A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
Hello all! Welcome to Volume 187 of Dovi’s Digest.
Once a week, the R&D department where I work comes into the admin office bearing trays of goodies. Roast chicken, sauces, spice mixes, and assorted snacks. The purpose of this is taste tests. We’re constantly creating new products for our customers in a range of flavours, as well as matching other products on the market. Depending on where the product is going in the world, the same item might have small differences.
This isn’t uncommon and doesn’t have to be for separate sides of the world. I remember reading as a kid that Knorr tomato soup has different ingredients for France and Belgium. One has more parsley; one has less salt.
But the biggest product difference I’ve seen is with chips (crisps, not fries). The massive variety is mind boggling. There are lasagna Lays in Southeast Asia, oven roasted chicken Doritos in South Korea, and mushroom and cream Pringles in Russia. But how do the companies work out what works where? Well, there’s an entire secret industry dedicated to working it out. Read about it (plus some even weirder flavours) in this week’s headline article.
Today marks the final day of Chanukah, and there is an article about doughnuts to keep you in the mood. To all my Jewish readers, I hope the light from this chag radiates throughout the year. Chag Sameach!!
In this week’s added extras:
Have a look at the 2023 winners of the Black and White Photography awards.
Pantone have released their colour of 2024, which is Peach Fuzz. But how does a company that makes colours and doesn’t sell anything make money? This short video investigates it.
Do you enjoy the Digest? Would you like it to get better? Then please consider sharing it, as the more articles I’m sent, the better it is. It only takes a few seconds, and all you need to do is click here 👇. Thank you!
There was ONE correct answer to last week’s brainteaser. Well done to Ariel Subotzky! The answer and this week’s puzzle are below.
Not hungry? Learn about the heist that inspired Stockholm syndrome, why the salvation army is the reason we have hipster doughnuts, the US Postal Service’s secret police force, why CGI fire never looks right, what it’s like to be on a basketball team that has only won once in 17,000 games, and how the Chinese tobacco lobby become so strong.
Keep those articles (and everything else) coming!
Have a great weekend,
Dovi
And now, the articles:
‘How Do You Reduce a National Dish to A Powder?’: The Weird, Secretive World of Crisp Flavours
Why can you buy lasagne flavour snacks in Thailand but not in Italy? Which country can cope with the hottest chilli? And why do Germans like paprika so much?
The Bizarre, Six-Day Bank Heist That Spawned ‘Stockholm Syndrome’
An escaped Swedish convict, disguised with a woman’s curly wig, blue-tinted sunglasses, a dyed-black moustache, and rouged cheeks, walked into a Stockholm bank shortly after it opened on Aug. 23, 1973, fired a submachine gun into the ceiling and yelled, in English with an American accent, “The party begins!” Then things got weird.
We Have the Salvation Army to Thank for the Hipster Doughnut
Even during the worst of war, the ring-shaped confections offered a bite of joy and a much-needed morale boost to weary soldiers during World War I.
Hidden Cameras, GPS Data, and License Plate Readers: How the USPIS Tracks Down Mail Thieves
A court record shows how the oft overlooked United States Postal Inspection Service turned to all manner of tech to investigate someone stealing from mailboxes.
Terrible Fire
Why do some of the most expensively made movies in history have trouble depicting a simple flame?
One Win, 17,000 Defeats - Life as A Washington General
On 5 January 1971, Louis Herman Klotz did something that no basketballer has dared repeat. In front of a disbelieving audience in the city of Martin, Tennessee, the man known as Red broke one of the most sacred unwritten rules in sport. As player-coach for the Washington Generals, Klotz shot the winning basket against the Harlem Globetrotters.
How China Became Addicted to Its Tobacco Monopoly
China has about one fifth of the world’s population but buys half of the world’s cigarettes. For two decades, China Tobacco has undermined a landmark anti-smoking treaty. Millions more deaths are predicted as a result.
Quote of the Week:
“Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” – Mark Twain
Word of the Week:
Facetious
fuh·see·shuhs/fəˈsiːʃəs/
adjective
Treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humour; flippant.
"a facetious remark"
Facts of the Week:
In the Middle Ages, peonies were used to treat lunacy.
Plants can be trained to expect rewards.
Sniffer dogs can be trained to detect works of art.
Paintings that don't fit into lifts are less popular at auctions.
The Swedish word for “lift” is hiss.
The Irish for “escalator” is, staighre beo, “living stairs”.
12,000 Americans die falling down stairs each year.
Unmarried people are more likely to fall down stairs than married people, and previously married people more likely to do so than either.
Cartoon of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
Headline of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
Make the equation valid by moving exactly two matchsticks.
Last Week’s Brainteaser and Answer:
Can you make 20 using three threes and any mathematical operations you like?
[i.e., you need to find an expression that includes 3, 3 and 3, and no other digits, but may include any other mathematical symbol, such as +, -, x, ÷, (, ), √, ., etc. An example might be 3√3/3, although this would be wrong since it does not equal 20.]
Answer:
The trick is to use a decimal point. Here’s one way:
20 = (3 + 3)/.3
Thanks for reading Dovi’s Digest!