The problems with dial up internet are hard to convey to young people, because it wasn't just about the internet. It was also about the phones, but phones operated much differently than they do now. Dial up isn't such a big deal when you have cell phones, but back when there was often only one phone line in the house, dial up would block that phone line. It was either internet or phone calls. "Who makes phone calls?" you might be wondering. Everyone used to!
I remember the stress of wanting to go online to talk to a girl in a chatroom, but my parents would be waiting for a phone call, so I couldn't get on. In all likelihood it was probably never a girl who I was talking to. It was probably a dude. That's the one thing you can say about phone calls. At least you know who you're talking to.
To insure one’s house, one’s car or to underwrite a life insurance policy, that is common practice. But who would pay an insurance premium for his/her thumb, legs or smile? Stars, of course.
At the top of the ranking are the legs of Mariah Carey, worth 810 million USD: The diva became, in 2006, the Gillette brand muse for the advertising campaign «Legs of a Goddess». She then took out an insurance policy with London Lloyds to protect her legs, a decision that is far from being insignificant. Among its customers, the London insurer then included several icons of music, such as Bob Dylan or Rod Stewart.
David Beckham’s body insured for 195 million USD: European champion with Manchester United in 1999, David Beckham was in 2006 the most renowned footballer of the planet. In relation to his sporting activities, he took out an insurance cover for his legs. The huge amount paid for his insurance would reportedly exceed the 103 million USD disbursed by Real Madrid for the cover of Christiano Ronaldo in 2009. The fashion model would later extend his insurance cover to his entire body.
15 million USD in insurance for Kim Kardashian’s curves: The curves of Kim Kardashian are her number one beauty asset. The reality TV star, who is crazy about plastic surgery, has underwritten an insurance policy worth 15 million USD to protect her famous butt.
The culinary critic Egon Ronay assured his taste buds: The famous Hungarian culinary critic has insured his taste buds since 1957, for the amount of 400 000 USD. An original insurance policy which allows him to cover his sense of taste without which he will no longer be able to practice his job.