Thought Leadership

Yet more things I learned

A while ago, I wrote about a project that my wife and I started last year. The idea was to think about what we had learned each day, record it and discuss from time to time. I shared some interesting examples of snippets of trivia …

Today I would like to share another selection, having filtered out the personal or anachronistic ones:

  • There are no bumble bees in Africa.
  • Picpoul is a grape variety from Languedoc.
  • There are 2 kinds of memory. Implicit like riding a bike; explicit like what did you have for breakfast?
  • Firing a rocket in orbit makes you go slower.
  • In 16th century, dark clothes were a sign of wealth; it took more dye to make them.
  • The Obama children were the result of in-vitro fertilization.
  • Nike was the Greek goddess of victory.
  • Cast iron is actually 50% scrap steel.
  • Guan Vincenzo Gravina wrote: A bore is a person who deprives you of solitude without providing you with company.
  • A calliope is a steam-driven keyboard instrument.

We continue to observe that, in these unusual times, we are less receptive to learning new things. I hope that changes in due course …

Colin Walls

I have over thirty years experience in the electronics industry, largely dedicated to embedded software. A frequent presenter at conferences and seminars and author of numerous technical articles and two books on embedded software, I am a member of the marketing team of the Mentor Graphics Embedded Systems Division, and am based in the UK. Away from work, I have a wide range of interests including photography and trying to point my two daughters in the right direction in life. Learn more about Colin, including his go-to karaoke song and the best parts of being British: http://go.mentor.com/3_acv

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This article first appeared on the Siemens Digital Industries Software blog at https://blogs.stage.sw.siemens.com/embedded-software/2020/06/18/yet-more-things-i-learned/