Blind from age three, Louis Braille learned to read at a school for the blind in Paris where, at that time, books for the blind could weigh as much as a hundred pounds! Inspired by the indented dots on dice, he invented the Braille system of reading and writing. In 1812, a three-year-old boy was playing in his father’s leather workshop in Coupvray, France when he had an accident that would change the world.
Louis Braille accidentally poked himself in the eye with an awl: The metal point blinded him in one eye and an infection soon left him totally blind. Louis was a bright boy and won a scholarship to a school for the blind in Paris. It was not a particularly nice place; students were often fed bread and water and locked up for punishment. Louis and the other blind children were taught various skills (Louis became expert at playing the organ and cello), and they were taught to read. At that time, books for the blind used raised letters with metal wires under the paper, and some of the books weighed one hundred pounds! One day, a soldier visited the school and talked about a code system that he had invented in the French army.
It used raised dots and dashes on a piece of paper to allow soldiers to send each other messages in the dark while remaining silent. Louis and the other children found the system too confusing, but the basic idea stuck in the boy’s head. He began experimenting with different ways of creating a language using raised dots on paper - and for this, he used the same awl that had blinded him! One day, Louis Braille happened to pick up a pair of dice and feel the six dots on one side. That’s when inspiration struck him.
He soon developed a code for each letter of the alphabet, with numbers and symbols like periods and question marks, all using no more than six dots. One great advantage of his system was that you could read each letter or symbol using the tip of your finger. With practice, a reader could run his finger along a line and read very quickly. The other big plus was that blind people using Braille’s system could write as well as read. His system opened up a whole new world! It took many years for the Braille system to take off, and its popularity was still spreading when Louis died in 1852. Not many people can say that they invented an entire new system of reading and writing, but Louis Braille did. What’s more, his system was adopted around the world, and today is available in virtually every language that humans speak.
Alan Smithee is a name that no person wants to see listed as the director of a
movie they’re seeing. He was known for making horrible movies that were
poorly-received, ranging from Death of a Gunfighter in 1969 to an extended
cut of Dune in 1984. Why is he still making movies then? It’s simple… Alan
Smithee is not one single person.
Alan Smithee, sometimes also referred to as “Allen Smithee” is a pseudonym
that has been adapted by directors who no longer want to be connected to a
film they directed. The pseudonym came into play for Death of a Gunfighter,
when the director of the film switched halfway through and was replaced
with another director. Neither director wanted their name to be listed, so this
fictional director was born.
There have been articles and books about the mystery surrounding Smithee’s
legacy, mostly focusing on how directors’ reputations are so important to
them that it is worth it to them to give up credit for a piece of their work. The
Directors Guild must make a decision regarding each request for use of Alan
Smithee as the director’s name on a film. The use of the pseudonym was
discontinued in 2000, after being used for dozens of films, television movies,
and music videos.
A prolific songwriter with six Oscar nominations, a Golden Globe, and Songwriter of the Year awards, Diane Warren has created a foundation that supports music programs in financially challenged schools. Many young people feel the same way that Diane Warren did as a girl - misunderstood and somehow different from everyone around her. Growing up in California, she wanted to rebel against her parents and everything else in her world. She ran away from home as a teenager, and only came back because she missed her cat! The truth was that Diane was different. She had a strong creative spark, and a great way with words.
And she found comfort in writing songs that expressed her feelings. While her mother thought Diane was a dreamer who should focus on getting a job as a secretary, her father encouraged her hopes of becoming a songwriter. With that encouragement and a strong will to follow her own direction in life, Diane began the tough task of trying to sell her songs. Her determination and talent paid off with her first hit song in the 1980s - “Solitaire,” performed by Laura Branigan. Other hits quickly followed - pop hits, rock hits, country hits - performed by some of the biggest names in music, including Celine Dion, Trisha Yearwood, Toni Braxton, and LeAnn Rimes.
Warren’s career soared to new heights when her songs began to appear in hit films, resulting in six Oscar nominations and a Golden Globe award for “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me,” performed by Cher in the movie Burlesque. She now has a star on the celebrated Hollywood Walk of Fame and has been named Songwriter of the Year six times, among a host of other honors and awards. But Diane Warren did not forget what it felt like to be that lonely girl with a love for music. She has used her fame and fortune to start a foundation that supports music programs in financially challenged schools, and she helps sponsor contests for emerging songwriters. Recalling how her father was the one person to encourage her love of music, she wrote the hit song “Because You Loved Me” as a tribute to his support. In 1993, the struggling Montreal Canadiens adopted one of Diane Warren’s songs, “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now,” as their unofficial anthem, and went on to win the Stanley Cup that year. Just like Warren herself, they demonstrated the power of determination and self-belief.
Two students from the East of England have been shortlisted for a prestigious BAFTA gaming award.
Daniel Tachauer, from Essex, and Ruby, from Suffolk, were among 52 young people - aged between 10 to 18 - chosen by industry experts to take part.
The Young Game Designers (YGD) competition celebrates and encourages budding gamers to create, develop and present their ideas for games.
The winner's ceremony will be live-streamed on BAFTA's YouTube channel on Wednesday 18 June.
Daniel, 14, was selected as a finalist in the Game Making category for 10 to 14 year olds for his astronomy game Planet Drop.
The puzzle video game asks players to merge planets as they fall, much like retro game Tetris.
He started playing video games two years ago and has managed to teach himself how to make games using tutorials on YouTube.
He said Planet Drop took him about a month, adding: "It's easier to make games now than it ever has been before, with all the tools and everything.
"Say you were trying to make a game in 1990, you haven't got any tutorials, whereas now there's just so much out there and so many people making content."
Daniel would like a career in coding and said it would be amazing to be surrounded by games every day.
Meanwhile, 18-year-old Ruby has been shortlisted in the Game Making by 15 to 18 year olds category for her game Through The Darkness.
She explained players must follow the sound of music in darkness in order to complete a maze.
Ruby hoped her game would raise awareness of how people with no sight experienced gaming.
"If I was to win it would really mean a lot to me, because game making is one of my passions and it's one of the things I want to have a career in," she added.
MI6 will be led by a woman for the first time in the foreign intelligence service's 116-year history.
Blaise Metreweli, who joined the Secret Intelligence Service in 1999, will become the 18th chief of the organisation and take over from Sir Richard Moore later this year.
She is currently responsible for technology and innovation at the service and said she was "proud and honoured" to have been asked to lead.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called the appointment "historic" at a time "when the work of our intelligence services has never been more vital".
MI6 is tasked with gathering intelligence overseas to improve the UK's security, with its core aims being to stop terrorism, disrupt the activities of hostile states and bolster cyber-security.
Its chief, commonly referred to as "C", is the only publicly named member of the service.
Ms Metreweli, 47, is currently Director General "Q" - head of the crucial technology and innovation division that aims to keep the identities of secret agents secret, and come up with new ways to evade adversaries like China's biometric surveillance.
"MI6 plays a vital role - with MI5 and GCHQ - in keeping the British people safe and promoting UK interests overseas," she said.
"I look forward to continuing that work alongside the brave officers and agents of MI6 and our many international partners."
Ms Metreweli, who studied anthropology at the University of Cambridge, has previously held director level roles in MI5 - MI6's sister, domestic security agency - and spent most of her career working in the Middle East and Europe.
On the King's overseas and international birthday honours list in 2024, she received the Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) for her services to British foreign policy.
After reading this perhaps you will look at your goldfish with new eyes,
particularly when you realize he or she really looks at you with new eyes.
The human eye can only see three colors and variations of these, a goldfish
can see four! The fourth color is an ultraviolet color and this helps him find
food as well as detect motion in the water. It’s a pity about his eye placement
though, because his eyes are placed either side of his head he suffers a
massive blind spot in the middle.
The good news is your goldfish knows who you are and recognizes you. So,
if at times you feel like a hand that simply feeds him, take heart, he actually
knows who cares for him.One sad myth is that goldfish have a 3-second memory and this has led many people into believing they need smaller bowls or tanks simply because by the time they swim around it, they have forgotten what they last saw so each moment is brand new. In fact, goldfish have outstanding memories as proved by an experiment in Israel.
The scientists trained the goldfish to respond to a dinner bell and found that the fish had remembered the bell five months later! Now that is some memory, even better than some people you know, you might say.
Goldfish will eat anything so long as it fits into their mouths, so be mindful
of that when placing smaller fish near to them. Their taste-buds are situated
on their lips and their teeth are further down their throat, which enables them
to gulp what looks like large objects and not choke to death from lack of
breath. This could also be a warning as to what to feed your goldfish, becausea goldfish will happily eat anything.
If you think a goldfish is a second-rate pet, think again, you can teach your
goldfish to do tricks. All sorts of tricks including playing soccer. All you
have to do is give him treats!
Besides being a world-renowned chef and creator of the famous California restaurant Chez Panisse, Alice Waters runs a national campaign promoting organic food and healthy eating for children. When famous people from Hollywood travel through Berkeley, California, there is only one place to eat: Chez Panisse. It’s been named the best restaurant in the United States, and one of the best in the entire world. The creator of this remarkable eating-place is Alice Waters, who has been voted one of the top chefs on the planet, and is given credit for popularizing organic food in North America.
Waters actually set out to be a teacher, and was studying education in France when she discovered fine food and the fact that organic food, locally grown without chemicals, makes a huge difference in cooking. Back home, while working as a teacher, she continued studying, cooking, and making delicious meals for friends . . . and their friends . . . and their friends’ friends. It wasn’t long before she thought of opening a restaurant to serve her organic food to everyone. Within a few years, Chez Panisse was a sensation, and Waters’ ideas for fresh, healthy food spread to other restaurants, and then to supermarkets and kitchens across North America. She changed the way that many people think about and prepare their food. Some people might be satisfied with having legions of happy clients, a worldwide reputation, and a series of bestselling books.
Other people might have expanded intomore restaurants, TV shows, and other ways of building on their wealth and fame - but not Alice Waters. For her, the money and recognition are only tools; it’s how you use them that counts. So, now that she has played a big role in making organic food popular and available, Waters has decided to make another difference in the world. She is using her fame, experience, and knowledge for something else she strongly believes in - helping children. That’s why you’ll see one of the world’s best chefs going into schools to teach kids (and their parents) about healthy eating and organic food. It’s part of her national campaign to fight obesity and other health problems caused by bad eating habits that people develop when they are young. Her dream is to help everyone enjoy a better quality of life through better eating. So, in the end, Alice Waters is still following her dream of teaching and helping young people.
When it comes to movies that sum up the thriller genre, it would be difficult
to find anything that could beat Psycho for the way in which it can play on
your mind. Of course, there are so many different scenes that stand out, but
perhaps the key one has to be the infamous shower scene.
Anybody that has watched the movie will be able to remember it along with
the terrifying sound effects, but if you knew how the sound effects were
made, it could make things slightly less scary for you.
Keep in mind that the movie was made in 1960, so it was hardly a case of
special effects being out of this world or sounds being added in digitally after
it was shot. Nope, they had to go for something that was far more basic in its
approach, and yet it was still something that worked.
In the shower scene, the sound effects were able to be created by repeatedly
stabbing a casaba melon. Yep, it was achieved via a melon, and that is hardly
something that you would expect to have been used.
Bonus
About 200,000,000 M&Ms are sold each day in the United States.
Coconuts kill about 150 people each year. That is more than sharks.
The original name for butterfly was flutterby.
When the Titanic sank, 2228 people were on it. Only 706 survived.
Charlie Chaplin once won third prize in a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest.