Ai Insurance Blog

Travelers Combining both property and liability insurance

2012-01-03T12:50:00.000-08:00

North Carolina Business owner's policy for small businesses

A Business Owner's Policy (BOP) is recommended for most small businesses, as it is often the most affordable way to obtain broad coverage. Combining both property and liability insurance, a BOP will cover your business in the event of such things as property damage, suspended operations, or lawsuits resulting from bodily injury or property damage to others.

Master Pac^SM, Travelers Business Owner's Policy, offers a myriad of options to meet your specific insurance needs. Some businesses may find the BOP alone to be sufficient, while others may wish to tailor Travelers BOP by increasing key coverages, adding other options, or eliminating unnecessary coverages.
Our Master Pac series includes insurance protection for small businesses in the following industry segments:

Apartment: Travelers Apartment Pac^SM and Apartment Pac Plus^SM are designed for owners of buildings used exclusively as apartment houses, including cooperatives.
Building: Travelers Building Pac^SM and Building Pac Plus^SM are designed for lessors of commercial buildings occupied by offices, mercantile and retail establishments.
Business: Travelers Business Pac^SM and Business Pac Plus^SM are designed for businesses providing personal consumer services, businesses repairing light consumer goods and businesses engaged in printing.
Condominium: Travelers Condominium Pac^SM and Condominium Pac Plus^SM are designed for owners of buildings used exclusively as condominiums.
Contractors: Travelers Contractors Pac^SM is designed for primarily small residential, special trade contractors.
Garage: Travelers Garage Pac^SM is designed for independently operated or franchised automotive service and repair businesses.
Manufacturers: Travelers Manufacturers Pac Plus^SM is designed for manufacturers of electronics, food products, leather goods, instruments, metal goods, paper products, plastic goods, rubber products, textiles and wood products.
Office: Travelers Office Pac^SM and Office Pac Plus^SM are designed for a variety of firms providing medical, legal, financial or other professional services for their clientele.
Religious: Travelers Religious Pac^SM is designed for small churches and other houses of worship not affiliated with operating educational institutions.
Restaurant: Travelers Restaurant Pac^SM and Restaurant Pac Plus^SM are designed for various food service establishments. Restaurant Pac is designed for fast food and family-style restaurants. Restaurant Pac Plus is designed for fine dining establishments, banquet and reception facilities and caterers, as well as the larger family-style restaurants.
Store: Travelers Store Pac^® and Store Pac Plus^SM are designed for a wide variety of retailers primarily engaged in brick-and-mortar commerce.
Technology: Travelers Technology Office Pac^SM is designed for technology firms providing computer consultation and a variety of technology services for their clientele. Travelers also offers Technology Manufactures Pac Plus^SM which is designed for manufacturers of electronics and instruments products.
Wholesalers: Travelers Wholesalers Pac Plus^SM is designed for distributors of various types of durable and non-durable domestic goods.

The Master Pac series affords a large number of built-in coverages important to protecting your small business, including:

Business personal property (optional for some businesses)
Building coverage (optional for some businesses)
General liability
Product liability
Business income and extra expense (optional for some businesses)
Employee dishonesty
Equipment breakdown coverage

Small business insurance-specific coverage options are also available, such as:

Increased fine arts coverage
Accountants endorsement
Lawyers endorsement
Medical and dental office endorsement
Eating establishment endorsement
Spoilage coverage
Bailees customers goods coverage

Travelers is dedicated to the small business marketplace and we are sure that you will find an insurance product that is well suited for your business.

Commercial package policy (OMNI)

Travelers OMNI product is designed for those businesses that satisfy our underwriting guidelines, but require specialized coverage tailoring unavailable in Master Pac or Pac Plus.

Interested in a business owners policy from Travelers? Get a free quote today http://www.aiins.us

Ai Insurance http://www.aiins.us 1-(855)-415-9099 Fayetteville, Rocky Mount, Wilson, Greenville, Lumberton, Wilmington

Halloween Safe Driving Tips!

2011-10-26T07:49:00.000-07:00

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According to Safe Kids USA, children are twice as likely to be killed
by a vehicle on Halloween compared to other days of the year. Your
customers will have to navigate roads crowded with children in the dark.
Help your customers keep trick-or-treaters safe by sharing these
Halloween safe-driving tips on your website, in your email campaigns or
in your social networking.

 Halloween Safe-Driving Tips

 According to Safe Kids USA, children are twice as likely to be killed
by a vehicle on Halloween compared to other days of the year. Take extra
caution behind the wheel on Halloween and use the following driving tips
to keep trick-or-treaters safe.

* YIELD TO TRICK-OR-TREATERS: Be prepared for children to run into
the street at anytime.

* REFRAIN FROM PASSING IDLE VEHICLES: You never know when the driver
in front of you has stopped to drop children off. Be patient and take
extra caution when traveling near other vehicles.

* PARK YOUR MOBILE PHONE: With children crowding the dark roads, it
is especially important to avoid any distractions while behind the
wheel.

* COMMUNICATE WITH OTHER DRIVERS: Use hazard lights when picking-up
or dropping-off trick-or-treaters. And, always use turn signals.

* CONSIDER ALTERNATE ROUTES: Avoid driving near trick-or-treaters by
taking routes that go around busy neighborhoods, not through them.

Easy Ways To Save On Car Insurance

2011-08-27T16:40:00.000-07:00

There are easy wasy to save on car insurance, you just have to know where to find them. See what the car insurance experts at Ai Insurance have to say about that. They just might help you to reduce your vehicle insurance rates.

(NC)—If there's one wish that all drivers share—next to cheaper gas—it's how to reduce their car insurance premiums. Whether you've been paying premiums for many years or you're shopping around for your very first policy, coverage is essential but it doesn't have to break the bank.

The experts at Ai Insurance have a few suggestions on how you can reduce your car insurance premiums.

Consider The Age Of Your Car:

If you own a car that is more than 10 years old, you may want to remove collision and comprehensive coverage, especially if the total value of the car is low. It all depends on your situation. Can you afford to repair or replace the vehicle with something similar if you had an at-fault collision or if it was stolen? If not, it might make sense to maintain the coverage.

Consider Your Deductible:

Another way of saving some money is by increasing your deductible, regardless of your car's age. Increasing your deductible from $300 to $500 or even up to $1000 will reduce your premium. Remember however that in the event of an at-fault collision, you must pay the first $500 or $1000 in repair or replacement costs, depending on the deductible you choose.

Choose Your Vehicle Carefully:

That great deal on a new car might look perfect on paper, but you may want to find out what your insurance premium will be before you sign the purchase agreement. For example, luxury cars can be more expensive to insure due the higher repair or replacement costs compared to a less expensive car. Likewise you will probably pay more to insure a high performance car as these are also expensive to fix or replace and are deemed more likely to be stolen, driven at high speeds and involved in high impact collisions.

Where Are You Going?

The distance you drive and the purpose of your driving is taken into account when calculating your premium. If you have to commute a great distance to the office, maybe think of taking public transit. You could save on gas, wear and tear on your vehicle, and on your insurance premium.

Drive Carefully!

It sounds like a no-brainer, but having a clean driving record is one of the best ways of keeping your insurance costs down. Speeding and other traffic tickets can have a big impact on your insurance premiums. The same is true of at-fault accidents.

Consider Combining Your Home And Auto Insurance:

In some cases you may be eligible for a reduced rate by joining your car and house insurance, especially if you've been with your insurer for a while. Another simple way to increase your auto insurance savings and enjoy greater convenience is to consider insuring all of your personal vehicles with one provider.

To learn more visit: http://www.aiins.us Auto Insurance Fayetteville, Home, Life, Health, Boat, and more.

Car insurance hope for young drivers

2011-08-14T08:47:00.000-07:00

Looking for more affordable insurance in North Carolina? Auto, Home, Life, Commercial, *the lowest rates and the best protection* http://www.aiins.us or call 1-855-415-9099

Young Marmalade, which specialises in car insurance for younger drivers, has cut premiums by 17% during the four months to the end of July, bucking the trend of soaring premiums.

AA Insurance said premiums for drivers between 17 and 22 have risen, on average, by 80% over the past two years, while the latest Confused.com/Towers Watson car insurance index, which tracks more than 4m quotes, shows the average 17- to 20-year-old male now paying £4,006 a year for comprehensive cover, compared with an average premium cost of £858.

Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance, says: "Most young people can't get their heads round why their first car insurance premium should be 10 times greater than what they might pay for an old banger. But it's got everything to do with the potential damage their irresponsible use can inflict. Entirely preventable car crash injury claims of £5m or more are becoming increasingly common."

Young Marmalade uses telematics or "black box" satellite technology, which it calls Intelligent Marmalade. It monitors driving behaviour such as braking and acceleration, speed and at what time of day the car is driven. The data is used to calculate premiums; the better the car is driven, the lower the premium and vice-versa.

Nigel Lacy of Young Marmalade, said a young man using Intelligent Marmalade will pay on average £2,601 for comprehensive cover, while a young woman will pay £1,642 a year. After the black box has been fitted, initial premiums are subject to £250 and £500 increases should the technology indicate the insured is a bad driver. If that continues, Young Marmalade will cancel the policy.

Lacy added: "Young drivers are notoriously the sector that suffers the most in insurance costs. This is part of our ongoing commitment to get more young people driving – and driving safely. Intelligent Marmalade has had a very positive impact on safety; drivers are far more vigilant and careful with the 'black box' on board."

In 2006 Norwich Union, now Aviva, launched two policies using black box technology but they were withdrawn within two years because of low take-up. This was partly because the technology was very expensive at the time and partly because insurance for younger people cost less then.

Co-operative Insurance claims its Young Driver policy results in premiums that are, on average, £328 below competitors' quotes, and 82% of 17- to 25-year-olds could save money. Policyholders have their driving assessed every 90 days and are given a discount worth up to 11% of the premium if they drive sensibly.

Insurance covers diagnosis, treatment of most sleep problems

2011-07-16T19:41:00.000-07:00

North Carolina, protect the things that mean the most to you in life with insurance products from Ai Insurance. http://www.aiins.us Auto, Home, Health, Life, Commercial...we know insurance!

The diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders have come a long way in recent years. In the past, people who snored might be advised to sew a tennis ball onto the back of their pajama top. The "snore ball" would discourage them from sleeping on their back and might quiet their droning. Or a doctor might use the "dog index" to measure poor sleep: If your dog generally sleeps with you but by morning has left the bed more than half the time, it may be because you're such a loud, restless sleeper that the dog has gone elsewhere for some peace and quiet.

How things have changed. Now, doctors with special training diagnose and treat more than 80 sleep disorders -- from obstructive sleep apnea to narcolepsy -- at special centers with labs where a patient's every sleeping moment may be recorded and measured.Insurance usually covers the diagnosis and treatment of sleep problems, with some exceptions. For example, snoring on its own is not a medical problem and insurance won't cover its treatment, to the great disappointment of many a snorer's bed partner.

Obstructive sleep apnea, which occurs in at least 2 to 4 percent of Americans is another matter entirely. The consequences of untreated sleep apnea can be extremely serious.

Sleep apnea is an obstruction of your airway that's created when the muscles at the back of your throat relax during sleep. The obstruction partially or completely stops your breathing, sometimes for a minute or longer, until your brain alerts your body to wake up and you start to breathe again. This can lead to fragmented, poor sleep as well as reduced oxygen levels, which can worsen such medical conditions ashigh blood pressure and diabetes and increase your risk ofheart attack and stroke.

As awareness of the problem has increased, so has demand for testing and treatment. Patients with suspected sleep apnea are typically sent to sleep centers where they are evaluated overnight while they sleep. In the past 10 years, the number of accredited sleep centers has grown from 566 to 2,258, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Snoring is a common symptom of sleep apnea, but some experts say sleep studies may be overprescribed. "Everybody who snores doesn't need a sleep test," says Fred Holt, an ear, nose and throat surgeon in Raleigh, N.C., and an expert on sleep apnea who consults on anti-fraud issues for attorneys, medical auditors and investigators. The risk of developing sleep apnea is higher in people who are overweight, male, middle-aged or older, or smokers.

Medicare payments for sleep lab testing have increased from $62 million in 2001 to $235 million in 2009, according to the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Inspector General, which is conducting a study to review the appropriateness of Medicare payments for them. The study is due next year.

There are home sleep tests for problem sleepers as well, and their use is also on the rise, say experts. Rather than measure more than a dozen body functions while a person spends the night in a sleep lab hooked up to sensors, home sleep tests measure only a few functions while patients sleep in their own beds. Their cost is a few hundred dollars vs. up to $2,000 for a night in the lab.

Insurance will generally cover either type of test if it is prescribed by a physician. But while home sleep tests may mean a smaller bite out of your wallet if you have a co-payment or a high-deductible plan, they're not the best choice for everyone, sleep experts agree. "Home sleep testing should be reserved for people that are at high risk for sleep apnea and who don't have a lot of other illnesses likeobesity or heart disease that might alter the sensitivity of the test," says Nancy Collop, director of the Emory Sleep Center in Atlanta and president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Eli Walker snores and sometimes stops breathing for short times while sleeping. Walker, 63, read that there was a correlation between high blood pressure, for which he took two medications already, and sleep apnea. He went to see an ear, nose and throat specialist who sent him to a sleep lab near his Silver Spring home. Diagnosis: moderate sleep apnea.

Walker was prescribed a continuous positive airway pressure mask, which straps onto a person's face and directs pressurized air into the airway, keeping it open. But after three months of trying to use it, he gave up. "I hated it," he says. "I couldn't breathe naturally, and I didn't like the air blowing in my nose."

Walker finally found a good night's sleep with a specially fitted oral appliance that looks kind of like a sports mouth guard. The appliance, which must be fitted by a dentist with special training in sleep medicine, repositions and stabilizes the lower jaw and soft tissues so that the airways stay open. It typically works best with people with mild to moderate sleep apnea.

Good news for seniors: Private insurers have covered the dental appliances for years, according to Sheri Katz, president of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine. In January, Medicare began covering them, too.

Auto Insurance Canceled After Cracked Windshields

2011-07-11T07:12:00.000-07:00

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The next time you file a claim for a cracked windshield, it could result in your auto insurance being canceled.
A State Farm customer for several years, Charles Stanford said his car insurance cancellation notice came out of the blue."I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would be dropped for something like that. It doesn't make sense to me,” Stanford said.He said the reason State Farm dropped coverage was a cracked windshield, which actually happened twice in the same month.He said the windshield replacement company chosen by State Farm replaced the glass both times.Stanford said the minor incidents were not his fault and his driving record is clean."(I) don’t have any speeding tickets, no parking tickets, no accidents.

I have absolutely nothing. Why in the world would you cancel me?" he said.Action 9 talked with insurance experts who said it’s rare for most companies to cancel coverage over cracked windshields.These cases, when compared to most minor fender benders, are a modest cost and a freak event and the driver should not responsible."Normally in a case like this they would raise your premium. That woulseem the logical thing to do, but here they've gone to the extreme and dropped them as a client," one expert said.Our sister station in Orlando, WFTV,contacted State Farm, which said “whether a driver is at fault is not the reason for some cancellations.”The company said its underwriting policy includes not renewing customers who have frequent claims within the same year and a family car had a cracked windshield in 2009.

According to Stanford, other companies have offered coverage, some at higher premiums. But no one turned him down over cracked windshield claims."If this is a common thing, the public needs to know about it," Stanford said.

All or nothing for some Allstate customers

2011-07-04T11:50:00.000-07:00

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RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Some North Carolina residents say they are concerned, after a major insurance company is threatening to cut them loose.

More than 40,000 Allstate customers have been getting letters in the mail letting them know their homeowner's insurance policies will not be renewed unless they add on auto insurance.
Allstate Customer Ricky Stout says he pays his homeowner's policy each year. He says in all the years he's had Allstate, he never even filed a claim.
"I was very upset because all of a sudden now they are telling me I have to put my auto insurance with them or my homeowner's policy is gone I don't think it's right at all," Stout said.
Stout says he has his auto insurance through another carrier and is happy with it and does not want to make the switch.

"I don't think they're trying to keep me," he said. "I don't think they care."
Stout says he wonders why Allstate is taking this action and if it is even allowed.
ABC11 Eyewitness New I-Team Troubleshooter Diane Wilson reached out to Allstate and a representative says they will not offer the option to renew to about 44,700 North Carolina customers who only have property coverage and not an auto policy.

"More than 400,000 North Carolina customers have purchased insurance products from Allstate, and Allstate takes that responsibility very seriously," said John Heid, Allstate Senior Communications Consultant in the Southeast Region. "Managing our exposure is necessary to allow Allstate to continue to help provide protection and peace of mind through a variety of insurance products."
"At the same time, Allstate proactively seeks out solutions to meet the challenges posed by North Carolina’s insurance market, and to help preserve affordable access to insurance in this state."
"Allstate has made an agreement with Universal North America Insurance Company (Universal). As a part of our agreement with Universal North America Insurance Company, and in an effort to manage our overall risk in the North Carolina property insurance market, Allstate will not offer the option to renew for a segment of North Carolina property customers, most of which will be provided a quote for property coverage with Universal. Beginning with policies that renew on or after June 19, 2011, Allstate will not offer the option to renew to approximately 44,700 homeowner, Landlord’s Package Policy (LPP) and mobile home policies throughout North Carolina that did not also have an active standard Allstate auto policy as of December 15, 2010. The majority of these affected customers will receive a quote from Universal for property insurance coverage."
"These actions were carefully considered, and will help ensure Allstate’s continued ability to provide a wide variety of insurance products to North Carolina consumers at a competitive rate, while remaining financially strong in every community we serve."

A check with the state's department of insurance says Allstate's action is legal, as long asthe company gives the insured 30 days advanced notice of non-renewal.
Stout says he received that notice, but does not understand why Allstate wants to lose his $2,800 homeowner's policy each year.
"I don't understand as my homeowner's insurance is a lot more expensive than my car insurance and I'm like why are they worried about that little bit business," he said.

Deadline nears to apply for FEMA tornado aid

2011-06-19T20:30:00.000-07:00

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RALEIGH -- Victims of the April 16 tornadoes that tore through North Carolina have until midnight

Monday to apply for federal disaster aid.
To receive grants and assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration, storm victims must apply by calling 800-621-3362 or visiting fema.gov.
Since the storms, 9,128 North Carolina victims have registered with FEMA, and the agency has doled out $15 million.

In Wake County, 2,195 people have registered, and they’ve received $1.45 million in aid. In Johnston County, 460 victims have registered and received $1.01 million.
FEMA spokesman Gene Kauffman worries that some victims are still hesitant to register. “They feel like they haven’t had much damage and they’ve got insurance,” Kauffman said. “If they’re reluctant to come forward, they should not be.”
Kauffman said victims with insurance can qualify if their policy didn’t cover all their losses. Also, registering with FEMA doesn’t affect one’s eligibility for other federal aid programs.

Coalition Issues Warning on Kids and Hot Cars

2011-06-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

On average, 35 to 40 children across the country die from heat exposure in vehicles each year.
According to Safe Kids North Carolina, 2010 turned out to be one of the deadliest years on record for children 2 months to 6 years old with 49 hyperthermia deaths.
In the past five years, at least 10 children in North Carolina have died from hyperthermia after being trapped in hot vehicles.
Some of these deaths occur when a parent accidentally forgets a child in a car. Some occur when a parent intentionally leaves a child in a vehicle. In other cases, a child was playing in an unattended vehicle when overtaken by heat.
"Sadly, these deaths are preventable," said state Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin, state chairman of Safe Kids North Carolina. "Leaving a child unattended in a car, even for a minute, is more dangerous than many people realize."
That's why Safe Kids North Carolina has launched a new safety campaign, with the slogan "S'more dangerous than you think... Never leave your child alone in a car." Safety experts show parents, caregivers and children how easy it is to bake a s'more in a vehicle to demonstrate how quickly the inside of a car can become dangerously hot.
With its soaring temperatures, July is historically the deadliest month for cases of vehicular hyperthermia in children in the state, a news release said. However, the danger spreads from March through November due to the subtropical North Carolina climate.
Hyperthermia can occur even on days with mild 70-degree temperatures. The temperature in a closed vehicle can rise about 20 degrees in 10 minutes and nearly 30 degrees in 20 minutes. Cracking a window has little effect.
Safe Kids North Carolina offers the following safety tips:
n Never leave a child alone in a vehicle. Check to make sure all children exit the vehicle when you reach your destination.
n Lock the doors when your vehicle is parked, and store keys in a secure location. Teach children that cars are not places to play.
n Busy parents have a lot on their minds, so give yourself a reminder.
Place your purse, briefcase or other important items in the backseat next to your child's car seat so you have to look in the back before leaving the car. Also, set a reminder on your cell phone or other mobile device to remind you to drop off children when routines change.
n Make an arrangement with your child's school or day care that you will be notified if your child is not dropped off at the normal time.
n If you see a child or pet left unattended in a vehicle, call 911 immediately.
n Check vehicles and trunks first if a child goes missing.
Safe Kids North Carolina reaches out to parents, caregivers and children to prevent childhood injuries through 36 Safe Kids Coalitions working in 64 counties.

2011-06-13T20:27:00.003-07:00

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2011-06-13T20:27:00.001-07:00

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Divorce insurance: New casualty insurance pays out on the unhappily hitched

2011-06-13T20:17:00.000-07:00

BY PAULA BURKES pburkes@opubco.com 7

Published: June 12, 2011

Your favorite local insurance provider. http:.//www.aiins.us "Ai Insurance" -- auto, home, life, businesses. health, boat, and more!

Introduced in August by Kernersville, N.C.,-based SafeGuard Guaranty Corp., “WedLock” is a new type of casualty insurance that gives the unhappily married a payout after he or she is divorced.
Monthly premiums run from $15.99 for a payout of $1,250 to $3,198 ($15.99 times a maximum of 200 units) for $250,000 coverage.
To discourage people from signing up just before their divorce, policyholders must pay premiums on insured spouses for four years before the policy will pay out.
SafeGuard Chairman and CEO John Logan said the number of WedLock policyholders is growing monthly. “We don't share the numbers,” Logan said, “but it's more than a handful.”
Logan conceived the idea for Wedlock following his divorce 10 years ago.
“My finances went to hell in a handbag,” he said. “I thought I can't be the only schmuck this is happening to. That was my ‘aha' moment.”
Logan realizes most people, unless they've been divorced before, won't buy policies before they wed, because they don't anticipate divorcing. But policies, he said, may be bought discreetly by family, friends or an individual spouse after he or she weds and senses infidelity, substance abuse or other potential marriage-wrecking behaviors.
Edmond divorce attorney George Freedman is more than skeptical.
“They're playing on the fears of potentially getting a divorce,” said Freedman of Lester, Loving & Davies. “You'd be better off,” Freedman said, “contributing to a mutual fund for your child's education or a second honeymoon.”
With this insurance, he said, policyholders may “pay a whole lot of money on an investment that may never pay.”
Is it worth it?If the insured on a standard WedLock policy divorces after four years, a holder who pays $159.90 monthly for 10 units would have paid $7,675.20 in premiums and receive a claim payout out of $12,500. If the insured divorces after 10 years, the policyholder would have handed over $19,188 and would receive a payout of $27,500; insurers throw in $250 per unit for every year the marriage survives beyond four.
If policyholders desire a premium refund, including in divorces that occur sooner than four years, they can add a rider to their policies about $1 per unit, Logan said.
Though policies have no accrued value and only pay out after divorces are final, settlements under Oklahoma family law would be considered marital assets because marital money was used to pay the premiums, Freedman said.
Meanwhile, Patricia Goodman, Edmond certified financial planner and one of a few certified divorce financial analysts in the state, can see the need for divorce insurance.
“I've seen many divorcing spouses who aren't wage earners beg and plead for enough money to pay for divorces while they're pending,” Goodman said. “Divorce insurance could inspire the legal teams of such spouses to fully put in the effort needed versus wonder ‘Am I going to get stiffed?'”
“Why do we buy insurance for anything, if it's not to protect against devastating financial loss?”
Locally, divorces cost $5,000 to $10,000 per each divorcing spouse, Freedman said. They easily can be $20,000, $30,000 and more apiece for contested divorces involving child custody, he said.

2011-06-11T06:55:00.001-07:00

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NC General Assembly Strips Patients' Rights, Leaves All North Carolinians at Risk,

2011-06-11T06:47:00.000-07:00

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RALEIGH, N.C., June 10, 2011 -- /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The NC General Assembly on

Thursday approved rules that strip away patients' rights, said the NC Advocates for Justice, and leave everyone less safe.
Among its provisions, SB33 imposes a one-size-fits-all cap on damages in malpractice cases resulting in mutilation, loss of limbs, blindness and other preventable injuries.
The bill - sponsored by Sens. Tom Apodaca, Harry Brown and Bob Rucho - passed after a conference report diluted measures inserted by the NC House to somewhat protect patients' rights. The House had moved to exempt disfigurement, death, permanent injury and loss of use of the body from the arbitrary $500,000 cap.
The conference report kept the exemption in name only -- requiring the injured person to prove the party in the wrong acted with gross negligence, reckless indifference, malice, fraud, or intentional conduct. For all practical purposes, most patients could not prove those things and would not fall under a cap exception.
"The bottom line is that a person who is disfigured or has lost the use of limb will not be able to recover more than an arbitrary amount for those injuries except in extremely unlikely circumstances," said Dick Taylor of the NCAJ. "The GOP-led vote is a boon to insurance companies, an injustice to injured patients and a danger to everyone who seeks care."
The one-size-fits-all cap will benefit corporations such as insurance companies, Taylor added, some of which are openly boasting of record profits.
Unconstitutional Cap
Two conservative former NC Supreme Court justices have said the arbitrary cap would violate the sacred rights of North Carolinians. Former Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake Jr., a conservative icon, called the proposed cap "unnecessary as well as unconstitutional."
Doctors, too, are troubled by the bill's lack of fairness. In a letter to lawmakers, Dr. John Faulkner, a physician who's wife was burned in a preventable operating room fire, wrote, "No one can put a 'cap' on my wife's pain and disfigurement - so how can the legislature put a cap on what it's worth? … Why do you think it's fairer for legislators to decide, rather than juries?"
Dr. Martin Brooks, an award-winning physician with a career spanning 50 years, has advised legislators that an arbitrary cap on damages for severely injured patients "will reduce the quality of medical care given to the people of North Carolina."
For more information, please visit www.LetJuriesDecide.com. Follow our news on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/NCLawandPolitics.
SOURCE NC Advocates for Justice

Buy Young

2011-06-08T19:37:00.000-07:00

Emily Lambert, 06.08.11, 06:00 PM EDT
Forbes Magazine dated June 27, 2011

For a good deal on a life or disability policy, shop when you're least in need.

For great rates on affordable life insurance, contact Ai Insurance today! Offices in Fayetteville, Wilmington, Rocky Mount, Greenville, and Wilson. Ai Insurance specializes in getting you the coverage you need at a price you can afford. http://www.aiins.us

In the wake of the recession only 44% of American households have individual life insurance, a half-century low. Fewer still have disability insurance. If you're uninsured or haven't reviewed your coverage recently, here's a reason to get moving: You're the youngest now you'll ever be, and as you age the cost of coverage will only rise. "A 35-year-old male is going to pay less than a 36-year-old male," says Mark Maurer, president of brokerage Low Load Insurance Services.
Here's how to get started.

Find your family's number
Insurance agents are fond of citing multiples of annual income that people should try to replace with life insurance. But what matters is your own family's needs. "The key question is ‘Who suffers if this person's income is gone?'" says William Wixon, a certified financial planner in Maple Grove, Minn. In fact, Wixon occasionally advises his older clients to let their life insurance policies lapse.
Young parents, by contrast, generally do need life insurance. But situations differ. Two highly paid professionals might be able to raise their kids just fine on one of their salaries, while a stay-at-home spouse needs extra protection should something happen to the sole breadwinner. Estimate what your survivors would need to cover future bills, including a mortgage and the rapidly rising cost of college. Then subtract your spouse's expected earnings, plus death benefits your family would receive from group life insurance policies, Social Security and other sources.

Windows 8 heavily focused on mobile devices; will it affect the desktop experience?

2011-06-07T20:38:00.001-07:00

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No, You Can't Keep Your Health Insurance

2011-06-07T20:36:00.001-07:00

A new study by McKinsey suggests that as many as 78 million Americans could lose employer health coverage.

By Grace-Marie Turner

ObamaCare will lead to a dramatic decline in employer-provided health insurance—with as many as 78 million Americans forced to find other sources of coverage.

This disturbing finding is based on my calculations from a survey by McKinsey & Company. The survey, published this week in the McKinsey Quarterly, found that up to 50% of employers say they will definitely or probably pursue alternatives to their current health-insurance plan in the years after the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act takes effect in 2014. An estimated 156 million non-elderly Americans get their coverage at work, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Ai Insurance of North Carolina offers the best insurance rates on auto, home, life, commercial, and health insurance. http://www.aiins.us if you ou are looking for car insurance, health insurance, commercial insurance, life insurance, or boat insurance...they can help..offices in
Fayetteville, Wilson, Rocky Mount, Greenville, and Wilmington.

Before the health law passed, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that only nine million to 10 million people, or about 7% of employees who currently get health insurance at work, would switch to government-subsidized insurance. But the McKinsey survey of 1,300 employers across industries, geographies and employer sizes found "that reform will provoke a much greater response" and concludes that the health overhaul law will lead to a "radical restructuring" of job-based health coverage.

View Full Image
turner
Getty Images/Stock Illustration RF

Another McKinsey analyst, Alissa Meade, told a meeting of health-insurance executives last November that "something in the range of 80 million to 100 million individuals are going to change coverage categories in the two years" after the insurance mandates take effect in 2014.

Many employees who will need to seek another source of coverage will take advantage of the health-insurance subsidies for families making as much as $88,000 a year. This will drive up the cost of ObamaCare.

In a study last year, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office, estimated that an additional 35 million workers would be moved out of employer plans and into subsidized coverage, and that this would add about $1 trillion to the total cost of the president's health law over the next decade. McKinsey's survey implies that the cost to taxpayers could be significantly more.

The McKinsey study, "How US health care reform will affect employee benefits," predicts that employers will either drop coverage altogether, offer defined contributions for insurance, or offer coverage only to certain employees. The study concludes that 30% of employers overall will definitely or probably stop offering health insurance to their workers. However, among employers with a high awareness of the health-reform law, this proportion increases to more than 50%.

The employer incentives to alter or cease coverage under the health-reform law are strong. According to the study, at least 30% of employers would gain economically from dropping coverage, even if they completely compensated employees for the change through other benefit offerings or higher salaries. That's because they no longer would be tethered to health-insurance costs that consistently rise faster than inflation.

Employers should think twice if they believe the fine for not offering coverage will stay unchanged at $2,000 per worker. "If many companies drop health insurance coverage, the government could increase the employer penalty or raise taxes," according to the new study, authored by McKinsey consultants Shubham Singhal, Jeris Stueland and Drew Ungerman.

The case for repeal of ObamaCare grows stronger every year. The massive shift of health costs to taxpayers thanks to the disruption of employer-sponsored health insurance will add further to the burgeoning federal budget deficit. Congress can and must develop policies that allow the marketplace to evolve and not be forced into ObamaCare's regulatory straitjacket.

Ms. Turner is president of the Galen Institute and a co-author of "Why ObamaCare Is Wrong for America" (Broadside/HarperCollins, 2011).

*Ai Insurance does not endorse the content provided within this blog. Content is strictly for informational purposes only.

Critics: Insurance Companies Benefit from NC Tort Reform Bill

2011-06-07T20:12:00.003-07:00

RALEIGH, N.C. - Cutting costs for insurance companies is the end result of a bill that passed the North Carolina House last week, according to those who oppose the legislation. They say it would be at the expense of the public, since in the event of an auto accident or similar circumstance, the extent to which a person in North Carolina can hold someone else accountable for injuries could soon be limited..

If House Bill 542 becomes law, people hurt by the actions of others will be required to reveal the amount of insurance they have while, at the same time, defendants would be able to keep their insurance coverage secret.

Raleigh attorney Chris Nichols doesn't think that's fair when, for example, someone is injured by a drunk driver.

"The North Carolina GOP wants to change the law and allow an irresponsible driver to take advantage of the benefits that responsible people have worked for and paid for."

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HB 542 passed the House last week and is now in the Senate Judiciary Committee. If voted out of committee, it will go to the Senate floor by June 17.

Nichols believes state lawmakers are bowing to the pressures of insurance company lobbyists.

"North Carolina has always favored the people; we're a populist state. And, if the governor signs this bill, she is reversing that trend. We become a state that caters to corporate interests only."

Those in favor of this provision and others in the bill insist they are a necessary part of tort reform for the state, to rein in the costs of legal action.
Stephanie Carroll Carson, Public News Service - NC

Critics: Insurance Companies Benefit from NC Tort Reform Bill

2011-06-07T20:12:00.001-07:00

Critics: Insurance Companies Benefit from NC Tort Reform Bill

2011-06-07T20:10:00.001-07:00

Critics: Insurance Companies Benefit from NC Tort Reform Bill

2011-06-07T20:09:00.005-07:00

Critics: Insurance Companies Benefit from NC Tort Reform Bill

2011-06-07T20:09:00.003-07:00

Critics: Insurance Companies Benefit from NC Tort Reform Bill

2011-06-07T20:09:00.001-07:00

No, You Can't Keep Your Health Insurance

2011-06-07T19:47:00.000-07:00

A new study by McKinsey suggests that as many as 78 million Americans could lose employer health coverage.

By Grace-Marie Turner

ObamaCare will lead to a dramatic decline in employer-provided health insurance—with as many as 78 million Americans forced to find other sources of coverage.

This disturbing finding is based on my calculations from a survey by McKinsey & Company. The survey, published this week in the McKinsey Quarterly, found that up to 50% of employers say they will definitely or probably pursue alternatives to their current health-insurance plan in the years after the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act takes effect in 2014. An estimated 156 million non-elderly Americans get their coverage at work, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Ai Insurance of North Carolina offers the best insurance rates on auto, home, life, commercial, and health insurance. http://www.aiins.us if you ou are looking for car insurance, health insurance, commercial insurance, life insurance, or boat insurance...they can help..offices in
Fayetteville, Wilson, Rocky Mount, Greenville, and Wilmington.

Before the health law passed, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that only nine million to 10 million people, or about 7% of employees who currently get health insurance at work, would switch to government-subsidized insurance. But the McKinsey survey of 1,300 employers across industries, geographies and employer sizes found "that reform will provoke a much greater response" and concludes that the health overhaul law will lead to a "radical restructuring" of job-based health coverage.

View Full Image

Getty Images/Stock Illustration RF

Another McKinsey analyst, Alissa Meade, told a meeting of health-insurance executives last November that "something in the range of 80 million to 100 million individuals are going to change coverage categories in the two years" after the insurance mandates take effect in 2014.

Many employees who will need to seek another source of coverage will take advantage of the health-insurance subsidies for families making as much as $88,000 a year. This will drive up the cost of ObamaCare.

In a study last year, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office, estimated that an additional 35 million workers would be moved out of employer plans and into subsidized coverage, and that this would add about $1 trillion to the total cost of the president's health law over the next decade. McKinsey's survey implies that the cost to taxpayers could be significantly more.

The McKinsey study, "How US health care reform will affect employee benefits," predicts that employers will either drop coverage altogether, offer defined contributions for insurance, or offer coverage only to certain employees. The study concludes that 30% of employers overall will definitely or probably stop offering health insurance to their workers. However, among employers with a high awareness of the health-reform law, this proportion increases to more than 50%.

The employer incentives to alter or cease coverage under the health-reform law are strong. According to the study, at least 30% of employers would gain economically from dropping coverage, even if they completely compensated employees for the change through other benefit offerings or higher salaries. That's because they no longer would be tethered to health-insurance costs that consistently rise faster than inflation.

Employers should think twice if they believe the fine for not offering coverage will stay unchanged at $2,000 per worker. "If many companies drop health insurance coverage, the government could increase the employer penalty or raise taxes," according to the new study, authored by McKinsey consultants Shubham Singhal, Jeris Stueland and Drew Ungerman.

The case for repeal of ObamaCare grows stronger every year. The massive shift of health costs to taxpayers thanks to the disruption of employer-sponsored health insurance will add further to the burgeoning federal budget deficit. Congress can and must develop policies that allow the marketplace to evolve and not be forced into ObamaCare's regulatory straitjacket.

Ms. Turner is president of the Galen Institute and a co-author of "Why ObamaCare Is Wrong for America" (Broadside/HarperCollins, 2011).

*Ai Insurance does not endorse the content provided within this blog. Content is strictly for informational purposes only.

Single-Payer Health Care Systems, Multiple Health Care Disasters

2011-06-06T20:31:00.000-07:00

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Democrats have recently seized on a novel way of reducing health care costs — threats.

The Obama Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced that any insurance company that wants to increase premiums more than 10% will have to get approval from the government. Congress didn’t pass a law mandating this draconian policy — HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius simply decreed it.

Meanwhile, at the state level, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin just signed a bill that will create a public insurance option within his borders. Advocates hope that the end result will be a “single-payer” system, in which the state pays for the health care of its residents directly.

Both Sebelius and Shumlin declared that they were only trying to rein in health costs and limit wasteful spending on insurance company profits. But cost control by fiat — whether through rate regulation or a state-run health care system — will fail not only to restrain spending but also to improve Americans’ health.

The facts suggest that most of the waste and inefficiency in our health care system is in the sectors dominated by government. The federal government loses as much as $60 billion a year in Medicare fraud alone. That’s five times more than the combined profits of the top ten health insurance companies in the Fortune 500.

And the price controls the federal government plans to impose on insurers will simply result in the disappearance of private insurance options. For evidence, take a look at what happened after Massachusetts instituted heavy-handed price controls under its state health reform law — considered by the White House to be a model for ObamaCare.

Bay State officials initially denied 235 of 274 rate increases proposed by insurers last year. So insurers temporarily stopped offering new coverage.

The state government and insurers later compromised, but the state’s attempts to set insurance rates have resulted in a serious shortage of medical care. More than half of the state’s primary care practices are closed to new patients, and wait times for specialists range from 24 to 48 days, according to a survey by the Massachusetts Medical Society.

In Vermont, things will likely turn out much worse. The Green Mountain State’s new health care law creates a five-member board appointed by the governor with the power to set prices for all aspects of the state’s medical system — from routine tests to drugs.

The funding mechanism for the whole mess has not yet been set. But the law’s framers envisioned a 14% payroll tax paid by almost all workers and employers in the state. That’s on top of the Social Security, Medicare, and other taxes that Vermont’s residents and businesses already pay.

Again, we know how this scheme will play out. Vermont is just across the border from Quebec — which features a government-funded single-payer system of its own that relies heavily on price controls.

The francophone province’s health care system was implemented in the 1960s at the behest of a commission led by Dr. Claude Castonguay, the so-called “father of Quebec Medicare.”

Forty years later, in 2008, Castonguay was asked to review Quebec’s health care system again. He concluded that Canadian health care was in crisis. “We thought we could resolve the system’s problems by rationing services or injecting massive amounts of new money into it,” he said.

His prescription for Canadian health care? “We are proposing to give a greater role to the private sector so that people can exercise freedom of choice.”

So just as Canada is running away from single-payer after decades of experience, Vermont is embracing it.

In 2010, residents of Quebec faced a median wait time of 18.8 weeks for surgical and other therapeutic treatments. According to The Fraser Institute, a Canadian think tank, average hospital wait times increased 96% in Canada between 1993 to 2010.

Not the sort of system most Americans would want to emulate.

Here in America, federal and state officials have promised to lower health care costs — and right quick. But forcibly regulating prices won’t do the trick. Americans — and Vermonters in particular — should hope that these experiments in health care reform are mercifully short.

Sally C. Pipes is President, CEO, and Taube Fellow in Health Care Studies at the Pacific Research Institute. Her latest book is The Truth About Obamacare (Regnery 2010).

Is Dental Insurance A Valuable Benefit?

2011-06-06T04:54:00.000-07:00

By Carol Harnett

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The cost of twice-yearly dental care may be less than the cost of a dental-benefits plan, but HR leaders may want to consider carefully before changing their employees' coverage. It's a highly valued benefit -- plus it may drive down some healthcare costs as well.

As a small business owner, I wear many hats. One of my responsibilities includes making decisions about my benefits.
In theory, this should be an easy task for me. But, since I now pay the entire premium instead of receiving contributions from my employer, I find myself being more thoughtful about how I structure my benefits package.
Medical insurance was a no-brainer, as was setting up my retirement plan and making certain I provided for my survivors via a life insurance policy. Given my background working in and around rehabilitation medicine and disability insurance, I knew that updating my disability-insurance coverage was critical.
I found myself pausing, however, when I looked at dental insurance. You see, in the back alleys of the benefits world, experts often quietly discuss dental coverage as an overpriced benefit.
I started my analysis by looking at my plan design, my dental-coverage utilization and how much I paid in premiums, co-pays and deductibles.
My last group plan was a standard benefits design. After a $100 deductible, it paid 100 percent, 80 percent and 50 percent, respectively, for preventive, basic and major dental services. There was a maximum annual benefit of $1,500 and a lifetime plan maximum of $1,000 for orthodontic services. The insurance company had also negotiated discounts with the providers in its network.
The plan allowed me to seek preventive care twice every 12 months as long as I separated my appointments by 150 days. My annual premium was $600.
But, here's where my analysis got interesting. Historically, I sought preventive care twice a year like clockwork. My dentist and I worked out an intervention plan that included x-rays once a year.
When I reviewed my billing history, I noticed that the discount the dental carrier provided was only a few dollars less than my dentist's regular charges. And, when I looked at the total charges for the year, they were, on average, about $400.
Simple math led me to the conclusion that I "lost" approximately $300 annually.
Maybe my dental experience was atypical. But, it turns out that I'm not unusual. According to the American Dental Association, most people who seek treatment incur annual costs just below $300.
As a person who knows my way around insurance, I considered the risk I was insuring against. While I have never experienced a dental emergency, I was protecting myself, in theory, against unplanned dental issues.
But, if I ever had a dental emergency or needed major dental services, how much would my dental coverage help me? The answer: up to $1,500 per year.
Costhelper.com estimates that root canals and dental crowns range from $350 to $3,000 per tooth depending upon complexity, materials, location and the dentist's training and experience. Insurance would certainly help offset those expenses.
I would have to hope, of course, that my dentist's treatment and charges lined up with what my dental coverage established as "usual, customary and reasonable."
I decided to turn to my dentist, Robert Antmann, DDS, regarding his experience with dental care and insurance. Convery Dental, of which he is an owner, has been established for 99 years, so he has access to an unusual depth of history and perspective.
Dental insurance began sometime in the 1960s, Dr. Antmann says, and the benefit, at that time, had an annual maximum of about $1,000. The majority of his patients today have an annual maximum benefit of $1000 to $1,500. Not much has changed in 50 years.
Dr. Antmann's experience is not unusual, according to other sources -- which also project that the typical annual maximum, which was $1,500 in the 1970s, should have increased, via inflation, t o $10,000.
So, there are some questions about the botton-line value of dental insurance. Why would employers offer it? A few reasons.
Most employee-benefits surveys find that dental insurance is the third most employee-requested benefit after medical and retirement benefits. The theory among industry experts is that employees believe this coverage is a tangible benefit they could potentially use every year -- unlike disability or long-term-care insurance.
A 2005 study published in the Journal of the American Dental Association reported that 63 percent of adults with dental insurance visited dentists regularly, compared to 40 percent of adults without coverage.
That may not be true, however, for the 12 percent of adults who have high dental anxiety. HR executives should consider a unique finding of the JADA study: Those employees with dental anxiety who have dental insurance were significantly less likely to visit dentists regularly than uninsured adults.
Overall, employed adults lose more than 164 million hours of work each year due to dental disease or dentist visits, according to the U.S. Surgeon General's 2011 report on Oral Health in America. The theory put forward by the National Association of Dental Plans is that employees without dental insurance are more likely to lose work due to untreated dental problems.
Dental treatment may also affect medical care, according to a recent longitudinal study by CIGNA (full disclosure: a client of mine), which sought to determine whether periodontal treatment affects the cost of medical care in diabetics. (Experts suggest there is a relationship between diabetes and periodontal disease -- and that both conditions may worsen if either is not properly care for.)
The results of the study indicate that ongoing periodontal treatment of diabetics lowered medical costs in 2008 by an average of almost $2,500. The effect was more pronounced in men than women ($3,200 vs. $735, respectively).
For HR leaders, the issue of whether dental insurance is a benefit that has kept up with the times may be a moot point. Dental coverage is a benefit that employees desire.
Added to that perceived value is the potential impact dental care may have on the healthcare costs of employees who are diabetic and, potentially, pregnant.
And, you can consider, too, that dental insurance is expanding its reach and services.
Gary Ballman, staff vice president at Anthem-owned Wellpoint Dental, says new enhancements in group dental insurance include international emergency treatment as well as dental analytics, which score providers by utilization and long-term economic value.
The American Dental Association offers some benefit-plan design alternatives to consider, such as a direct reimbursement plan, which may give your employees more coverage flexibility and maintain dental-benefit costs.
As for me, I've elected to forgo dental coverage this year. But, I'll keep my eye on how dental benefits evolve.

Windows 8 heavily focused on mobile devices; will it affect the desktop experience?

2011-06-05T18:58:00.000-07:00

We all know that Windows 8 will be designed to run on tablets and according to some recent reports, the next version of Windows will put a heavy focus on mobile devices. Windows 8 will supposedly feature a welcome/unlock screen similar to the one found in Windows Phone 7, a new Ribbon UI for Windows Explorer and a document reader that uses a new packaged application model that “closely resembles Windows Phone 7 application packages.” These new features suggest that the operating system will be headed towards a more mobile-friendly interface than the previous versions of Windows. While this may be a good sign for users who want Windows on their mobile devices, it makes one wonder if the desktop version of the operating system will be streamlined similarly as well. After all, the desktop version of the Windows 7 is what makes it a great operating system and optimizing a desktop OS for the tablet/smartphone could have pretty drastic results.

Ai Insurance http://www.aiins.us recently made available a mobile (web-based) app to it's web users this weekend. Shortcuts includes "get a quote, locations, find an agent, and of course the Facebook link out. Try it out on your Droid or iPhone.

Tang was invented for the NASA space program

2011-01-27T07:18:00.000-08:00

Myth: Tang was invented for the NASA space program.

In fact, Tang was actually invented by chemist and occasional playwright William A. Mitchell in 1957 while he was working for General Foods. General Foods introduced Tang to the public in powder form in 1959, but it wasn’t popular initially. Eventually, NASA decided to use it in 1962 during John Glenn’s Mercury flight and later in 1965 for the Gemini program. In both instances, the Tang was used to improve the poor taste of the water from the life support system.
The usage in the Gemini program particularly contributed to the previously unpopular drink mix becoming a huge hit. Because most people were introduced to Tang for the first time through the space program, this lead to the misconception that it was invented for that program, rather than just a generally available product that NASA decided to use, as it was.
Bonus Factoids:

Mitchell didn’t just invent Tang, he also invented Cool Whip, Pop Rocks, quick-setting Jell-O, powdered egg whites, and a popular Tapioca substitute, among other things (70 patents total). In the non-food related field, Mitchell also helped invent a chemical process for developing the color green, while working for Eastman Kodak.
The first major product Mitchell invented was a Tapioca substitute that was developed to get around the cassava shortage due to WWII, which is why Tapioca is sometimes called “Mitchell’s Mud”.
Mitchell thought up Pop Rocks for a play he wrote about a boy who eats magical popping rocks. In the play, every time the boy eats one of the rocks, he’s teleported to another world. Later, when Mitchell was working for General Foods, he was attempting to come up with a way to make “instant” carbonated drink and accidentally invented Pop Rocks in the process, which he named Pop Rocks, referencing his play. For how Pop Rocks Pop, check out this link.
Project Mercury was the U.S.’s program to put a man in space for the first time. Objectives of the program were to orbit a person around the Earth; investigate a human’s ability to function in space; and to bring that person home safely. The program ran from 1958 to 1963 with all total NASA launching six manned flights.
Tang was included in the menu for John Glenn’s 1962 Mercury mission where he orbited the Earth and experimented with eating in space.
The Gemini program’s primary objectives were to test man’s ability to cope with long term flights in space; to maneuver a spacecraft in space, including docking with another spacecraft; train and prepare the flight and ground crews for the upcoming Apollo program; experiment with space walks; test out equipment and technologies that would be needed in the Apollo missions; and controlled re-entry. The program included 19 total launches, only 10 of which were manned.
According to an engineer who worked on the Gemini program, the reason Tang was specifically included in the astronaut’s rations was: “There was a particular component of the Gemini life support-system module which produced H2O (water) among other things. This was a byproduct of a recurring chemical reaction of one of the mechanical devices on the life-support module. The astronauts would use this water to drink during their space flight. The problem was that the astronauts did not like the taste of the water because of some of the byproducts produced, which were not harmful of course. So, they added Tang to make the water taste better.”
It isn’t known exactly if Tang was used in the Apollo 11 mission. The astronauts there decided to use a grapefruit-orange mix, which may have been a variant of Tang or may have been something else. Both Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong both have stated that they didn’t use Tang, but because Tang came in a variety of flavors and, during the missions, was labeled things like “Orange Aid” and the like, rather than Tang, so it may well have been Tang they were drinking.
Methadone was once sold packaged with Tang, in an attempt by Philadelphia officials to stop people from injecting the drug into their bloodstream. Unfortunately, they underestimated the addicts, who seemed to have no qualms with injecting the Tang/methadone mix, which obviously isn’t advisable.
Tang, hydrogen peroxide, and hexamine were primary components of the explosive meant for the failed 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot. These, and other components, were used to make HMTD (Hexamethylene triperoxide diamine), which is a fairly powerful homemade explosive. HMTD was also going to be used in the failed 1999/2000 bombing of L.A. International Airport.

Swimming Within an Hour After Eating is Not Dangerous

2011-01-25T06:54:00.000-08:00

Myth: Swimming within an hour (sometimes stated 30 minutes) after eating is dangerous and can cause you to cramp up and drown.

It is believed by many that you should not swim for at least an hour after eating, as it could be dangerous. This old wives tale has been told to kids around the world and has become more or less a popular rule of swimming safety. Children in Cuba are even told not to swim for up to three hours after a meal! The reasoning behind this myth is often stated to be that there is a possibility of severe muscle cramping when you swim on a full stomach and a risk of drowning because of it. But is swimming directly after eating actually dangerous? It turns out, it is not at all.

Similar to when exercising where your body requires greater blood flow to your limbs, food digestion requires greater blood flow to the stomach to help in the process of breaking down the foods. This is why it is believed that digestion would divert the circulation of blood toward the gut and, to some extent, away from the muscles, which could cause cramping. The truth is though that we have enough blood to keep all of our parts supplied and most experts doubt that a full stomach could be the cause of cramps, should they occur while swimming, which of course is not that uncommon, whether you eat or not before swimming.

More to the point, not a single episode of drowning caused by swimming on a full stomach has ever been documented. Further, even if cramps do occur while swimming, which is common enough without eating, all a person has to do is not panic and they’ll be fine. Most cramps don’t last very long and the human body naturally floats; so the recipe for not drowning while experiencing cramping is just to stay calm and float it out.

On top of that, few people, when choosing between drowning or continuing to swim with a painful cramp, will choose drowning, unless they panic. So even if the experts are wrong and eating on a full stomach can increase the likelihood of cramping, the person who’s decided to eat and swim only need be told or remember not to panic, and to simply float until the cramp goes away. Considering that cramps are fairly common when swimming anyways, most people have probably learned to deal with this in any event. So even in the case of the experts being wrong about there being no connection between eating and cramping, there is no real increase in danger here.

As far as the widespread belief that eating causes cramps, despite scientific evidence that states otherwise, this is just a clear instance of confirmation bias, where someone will eat and swim, then have a cramp and determine it’s because of eating. Later, when they think back on these instances, they only remember the times when they got a cramp after doing this set of actions and not all the other times when they didn’t nor do they correlate the number of times they got cramps after eating and swimming with the number of times they got cramps after not eating and swimming, which they’d find are shockingly similar percentages over a large enough sample size. But because people don’t think like that and are naturally prone to confirmation bias, these instances of cramping or often stories they hear of someone drowning after eating then swimming just confirms the myth in their minds, even in the face of contrary evidence. Then, naturally, as they don’t want their own kids to drown, they pass this little myth on to the next generation.

So while swimming, as with doing any exercise after a big meal, might not be the most comfortable of things to do, particularly for out of shape adults, there is zero evidence that it is inherently dangerous.

Bonus Factoids:

While many people are afraid to go swimming directly after eating for fear of drowning, most people are not afraid to drink and swim. In the former case, as stated, there is no added danger, in the latter case, there are numerous people that drown thanks to combining drinking with swimming. According to a recent study, alcohol was detected in the blood of up to 70% of adults who drown compared to the normal population attributable risk of 10%–30%, implying that alcohol does indeed play a large role in a large percentage of adult drowning. So to recap: eating+swimming = no increase in danger; drinking+swimming = significant increase in danger.
Interestingly this “water/eating” myth has spread not just to swimming, but also some people believe that you should not take a bath after eating as well, or you may drown. How do they work this one out? The flawed reasoning behind this is that eating raises your overall body temperature and being in a really hot bath just after eating may cause you to overheat even more and faint. This again is not scientifically sound reasoning.
Interestingly, while muscle cramps are extremely common, about 5% of people report having never experienced a single muscle cramp in their entire lifetime.
It is estimated that about 1.2 million people die of drowning every year and about 10 million people partially drown, but are rescued at various stages of drowning process before death. About half of all the deaths or partial drownings are children.
Interestingly, nearly 1/3 of all children who drown do so in very close to their own home, with many of these cases being emergency cases of flooding or the like.
About 3/4 of all drowning victims did not know how to swim.
The highest risk of drowning by age group is as follows: 0-5; 20-25; and 60 and above. For the first age group, the majority of non-emergency type drownings occur in backyard pools or bathtubs when the children are left unsupervised. It is theorized that the 20-25 age group drowns more often due to being more willing to take risks and particularly an increase in excessive alcohol consumption during water activities.
Nearly 40% of all non-emergency (non-flood/storm/etc) drowning victims do so within 6 feet of the shore or edge of the pool. In addition to that, nearly 25% drown in less than 3 feet of water.
Finally, over 30% of all drowning deaths occur after dark, with an extreme spike in number of deaths that occur because of boating accidents.

Eleven Ways To Save Money Every Month

2010-12-29T10:19:00.000-08:00

How to Save Money Every Month

1. Cut cell phone service down to minimum. Talk to your current provider about reducing your monthly minutes, or eliminating features you just don’t use that often. We recently asked our cell phone provider to tell us the average paid minutes we used over the last six months and discovered it was well below the next smallest plan from our current arrangement. Dropping plans shaved $20 a month off our cell phone bill.

2. Shop for cheaper car insurance using tools such as Ai insurance (free quotes available). We saved quite a bit just by switching carriers. If you have a solid emergency fund in place to easily cover deductibles, it might make sense to increase those deductibles on your auto insurance policy. Raising deductibles from $250 to $1,000 can save you a few hundred dollars on insurance–just be sure you can afford that $1,000 in the event something bad happens.

3. Consider dropping home telephone service. Just about the only people who call us these days are telemarketers. Most friends and family have cell phones and those that are “in network” can talk to us for free for an unlimited amount of time. Even if you don’t cancel your home telephone service, you can probably save some by cutting back on extras like call waiting, caller ID, etc. Since you are not using the land-line that much, you won’t miss the features.

4. Reduce the temperature setting on your hot water heater. This one does require a little effort, especially if your water heater is in an out-of-the-way place. Set the temperature to around 120 degrees. You can count on about a 5 percent reduction on energy bills for each 10 degrees you drop the water. While you are at it, consider a thermal blanket to insulate your water heater, particularly if it is stored in an uninsulated location that gets cold in the winter (garage, utility room, etc.).

5. Run your ceiling fans in the winter. I know, it sounds crazy. By changing the blade direction on your ceiling fan to create an updraft, you can help recycle heat throughout a drafty room. Most fan models have a switch on the base of the unit that allows you to change direction.

6. Use microwaves in the summer, and ovens in the winter. During the dog days of summer, cranking up an oven can put an air conditioning system into overdrive. However, in the winter the warmth of an oven can lessen the load of your heating system. Your monthly utility bill will thank you.

7. Divide credit card payments in half. If you are already paying $100 a month on your credit card, half the amount and schedule two payments with the first coming about half way through the billing cycle. Since interest is calculated using the card’s average daily balance, you’ll be reducing that balance earlier in the month by paying a little bit of the balance off, instead of waiting the full month to make a single payment.

8. Switch to generic prescriptions. Talk to your health care provider about switching to generic prescriptions, and be sure to check out places like Walmart and other grocery store pharmacies that now offer 30-day supplies of many popular generic prescription medicines for only a few dollars a month.

9. Disconnect electronic devices when not in use.The easiest way to do this is to plug devices into a single power strip and then unplugging the power strip when the items are not in use. Electronic items continue to pull small amounts of power continuously even when powered down (this phenomenon is often referred to as “vampire power,” probably because it is sucking the life out of your finances!

10. Improve your car’s gas mileage by replacing the air filter. I know I said these would be effortless, but this one is so easy you can do it in less than five minutes. Stop by a parts store and ask for a new air filter. They will need to know your vehicle’s make, model, year and maybe the engine size (six-cylinder, eight-cylinder, etc.). All this information should be listed in your owner’s manual, or on the inside of your driver’s side door panel. Following the directions in your owner’s manual, which include locating the filter’s housing, removing a few screws, and swapping out filters, only take a few minutes of time.

11. Use a drying rack for heavy linens. If you aren’t up for hanging a clothesline (or your neighborhood frowns on their use), consider buying a simple drying rack to hang heavy towels and jeans over. When the clothes are nearly dry, toss them in the dryer for a couple minutes with a fabric softening pad to freshen them up a bit and remove most of the wrinkles.

10 Common Misconceptions Dispelled

2010-12-20T08:05:00.001-08:00

Baby Ruth Candy Bars Actually Were Named After Babe Ruth

2010-12-17T07:19:00.000-08:00

Myth: Baby Ruth candy bars weren’t named after Babe Ruth.

     The rumor that they were not was actually started by the company who made them originally, the Curtiss Candy Company, founded by Otto Schnering. They claimed it was named after Ruth Cleveland, the granddaughter of President Grover Cleveland. Ruth Cleveland supposedly visited their plant and, while there, inspired the name for the candy bar.

     There are a few problems with the official line, but the main problem is that Ruth Cleveland died in 1904 at the age of 12 years old, some 17 years before the Baby Ruth candy bar was created and about 15 years before the Curtiss Candy Company was created. Further, Grover Cleveland hadn’t been President for 24 years and had been dead for 13 years when the candy bar was named, so there doesn’t seem to be a good reason they’d have randomly picked his granddaughter to name a candy bar after and the official reason they give, which at least sounds plausible, is easily proved false.

     In the official story, the Curtiss Candy Company also went on to discuss the fact that Babe Ruth wasn’t even famous in 1921 when the candy bar was named, so why would they name it after some random baseball player? Here’s another problem with the official story, Babe Ruth was incredibly famous by 1921.
In that year, Babe Ruth hit 59 home runs, had a .378 batting average, and a .512 on base percentage. The year before that, he had his breakout year with the Yankees hitting 54 home runs with a .376 batting average and a .533 on base percentage. From 1919-1921, he hit an astounding 142 home runs and was well on his way to revolutionizing the game of baseball. This all resulted in Babe Ruth’s fame skyrocketing from what it had been only a few years before serving primarily as a pitcher and pinch hitter for the Red Sox. Babe Ruth was a national celebrity in 1921.

     Further, the original version of the “Baby Ruth” candy bar was actually called the “Kandy Kake” and was coincidentally renamed to “Baby Ruth” directly after Babe Ruth had become a national celebrity. The Curtiss Candy Company also tried to get Babe Ruth to endorse their product after its launch, which he refused to do. Not only that, but the Curtiss Candy Company was headquartered very close to Wrigley Stadium and, in 1932, they setup a lit advertising sign near the spot where Babe Ruth’s supposed “called shot” landed, advertising Baby Ruth candy bars and fully visible in Wrigley Stadium. This sign remained there for four years.

Over and over again they attempted to associate their candy bar with Babe Ruth. The cover story told by the company was simply a way to get around having to pay Babe Ruth royalties for the use of his nickname and last name in their marketing efforts. The Curtiss Candy Company even had to use this story in actual legal proceedings when the manufacturer of the Babe Ruth Home Run Bar challenged the Baby Ruth name in court, claiming the Curtiss Candy Company were using the name without Babe Ruth’s permission, something the makers of the Babe Ruth Home Run Bar had managed to get from Ruth. The Curtiss Candy Company then successfully defended their candy bar’s name using the above “granddaughter of Grover Cleveland” story, which is full of inaccuracies and strains credibility.

Bonus Factoids:

In 1923, Otto Schnering, the founder of the Curtiss Candy Company, hired a pilot to fly his plane over Pittsburgh and drop several thousand Baby Ruth candy bars over the city. Each candy bar was equipped with a parachute, to avoid injuring people.
Seventy four years after the Baby Ruth candy bar was named after Ruth, Nestle, who now owns the rights to the Baby Ruth candy bar, finally officially acquired the rights to use Ruth’s name and likeness in Baby Ruth marketing campaigns.
Nestle has since played this up even more when in 2007 they claimed the Baby Ruth candy bar is “the official candy bar of major league baseball.

5 Legal Tips for Peace of Mind

2010-12-13T06:33:00.000-08:00

     Legal issues don’t have to be stressful. In fact, you can use the law to reduce your risk, eliminate uncertainty, and plan for the unthinkable. The law can help with your overall peace of mind.

1. Execute a will
     Estate planning isn’t just for wealthy old people. If you’re an adult, you need an estate plan. This spells out what happens to your property when you die. While the law provides default rules for people who don’t specify their intentions, you might be surprised by what those rules say.
For the average person, an estate plan is simply a will (or “last will and testament”). This document spells out who gets what from your estate. Your handwritten will can be valid, but it’s safest to have a lawyer draft your will and walk you through the formal execution ceremony. If you have a spouse or children, you really need a will to ensure they are properly taken care of.

2. Designate your health care wishes
     How should medical decisions be made for you in the event of an accident? Without the appropriate legal papers, your next of kin will attempt to make the decisions that you would want. But does he or she know all your wishes?
You should protect your health care decisions by at least appointing a health care power of attorney. This designates the person who will make your decisions. They are bound to make the decisions that you want, not what they think is best.
To go the extra mile, you can execute a living will. This document attempts to set forth your wishes for different medical scenarios. Then your health care agent will be bound to act according to this document. If you neglect both of these health care documents, your life might be in the hands of someone you don’t trust.

3. Select the correct beneficiaries
     Do you have a life insurance policy or retirement plan? Who are your beneficiaries? If your estate is listed as the beneficiary, your heirs could be in for a surprise when you pass away.
Life insurance and retirement plans automatically pay the designated beneficiary when the policy holder dies. To make sure your family or other heirs get this money, you should designate them by name as the beneficiaries. If your estate gets paid directly, the true beneficiaries will be in for a long wait before they can be paid anything. And your creditors might claim the money before anyone else can be paid. Those beneficiary blanks are critical.

4. Get insurance, even if you rent
     Property insurance isn’t just for homeowners. Even if you rent, you need insurance protection. Homeowner’s or renter’s insurance primarily covers against loss to your property due to damage or theft. But it can also be important if you’re ever sued.
When guests come onto your property, you legally take on a certain amount of liability for their safety. If a guest is injured while on your property, you could be held responsible. Fortunately, the typical property insurance policy provides some protection for you. Guest medical coverage will pay for your guest’s medical bills. For the cost of a renter’s insurance policy (at most $15/month), you can’t afford to neglect this coverage.

5. Separate your business
     If you run your own business, you should consider a limited liability business entity. Running a sole proprietorship is simple, but it exposes you and your family to certain risks. Creditors and people you have possibly wronged can come after you personally. Your business could be putting the family home at risk.
To solve this problem, you can easily setup a basic corporation or a limited liability company (LLC). Then when you sign contracts and incur business debts, you are only putting the business on the line. It’s important to run the business properly to maintain your liability shield. But without the formal business entity, you have no hope of limiting your personal liability.

250 Movie Character Introductions in One Amazing Video

2010-12-10T10:03:00.000-08:00

Some of the coolest moments in any movie are the character introductions. Who could forget the badass moment where the defeated villains hear "I am Batman," the silly moment where that gold robot introduces himself as "C-3PO, human-cyborg relations," or the iconic introduction of "Bond. James Bond." A new supercut video condenses 250 of these moments into one totally satisfying 9-and-a-half-minute romp.

The supercut runs the gamut from action to sci-fi to comedy, but mostly sticks to mainstream flicks that you'll easily recognize. If you're stumped on any of them, there's a list in the video description on YouTube.

We are Urlesque, and we were unable to stop watching these introductions before the very end.

Cockroaches Would Not Survive an Extreme Nuclear Fallout

2010-11-30T07:47:00.000-08:00

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Myth: Cockroaches would survive an extreme nuclear fallout

     You’ve probably heard that “the only living things that would survive a nuclear war would be cockroaches and Cher”. The latter may be true, but the former is most definitely not. It has even be suggested that cockroaches can survive the amount of radiation at ground zero of a nuclear explosion, though of course, not the explosion itself if they were right next to it (assuming they weren’t in a lead lined refrigerator; then of course they’d definitely survive, as would humans. *looks disapprovingly at Indian Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull*)
     In any event, more recent research has shown that, while cockroaches can withstand ionizing radiation bursts about 10 times as high as humans, they actually are relative light weights in that arena. In fact, it only takes a burst of about 1,000 rads to significantly interfere with a cockroaches’ ability to reproduce, which would obviously be the eventual end of the cockroach, if they were all exposed to this level. For reference, this is about the level of radiation at around 15 miles from Hiroshima directly after the bomb was detonated. (note: the Hiroshima bomb was a 15 kiloton weapon, which is nothing next to the megaton nuclear bombs that can be found in most nuclear stockpiles today.)
     Further, at levels of around just 6400 rads, about 94% of immature cockroaches will die and at around 10,000 rads, most adult cockroaches will not survive. While this is very impressive by human standards (humans only being able to survive about 400-1000 rads before death), it’s decidedly unimpressive by insect standards; most insects can survive much higher rates than the cockroach, according to the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, who, when they aren’t spending their time trying to spit out their name, apparently enjoy zapping various living things with ionizing radiation. Squeal piggy!
     So who are the actual living creatures that would inherit the Earth after a world-wide nuclear war? Well, it has been shown that fruit flies take around 64,000 rads to kill. More impressive than that is the flour beetle which can withstand up to around 100,000 rads before dying. Even better is a type of wasp, the Habrobracon, that can survive as high as 180,000 rads! These all get beat by the Deinococcus radiodurans microbe. This bacteria can survive radiation levels as high as 1.5 million rads at room temperature and nearly 3 million rads when frozen, such as during a hypothetical nuclear winter.
It isn’t entirely clear where the myth that cockroaches were impervious to ionization radiation got started, but it seems to have been largely popularized by anti-nuclear activists in the 1960s who often used the cockroach in their slogans and campaigns. For instance, in a New York Times advertisement sponsored by the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy: “A nuclear war, if it comes, will not be won by the Americans … the Russians … the Chinese. The winner of World War III will be the cockroach.”

Bonus Factoids:

The primary reason cockroaches and many types of insects are so resistant to ionizing radiation is that their cells don’t divide that much between molting cycles. Cells are most susceptible to damage by ionizing radiation when they are dividing. Given that a typical cockroach only molts about once a week and its cells only divide around a 48 hour period during that week, about 3/4 of the cockroaches exposed would not be particularly susceptible to damage by ionizing radiation, at least, relative to those whose cells were currently dividing.
As you might have inferred from this, this means that if the radiation experienced by these cockroaches was consistent over a long period of time, they are going to be significantly more susceptible to problems than the numbers quoted in this article. The above numbers are using specific bursts of radiation over a short span. Given that at any given moment about 75% of cockroaches aren’t experiencing cellular dividing, about 75% of them are going to be much less susceptibility to damage from these short bursts of radiation, which will drastically skew the numbers of what the species as a whole could survive when talking about a global nuclear fallout scenario. More accurate research would then have to be done to see what levels of radiation kill or otherwise will significantly harm the roaches that are currently having their cells divide. Further, ionizing radiation is cumulative, so that would have to be factored in as well.
The largest nuclear bomb ever detonated was the Tsar Bomba, detonated by the Soviet Union. This bomb was estimated at around 100 megatons of TNT or about just shy of 7000 times more powerful than the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
The Deinococcus radiodurans microbe was first discovered growing on rotten canned meat that had been sprayed with an ionizing substance meant to preserve it. This microbe had no problems surviving such low levels of radiation.
A cell’s increased susceptibility to damage by ionizing radiation when dividing is why humans and other mammals are so susceptible to this radiation, given that we experience cellular dividing all the time. This is also why radiation is effective at such low doses at killing cancer cells, relative to what is required to damage healthy cells. Cancer cells divide much quicker than most other cells in the human body; thus, you can kill the cancer cells faster than the healthy cells and hopefully find a happy medium where all the cancer cells die, but enough of the healthy cells remain and are undamaged enough for the person to continue living on more or less as before.
While cockroaches may not be well equipped to survive nuclear fallout, relative to various microbes and most of their insect brethren, these little critters are extremely hardy with fossil records of cockroaches dating all the way back to 300 million B.C., which pre-dates dinosaurs by around 70 million years. Cockroaches have been shown to survive with their heads chopped off for nearly a month. Further, they can survive as much as 45 minutes without oxygen and can survive on very low quality of food, such as the glue on a postage stamp, or cellulose, and very little of this food. They can even survive by simply eating each other, if needs be, which would ultimately doom them if that was their only food source, but works out in the short run.

Black Friday Best Buy Shoppers Rewarded for Record Start

2010-11-23T05:43:00.000-08:00

     With more then a week to go to Black Friday, two Best Buy Black Friday shopping families started camping out to be the first in line. Needless to say, this got the attention of the press, which got the attention of Best Buy's marketing team. They decided to reward these early shoppers with iPads.

     The shoppers were Tina Thain and Lorie Davenport (their family members are rotating shifts) and the Best Buy receiving all the attention is located in St Petersburg, Florida. We're not positive, but we believe this is a world-record for Black Friday line starts. They officially started Wednesday at 10 a.m, a full 9-days before Black Friday.

     Again, the level of competition is set by Best Buy Black Friday shoppers. Last year a Best Buy Shopping Couple got married while in the Black Friday line.

Black Friday is not the biggest shopping day of the year!!!

2010-11-17T08:15:00.000-08:00

Black Friday is not the biggest shopping day of the year. In fact, it’s typically not even in the top five, though has cracked the ranks a few times in recent years.
The real biggest shopping day of the year is nearly always the Saturday before Christmas, excepting a few occasions where it typically then ends up being the Thursday or Friday before Christmas, when Christmas falls on a weekend day. Thus, the procrastinators seem to outnumber the early birds in this respect.
Besides people’s naturally tendency to procrastinate, this should not be a surprise as most people are simply trying to get specific great deals on Black Friday and aren’t tending to look to get all their Christmas shopping done in one day. So while there might be a lot of people in the stores, most of them aren’t coming home with a lot of items, according to consumer reports. On the other hand, the last Saturday before Christmas is the last convenient time for many shoppers to get their shopping done and, for many, they put off shopping for a lot of the people they have to shop for until the last minute for various reasons. So shoppers on this day tend to buy significantly more items per person than shoppers on Black Friday, making it a much more profitable day for retailers.
Bonus Factoids:

While it may not be the biggest shopping day of the year, Black Friday still rakes in an amazing amount of money, typically bringing in $15-$20 billion worth of revenue each year for the last three years in the United States.
Another myth online retailers would love for people to start believing is that the Monday following Black Friday, which is beginning to be known as “Cyber Monday”, is the busiest online shopping day of the year. In fact, Cyber Monday historically doesn’t even make the top ten and before the term was coined and promoted, it wasn’t even typically in the top 30. Most of the actual biggest online shopping days of the year tend to fall between December 5th and December 15th. As someone who once owned a reasonably successful online store, I can attest to the fact that the online shopping days between around December 5th-ish to about the 20th, for my store, would see normal sales jump about fifteen times the normal volume per day on average, during that span; then typically tailing off a bit, but staying well above average until around January 5th, at which point sales tend to see their worst rates of the year until around the end of January or early February when things would begin to get back to normal. The last two Cyber Monday’s I owned that store, I actually saw below average sale rates on that day.
The idea for Cyber Monday was supposedly the brain child of Shop.org executives who were trying to find a way to get people to devote more of their Christmas shopping to online sales. A year before the first official Cyber Monday, Shop.org began brainstorming the idea and sent out a mass email to many other major online retailers, hoping everyone would push the idea the following year. Up until that point, most online retailers hadn’t noticed any significant jump in sales on that day vs. any other day around that time.

Chameleons Don’t Change Color to Match Their Environment

2010-11-15T07:38:00.000-08:00

     Chameleons don’t change color to match their environment. Rather, they change color as a response to mood, temperature, health, communication, and light.
     Now, not all kinds of chameleons have the ability to change color and some only have limited ability for color changing; for instance, many types of chameleons can only turn, green, brown, or gray. Others have the ability to change to a variety of different colors including: pink, blue, red, orange, green, black, brown, blue, yellow, turquoise, and purple. Of the ones that can change color, they’ll often change to darker shades, when they are cold, and will lie out in the sun during this time. Likewise, if they are hot, they can change to lighter colors which will reflect the sun better, helping to cool themselves off.
     Most color changes though are simply due to mood changes or for communication purposes. For instance, the Panther Chameleon will change to red and yellow when they are angry or are getting ready to attack. This serves as a warning to other chameleons and humans to back off. Some types of male chameleons will also change to mixed bright colors when they are trying to attract a nearby female chameleon.

Bonus Factoids:

Those chameleons that can change to a variety of colors can do so thanks to special cells, collectively called chromatophores. These chromatophore cells are grouped in layers underneath the chameleon’s transparent outer skin layer. The upper most layers contain yellow and red pigments. The lower layers are comprised of a colorless crystalline substance and melanin, which both are used to modify the visible color of the upper yellow and red pigments, producing a variety of colors. In addition to that, the melanin layer also controls the intensity of the final output color.
Chameleons that can change color typically can change from one color to another in less than 20-30 seconds.
Chameleons are extremely territorial. They also typically like to be by themselves.
Some types of chameleons have tongues that are actually longer than their whole bodies. These tongues can be fully extended as fast as 26 body-lengths per second, which is faster than the human eye can follow.
Chameleons have the ability to see ultraviolet light.
People who own particularly colorful types of chameleons can usually quickly learn to discern the mood of their chameleons and whether the chameleon is sick or not, simply by looking at its coloration.

How to Most Effectively Battle the Common Cold

2010-11-11T05:22:00.000-08:00

I had my first bout with the common cold last week, and yours isn't far behind. This year, I decided to stop blindly subscribing to anecdotal "cures" and preventions and get to the bottom of what science says really works.

The temperature is dropping, and with winter comes the coughing, sniffling, and sneezing of the common cold. The internet is overflowing with health "tips", but among the huge amount of information available online, it's hard to separate the myths from the realities. Everyone has their own anecdotal evidence proving or disproving home remedies, over-the-counter medicines, and alternative "miracle treatments", but it's hard to tell which so-called remedies are actually the most effective at dealing with the common cold. Here, we're going to dive into some of the most popular cold treatments and note what the scientific community has to say about their effectiveness.

Things You Can Do at Home (That Won't Cost You an Arm and a Leg)

When most of us get sick, the first thing we do is rush to the drug store to stock up on over-the-counter medicines: Whether it's the cough suppresant dextromethorphan (found in cough syrups like Robitussin) or the antihistamine doxylamine succinate (found in the sleep-inducing Nyquil). Oddly enough, though, the most well-supported cold treatments are things you can find lying around the house. We've talked about winterizing your body for the chilly months to come, but if you start to feel a cold coming on, here are some of the best options for taking care of yourself.

Gargle with Salt Water

We've actually mentioned this remedy before, but it bears repeating: One of the oldest tricks in your mother's book, it seems that gargling with salt water is actually an effective home treatment for the common cold. Not only does it alleviate throat pain and loosen irritating mucous, but it can even help prevent colds: A study by the American Journal of Preventative Medicine found people that gargled warm salt water three times a day were less likely to get sick during cold season. Just dissolve half a teaspoon of salt in a full glass of water, gargle for a few seconds, and spit it out. Photo by Casey Serin.

Try a Little Honey

Another popular home remedy with some strong evidence behind it is honey. A 2007 Penn State University study found that one to two teaspoons of honey is not only effective at treating nocturnal cough, but it's actually more effective than dextromethorphan, the cough supressant found in oh-so-popular cough syrups we mob to. Photo by Bethany Egan.

Congestion Irrigation: The Neti Pot and Nasal Sprays

If you're experiencing some nasal congestion, one of the best ways to get rid of it is to rinse it out at the source using a saline nasal spray, or other similar irrigation technique. Not only have researchers found that it reduces the severity of congestion, but that also reduces infection. While you can buy many such nasal sprays over-the-counter, you can also make your own at home by mixing a quarter teaspoon salt, a quarter teaspoon baking soda, and 8 ounces of warm water (or some similar variation). You an either spray it into your nose via a bulb syringe, or use a tool like the ever-popular neti pot to clear your nasal passageway. It can be a bit daunting for some, but it's been shown to be pretty effective and have little or no side effects, so if you're serious about feeling better, it's a good method to try. Photo by Dennis Yang.

Keep Your Stress Level Down

We've made a few mentions of how stress can affect your health: if you have more psychological stress in your life, you're likely to have health issues. Even if you're lucky enough to escape the serious issues like depression and anxiety, you're still susceptible to cold and other illnesses: The Department of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University found a significant relationship between stress and acute illnesses. Everyone's stress is different, so examine your own life and be sure to keep up with our favorite stress-relieving tactics here at Lifehacker to stay healthy. Photo by John Mayer.

Get Plenty of Rest

It's one of the first pieces of advice you get when you're sick, but we can never stress it enough: give your body time to fight off the virus, and don't waste that energy elsewhere. A number of studies (such as this one from the Archives of Internal Medicine) found that sleep deprivation results in poorer immune function. Not only do good sleep habits help you fight off a cold, but they will even increase your resistance to catching one in the first place. So, if you're sick, it's important to get plenty of rest—but don't neglect it when you're healthy either. Make sure this is quality sleep, too: drugs like NyQuil contain alcohol, and we already know what that does to your sleep cycle. You'll fall asleep quickly, but you won't get the deep sleep you need to get better. Photo by Craig Dennis.

Unproven, But Unharmful: Good Ol' H₂0

While the above remedies have quite a bit of supporting evidence, other oft-recommended treatments, mentioned in this section, have either received little attention or have yet to produce conclusive evidence. The plus side: These methods aren't likely to hurt you, so there's no reason not to give them a bit of attention on your sick days.

Increase Your Fluid Intake

Very little hard research has been done on the link between fluid intake and alleviating cold symptoms, but it's long been one of the first pieces of advice given to cold sufferers. Drinking lots of fluids during a cold is said to break up your congestion, keep you hydrated and keep your throat moist. I had a tough time finding actual studies about the common cold and hydration, but it's no secret that hydration is good for your body and your health—it is, after all, one of those things necessary to bodily function—so there's no reason to not continue following this advice. In fact, this is good advice even when you're not sick. Just remember not to go overboard. Photo by Brian Turner.

Inhale Steam

We've advocated using humidifiers in your home on more than one occasion, and while there are definitely a lot of good reasons to maintain good humidity levels (from keeping your walls in good condition to avoiding nasty static electricity), the research on its effect on congestion is actually inconclusive. A Cochrane review found that only three out of six trials found benefits of steam for symptom relief. However, apart from some minor side effects (such as nasal discomfort or irritation), humidification carries little risk and provides other benefits for your home, so there's no reason to avoid it. If you'd rather not spend money on a humidifier, other sources of steam (such as a hot shower) can serve the same purpose.

Treatments to Skip: Alternative Remedies

Apart from the popular over-the-counter cold medicine ingredients (like the few mentioned above), a few other widely discussed treatments have yet to be proven effective, and also carry unnecessary side effects. These are the treatments you probably don't need.

Vitamin C

People have studied and argued about the effectiveness of Vitamin C for decades, and a Cochrane review of trials on the subject found megadosing (you know—taking handfuls of the vitamin when you come down with the cold) Vitamin C to be mostly ineffective. While there are a few exceptions in the literature (most notably athletes and those subject to cold environments), it doesn't look like Vitamin C is the miracle cold cure that many people swear it is. However, it carries little risk, so as long as you don't go overboard with it, feel free to drink up that orange juice—just don't rely on any magical powers therein. You're probably best off staying away from high-dose Vitamin C formulations like Airborne, though, since they not only contain high levels of other, megadose-unfriendly vitamins (such as Vitamin A), but they also include unnecessarily high amounts of Vitamin C, which may have unwelcome side effects in those susceptible to kidney stones.

Echinacea

Echinacea is an herbal remedy said to enhance the immune system and reduce the severity and duration of the common cold. It's popular, but once again, not likely that beneficial: a study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that it was flat out not effective at preventing nor alleviating cold symptoms. Photo by London Looks.

That said, Echinacea is a complicated treatment as well: There are many different types, strengths, and parts of the Echinacea root that have all produced different results, so unlike Vitamin C (which has been studied over and over again), the results on Echinacea are not consistent. It doesn't have a ton of side effects (other than a possible upset stomach), but allergies and other drugs can cause some more severe issues if you're not careful. Furthermore, herbal supplements aren't regulated by the FDA. When it comes down to it, it's a crapshoot as to whether the product you're buying is going to help or not.

Zinc

Another popular alternative medicine treatment is zinc, both in the form of throat lozenges or nasal sprays. Quite a few studies have been done on the treatment, but again, only some of them found positive results. In those examples, high doses of zinc did significantly reduce the severity and duration of the common cold—especially when taken at the first sign of a cold—but the side effects hardly make it worth the unproven possibility that it will help. Mild side effects include mouth irritation, a seriously awful metallic taste in your mouth, and stomach upset, while other studies have shown that high doses of zinc can lead to a loss of taste or smell. While shorter-term use is likely safer than long-term use, you're once again better off saving your money.

"Daylight Saving" Not "Daylight Savings"

2010-11-08T06:05:00.000-08:00

It’s “daylight saving time”, not “daylight savings time”. “Daylight saving time” uses the present participle “saving” as an adjective, as in “labor saving device”.
Daylight saving time was first used during WWI to conserve fuel. The theory was that by adding an hour of sunlight to people’s normal “awake time”, it would cut down on the nations need for artificial light. This may have actually been effective then, but because of our vastly different energy usage today (only 3.5 percent of our energy usage today goes towards lighting), it has generally been shown that the effect on energy usage is negligible; though it has been shown to be a profitable thing for many stores, particularly those that sell product related to outdoor leisure activities.

Bonus Factoids:

Ben Franklin often gets credit for being the “genius” who came up with daylight saving time. Interestingly though, the letter he proposed something like what we now call daylight saving time and which was eventually published in 1784 under the title, An Economical Project, was actually a witty satire meant to entertain some of his friends, not to be taken seriously on any account. It’s quite humorous, click here to give it a read (scroll down a bit for the start). In it, he also proposes taxing people who have shutters on their windows, rationing candles, and waking people as soon as the sun comes up by ringing church bells and firing cannons. With Franklin’s humor though, he probably would find it hilarious that many countries in the world eventually decided it was an idea that made sense. Although it’s quite clear he’s joking around in this paper, he was known for putting more subtle jokes in many of his other papers that only the most astute would recognize. He was so famous for this that when they were deciding who should write the Declaration of Independence, they chose Jefferson over the significantly more qualified and respected Franklin, as they feared Franklin would embed subtle humor in it that wouldn’t be recognized until it was too late to change¹.
The modern day version of DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Vernon Hudson in 1895.
The credit though for the modern day DST system is often incorrectly given to William Willett who independently thought up and lobbied for DST in 1905. He was riding through London one day in the early morning and noticed that a good portion of London’s population slept through several hours of the sunlit summer days. Willet lobbied for DST until his death in 1915. Ironically, it was one year later in 1916 that certain European countries began adopting DST.
Daylight saving time once single handedly thwarted a terrorist attack, causing the would-be terrorists to blow themselves up instead of other people. What happened was, in September 1999, the West Bank was on daylight saving time while Israel was on standard time; West Bank terrorists prepared bombs set on timers and smuggled them to their associates in Israel. As a result, the bombs exploded one hour sooner than the terrorists in Israel thought they would, resulting three terrorists dying instead of the two busloads of people who were the intended targets.

Source: MisconceptionJunction.com

Pittsburgh Steeler's player's hair insured for $1,000,000

2010-11-01T08:06:00.000-07:00

     Troy Polamalu's hair is as iconic as he is. As such, the Troy Polamalu hair style must be protected, so Troy Polamalu hair responsibility now falls on Head & Shoulders. The company has been attached to the Steelers' safety for two years, as his unique style makes him an ideal spokesman. However, his locks are so long that they can be damaged on the field, especially since it's legal to grab them during play. Therefore, Polamalu's hairstyle is the first in sports history to get its own insurance policy.

     Procter & Gamble, which owns Head & Shoulders, got Lloyd's of London to draft a policy on football's most famous mane. It was taken out for $1 million, according to a statement yesterday. However, their investment was probably secure before this policy was made.

     The Troy Polamalu hairstyle has been growing for 10 years, as the Steelers' star has left it alone in honor of his Samoan ancestors. Given how that look has become his trademark -- and hasn't stood in the way of winning two Super Bowl rings -- he has no reason to take it off now.

     However, it is still vulnerable on the field, just like any other body part. Since Troy Polamalu's hair sticks out so much, players are allowed to grab it in order to bring him down. The Chiefs' Larry Johnson did just that in 2006, although the locks stayed where they were.

     It seems unlikely that a player can grab those locks hard enough to pull some off or ruin the style. But anything can happen in football, and since Head & Shoulders is tied to the Troy Polamalu hair image, they are not taking any chances.

     Still, this policy is the least of his concerns, as he has to worry about the rest of his body. Injuries interrupted his season last year, and provided a huge hole in the Steelers' defense. In order to return to the playoffs and make another Super Bowl run, the Steelers need all of Polamalu to return and be healthy again.

     If the Troy Polamalu hair insurance policy makes him feel more secure in that goal, then the Steelers will not protest. He is on track to start the regular season on time, but Pittsburgh needs him to finish it on time as well.

Turkey Doesn’t Make You Drowsy

2010-11-01T07:23:00.000-07:00

     Now that Halloween’s done, on to Thanksgiving. Seems fitting then to start November off with one of the more popular Thanksgiving related myths. That being that, in fact, turkey does not make you drowsy after you eat it.
     Now to be clear, turkey does contain tryptophan. Tryptophan is an amino acid which the human body doesn’t naturally produce, but is essential to proper body function and, thus, must be acquired from food. The reason tryptophan is tied to drowsiness is that it is used by your body to create serotonin. Serotonin, among other things, acts as a calming agent in the brain and plays a key role in sleep. So with turkey containing tryptophan, one would logically say it would make you sleepy after you eat it… except, this isn’t actually the case.
     So, why not? Primarily because of how we eat turkey and more importantly how the body deals with tryptophan. If you tend to eat turkey on a completely empty stomach and don’t eat anything else but a little turkey, then there’s a very small chance that the tryptophan in the turkey will make you a little drowsy right after you eat it. Add it to a sandwich or have it with some mash potatoes or really pretty much any other food eaten at the same time or just eat it on a non-empty stomach and it won’t be the turkey that is making you drowsy if you feel drowsy after.
     It turns out, tryptophan needs to not only be taken on an empty stomach to have any instant effect, but also with little to no other amino acids or protein present in order to make you drowsy after you eat something that contains it. Given that there is a lot of protein in turkey and other amino acids, even if you are a bit malnourished, you are not likely to get drowsy from the tryptophan after you eat turkey, though it will increase your body’s store of the tryptophan.
     What’s going on here is that when there are a lot of amino acids around, this causes competition among the amino acids as far as crossing the blood-brain barrier. Tryptophan is a particularly bulky amino acid so it ends up being at the back of the line, so to speak, and will generally stay there until those other amino acids are gone or, at the least, until quite a lot of them are gone so the ratio of tryptophan to those other amino acids is drastically increased.
     So why do you get drowsy after, say, eating turkey on Thanksgiving or the like? Well, there are a lot of reasons, but primarily because, with your holiday meal, you likely just crammed a couple days worth of food into your body in the span of an hour or so, possibly with some alcohol, which is a central nervous system depressant that has a mild sedative effect. Also, with a full stomach, your body directs blood away from your central nervous system and other organ systems to help with your digestive system. More than anything, this is probably causing most of the drowsiness after a large turkey dinner, such as on Thanksgiving or Christmas or the like.
     The “drowsy” effect is even more noticeable when your food contains quite a bit of various fats, which take a lot of energy to digest, and carbohydrates. Carbohydrates in particular release insulin. This results in a lot various amino acids being more or less swept out of your blood, being absorbed into your muscle cells, and thus the tryptophan to other amino acid ratio increases quite a bit, giving the tryptophan a better shot of crossing the blood-brain barrier and raising your serotonin levels.
     Now there is typically always a nice store of tryptophan in your body at any given time due to the fact that it is not only prevalent in turkey, but also higher levels than in turkey per ounce can be found in chicken, beef, pork, cheese, chicken eggs (which contain nearly four times as much tryptophan per ounce over turkey), sunflower seeds, and many types of fish; it also is found, in lesser or similar amounts as in turkey, in milk, beans, sesame seeds, lamb, wheat flour, chocolate, white rice, oatmeal, potatoes, and bananas, among a lot of other foods. So your body is typically stocked full of tryptophan most of the time and eating some turkey isn’t going to significantly change your body’s store, though it will add some.
     So, if you want to point to a specific food that can make you quite drowsy, it would be things high in carbohydrates such as pasta, mashed potatoes, breads, and the like; these not only cause your body to direct more blood towards your abdomen and away from other organ systems, which will make you drowsy, but also result in some of the tryptophan hanging out in your body to actually get a chance to make it passed the blood-brain barrier to eventually produce some serotonin.

Dropping a Penny from the Top of the Empire State Building Isn’t Dangerous

2010-10-28T08:30:00.000-07:00

     You’ve probably heard people say how if you drop a penny off the top of the Empire State Building, it will accelerate to such a speed that if it struck someone, it would kill them. This simply isn’t true at all, not by a long shot. The worst that would happen if you dropped a penny from this height is that it would sting a bit when it hit them. In most cases, it wouldn’t even do that. In fact, even if you dropped it from an airplane flying at 35,000 feet, it still wouldn’t do any real damage to the person it hit.
So let’s talk specifics. The Empire State Building is about 1250 feet tall. If there were no air resistance on the penny as it fell, that would mean it would reach a maximum velocity of around 190-ish miles per hour when it hit the ground, taking just shy of 9 second to do so. That might sound really fast, but fortunately, it’s still not fast enough to kill someone.
     Somewhat surprisingly, that still likely wouldn’t be fast enough to penetrate a person’s skin, especially if it hit the flat side down, instead of the edge. For reference, a relatively low-”powered” bullet (.22 caliber), which is about equivalent in mass to a penny, is shot out with an initial speed of around 600 miles per hour. That obviously will penetrate your skin at close range, but it’s because the surface area that strikes your skin is much smaller. A penny, even at that speed, wouldn’t cause that much damage as demonstrated by Myth Busters when they shot a penny at over 700 mph at a gel “skull”. The penny wasn’t even able to penetrate the gel at all at that speed, which was over three times the speed a penny would reach falling from the top of the Empire State Building with no air resistance.
     So what about in real life where there is air resistance? That’s a little harder to calculate because a penny is going to be greatly affected by the wind. The updraft next to the Empire State Building can even be sufficient to make it so the penny won’t ever reach the ground near the Empire State Building, rather being caught in the swells and flying about until it is free from them.
Let’s move away from a place that has such an updraft and windy environment. What would the terminal velocity be then? It turns out, pennies have a pretty low terminal velocity (just a bit faster than a ping-pong ball, which has a terminal velocity of around 20-ish mph). In open air, with no real updraft or breeze, a penny’s terminal velocity is going to be around 30-50 miles per hour. If there is a good wind, even without an updraft, that’s going to drop significantly.
     You can even test this near your home because a penny will reach its terminal velocity in only about 50 feet. Find someplace where you can drop a penny 50 feet down and have someone waiting at the bottom to catch it (or time it to determine the velocity). They’ll have a really hard time catching it, due to the fact that it will spin and flutter about like a knuckle-ball, particularly if it’s breezy out. But if you do manage to hit them, I suspect they won’t complain. Indeed, as you can read in one of my sources, someone conducted this very experiment, dropping some pennies from a height sufficient for it to reach its terminal velocity (they chose a couple hundred feet, which was more than sufficient) and trying to catch them. One of the pennies hit a person in the chin and it didn’t even sting, it just felt like a bug had hit them. Several other pennies hit them on various places on their bodies and weren’t really felt much at all through their clothes.
If you’ve got a decent throwing arm, a less nice way to test this out without even leaving the comfort of your own home, which I in no way recommend for legal reasons, is simply to take a penny and attempt to chuck it at someone standing near you. If you’ve got a good arm at all, it’s going to reach much higher than its terminal velocity (assuming you stand close to them so it doesn’t have a chance to slow down) and you might even be able to get it to hit with the edge pointing forward for maximum speed and stinging power, which is something that isn’t likely dropped from a high height. They’ll probably not be too happy with you, but even if it hits their bare skin, it’s only going to sting a bit.   Just tell them it’s !!!FOR SCIENCE!!! and try not hit them in the eye. That would hurt even if you had a weak throwing arm.
     Of course, given all this, one shouldn’t take away from this that it is safe to drop all light objects from high heights. It really has a lot to do with surface area to weight ratio and how aerodynamic the thing is. Pennies will flutter about and are greatly affected by the wind. Something like a decently weighted metal fountain pen, on the other hand, could cause serious damage if dropped from a high height. It’s aerodynamically shaped and has a nice pointy end. An object like that reaching even just a hundred miles an hour can easily puncture skin and much worse. Heck, even bullets shot straight up in the air have been shown to be quite dangerous by the time they get back to the ground (not all bullets, but many). Many of these aren’t much larger, mass wise, than a penny, just shaped right for traveling through the air.

Bonus Factoid:

As stated, a penny’s terminal velocity is going to be around 30-50 mph. For reference, the terminal velocity of a sky diver is going to be around 130-ish mph (like all these examples, that varies depending on a lot of factors, but that’s a good ballpark number). Speaking of ballparks, the terminal velocity of a baseball is around 100 mph; for a tennis ball it’s around 60 mph; a ping pong ball is going to be around 20 miles per hour; and a raindrop is going to be around 15 mph.

The Men Behind the Masks

2010-10-22T05:04:00.000-07:00

by Ethan Trex

Chewbacca, Sloth, and Big Bird are all iconic roles, but could you pick any of the actors who played them out of a lineup? Probably not. Let’s take a look at the unheralded men behind the mask, under the makeup, or in the suit for a handful of memorable roles in movies and TV shows.

1. John Matuszak as Sloth

A generation of kids grew up cheering for Matuszak as Lotney “Sloth” Fratelli in The Goonies, but they probably didn’t know that just a few years earlier “Tooz” had heard the cheers of thousands of Oakland Raiders fans. Before he ever became an actor, Matuszak was a heck of a football player; as a 6’8”, 280-pound defensive end he was even the first overall pick in the 1973 NFL Draft.

Matuszak won two Super Bowl rings with the Raiders before retiring after the 1981 season, but he’s most remembered for his madcap personality. “Tooz” would throw back a “breakfast of champions” that consisted of vodka and Valium, brawl with teammates and coaches, and generally wreak havoc on and off the field. No wonder Sports Illustrated named him one of the NFL’s top five bad boys of all time in 2005.

2. Kevin Peter Hall as Harry and the Predator

The late Kevin Peter Hall had quite a bit of range once he got inside a suit. He could play a gentle giant like the Bigfoot Harry in Harry and the Hendersons, or he could kick some butt as a bloodthirsty alien like he did in the first two Predator movies. The 7’2” Hall had previously excelled as a basketball player for George Washington University, and he also had a recurring role on the NBC sitcom 227. The gig on 227 proved to be particularly fruitful for the former Predator; he married star Alaina Reed, who had previously risen to fame as Olivia on Sesame Street.

3. Warwick Davis as Wicket W. Warrick

Movie buffs probably recognize Davis as the title character in Willow and the Leprechaun series, but they might not have known that he broke into acting as an Ewok. When George Lucas was casting Return of the Jedi he put out a series of radio ads looking for people under four feet tall to play the Ewoks. Davis’ grandmother heard the spot and took Davis, who was 2’11” and a rabid Star Wars fan, to audition. After Lucas’s original choice to play Wicket fell ill, Davis nabbed the role of lead Ewok and launched a successful film career.

Interestingly, Davis was only 17 years old when he played the title role in Willow. Although he had to take lessons in sword fighting and horseback riding to prepare for the fantasy film, Davis later said that the toughest part of the role was learning how to act like a parent to his infant co-star. He said on the DVD commentary, “I had to learn parenting skills, which taught me how to hold a baby correctly, how to feed a baby, and worst of all, how to change a nappy, or diaper.”

4. Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca

Like the much shorter Davis, Mayhew found his way into films thanks to George Lucas. When Lucas was first casting the Star Wars series, he wanted English bodybuilder David Prowse to play Chewbacca. Prowse wasn’t interested in being a Wookiee, though; he asked to be the man in the Darth Vader suit. Lucas agreed and in turn asked 7’3” hospital worker Mayhew to play Chewie.

An anecdote from the production of The Empire Strikes Back accentuates just how indispensable these costumed actors can be. Mayhew fell ill during one day of filming, and since the producers didn’t want to lose a whole day of work, they put another very tall actor in the Chewie suit. After all, it’s just a suit, right? Turns out it’s not that simple. Mayhew had crafted all of Chewbacca’s mannerisms and his gait based on careful observations of large animals, but the stand-in couldn’t match them. The shots just didn’t look like the real Chewbacca. Eventually Lucas scrapped all of the footage of the impostor Chewie and reshot it with Mayhew in the suit.

5. Caroll Spinney as Big Bird

Spinney has been the man behind Sesame Street’s most iconic resident since the show’s first episode aired in 1969. Although Big Bird is 8’2”, Spinney isn’t as towering as many of the other actors on this list; he’s only 5’10”. Spinney has played Big Bird in the White House for a number of Presidents (his only complaint from these gigs is that Nancy Reagan was rude), and he’s also played another signature Sesame Street role: Oscar the Grouch.

6. Bolaji Badejo as the Alien

Bolaji Badejo was just a Nigerian design student when Ridley Scott put him into millions of audience members’ nightmares in Alien. Scott wanted his extraterrestrial monster to look like no human could possibly be inside the costume, so he sought out an actor who was extremely tall and impossibly lanky. Badejo fit the bill. At 7’2” and incredibly thin, Badejo brought his unique body type to the terrifying role, then never appeared in another film.

7. Dick Durock as Swamp Thing

If not for an NFL trade, we may never have seen Swamp Thing as we know him. Former Marine Dick Durock was living in Pittsburgh with his older sister and her husband, Pittsburgh Steelers tackle Frank Varrichione, when four-time Pro Bowler Varrichione found himself traded to the Los Angeles Rams in 1961.

The trade worked out well for the Rams – Varrichione made another Pro Bowl with the team – but it panned out even better for Durock. He followed his family to Los Angeles and began working out in a gym frequented by a number of stuntmen. Eventually he became a stuntman himself, and in 1982 he took on the role of Swamp Thing for the first of two movies and then 71 episodes of the subsequent television series.

Misconception Junction Presents.....

2010-10-20T06:02:00.000-07:00

[Source: Misconception Junction]

Consumer Pays Off $14,330 In 20 Months With Our Tips

2010-10-12T15:19:00.000-07:00

     Stuck in a $14,300 debt hole, reader Trixare4kids was able to dig herself out using tips she learned about on Consumerist.com. Let's learn how she attacked her personal finances and learned to live frugally, and did it all in 20 months.
     She writes: "This morning I made my very last payment on $14,300 in credit card debt and a personal line of credit for a home improvement project that was completed a few years ago. I paid it off over the last 20 months thanks to applying some of the stuff I learned at consumerist.com. It was tough. It took discipline, but I did it!
     Instead of making a bunch of changes at once, I did things a little over time. It looked something like this. It's maybe not in the order that makes the most sense to a financial planner or in the order that someone else would do things; I just know that it worked for me.

MONTH 1: NEGOTIATING BETTER CREDIT CARDS RATES:
     I called every single credit card company and tried to negotiate for a lower rate. I was successful with a lot of them. In once case the rate went from 14% to 7.99%. If they would not lower the interest rate, I politely thanked them and then transferred those balances onto lower rate cards. I canceled each card as it was paid off.

MONTH 2: GO CASH-ONLY:
     I cut up every single card except one for emergencies. I actually put my remaining credit card in a big plastic cup full of water and stuck it in the freezer. That way, I'd really have to work at it to get that card. Cash only was the rule. If I did not have the cash, I did not need it. It's still in the freezer 20 months later.

MONTH 3: START DEBT-SNOWBALL:
     It really works. I first heard about this method on consumerist and set myself up to pay off the lowest balances first. I used an Excel spreadsheet I downloaded here. I liked this one because it was easy to add extra one-time payments. I know that it would probably save me more money to pay off the higher interest rates first, but it was very, very satisfying to get stuff paid and DONE with. I cannot even begin to explain how highly motivating it was to finally pay something off. It was worth whatever little amount extra it cost me extra to pay the smallest balances off first. It makes for that good "light at the end of the tunnel" feeling. I also set up automatic payments on payday through the online bill pay to make this a seamless process. For the first couple of months, I just started off with just $50 extra because that's all I could afford. Once I started living more frugally, I applied more to the snowball.
     Make extra payments to the snowball. They really do help, no matter how small. Every single extra penny that came my way went toward paying down the debt. At the end of the month, if I had anything left over in any of the budget categories, I immediately applied that as an extra payment. The nice thing about online bill pay is that it's just so easy to make as many payments as you want. Sometimes it was $100, sometimes it was $10 or even $3 one month, but every little bit helps. I purchased a printer that was almost free after rebate and applied the rebate to the debt. I did a few side jobs helping a caterer do some prep work; I sold some books on half.com, cleaned out my garage and made $300 from a yard sale, grandma sent me money for my birthday and Christmas, you get the idea. The point is, every single extra penny went right to the debt.

MONTH 4: SET UP BUDGET:
     I made a budget and figured out where exactly my money was going.

MONTH 5: CUT BACK EXPENSES:
     I figured out what I could cut back on or go without. Not only did I figure out what I was giving up would save me I also diligently applied that amount to the snowball. It also really helps to figure out what something is costing you per year. I had no idea I was spending $600 a year just on manicures!

Here's what I gave up:
Cable TV. Got a cheap netflix plan and a roku player instead. Savings: $17/month, $204 a year
Land line phone. Savings: $27/month, $324/year
Gardener. Savings: $40/month, $480/year
Got slower DSL. Savings: $10/month, $120/year
Manicures. Did my own. Savings: $50/month, $600/year
Public Radio Membership. Sorry KQED and KALW, but I have to come first right now. I'll continue to support you later. Savings: $11/month, $132/year
Gym Membership. Savings: $30/month, $360/year
Lunches at work. Savings: $120 month, $1440/year
Starbucks. Savings: $60/month, $720/year

Total extra towards snowball: $365/month, $4,380/year.
Just like that.

MONTH 6:
     I worked on cutting my spending in other ways.
I am an avid reader and I realized one of my biggest expenditures was new books. I gave up my Amazon habit and switched to the library. My local library allows you to browse the catalog online and request books be sent to the branch of your choice. I work 2 blocks from a branch so I just picked up things there. I also used paperbackswap.com, bookmooch.com and swaptree.com to give books I no longer wanted and in return get books I wanted. It only cost me the price of shipping books to other users via media mail. I saved unknown hundreds and hundreds of dollars by making this simple switch.
     For example, in September, I spent $36 on postage to send out used books, books that would otherwise just be sitting around and in return I received about $300 worth of books had I bought them new at retail price. For those who are into DVDs and CDs, swapadvd.com and swapacd.com are also awesome sites. (Other than being a member, I'm not affiliated with any of those sites)
     I stopped buying anything new. If I really, really needed something, I would ask first on freecycle http://www.freecycle.org/ and search craigslist for used items for sale. For example, my hairdryer stopped working about 6 months ago. Instead of running out to buy a new one, I posted an "Item Wanted" listing on the yahoo group and had a new and FREE hair dryer within 24 hours.

Food Budget: I ate the kind of things I normally eat; I just made some simple substitutions. I ate at home instead of eating out. I brought my lunch to work instead of eating out, but I did let myself eat out on Payday Friday. I used coupons and only bought very small amounts of perishable items so there was no waste. I stocked up on items like toilet paper when there was a really good sale, but was careful not to buy too many perishables. Nothing went to waste. I gave up paper towels and used rags instead. I shopped at the grocery outlet instead of Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck)
     Instead of buying new clothes (except for bras, panties and socks) I shopped for things at thrift and consignment stores.
     I know it sounds like I gave a lot of stuff up, but I don't see it that way - I kept thinking about what I was GETTING instead, which is freedom from debt. I still gave myself a small budget for entertainment and frugal dining out once in awhile, and please, nothing could induce me to give up my hairdresser!
You'd be surprised how much you can actually do for FREE if you just look around.
Free Theatre: Lots of theatres need volunteer ushers. You work in the theatre for an hour or so before the show, maybe stuffing envelopes or something. You help seat people before the show and then you get to see the show for free. You often get good seats too. I saw 3 or 4 free show a month this way. You often have to wear black slacks or skirt and a white shirt, but that's a small price to pay for free theatre.

Artist's receptions: You get to mingle and talk with people, see some (hopefully) lovely and interesting art, plus get fed wine and cheese.
I also used squidlist to find cheap and free things to do.

HOW IT FEELS
     I was disciplined and determined and I did it! Thank you consumerist! As of today I am debt free (except for my thankfully low fixed-rate mortgage) and I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my mind. My spirit feels lighter. I am FREE. I am doing a happy dance! My plan is to continue to live frugally and start building up a savings now. I will never, ever be in that much debt again. I never want to feel the stress an anxiety of owing so much.
     Oh yeah, all during this time, I also put just $40 per month away into a savings account (ING) which I set up as an automatic $20 deduction every payday. I now have $800 to spend guilt-free and after 20 months I'm ready for a vacation. So, as my prize for getting debt free, I just booked a $295 flight to Cancun a bit later in October. I really deserve this vacation for a job well done and best of all? It's NOT going on a credit card.

originally posted on consumerist.com

Ten Rules for Being Human

2010-10-12T15:08:00.000-07:00

by Cherie Carter-Scott

1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it’s yours to keep for the entire period.
2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called, “life.”
3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error, and experimentation. The “failed” experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately “work.”
4. Lessons are repeated until they are learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.
5. Learning lessons does not end. There’s no part of life that doesn’t contain its lessons. If you’re alive, that means there are still lessons to be learned.
6. “There” is no better a place than “here.” When your “there” has become a “here”, you will simply obtain another “there” that will again look better than “here.”
7. Other people are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.
8. What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.
9. Your answers lie within you. The answers to life’s questions lie within you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.
10. You will forget all this.

6 Not-So-Secret Secret Societies

2010-10-08T06:30:00.000-07:00

1. The Freemasons

This is the granddaddy of all not-so-secret secret societies. Freemasonry, or “The Craft” as its members call it, most likely has its roots in 17th-century stoneworkers’ guilds. Mason lore, however, extends its origins back to biblical times, linking the society to the building of the Temple of Solomon. Freemasonry is split into numerous subgroups and orders, all of which consider God the Grand Geometrician, or Grand Architect of the Universe. At their hearts, these groups are all means of exploring ethical and philosophical issues, and their rituals and symbols are famous (or infamous). Take, for instance, the square-and-compass logo often seen on the backs of Cadillacs. Or the use of secret handshakes, passwords, and greeting postures/gestures called “due guards,” all collectively known as the Modes of Recognition. The list of famous Masons is massive, a virtual Who’s Who of modern history, explaining the many conspiracy theories regarding the Masons’ influence and intentions. Mozart, FDR, Harry S. Truman, George Washington, Mark Twain, Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, John Wayne, W. C. Fields, and Douglas MacArthur were all Masons. But perhaps the Masons’ greatest strides have been made in fast food: KFC’s Colonel Sanders and Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas knew how to secret-shake with the best of ’em.

2. The Illuminati

Over the centuries, lots of groups have called themselves the Illuminati (“Enlightened Ones”), but the one we’re talking about here began as the Bavarian Illuminati. A radical product of the Enlightenment and offshoot of the religion-based Freemasons, the Illuminati espoused secular freethinking and intellectualism and proved a threat to Europe’s old order. Although they were officially banned by the Bavarian government in 1784, some claim that they live on to this day in other guises. So, what’s the Illuminati’s goal? To establish a new world order of capitalism and authoritarianism, of course! They’ve been accused of manipulating currencies, world stock markets, elections, assassinations, and even of being aliens. One common myth is that the eye-and-pyramid image on the dollar bill is a symbol of the Illuminati watching over us. Nope. It’s a symbol of strength and durability (though unfinished, symbolizing growth and change), and the all-seeing eye represents the divine guidance of the American cause. Or so the government says.

3. Opus Dei

This organization has a $42 million, 17-story headquarters building on Lexington Avenue in New York City, claims 85,000 members in 60 countries, and was featured in Dan Brown’s bestseller The Da Vinci Code. Now that its existence has been significantly unsecretized, this ultraorthodox Catholic sect has definitely raised its share of eyebrows. Founded in 1928 by Saint JosemarÃa EscrivÃ¡ (a Spanish priest who bore an uncanny resemblance to Karl Malden), Opus Dei is the short name for the Prelature for the Holy Cross and the Work of God. The sect (some would say cult) stresses a return to traditional Catholic orthodoxy and behavior, especially celibacy, with members falling into one of three levels. Numeraries live in Opus Dei facilities, devote their time and money to the prelature, attend mass daily, and engage in mortification of the flesh (wearing a spiked chain around the thigh called a cilice, taking cold showers, or flagellating themselves with a knotted rope called “the discipline”). Next come Associates (kind of like Numeraries, but living “off campus”), then Supernumeraries (the rank-and-file members). The group did gain the praise of Pope John Paul II, and has engaged in a lot of charity work. Yet, critics accuse the group of being linked to fascist organizations like Franco’s government in Spain, and of anti-Semitism and intolerance, even of other Catholics. [Photo courtesy of DanBrown.com.]

4. Skull and Bones

Top dog among all the collegiate secret societies, Yale’s Skull and Bones dates to 1832 and goes by other spooky names like Chapter 322 and the Brotherhood of Death. With a large number of Bonesmen who have attained positions of power, including the president and the head of the CIA, it’s no wonder that rumors abound that the society is hell-bent on obtaining power and influencing U.S. foreign policy. The fact that they meet in an imposing templelike building on the Yale campus called (what else?) the Tomb doesn’t really help. Bonesmen are selected, or “tapped,” during their junior year and can reveal their membership only after they’ve graduated. But they can never talk about it. The Bones have been accused of all sorts of crazy rituals and conspiracies, including drug smuggling and the assassination of JFK (a hated Hahvahd man, after all). It’s even rumored that the skull of Geronimo resides in the Tomb, stolen from its resting place by Prescott Bush, Dubya’s granddad. In one of the more commonly known rituals, the initiate spends all night naked in an open coffin, confessing all his sexual experiences to the group. So, who’s lucky enough to have made such a confession? George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, John Kerry, William Howard Taft, McGeorge Bundy, William F. Buckley, and Henry Luce are just a few.

5. The Bohemian Club

This is a weird one. In the majestic forests of Sonoma County north of San Francisco lies the Bohemian Grove, the 2,700-acre wooded retreat of the Bohemian Club, the nation’s most exclusive men’s club. Every July since 1879, the “Bohos” have gathered at the Grove for a two-week encampment, where they’re divided into more than 100 residential camps with names like Owl’s Nest, Cave Man, and Lost Angels. Membership has included, well, just about everybody important: Ronald Reagan, Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon (who once called it “faggy”), Gerald Ford, Colin Powell, Dick Cheney, and many CEOs and wealthy business leaders like Malcolm Forbes. Each encampment opens with a robed-and-hooded ceremony called the Cremation of Care, in which an effigy called “Dull Care” (symbolizing worldly concerns) is burned before a 40- foot concrete statue of an owl, symbol of wisdom and the club’s mascot. Throughout the week, plays are staged (called High Jinx and Low Jinx), there’s lots of eating and drinking (and, reportedly, urinating on trees), and members are treated to speeches called Lakeside Talks. Some opponents go so far as to accuse the group of Satanism, witchcraft, homosexuality, and prostitution, while more reasonable observers object to the Lakeside Talks as national policy discussions to which the public is not privy. But above all, it’s seen as a way that some of the elite meet others of the elite, thereby ensuring that they’ll all stay elite. All this makes the club’s seemingly anticonspiratorial slogan—“Weaving spiders, come not here”—that much more ironic. [Photo of Reagan & Nixon at the Bohemian Club courtesy of Wikipedia.]

6. The Trilateral Commission

While not, on its face, as juicily sinister as some of the other societies on this list, the Trilateral Commission has been accused of all sorts of underhanded shenanigans by its critics. Formed in 1973 by David Rockefeller, the Commission includes over 300 prominent citizens from Europe, Asia, and North America in a forum for discussing the regions’ common interests. But conspiracy theorists hold that the Trilateral Commission, along with the Council on Foreign Relations and others, is really just a front for a larger, more sinister order called the Round Table Groups, founded in London over 100 years ago and bent on the creation of a new world order, a global capitalist police state. Yikes! (For the record, some say the Round Table Groups are themselves just fronts for another society, the Illuminati, so who knows?) American members of the Trilateral Commission have included Bill Clinton, Henry Kissinger, Jimmy Carter, Dick Cheney, and Dianne Feinstein.

This article was excerpted from the mental_floss book ‘Forbidden Knowledge.

All Work and No Play-Doh...

2010-10-05T05:59:00.000-07:00

by Stacy Conradt

With the excitement of Talk Like a Pirate Day and National Punctuation Day last month, I totally overlooked another important holiday that I may put on my calendar from now on – Play-Doh day. How could I have missed such a retro, kitschy holiday? We’re belatedly celebrating here on the Q10 by offering up a few fun facts about the toy that started out as a household cleaner.

1. Play-Doh was first sold as a wallpaper cleaner. People could remove soot and dirt from their wall coverings by simply rolling the wad of goop across the surface.
2. We might not have Play-Doh if it wasn’t for Captain Kangaroo. When it was just a fledgling company with no advertising budget, inventor Joe McVicker talked his way in to visit Bob Keeshan, A.K.A. Captain K. Although the company couldn’t pay the show outright, McVicker offered them two percent of Play-Doh sales for featuring the product once a week. Keeshan loved the compound and began featuring it three times weekly. After that, it caught on like wildfire and was featured on DingDongSchool and Romper Room.

3. Since its inception, two billion cans of Play-Doh have been sold. Not bad for wallpaper cleaner, huh? If you took all of that Play-Doh ever made and wadded it into a giant ball, it would weigh as much as 2,000 Statues of Liberty.

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Visit Ai insurance at the 4th Annual Spookorama Car and Truck Show

2010-10-01T06:04:00.000-07:00

Join Ai insurance, Cape Fear Classics Car Club,

and many others at the

4th Annual Spookarama Car and Truck Show

Registration is from 9AM to 12PM

Pre-1986 Vehicles ONLY

Registration Fee: $20 on the day of and $15 in advance

Contact Jim Smith @ (910) 426-3314 for info

Awards will be presented at 3:30PM

Door Prizes, 50/50 Drawing, Food, and Drinks will be available.

Awards Given: Best of Show, Best Chevy, Best Ford, Best MOPAR, Best GM, Best Mustang, Best Sports Car, Best Other, Best FWD Sports Compact, Best Truck, Diamond in the Rough, Top 40 Entries

First 75 Entries receive a dash plaque. All entries receive a photo of their vehicle.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Tallywood Shopping Center

3100 Raeford Rd

Fayetteville, NC

4th Annual Jesse's Dream Show (hosted by the Hope Mills Cruzers)

2010-09-27T11:15:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Mrs. Hulon for winning the

Ai insurance Gas Card Drawing

Mrs. Hulon and Roger Melvin

A Special "Thank You" to the Hope Mills Cruzers and First Baptist Church of Hope Mills for allowing us to be a part of this incredible event.

The Worst Ads of 2010

2010-09-27T06:38:00.000-07:00

By Austin Carr (originally posted on fastcompany.com)

It seems advertisers are hell-bent on making the commercial breaks that separate fans from Mad Men and Jersey Shore the longest, most excruciating minutes of our lives. In the last year, we've suffered through Progressive's painful spokeswoman Flo squawking about insurance and awkward State Farm ads that remind us in depressing terms just how bankrupt we all are from the recession ("Our real national past-time? Saving money!").

Thankfully, The Consumerist has been keeping track. Out today are their nominations for the Worst Ads of 2010, a list of some of the most mind-blowingly stupid commercials plaguing America's airwaves. We've pulled a collection of some of the worst--head here to vote for your favorites, er, least favorites rather.

ABSOLUTE WORST AD IN AMERICA

Staples: "Wow! That's a Low Price!"

Why: Wow! That's a loud yell! About a dumb joke! And no one's actually buying anything! And hey! Now another guy is yelling!

Progressive: "Flo Dishes Out Discounts"

Why: ... With a side of botulism! Or at least it feels like it when everyone's wacky aunt attempts to make insurance fun 'n' quirky!

Honda - Mr. Opportunity - "Paparazzi"

Why: The hack-y cartoon character that looks like he stepped out of the funny papers in 1970 wouldn't be so bad if he was just the embodiment of a good pun. Missed opportunity.

Quiznos: "Singimals -- Starring Kittens"

Why: So, wait. The sandwiches are made of cat food? There's actual cat in them? Confused. Not hungry.

State Farm - "Pocket Agent"

Why: The dynamic between these two is just terribly awkward. I don't want a State Farm agent, and I certainly don't want one in my pocket.

MOST GRATING PERFORMANCE BY A HUMAN

1-800 Dentist: The last woman on Earth you'd want in the elevator with you

Why: It's impossible to watch without cringing.

5-Hour Energy: Mr. "Do You Know What 2:30 Feels Like?"

Why: For an ad showing how groggy we feel at 2:30, this spokesperson is pretty perky, jumping from one cubicle to the next. If I worked with this guy, I'd chug a bottle of 5-Hour and slap him in the face.

McDonald's: The "Not Until I've Had My Coffee" jerkface

Why: Joke's on him when he's an obese diabetes-suffering Grimace-lookalike by age 35.

Wendy's: That "Pico De Gallo!" loudmouth

Why: "You know when it's real" is Wendy's tagline. Too bad this back-and-forth between two of the fast food chain's employees feels totally fake and, well, annoying.

Nationwide Insurance: The World's Greatest Spokesperson In the World

Why: The crappy cousin and poor rip-off of the Dos Equis and Old Spice guys.

20 Life Lessons A Wise Man Would Share

2010-09-22T05:38:00.000-07:00

No One is Perfect. The quicker this is realized the faster you can get on with being excellent. Start every morning ready to fight harder than you did the day before and run further than you ever imagine.

Avoid over explaining yourself. Be confident with who you are.

Keep balance in your life. Write down what’s most important to you and show up. Sometimes we tend to do the things that are most important to us when it’s written down.

Play the hand you were dealt. Have the courage to face challenges head on it builds character. Start looking for a way through instead of a way out.

Be a student of life. Learn something new every day. The day you stop learning is the day you become obsolete so keep learning.

No Excuses. Stop making excuses replace them with ways to do better. Excuses are a waste of time and energy.

Let others know where you Stand. Be uncompromising and be up front when someone steps on your core values.

Never be afraid of a challenge. You put on your shoes like every other man. Now it comes down to who wants it more.

Service to others. Small, simple or important be a volunteer and give the very best of you.

Work like hell. Everyone has a job to do so do it. Cross every “T” and dot every “I”.

Discover You. Find your passion, life purpose, and take action.

Don’t take it Personal. Don’t be afraid to laugh at yourself self confidence shows that you’re comfortable in your own skin.

Manage your time. Our situation and environment is ever changing so be careful not to confuse the things that are urgent with the things that are important. Look for time wasters and eliminate them.

Ask for help. Life can be tough remember you never have to do it alone.

Do your homework. Know what you getting into before you start. Doing your homework reduces uncertainty and fear.

Day Dream Often. On the weekend when you are relaxing embrace a day dream. During the week take action to preserve your dreams.

Be A HERO. Cultivate a healthy dose of forgiveness and set someone free. Learn to forgive others and stop carrying those bags of hate, guilt or regret.

Stay One Step Ahead. Be proactive, Take the initiative, Brainstorm with the big picture in mind.

Self Love. Become your own priority. Strive to be the you, you want to be.

Finish what you started. Avoid the urge to stray.

People are Likely to Waste Money on Money Saving Gadgets

2010-09-17T14:03:00.000-07:00

It’s as if being frugal means its ok or even necessary to waste money on gimmick products that claim to save you money. Perhaps, people who are historically conservative with their money feel as it is their obligation to purchase products like a plastic cap that keep soda cans slightly fresher or a gadget to help you squeeze the last drop of toothpaste from an empty tube. After all, “frugalites” have a reputation to maintain. However, will these types of products produce long-term savings? Alternatively, will they simply be something we use a few times and eventually throw or give away?

In my opinion, such “cheapskate accessories” tend to conflict with the theory of cheapskates. A typical cheapskate would just use their fingers to get toothpaste out of a tube or would not open a can of pop if they knew they were not going to finish it. Generally, such products barely work as well as they are advertised and often are trying to fill a product gap that doesn’t even exist.
Here are a few of such of such gimmick items and what I foresee as their actual value:

•Bottle Top – Bottle tops are intended to turn your can of pop into a bottle, which is suppose to prevent spills and extend the life of pop. Will somebody who purchases this actually make the effort every time a can of pop is open to put on this plastic cap? Will it even be clean from the last time? Will they even know where they put it? Finally, if you’re in the habit of not finishing your pop, then consider buying less and purchasing something that already has a cap, like drinks in a bottle (brilliant!).
•Pasta Boat – The pasta boat is supposed to change the way we make pasta by allowing us to cook, strain, serve and steam pasta all in one plastic device. While this may sound appealing, let us first remember microwaving and eating out of plastic is not advised. Second, what is wrong with the strainer we have already purchased?
•Pedi Paws – For all of us with dogs, the Pedi Paw is supposed to be the pet nail trimming solution that we cannot live without. This device is designed to actually file your pet’s nails, which will save you trips to the groomer. While this product may work on the occasional (extremely chill) dog, most of us realize a motorized device to trip their nails is humorous. Again, use the clipper you already have or you will likely waste $20 on a filer that you try once and store.
If a device is intended to save you money, that alone doesn’t automatically justify it as a smart purchase.

-originally posted by milkyourmoney.com

Luckiest People on Earth (bought insurance the next day)

2010-09-12T13:49:00.000-07:00

2010-09-12T07:35:00.000-07:00

I think I may be a little late to tout the benefits of Priceline, but having recently used it for the first time a month ago and again last week, I am not sure if I will ever make another reservation the traditional way—it actually does work, I’m proof.
On a recent trip to New York City, my wife and I saved $50 on a room naming our price on Priceline and again saved another $60 on a recent hotel room for a wedding near Austin, TX just last week. When I say we saved money, I actually mean if we were to go to the hotel’s website and reserve the same room or even use another site like hotels.com to reserve the same room, we would not have gotten the rate we did.
How does Priceline work? Well, basically, the commercials are accurate; you simply name your price. However, it can be a little scary because you don’t get to name your hotel, rather, you name the area you would like your hotel to be in (generally this is narrowed down to small sections of cities) and you name how many star hotel you are looking for. After choosing the following two options, you submit your proposal and wait to see if any Hotel’s accept your offer, if they do, then a deal has been made. If not, you can try again by offering more money or lowering your star preference or even expanding the area you would like to stay in.
It’s actually kind of a fun process, I like to start out a few weeks in advance by really low balling my offers just in case I am able to sneak in a great deal, but I generally have found that I get better deals by waiting till close to the date I actually want to be there. Perhaps the logic is that the room would be empty anyways so they might as well fill it, even if they don’t get as much for it.
The only hesitation I think you should have with Priceline is if you are going to be rooming with more than two people. My experience is that they do not guarantee rooms with two beds, but you can request this with your hotel after the reservation have been made through Priceline. But, this is only a request and may mean you might not actually get the extra bed. So, if you are traveling with three or more people, Priceline may not be your best option. On the other hand, if you are a couple traveling, Priceline will save you money and likely get you into a hotel nicer than you were originally seeking out. (posted originally by MilkYourMoney.com)

World's Fastest ...

2010-09-10T11:33:00.001-07:00

27 Great Tips for Around the House

2010-09-08T05:35:00.000-07:00

Brought to you by:

Some of you may have heard of these before but we couldn’t resist letting our readers know of a few extremely helpful tips that could not only save you money but could even save your life!
Peel a banana from the bottom and you won’t have to pick the little ’stringy things’ off of it.That’s how the primates do it.

Banana Ripening: Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store.If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Cheese: Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil.It will stay fresh much longer and not mold

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating raw.

Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Beef: Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef.It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

Eggs: To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a coupleof spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream inand then beat them up.

Mint Brownies: Make brownies as directed.Melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies.Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.

Garlic: Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a lighttaste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want astronger taste of garlic.

Quick Dessert: Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert.Simply chop them up with a food chopper.Peel, core and slice a few apples.Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples.Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream.

Reheat Pizza: Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza.

Easy Deviled Eggs: Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done for an easy clean up.

Expanding Frosting: When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

Reheating refrigerated bread: To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

Newspaper weeds away: Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers put layers around the plants overlapping as you go over with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.

Broken Glass: Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can’t see easily.

No More Mosquitoes: Place a dryer sheet in your pocket.It will keep the mosquitoes away.

Squirrel Away: To keep squirrels from eating your plants sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn’t hurt the plant and the squirrels won’t come near it.

Flexible vacuum: To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

Reducing Static Cling: Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and-ta da! — static is gone.

Measuring Cups: Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don’t dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

Foggy Windshield: Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

Reopening envelope: If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It seals easily.

Conditioner: Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs (or your face). It’s a lot cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It’s also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn’t like when you tried it in your hair…

Goodbye Fruit Flies: To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass fill it ½’ with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid, mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

Get Rid of Ants: Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it ‘home,’ can’t digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don’t have the worry about pets or small children being harmed! (Also try dry Grits, when the ants eat the dry grits, the fluid in their stomachs will cause the grits to expand blowing up the ants and the colony.)

Clothes Dryers: Even though you clean the lint itself from the dryer lint trap, you must also clean the mesh part with hot soapy water and a brush (may use tooth brush also) every 6 months or so. Dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh. That’s what burns out the heating unit. You can’t SEE the film, but it’s there. It’s what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free-that nice fragrance too, this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to catch fire and potentially burn your house down with it! By washing it, you can save electricity and help your dryer live longer.

Of course we haven’t tried ALL of these but they are worth a try. I know I have seen that information before about cleaning your dryer vent thoroughly. Takes just a few seconds and they pay off is priceless.

2010-09-07T21:22:00.001-07:00

Make the Intelligent Choice and let the professionals at Ai insurance save you money today. Call (910) 223-3066 or visit us online at www.aiins.us

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All Work and No Play-Doh...

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