I’m not a fan of over-capitalisation, but on this occasion it’s deserved. For useful facts are such fun, they are indeed Useful Facts, guaranteed to brighten a (particularly grey) day. You don’t have to be a nerd to enjoy them (although now that it is cooler to consider yourself one, and broadcast that fact, I can confirm that I am, and have long been, a nerd).
So today’s useful fact is about alpaca, which I’m learning lots about in order to write about for a client. I found out that alpaca fleece was so prized, it was reserved only for Inca kings to wear. Pretty cool – or in fact pretty warm. Go on, ask me another. Alpaca yarn is 8 times warmer than sheep’s wool. Remember that next time you’re thinking about buying socks.
In the past, Useful Facts were something you might tell friends – or grownups, to impress, if you thought it would work. Sometimes, a good Useful Fact is one that you hug to yourself, waiting for the time to be right to convey it. Now, useful facts are part of my world. They’re called USPs (or Unique Selling Points). And they’re just what a client is looking for if they want their product to stand out in the market place.
What with the web and all, it’s much easier to find out facts; much easier to share them. Much easier to stick them all together and build something new with them. It’s no longer uncool to like knowing stuff.
This is a great source of comfort to my inner nerd, from a time when it wasn’t so great. Meanwhile, nerds can also become teachers (on occasion) so they get a larger audience for their Useful Facts. (Yes, I did that too.)
I will no doubt be back to tell you more about alpacas at some point. For now, I’m honing the remainder of my useful facts about them, and wondering which ones will need to be left out in order to save space on a computer screen. But in the meantime, they’re all going in.