08 January 13: Fumes

Consumers, not just factory workers, may be in danger from fumes from the buttery flavouring in microwave popcorn, according to a warning letter to U.S. federal regulators from a doctor at Denver's National Jewish Medical and Research Center, a leading lung research hospital.

08 January 12: Porcelain

Porcelain tile is a unique type of ceramic tile fired at extreme temperatures, making it much stronger than ordinary ceramic tile and even harder than granite.

08 January 11: Injurious

Porn was first seriously restricted in Japan in the Meiji Era, when materials deemed ‘injurious to public morals’ were banned. After Japan’s defeat in WWII, American authorities changed many of Japan’s laws to guarantee freedom of speech and expression – but the pre-existing law regarding porn remains in effect to this day.

08 January 10: Chai

‘The word for ‘life’ in Hebrew is ‘chai.’ The two Hebrew letters that make up the word ‘chai’ are chet and yud. In Gematria (the numerical value of Hebrew letters), chet is equivalent to 8 and yud is equivalent to 10. So ‘chai’, chet and yud together, equals 18. Giving money in multiples of $18 is symbolic of giving ‘chai’ or life. Many people give money in multiples of $18 as presents to someone celebrating a birth, a bar or bat mitzvah or a wedding.’

08 January 9: Culturepreneurs

Culturepreneurs: ‘a new generation of twentysomething, business-minded culture obsessives who generate income from arty pursuits that have previously been notoriously poor sources of revenue – such as fanzines, street theatre, DVDs, and indie clothing lines.’

08 January 8: Bhutto

Benazir Bhutto called her time at Harvard the ‘four of the happiest years of my life’ and said it formed ‘the very basis of [her] belief in democracy.’

08 January 7: Phobics

The National Phobics Society estimates at least four million Britons are affected by toilet phobia. People experience extreme anxiety, deny themselves fluids, and – in worst case scenarios – become housebound as result of their inability to relieve themselves in public restrooms.

08 January 6: Permission

Tim Rice-Oxley gave Coldplay permission to use the name ‘Coldplay,’ which he had rejected for his own band as he thought it was ‘too depressing.’

08 January 5: Homey

‘Much of the language shaped by rappers was popular ‘back in the day,’ in the 1980's, 70's and 60's, and probably goes back much farther. Words like ‘fly’ and ‘homey’ are more old-school than most people think; they date at least to the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt . . . they had pretty much the same meanings they have today (‘cool’ and ‘from the neighborhood’).’

‘Shorties and Scholars Agree, the Word Is Rap’ (New York Times)

08 January 4: Weather

The Weather Channel reaches more than 95 million American households. With 32 million unique visits a day, it has more hits than Facebook or MySpace.

08 January 3: Satellite

1.5 million Canadians work out of their homes or satellite business centres at least a few days a week.

08 January 2: Gladwell

Writer Malcolm Gladwell has called the British magazine Car ‘the finest magazine in the English language.’

08 January 1: Koch

Edward I. Koch, the 105th mayor of New York whose slogan was How'm I doing?, kept the following maxim on his desk at City Hall: ‘If you say it can't be done, you are right, you can't do it.’