Things I learned lately 15 Mar

• There is a new AI player on the block that has been designed to have a more human-like conversational experience with us named Pi.ai.
• Subway restaurants actually discontinued yellow mustard as an available condiment to put on sandwiches, apparently because not many ask for it. Green Goddess Dressing is a big mover though, huh?
• Salt & Brick, a restaurant in downtown Calgary, has a secret speakeasy at the back called Charlie’s Watch Repair. You have to book an ‘appointment’, not a reservation, and ask for Charlie to get in. Folks say it’s a cocktail lover’s dream.
• Lene Hau experimented with the speed of light and managed to slow light down to 61 km/h, then in another experiment, down to 0 km/h. This was done by freezing a cloud of sodium atoms to just above 0 Kelvin. The light moved again once the matter was warmed again.
• Montreal smoked meat is made from brisket, whereas pastrami is made from navel. The former is lean, the latter is not.
• The top 5 coffee producing countries are Brazil; Vietnam; Columbia; Indonesia; and Ethiopia.
• In the early 1930s, white Americans toyed with Nazi-ism and the concept of a white, Christian nation. The time was rife with racism, anti-semitism, and a belief that Jews were taking over the world at the expense of non-Jewish people. There were even children’s summer camps indoctrinating white children with the virtues of Nazi beliefs. Nazi flags were flown alongside American flags at these camps and at adult gatherings of the German American Bund.
• David H. McConnell started Avon in 1886 as a bookseller. He offered little gifts of perfume to lure in female customers. The perfume became more popular than the books he was selling, so he shifted focus and founded the California Perfume Company, which later became Avon.