Interesting Facts

According to research from mobile network O2, smartphones are hardly ever used to make a phone call. (Most people use their smartphone for surfing the web, checking social networks or playing games. The research found that the average smartphone owner spends more than two hours each day using the device. Here's a breakdown of what they use it for. Browsing the internet - 25 minutes  Social networking - 17 minutes Playing games - 13 minutes  Listening to music - 16 minutes Making phone calls - 11 minutes Text messaging - 10 minutes Taking photographs - 3 minutes Even though people only spend three minutes a day taking photographs, photography was the most popular thing to use a smartphone for, 74 per cent said that they had taken photos with their handset. For me all the above is true apart from playing games and texting. I have never played a game on my Motorola Droid, and I send about 10 texts a year. In fact my smartphone gets about 30 minutes use a day, I prefer...

According to figures released by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents; more people were killed on UK roads in 2011 than at any time since 2003. (Statistics revealed almost 2,000 people died in traffic accidents – 3% up on 2010. The number of deaths and serious injuries reported to the police hit 25,023, a 2% increase on the previous year and the first increase in those killed or seriously injured since 1994. Now I wonder what's changed recently that might cause these increases. Anyone here been using their mobile phone recently?) Source

I was shocked when I read that one of Italy's leading universities - the Politecnico di Milano - is going to switch to the English language. (The university believes that if it remains Italian-speaking it risks isolation and will be unable to compete as an international institution. Giovanni Azzone, the university's rector said, "We strongly believe our classes should be international classes - and the only way to have international classes is to use the English language." I guess it would be cool to study in Milan, but it also means it becomes just one more English speaking university amongst many.) Source

According to http://www.moneysupermarket.com/c/press-releases/voucher-mad-britain/0007241/ , more than 1,500 vouchers are redeemed in UK every minute. (That's 2.23 million discount vouchers every day, and this saves Brits, on average, £2.7 billion every year.  Across the country the figures vary, Londoners seem to be the keenest; here is the City Savings League:- City Monthly saving London £71 Cardiff £65 Edinburgh £60 Liverpool £57 Manchester £51 In Germany there aren't as many voucher offers, I guess because Aldi couldn't cut their margins without going the same way as Schlecker.)

If her hubby isn't with her, Kate Middleton will have to curtsey to the blood princesses, including the cats in the hats, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. (The Queen’s updated protocol — the “Order of Precedence in the Royal Household” — stipulates that if Wills (a.k.a. the Duke of Cambridge) is in the room, Kate need only curtsey to the Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles and, believe it or not, Charles’s wife, Camilla. The Daily Mail sets out the palace rankings as follows: The Queen; Prince Philip; Prince of Wales; Duchess of Cornwall; Prince William; Prince Harry; the Duke of York; the Duchess of Cambridge; the Earl of Wessex; the Countess of Wessex; the Princess Royal; the Duke of Gloucester; the Duchess of Gloucester; the Duke of Kent; the Duchess of Kent; Princess Alexandra. Further, as commoners (like most of the planet), Kate’s parents have not — by virtue of their daughter’s marrying “up” — become members of the Royal Family, as under a “blood Royal” rule, only the chil...

In a report entitled "First Steps Research", nutritionists have worked out that the daily energy expended by an average toddler is the equivalent to the energy an adult would expend during 83 rounds in a boxing ring. (In the same research the equivalent energy would be expended if an adult ran 30 miles, played 3 football matches, cycled 82 miles at 12-14mph, climbed 2,980 metres, or rowed for 6 hours. I doubt any parent will be surprised at this.)

Researchers at Boston University  claim they can predict whether someone will live to 100 with up to 85 per cent accuracy. (A fter studying the DNA of centenarians and identifying common genetic variations  t hey have  developed a genetic test for healthy ageing,  which may have contributed to their longevity, but the test  is most reliable late in life, meaning it is unlikely to be useful as an early predictor of lifespan. Would you really want to know though?  I mean, they can't predict whether you'll be run over by a bus, can they.) Source :