by Joe | Nov 12, 2017 | Everything Else, Products We Like
 
  MARK RECENTLY HAD HIS CREDIT CARD INFO STOLEN, and determined that it was very likely done by a credit card skimmer device at a gas pump. Thanks to a watchful credit card company, the fraudulent charges on Mark’s card were declined without further incident. When he told me about the fraud on his credit card, I let him know that I had recently come across a cool app called Skimmer Scanner that might prevent this kind of thing in the future. First, what’s a credit card...
by Mark | Nov 12, 2017 | Everything Else, Products We Like
 
 I had my last pair of glasses for years. They were the kind with the half rims on top and the plastic string thing on the bottom. Once they got bent, there was no way to get them back to the way they were. They stayed bent and I couldn’t get the lens to sit correctly in the frame because the stupid string would pop out. Time for new glasses. It had been years since my last eye exam, however, so I wanted to make sure I had an up-to-date prescription before getting new glasses. I don’t have...
by Joe | Oct 10, 2017 | Everything Else, Products We Like
I was at a concert in a bad seat in 2010, right in front of giant speakers. By the end, I was hearing a very disturbing crackling in my ears. This is what happens when your ears are being damaged, and afterwards, they will never be the same. Thankfully, that experience freaked me out enough that I sought hearing protection for over-loud situations. Maybe you’ve done this thought experiment with your friends: Would you rather be blind or deaf? The real answer, of course, is neither. ...
by Joe | Oct 6, 2017 | Everything Else, Products We Like
Four years ago, I decided to buy a bunch of matching furniture all at once. Although I was initially hesitant to go full IKEA, I eventually did and have not regretted it. IKEA furniture is famous for being pretty easy to put together, but if you get one of the more screw-or-bolt-heavy pieces (like a bed, for instance), you will get tired of doing it all manually long before you’re actually finished assembling it. If you buy multiple pieces of big furniture at once, having power-tool...
by Joe | Oct 6, 2017 | Everything Else, Products We Like
The Bad Old Days of Incandescent bulbs are basically gone, and everything else (Compact Fluorescent (CFL), Fluorescent bulbs, Halogen bulbs, HID Bulbs) is being phased out due to their many inferiorities You probably know about LED bulbs, and with the price dropping significantly in recent years (less than $2 a bulb, more on that later), it’s time to buy. In this run-down, I will tell you: – Why the issues with early LED bulbs that may have deterred you from buying them are no...
by Mark | Oct 5, 2017 | Everything Else, Products We Like
 
 Maybe it’s a safety issue (which it can be here in the Midwest) or it’s simply because you’ve never had a coat or gloves that really kept you warm. Either way, we’ve all had winter coats or gloves that left us shivering in the cold morning mornings. So here’s how you stay warm in the winter: There’s no substitute for a down jacket. Don’t waste time or money with a ‘down alternative’ or a supposedly more technologically advanced substitute. Down is very light, compressible for easy...
by Mark | Oct 5, 2017 | Everything Else, Products We Like
As someone who’s tutored college physics for years, the first thing that struck me when I used a fidget spinner was its educational value. Most educators see fidget spinners as a waste of time or attention, and I can understand that argument in, say, an English class. But one of the best things to come by in teaching science is easy, visual examples. Here’s why fidget spinners are so much fun for a physicist: If you take a fidget spinner and move it any way you want while it’s not spinning, it...
by Joe | Oct 4, 2017 | Everything Else, Products We Like
   Getting your child (aged 2 and up) a tablet is a great idea. Let me explain. In 2013, I purchased my first tablet (Amazon Kindle Fire HD7 2013 version) for my wife. She didn’t use it as much as we expected, but my then-1.5-year-old son was very interested, and eventually took it over. He has been using it even since as his creative outlet as well as for entertainment. That tablet finally died this year after years of rough and dirty use in a sub-par case, so I bought two more cheap ones,...
by Joe | Oct 4, 2017 | Everything Else, Products We Like
Regular deodorant works by plugging up your pores with aluminum particles, which keeps your from sweating in that area until it wears off. Some people don’t like the sound of that. There are lots of choices on Amazon that have hundreds of reviews and are rated around 4.5 stars, but the best ones are the more foolproof ones that work for more people. Natural deodorants work more to inhibit bacterial growth that causes odor as a result of sweating. Here are some natural alternatives that...
by Joe | Sep 28, 2017 | Everything Else, Products We Like
Washing your hands is boring, and many standard-issue soaps smell like chemicals or just smell bad. But, like most things in life, there is a better way. In 2016, the FDA ruled that “anti-bacterial” soaps are needless and can actually cause harm if they include the ingredient Triclosan. Up until then, I had been using nasty anti-bacterial soap for everything, including washing my hands. Now, I welcome you to the hand-soap renaissance we can all enjoy together without fear of...