Things I learned this week 4 Nov

• The US's power plants account for about half of all the water used in the country.
• Texas now has a speed limit of 85mph (137km/h) on certain parts of I-35.
• The Internet is turning Chinese. There are more Internet users in China than any other country. That lead will continue to grow. China's market already accounts for 25% of the world's smartphone sales, versus the US's 17.5%.
• There's a new player in the Chinese smart phone market - e-commerce giant Alibaba. They have created their own smartphone OS called Aliyun. Based on Linux, it is different from Apple's iOS and Google's Android in that users don't download apps, but connect to them over the Web.
• Salt and vinegar chips were first produced in the 1950s.
• 46.2 million Americans live under the poverty line (almost 16% of the country).
• Scientifically proven ways to spice up your sex life: Yoga; speak up; watch comedy first; include AM sex; exercise more; purple colour in bedroom; wine at dinner; try new things.
• 15,000 people registered as members of car2go in its first 2 months. This makes Calgary the fastest growing car2go city worldwide.
• With the median income in Alberta being $68,100 (2009) versus the median income of Alberta CEOs being about $2,500,000, that means the average CEO earns almost 37X the average worker.
• Switzerland hasn't seen a power line above ground for decades. They do not lose power due to storms or wind.
• Worldwide, Gmail just passed Hotmail for number of users. It only took 8 years.
• Workers have to pump out 43 million gallons of water just from the Brooklyn-Battery tunnel.
• As much as 75% of New Jersey gas stations are closed either because of lack of power or lack of gas. Some lineups to get gas are over 3 hours  (150 cars) long.