Big Shot Birthdays and Special Events for the weekend ahead –
Saturday, December 21 _ Samuel L. Jackson is 76 (in 2024) • Jane Kaczmarek is 69 (in 2024) • Ray Romano is 67 (in 2024) • Andy Dick is 59 (in 2024) • Kiefer Sutherland is 58 (in 2024) • Julie Delpy is 55 (in 2024) • Emmanuel Macron is 47 (in 2024) • Mike Vitar is 46 (in 2024) • Steven Yeun is 41 (in 2024) • Quinta Brunson is 35 (in 2024) • Kaitlyn Dever is 29 (in 2024) • Madelyn Cline is 27 (in 2024)
SPECIAL EVENTS _ Winter Begins • Super Saturday • Crossword Puzzle Day • Don’t Make Your Bed Day • Forefathers’ Day • Coquito Day • Humbug Day • Flashlight Day • French Fried Shrimp Day • Hamburger Day • National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day • Kiwi Fruit Day • Look at the Bright Side Day • Regifting Day • Ribbon Candy Day • Short Girl Appreciation Day • Wreaths Across America Day
Sunday, December 22 _ Hector Elizondo is 88 (in 2024) • Diane Sawyer is 79 (in 2024) • Ralph Fiennes is 62 (in 2024) • Ted Cruz is 54 (in 2024) • Chris Carmack is 44 (in 2024) • Jordin Sparks is 35 (in 2024) • Meghan Trainor is 31 (in 2024) • Joshua Bassett is 23 (in 2024)
SPECIAL EVENTS _ Abilities Day • Cookie Exchange Day • Date Nut Bread Day
WHY TVs ARE STILL CHEAP _ While the cost of many things is higher than just a few years ago, TVs are still cheap. How’s this possible? Firstly, increased competition and more efficient production processes have led to lower prices. For instance, making TVs out of larger starting pieces of glass has allowed for the production of bigger TVs without a significant increase in cost. Secondly, the advent of smart TVs has allowed manufacturers to become data brokers, profiting from the information they collect from their internet-connected customers. One revenue stream is Automatic Content Recognition, or ACR — a system that is able to capture an image of what a smart TV is playing and then use that image to determine what precisely is being played, which allows television operating systems to gather viewership data and to fuel ad recommendations. The data is also shared with companies that gather viewership information so the industry knows what shows are being viewed most. Thirdly, the inclusion of preloaded apps on TVs has also become a revenue stream. TV manufacturers are often paid to include these apps, which can offset the cost of the TV itself.
TAILGATING MAKES TRAFFIC WORSE _ If you’ve ever encountered a “phantom traffic jam,” or traffic slowdown that doesn’t seem to have an apparent cause, it was probably some jerk tailgating somebody. Researchers at MIT found that not only does tailgating not get you anywhere faster, it actually creates traffic jams that shouldn’t exist. Basically, when you tailgate, you remove your ability to slow down gradually in the event a car up ahead reduces its speed. Because you have less time to react and avoid rear-ending the car in front of you, you hit the brakes hard and take away all of your vehicle’s momentum in an instant. All the cars behind you then have to slow down quickly as well while you build up speed again. It causes a chain reaction that eventually brings traffic to a crawl for no good reason.
