Things I learned lately 27 October

• It costs $326,260 to buy a 30 second spot on the TV show Big Bang Theory. In comparison, a 30 second spot on the CBC network during the Stanley Cup finals costs $40,000.
• A WalMart store near Edmonton refused to print and frame a photo of a mother breast feeding her baby. The print was ordered by the husband. WalMart apologized after the husband took to Facebook to complain.
• Rogers Communications doesn't feel it's necessary to have proof when they claim their mobile service has 'fewer dropped calls' than the newer carriers. So basically, they cite 'freedom of expression' to justify lying to customers. Sorry - I meant 'misleading customers'.
• 'Whose line is it anyway?' is coming back on the CW network with the usual cast. Caveat: Although this is a TV show using improvisation, it is an edited show, so the naturally occurring 'not-so-great' scenes are cut out, leaving only the funniest bits, as opposed to the most natural, unscripted bits.
• No country spent more on universal health care insurance as a share of GDP than Canada. The average wait time for a referral to a specialist was almost 18 weeks (it was 9.3 weeks in 1993). Canada ranked 15th of 24 countries in MRI machines per million people and 16th of 25 countries in CT scanners per million people.
• 40% of YouTube traffic now comes from mobile devices. That's up from 25% in 2012 and only 6% in 2011.
• Instagram closed a Toronto woman's account after she posted a waist-down pic of herself wearing bikini bottoms with a bit of pubic hair showing. There was nothing about the picture that contravenes their policies.
• There's a $1,000 fine for using or selling Silly String in Hollywood on Halloween.
• Celts believed Samhain was a time when the wall between our world and the paranormal world was porous and spirits could get through. Because of this belief, it was common for the Celts to wear costumes and masks during the festival to ward off or befuddle any evil spirits.
• Hallowmas is a 3 day Catholic holiday where saints are honoured and people pray for the recently deceased. At the start of the 11th century, it was decreed by the Pope that it would last from Oct 31 (All Hallow's Eve) until Nov 2, most likely because that was when Samhain was celebrated and the church was trying to convert the pagans. "All Hallow's Eve" then evolved into "All Hallow's Even," and by the 18th century it was commonly referred to as "Hallowe'en."
• Trick-or-treating was brought to America by the Irish and became popular during the early 1900s, but died out during WWII when sugar was rationed. After rationing ended in 1947, children's magazine "Jack and Jill," radio program "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet," and the "Peanuts" comic strip all helped to re-popularize the tradition of dressing up in costumes and asking for candy. By 1952, trick-or-treating was hugely popular again.