Who is the 2009 US Open Winner?

Q: Who won the 2009 US Open Golf Championship?

A: The winner of the 2009 US Open Golf Championship is Lucas Glover of the United States. He was born in Greenville, South Carolina.

This is Lucas Glover's first major title.

Congratulations!

The winner's prize money: $1,350,000

How heavy is the NBA trophy?

Q: How heavy is the NBA trophy?

A: The Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy awarded to the winner of the NBA Finals weighs 14.5 pounds. It is made of sterling silver and vermeil with a 24 karat gold overlay.

height: two feet tall

price: around $13,500

manufacturer: Tiffany & Co. Silver Shop

The NBA Championship trophy is designed to look like a basketball about to enter a net.


* A new trophy is created every year.

2009 NBA Champions: Los Angeles Lakers

Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award Winner: Kobe Bryant

What is oroshi-mochi?

Q: What is oroshi-mochi?

A: Oroshi-mochi is a Japanese dish of pounded sticky rice (mochi) served with grated radish (daikon).

Vocabulary words with hiragana, romaji and English translation:

おろし = oroshi = grated daikon

もち = mochi = traditional "cakes" of glutinous (sticky) rice

Who is the TARP Lady?

Q: Who is the TARP lady they keep referring to in the news?

A: TARP refers to the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which has been the largest part of the U.S. government's $700 billion financial bailout plan of 2008.

The woman in charge of overseeing TARP is Elizabeth Warren, a professor at Harvard Law School. She was appointed by Senate Democrats to head the Congressional Oversight Panel in charge of monitoring the U.S. banking bailout.

The TARP lady's academic specialty at Harvard is bankruptcy law. In 2003, she published the book The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Parents Are Going Broke, co-authored with her daughter.

What is Kevin's Law?

Q: What is Kevin's Law?

A: There are two pieces of legislation in the United States that have been referred to as "Kevin's Law" in the media.

First, there is the law in Michigan named after Kevin Heisinger who was beaten to death by a schizophrenia patient who had not been taking medication. To honor Mr. Heisinger's memory, his family and Sen. Tom George, R-Texas Township, and Sen. Virg Bernero, D-Lansing, worked to pass "Kevin's Law," which would permit court-ordered outpatient treatment for mentally ill people who are least able to help themselves or most likely to present a risk to others. At the beginning of the legislative process, both Sen. George and Sen. Bernero were in the Michigan House. Once they were in the Senate, they reintroduced the measure in 2003 as Senate Bills 683 - 686.

Kevin's Law in Michigan took effect in 2005. The law allows judges to order outpatient treatment for people with untreated severe mental illnesses who meet specific criteria. The package of four bills, referred to as the Assisted Outpatient Treatment Law, was signed by Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm.

Second, there is the Kevin's Law referred to in the 2008 documentary Food Inc. The law would have been formally known as the Meat and Poultry Pathogen Reduction and Enforcement Act of 2003. The bill was introduced by Rep. Anna G. Eshoo, D-Palo Atlo, as H.R. 3160.

Kevin's Law was named in memory of two-year-old Kevin Kowalcyk, who died in 2001 after eating a hamburger contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. The law would have given the U.S. Department of Agriculture the power to close down plants that produce contaminated meat.

The bill never became law.

What does the title of the BET show '106 & Park' mean?

Q: Where did the title of the BET show 106 and Park come from?

A: BET's number-one rated show 106 & Park was originally produced in Harlem, New York. Its original studio was located at East 106th Street and Park Avenue.

Joomla Plugin Error on GoDaddy

Q: I have Joomla sites on GoDaddy. They're all updated to the latest 1.5.11 upgrade. I tried enabling an RSS plugin for displaying a feed within an article. Everything worked fine on one site, but on another site I get the following error:

Parse error: parse error, unexpected T_OBJECT_OPERATOR in /home/content/x/y/z/xyzabc/html/plugins/content/rssfeed.php on line 123

Why the problem on one site and not on the other? I use the same template for both websites.


A: Check your PHP version. If one site is old, it could be that it's still running PHP 4, instead of PHP 5.

To Change Your Default PHP Language on GoDaddy Linux Hosting Accounts

1. Log in to your Account Manager.
2. In the My Products section, select Hosting.
3. Next to the hosting account you want to modify, click Manage Account.
4. In the Content section of the Hosting Control Center, click the Languages icon.
5. Select the PHP version you'd like to set as the default.

You'll be seeing a Warning here. Changing to PHP version 5 may make your PHP files run incorrectly.

Before you change your default PHP language version, make sure your PHP files can run correctly with PHP version 5.

It may take a few hours for the change to be processed by the hosting server.

If it was a PHP-related problem, after switching to PHP 5, the the parse error should not appear when you enable the plugin.

Who established the Yuan Dynasty?

Q: Who established the Yuan Dynasty of China?

A: The Yuan Dynasty (also known as the Great Yuan Empire in China) was established in the 13th century by Kublai Khan; however, he ordered that the name of his grandfather Genghis Khan (who had died in 1227) be placed on the official record as the founder of the dynasty.


In records, the Yuan Dynasty officially lasted from 1271 to 1368.

Rebellions broke out in the 1350s, and one of the rebel leaders was Chu Yüan-chang, who founded the Ming dynasty in 1368.


SHORT QUESTION AND ANSWER

Q: Who's the founder of China's Yuan Dynasty?

A: Formally, Genghis Khan. Actually, his grandson Kublai Khan.

What's the largest hotel chain?

Q: Best Western says it's the "World's Largest Hotel Chain." Is that true?

A: No. That's merely their tagline.

In terms of number of rooms, the record for being the largest hotel chain in the world belongs to IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group), which includes InterContinental Hotels, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites. As of March 2009 they owned 621,696 rooms in 4,200 hotels.


Q: What's the largest budget hotel chain?

A: Super 8 Motels is the largest chain with establishments in the United States, Canada and China. If you count motels that are located only in the United States and Canada, Motel 6 is the largest in North America.


Q: What's the largest hotel?

A: First World Hotel in Genting Highlands, Malaysia, is the world's largest hotel with a total of 6,118 rooms. The fact was certified by Guinness World Records in 2006.

What are the classic or noble grape varieties used in making wine?

Q: What are the nine classic or noble grape varieties used in making wine?

A: Depends on which wine expert you ask.

Here are the nine most common grape varieties referred to as classic: Cabernet sauvignon, Chardonnay, Chenin blanc, Merlot, Pinot noir, Riesling, Sauvignon blanc, Semillon, Syrah

There's also a more exclusive group referred to as "noble" grape varieties, of which there are six.

White noble grapes: Sauvignon blanc, Riesling, Chardonnay

Red noble grapes: Pinot noir, Cabernet sauvignon, Merlot

What's the most livable country in the world?

Q: What's the most livable city in the world?

A: According to The Economist magazine's rankings of the most livable cities, Vancounver in Canada is the best place in which to live.

The Economist is a British magazine. Among the criteria in its evaluation were stability, health care, culture, environment, education and infrastructure.

What is the most livable city in the United States?

What's the most livable city in the country?

Q: What's the most livable city in the United States?

A: According to The Economist magazine's rankings of the most livable cities, Pittsburgh is the best place in which to live in the United States

The Economist is a British magazine. It took into account stability, health care, culture, environment, education and infrastructure in its evaluation.It ranked Pittsburgh the world's 29th most livable city, the highest placer among American cities.

President Barack Obama recently chose Pittsburgh to host the G-20 summit in September, calling it a symbol of economic recovery.

What's the most livable city in the world?

What's the roller coaster with the most loops? How many?

Q: What's the world record for the most number of loops in a roller coaster?

A: If by loop, you mean an inversion that turns riders upside-down and then rights them, then the record goes to the Colossus roller coaster at Thorpe Park in England.

The Colossus has 10 inversions or loops, the most of any roller coaster in the world.

What is the world's longest roller coaster? How long is it?

Q: What is the world's longest roller coaster? How long is it?

A: The record of being the longest roller coaster in the world belongs to the Steel Dragon 2000, which opened in 2000 at Nagashima Spa Land (Mie Prefecture, Japan)

Length: 8,133 feet

It is also one of only two Gigacoasters in the world.

What is a giga-coaster or Gigacoaster?

Q: What is a Gigacoaster?

A: Also spelled hyphenated as giga-coaster, a Gigacoaster is a complete-circuit roller coaster with a height of between 300 feet (91 meters)and 399 feet (122 meters). What does that mean? It's very big! Giga!!!

There are only two gigacoasters in the world: Millenium Force at Cedar Point (Sandusky, Ohio, USA) and Steel Dragon 2000 at Nagashima Spa Land (Mie Prefecture, Japan).

The term Gigacoaster was coined in 2000 by Cedar Point to describe Millennium Force, the first roller coaster to break the 300-foot (90-meter) threshold.

What is the height of the world's tallest roller coaster?

Q: What is the tallest roller coaster in the world? How high is it? Where is it located?

A: The tallest roller coaster in the world is the Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, USA. Height: 456 feet (139 meters).

Kingda Ka opened in 2005.

What's the speed of the world's fastest roller coaster?

Q: What's the name of the world's fastest roller coaster? Where is it located? How fast does it go?

A: No longer the Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, which had been the world’s fastest roller coaster since it opened in 2005.

The Ring Racer, a Formula 1-themed thrill ride that goes 134.8 miles per hour, is set to open in July 2009. It is faster than Kindga Ka by 6.8 miles per hour.

ring°racer is a Formula 1-themed roller coaster located at the Nürburgring race course in Germany. It features a pneumatic launch. The roller coaster accelerates from 0 to 134.8 miles per hour (217km/h) in 2.5 seconds.

How many Obama czars are there? Names list.

Q: How many 'czars' has the United States President Barack Obama appointed to serve in the government? Who are they?

A: The highest number mentioned of such executive appointees referred to as 'czars' is 26.

Here's a developing list of the names of the 'czars' by Obama:

1. Compensation Czar aka Pay Czar: Kenneth Feinberg, Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation.

2. Health-Care Czar: Nancy Ann DeParle, Counselor to the President and Director of the White House Office of Health Reform. Appointed in March 2009.

3. Urban Czar: Aldolfo Carrion, Jr.

4. Great Lakes Czar: Cameron Davis, Chicago-based environmentalist

5. Iran Czar: Dennis Ross (aka Persian Gulf / Southwest Asia Czar)

6. Middle East Czar: George Mitchell

7. Energy Czar / Climate Czar: Carol Browner, former EPA chief

8. Pakistan Czar / Afghanistan Czar: Richard Holbrooke

9. Bank-Bailout Czar aka TARP Czar: Herb Allison

10. Border Czar: Alan Bersin, former DOJ official

11. Drug Czar: Gil Kerlikowske, former Seattle police chief, now head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy

* The term "Drug Czar" was first used by Joe Biden in 1982.

12. Cyber-Security Czar: Melissa Hathaway - resignation effective August 21
- they're having a hard time finding a new cyber czar

13. WMD Non-Proliferation Czar: Gary Samore

14. Faith-Based Czar: Joshua DuBois

15. Regulatory Czar: Cass Sunstein, Harvard Law Professor

16. Car Czar: Dr. Ed Montgomery, head of the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry

*The other "car czar" Steve Rattner was reportedly forced to step down in July 2009 after he became embroiled in a corruption scandal involving a kickback scheme at New York state's pension fund.

17. War Czar: Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute (carryover from President Bush)

18. Stimulus-Accountability Czar aka Stimulus Watchdog Czar: Earl Devaney, former Secret Service agent, RAT board chairman

19. AIDS Czar: Jeffrey Crowley, Head of the Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP)

20. Energy Czar / Climate Czar / Global-Warming Czar: Carol Browner

21. Green-Jobs Czar: Van Jones, Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). Announced his resignation over Labor Day weekend. He had been under fire for calling Republicans "assholes" in a video taped before he was called to head up Obama's green jobs program.

22. Guantanamo Base Closure Czar: Daniel Fried

23. Terrorism Czar: John O. Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism

24. Infotech Czar: Vivek Kundra, Chief Information Officer of the United States

25. FCC Diversity Czar: Mark Lloyd, Associate General Counsel and Chief Diversity Officer at the Federal Communications Commission. Appointed on August 4, 2009.

26. Manufacturing Czar: Ron Bloom, Senior Counselor for Manufacturing Policy. Appointed on September 7, 2009.

More czars to come!

Q: By the way, what is a czar?

A: Czars are presidential appointees who are not required to undergo Senate confirmations hearings.

The most recently updated list is here.

What does the word BLOOFY mean?

Q: What does the word 'bloofy' mean?

A: The word doesn't mean anything. Stephen Colbert used it in Newsweek magazine when he guest-edited the June 15 (2009) issue.

He was providing biographical information at the end of a piece written by Daniel Lyons.

"Lyons is Newsweek's tech editor, and has his own blog, twitter and bloofy. Don't know what a bloofy is? Get with the times, Grandpa!"


No, Bloofy is not the name of yet another new social-media website. Colbert was simply satirizing how these sites keep mushrooming all over the place.

List 'bloofy' under words invented by Stephen Colbert, such as wordinista and truthiness. You won't be able to find a standard dictionary definition for it.

Where is Palau?

Q: It's been announced that Guantanamo detainees will be taken in by Palau. Where is Palau? Is it even a country?

A: Palau is a group of volcanic islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It is about 500 miles east of the Philippines.

Palau was part of the UN Trust Territory of the Pacific under US administration; it became an independent republic in free association with the United States, effective 1994.

The population of Palau is 20,800. Its capital is Koror.

Palau's president, Johnson Toribiong, said his government had “agreed to accommodate the United States of America’s request” to “temporarily resettle” the detainees, members of the Uighur ethnic group, “subject to periodic review.”

The relocation of the 17 Uighur detainees will be the largest single transfer of Guantánamo prisoners.

- - -

Trivia:

Citizens of Palau may migrate to the United States without a visa and live and work here indefinitely. They can also serve in the U.S. military.

Culinary specialty: Fruit Bat Soup

What does the Lait Dairy MK on food labels mean?

Q: What does "Lait - Dairy MK" in a circle mean?

A: If you see the mark of MK in a circle, it means the food product was probably made in Canada, specifically Quebec.

"MK" stands for "Montreal Kosher" and it's the kosher certification symbol for the Vaad Ha'ir or Jewish Community Council of Montreal.

An example of a food product having this mark is the Camel halvah / sesame bar made by the Canadian company Noble Foods.

"Kosher" means that the product was prepared or manufactured according to the dietetic principles of Hebrew laws.

What does the S in iPhone 3gs mean?

Q: What is the meaning of the S in Apple's new iPhone 3G S?

A: Apple's new phone will be available in the United States on June 19, 2009 (Friday). Apple Stores will open their doors at eight o'clock in the morning.

Software update to iPhone OS 3.0 will be available for download two days earlier on June 17 (Wednesday) from the Apple website.

The S in iPhone 3G S stands for speed.

When is the switch to digital TV signals?

Q: When do TV stations switch to digital signals?

A: Television stations across the United States will begin broadcasting through a digital rather than an analog signal on June 12. Congress had mandated that the switch go into effect back in February, but it was delayed to give people more time to get ready.

If you have cable or satellite television, there's nothing to worry about. But viewers who rely on rabbit ears or roof-top antennas and who do not have internal digital tuners in their current TV sets, will need converter boxes if they want to continue watching television.

What is the name of the French Open trophy?

Q: What is the name of the French Open trophy?

A: The French Open championship trophy is called the Musketeers' Cup, named in honor of the Four Musketeers (tennis players Jean Borotra, Jacques Brugnon, Henri Cochet and René Lacoste).


French: La coupe des mousquetaires est nommée ainsi en l'honneur des Quatre Mousquetaires.


For the women's champion at Roland Garros, the trophy is the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen.

Men's Doubles trophy: Coupe Jacques Brugnon
Women's Doubles trophy: Coupe Simone Mathieu
Mixed Doubles trophy: Coupe Marcel Bernard


Winners receive a trophy replica. Pure silver replicas of the trophies are fabricated and engraved by Maison Mellerio of Paris.


The 2009 French Open winners are the men's champion Roger Federer of Switzerland and the women's champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia.

Who is the 2009 Belmont Stakes winner?

Q: Who won the 2009 Belmont Stakes?

A: The winner of the 2009 Belmont Stakes was Summer Bird ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux.

Dunkirk was second, and Mine That Bird ridden by Calvin Borel came in third.

What is the largest racetrack in the USA?

Q: What is the largest racetrack in North America?

A: The largest horse-racing track in the United States and Canada is Belmont Park in the hamlet of Elmont, New York, in Nassau County, Long Island, in the Town of Hempstead.

Belmont Park is famous for being the home of the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the Triple Crown.

The dirt racecourse is known officially as the Main Track and its nickname is Big Sandy.

Size: a circumference of 1½ miles (2,414 m), the longest dirt thoroughbred racetrack in North America

What's the most densely populated place in the US?

Q: What is the most densely populated place in the United Sates?

A: The incorporated place with the highest density in the country is Guttenberg, a town in Hudson County, New Jersey. Only four blocks wide, the town has a population of 10,807.

Guttenberg is a bedroom community with about a third of its employed residents working in New York City. The town has twice the density of New York City.

What's the most multiracial state in the US?

Q: What's the most multiracial state in the US?

A: Hawaii is the most racially diverse state. Nearly 1 in 5 residents (20%) are multiracial. Ranking next are the states of Alaska and Oklahoma, both at roughly 4 percent.

What is the world's strongest laser?

Q: What is the world's strongest laser?

A: The world's most powerful laser is known officially as the National Ignition Facility. The super laser was created to help keep tabs on the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile while also studying the heavens. It is located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory about 50 miles east of San Francisco.

The NIF is the size of a football field and consists of 192 separate laser beams that travel 1,000 feet in one-thousandth of a second to converge simultaneously on a target the size of a pencil eraser.

Who won the 2009 Giro d'Italia?

Q: Who won the 2009 Giro d'Italia?

A: Russian cyclist Denis Menchov won the 2009 Giro d'Italia in Rome, Italy.

How to Quickly Chill a Wine Bottle

Q: What's the quickest way to chill a champagne bottle?

A: Ooh, bubbly!

1. Place the bottle in an ice bucket.

2. Alternate layers of ice with layers of salt.

The salt will make the ice melt faster and make the cooling action more intense.

What's the Most Livable City?

Q: What's the most livable city in the United States?

A: According to Forbes in 2009, the most livable city is Portland, Maine. It ranked very high in income growth and culture. The city also has low levels of crime and unemployment.

How to Make a Blackened Pot Shiny

Q: I've got an aluminum pot that's turned black inside. Is it salvageable?

A: So you want to make it shiny again? Try this:

1. Chop up a small apple.
2. Place in the pot with enough water to cover.
3. Bring to a boil, then simmer for eight minutes.

The acid in the apple should work its magic and you should be able to wipe off the black stains with soapy water and a sponge.

What's the Most Livable State in the US?

Q: What's the most livable state in the USA?

A: According to State Rankings, the state of New Hampshire has the highest livability rating in the USA.

What's the Heaviest Marine Mammal?

Q: What's the heaviest marine mammal in the world?

A: Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus). It's the largest animal to have ever exited. Weight around 150 tons.

The largest marine mammal that is not a whale is the elephant seal. It weighs about four tons.

How to Safely Pick Up Broken Glass

Q: I dropped a glass bowl in the kitchen and there are fragments all over that I can barely see. How can I safely pick up the broken glass?

A: Hmmm...

Use a vacuum and risk ruining the machine?

Use a broom to sweep the dangerous mess up. No broom and dustpan?

Use bread. Just lightly press a few slices over the area where the shards might have scattered.