Monday 31 October 2016

Happy Halloween 2016!


A spooktacular Halloween for all T&L followers and readers. 
A special "witchy hug" for my friends, who made my best Halloween moments ever. 
This is Halloween... so let's go!!!

Monday 10 October 2016

How British and American Spelling Parted Ways

These days, when we want to know how to spell a word, we have an accepted authority to look to: the dictionary. But that wasn’t always the case. Here's how Brits and Americans came to look to two different authorities. Produced for Mental Floss.

Wednesday 5 October 2016

António Guterres set to be the next UN Secretary General

The former Portuguese Prime.Minister, António Guterres, is poised to become the next UN Secretary. A formal vote will take place in the UN Security Council tomorrow to confirm the choice of nominee.
Mr Guterres, 66 years old, was the "clear favourite", Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin announced this Wednesday.  Mr Guterres, who led the UN refugee agency for 10 years, will take over from Ban Ki-moon early next year.

Who is António Guterres? 
An engineer by trade, Mr Guterres first entered into politics in 1976 in Portugal's first democratic election after the "Carnation revolution" that ended five decades of dictatorship. He quickly rose in the ranks, becoming leader of the Socialist party in 1992 and was elected prime minister in 1995.
As head of the UNHCR refugee agency from 2005 to 2015, Mr Guterres led the agency through some of the world's worst refugee crises, including Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq.
During that time, he repeatedly appealed to Western states to do more to help refugees fleeing the conflicts.
Former Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva said earlier this year that Mr Guterres had "left a legacy" at the refugee agency "that means today he is a respected voice and all the world listens to him", according to the AFP news agency.

How is he appointed?
The 15-member Security Council cast secret ballots for each of the 10 candidates on Wednesday and none were found to oppose Mr Guterres.
They were asked to select from a choice of 'encourage', 'discourage' or 'no opinion' for each candidate, with the former Portuguese prime minister receiving 13 'encourage' votes and two 'no opinion' votes.
He beat nine other candidates, including EU budget commissioner Kristalina Georgieva from Bulgaria, to become the next UN chief.

Credits: BBC NEWS

World Teachers' Day

5 years without Steve Jobs

Credits: The Fire Wire Blog


Steve Jobs died five years ago, but it is impossible to forget his incredible genius. Without you, Steve, it's much more difficult to Stay hungry. Stay Foolish.
On October 5, 2011, Apple announced that co-founder Steve Jobs had died. He was 56 years old at the time.
We all know who Steve Jobs is.. The genius who revolutionized modern technology and the mastermind who emphasized style as much as function in our everyday digital devices.
However, there are a few facts about Steve Jobs that perhaps you don't know that would shock you. Let's learn a bit more about the real Steve Jobs with these 20 facts (slightly abridged), published by INC. 

1. Steve Jobs was adopted shortly after being born.

2. Jobs was, biologically, half Arab. His biological father was Syrian and his mother was American.

3. Jobs and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak met in high school – Wozniak was 18 and Jobs was just 13.

4. Jobs was a pescetarian, meaning he ate no meat except for fish.

5. He was an official college dropout, but continued his education by informally auditing classes.

6. One class Jobs audited was a calligraphy course, which he says was instrumental in the future Apple products' attention to typography and font.

7. There was actually a third founder of Apple – Ronald Wayne, who even designed Apple's first logo. Wayne sold his 10 percent stake just two weeks after partnering with Jobs and Wozniak for only $800.

8. Jobs was pushed out of his own company in 1985. Despite the fallout, he later recognized the coup as a blessing in disguise, as it gave him a chance to experiment creatively and purchase an animation studio, which would later be known as Pixar. Eventually he rejoined Apple as CEO in 1997 (and revitalized the failing company).

9. While at Apple, Jobs always kept his annual salary at $1. Don't worry, with 5.5 million shares of Apple stock and as the majority shareholder of Disney stock (from selling Pixar), he wasn't quite what you'd call a starving artist.

Credits: Estate Vaults
10. Jobs had an entire team devoted to packaging who studied the experience of opening a box to learn how to achieve the excitement and emotional response that is now common with Apple products.

11. Jobs is listed as either primary inventor or co-inventor for 346 United States patents related to a range of technologies, with most of the patents being for design.

12. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak notes that Jobs never learned how to code.

13. Jobs harbored an intense dislike for PCs, and is quoted as saying to one friend, "I'd rather sell dog shit than PCs."

14. He never put license plates on his silver Mercedes (despite driving it constantly). How did he do it? California has a rule that a car owner has six months to put plates on a new car. Jobs just changed cars (to the identical model) every six months, allowing him to drive without plates.

15. Jobs actually served as a mentor for Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, even sharing some of his advisers with the Google duo.

16. Jobs was furious when Google created its Android devices, entering as an Apple competitor in the phone market.

17. Jobs was found to have pancreatic cancer in 2003, but rather than taking the doctor-recommended path of immediate operation, Jobs subscribed to an alternative-medicine regimen, including a vegan diet, acupuncture, and herbal remedies, even consulting a psychic. After nine months, Jobs gave in and underwent surgery. Many consider the delay a major factor in his eventual decline.

18. Apple, Microsoft, and Disney properties (including Disneyland and Disney World) flew their flags at half-staff when Jobs died.

19. Tim Cook revealed in a 2014 interview that Jobs's main office and nameplate are still as they were in 2011, when Jobs passed away.


20. Sunday, October 16, 2011, was declared Steve Jobs Day by the governor of California, Jerry Brown



Steve Jobs' Stanford Commencement Address in 2005