1) Hard water vs soft water
Hard water is water that contains an
appreciable quantity of dissolved minerals (like calcium and magnesium).
Soft water is treated water in which the
only ion is sodium.
Hard water isn’t a health hazard but can
be a nuisance within the home. Soap used in hard water combines with the
minerals to form sticky soap curd. Some synthetic detergents are less effective
in hard water because the active ingredient is partially inactivated by
hardness, even though it stays dissolved. Bathing with soap in hard water
leaves a film of sticky soap curd on the skin. The film may prevent soil and
bacteria from being removed. Soap curd interferes with the return of skin to
normal, slightly acid condition and may lead to irritation. Soap curd on hair
may make it dull, lifeless and difficult to manage. When doing laundry in hard
water, soap curds lodge in fabric during washing to make fabric stiff and
rough. Incomplete soil removal from laundry causes graying of white fabric and
the loss of brightness in colors. In addition, soap curds can deposit on
dishes, bathtubs and showers, and all water and plumbing fixtures.
2) Checking vs saving account
Checking accounts are better for
everyday transactions such as purchases, bills, and ATM withdrawals. They
typically earn less interest — or none.
Savings accounts are better for storing
money and earning interest, and because of that, you have a monthly limit on
what you can withdraw.
Further reading:
Best Checking Accounts of 2018 –
NerdWallet
https://www.nerdwallet.com/banking/best-checking-accounts
Best Saving Accounts of 2018 –
NerdWallet
https://www.nerdwallet.com/banking/best-savings-accounts
3) Street vs. avenue
Street and avenue can be either long or
short, narrow or wide depending on where you live. There is no standard
definition of street and avenue in the U.S. In some cities, street and avenue
are used in a standard manner to indicate direction. This is because around the
mid 1800s and before the 1950’s, most cities developed in a planned grid
layout, regardless of their location. This was just seen as more modern and
efficient – a big breakaway from the “Old World" in Europe where
cities were hundreds of years old and the street pattern was somewhat of a big
mess.
However, there is no standard rule for
associating a name with a direction. For example:
In Manhattan, avenues run north to south
and streets run east to west.
In Seattle, avenues run north-south and
streets run east-west.
In North Carolina, avenues run east to
west and streets run north to south.
4) CDMA vs GSM
GSM
and CDMA are different technologies that phones use to connect. They were both
developed in the early nineties for 2G connectivity.
GSM (Global System for Mobile
Communication)
GSM
is the standard system for most of the world, unless you live in the United
States or Russia.
SIM
cards are one of the key features of GSM networks. They house your service
subscription, network identification, and address book information. The cards
are also used to assign time slots to the phone conversation, and moreover,
they tell the network what services you have access to. They store your address
book, too, along with relative contact information. They can even be used to
pass information between phones if a carrier allows it.
CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access)
CDMA is often found in the U.S and
Russia.
Phones
on CDMA networks do not use SIM cards. Instead, each phone is built
specifically to work on that carrier’s network. What does this mean for
consumers? For starters, it means that phones are tied to a carrier and their
bands, so if you decide to change providers, you’ll have to buy a new phone.
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