What’s the tax on alcohol in your state? I guess Texans get a great deal on beer, wine and spirits! Man, this infographic has everything you would ever want to know about state taxes. A big thanks to our friends over at Infographic World for providing this graphic from TurboTax.
Looks like Tax Season is here. You can tell because some people at work complain, while others get excited about that big check. I always end up owing money, so I’m definitely one of the complainers. Actually, I forgot — there’s a third person. The guy who hasn’t paid taxes in a few years and brags about it. Yeah, that guy is usually the same guy who steals office supplies and has pictures of his cats plastered all over his cubical. [via]
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Happy Monday! It is time to get this work week started, so let’s get it started with this pretty cool Star Wars infographic. My last Star Wars infographic post, which can be found here, was so popular that I thought I would post another one. Unlike the one from last week, today’s has to do more directly with the movie franchise, as opposed to what resulted from it.
Never has a movie franchise affected popular culture as much as Star Wars has ours. George Lucas managed to not only create a movie, but created a whole new universe with its own history, which resulted in more fan involvement than any other movie franchise in history. Although I was not born until about 30 years after the first Star Wars was released, when I saw it it was as though it had just been released. Star Wars has managed to keep its steam throughout all these years and generation after generation continues to watch it.
Today’s infographic provides us with an up and down layout providing 19 different little known facts about Star Wars. As many of you may already know, James Earl Jones provided the voice for Darth Vader and Sebastian Shaw provided his face. However, did you know that there was a third actor involved in the creation of Darth Vader? David Prowse provided the massive body for the character. Another fun fact, the Ewoks were in fact named after the Native American tribe, Miwok, who lived in the Redwood forest in which the Endor scenes were filmed. [via]
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There are some rumors surfacing about possibly cutting the budget for PBS. As much of a Ron Swanson I believe I am, I could never live without PBS. I would like to say my entire generation grew up with Sesame Street but, I think a more accurate statement would be a few entire generations grew up with Big Bird and friends.
Besides Sesame Street I also enjoyed Barney as a youngster. I never got to see much because my brother liked to put on TMNT instead. It is okay though, I put on Nat Geo whenever he’s watching Jersey Shore now. I think the show I watched the most when I was little was probably Reading Rainbow. Take a look, it’s in a book, the best show everrr. I’m so glad that I read a bunch of books as a kid, they were the bomb. Lavar Burton helped me, and thousands of others, become excellent readers. I learned so much from the children shows on PBS — I’d say they were a vital part of my childhood.
In the present, I still enjoy PBS, but I do watch it less. One of the best shows has to be Austin City Limits. Any band or music performer who’s made a name for themselves have played on this show. Going steady for over 3 decades, the real Austin City Limits isn’t that over-crowded high-schooler music fest you’ve heard about. With a 2000 capacity venue and in a brand new shiny high-rise in downtown Austin, it would be a such a let-down to cut the show. [Via]
Hopefully reading this infographic will give you a nice break, writing about it has for me. I sit here amidst a slew of homework, from writing a paper on Rousseau and his Discourses to studying Chinese Politics. Now after finding this infographic, all I want to do is put everything away and watch Star Wars. Whether you are a fan of the double triology (? Sixology? Whatever you want to call it) or not, there is no doubt the series has permeated our society. Ranging from simple references in shows or movies to all kinds of memorabilia. Star Wars is an unavoidable phenomenon that will most certainly continue living on for a long time.
Not to lead you on, but this infographic is not so much about the story/plot of Star Wars. It has to do more with the real life business effects it had. Sorry to those of you who are disappointed by this. Moving on, this infographic is a web/timeline starting back to George Lucas. Although not everything on the list is directly affected or even known by him it shows a butterfly effect all beginning with the famous director. Another notable attribute of this infographic is what it decides to focus on- rather than simply focus on the people who always get the credit, it incorporates behind the scenes people as well. It splits the information into three main columns: sound, film, effects. No movie would be complete without the special effects and crazy loud explosions. Have a good weekend and may the force be with you (sorry, I had to do it)! [via]
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Here in a America we tend to think we are the best at everything and have the best of everything. However, our egos prove to be too big- as a country that prides itself on innovation and claims to have some of the greatest technology, we certainly seem to have one of the slower internet connections. Not only do we have a turtle-like internet connection when compared to places like Japan and Korea, we also seem to have one of the more expensive mbps (megabytes per second) rate at $3.33.
This American lag has become common these days, so much so that President Obama even addressed it his State of the Union address. The United States was once the front-runners in everything, but economic turmoil and other set backs have caused us to fall behind. Even President Obama’s $18.7 billion broadband spending program may not be great enough to get us back on top. While browsing the New York Times I stumbled upon an article entitled “Home Internet May Get Even Faster in South Korea.” Korea, who already boasts an incredibly fast internet connection plans on making it even faster at a gigabit per second. Not only does Korea plan to have this in every household by the end of 2012, but has already started testing it in select homes.
With the innovations in today’s technology and an ever increasing demand for internet, it is obvious that a gigabit is just the beginning. With technologies like Google T.V. and others like it, demand for high quality streaming at a fast speed will become even greater. I’m excited for what the future holds. And to think we were on dial-up only about a decade ago. [via]
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