger has a name, I used to take it places (4th picture down).

And no Jeff, it is more useful next to my computer.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Care to explain what those important things are Jeff? *snickers*

[dtlux1]

It sits there holding my New Years hat, what could be more useful than that?

[Hlaoroo]

There is a Guinnes World Record for the fastest time for a dog to open a non-electric car window. The record is held by Striker from Quebec City and stands at 11.34 seconds.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Three men served as president of the U.S. in 1841: William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, and Martin Van Buren.

[Whozjama]

Canada means 'big village'.

[RandomGeekNamedBrent]

Three men served as president of the U.S. in 1841: William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, and Martin Van Buren.

well that's cause William Henry Harrison served for a month before dying from the pneumonia he caught at his inauguration

[Douglas Collier]

Canada means 'big village'.

I always thought the name was decided on by picking letters out of a hat:

C (eh?) N (eh?) D (eh?)

[dtlux1]

Pennsylvania means Penn's Woods. They couldn't decide weather to name it Penn or Sylvania, so they combined the names.

And that is exactly how Canada's name was chosen.

[Whozjama]

According to the history minisodes the government used to put on here in Canadia, they apparently got it wrong by assuming the land was called 'Canada' when what they meant was their place of dwelling. They didn't have google translate back then.

[Saturn381]

Coraline was originally going to be a musical with songs written by the band They Might Be Giants. The only song they made that made it in the film is the other father song.

[Amazee Dayzee]

There is a moral there people. Don’t give your inaugural address outside when its raining and cold out! Especially in the 19th century!

[GreatKitsune]

Not quite. It was the first song to "abuse" autotune. Autotune was originally created to fix a singer's pitch, and it's still used for that purpose today. But when singers like Cher (and, more contemporarily, T-Pain and friends) used it, they deliberately allowed their pitches to fluctuate beyond the range autotune corrects, giving the robotic staircase-shaped pitches you hear when you think of autotune.

Would it be abuse if they made something people enjoyed though? What about, 'repurposed'.

I put it in quotes. Heck, most music comes from "abusing" things intended for other purposes. The now-ubiquitous electric guitar sound comes from using amplifiers in an unintended fashion. They originally just existed to make the guitar louder (but still sound acoustic). Didn't exactly work, and we love it for that.

That doubles as an extra piece of useless information!

On that not, the first synthesizer was intended to mimic and eventually replace operatic voices in compositions.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Wilt Chamberlain was the only NBA center to lead the league in assists.

[Sleet]

On that not, the first synthesizer was intended to mimic and eventually replace operatic voices in compositions.

And the mellotron was originally advertised as if it could let you play fancy stuff without actually knowing how to play an instrument.

Which is actually a pretty terrible thing to advertise if you know how mellotrons work.

[ArcWolf]

Mellotrons were super clunky and very sensitive to humidity due to their magnetic strips which would play the recording of the instrument it was trying to mimic.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Former president Gerald Ford wasn't always gray-haired and paunchy — in his college days, he worked as a male model, and even appeared on the cover of Cosmopolitan.

[Sleet]

MIPS, the bunny from Super Mario 64, was originally only meant to be used for game testing, but the developers loved him so much they made sure he had a (much smaller) place in the final game.

[GreatKitsune]

Panama hats are made in Equador.

[Amazee Dayzee]

A gun with a silencer attached sounds about as loud as a car door being slammed. It’s much quieter than the usual “bang!” but it’s not as subtle as the little “whoosh” heard in James Bond films.

[Douglas Collier]

More than 60% of the world's population drives on the right side of the road.

[Saturn381]

In the original book that How to Train Your Dragon was based on, Toothless was a small dragon.

[Amazee Dayzee]

The word "sex" was mentioned once on an episode of The Brady Bunch. Which potty-mouth said it? Cousin Oliver, in one of the show's final episodes.