Day of the Human

Loud Sounds and Music Are Damaging Your Hearing, Permanently

by Joe | Oct 10, 2017 | Everything Else, Products We Like

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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. ...

Ditch the Teabags and Switch to Loose-Leaf Tea. How and Why

by Joe | Oct 9, 2017 | Food and Drink, Tips and Guides

I love tea just as much as I love coffee, and now that I use loose-leaf tea, I drink it every day. In the past, I exclusively used teabags from the grocery store until this year when I was given loose-leaf tea as a gift, along with a steeping pot to brew it in. Now, loose-leaf has made me love tea more than ever. I was initially hesitant to get into loose-leaf tea brewing simply out of ignorance. Had I known that is was just as easy (and in many ways, easier) than brewing with tea bags I...

5 Best Portable Bluetooth Speakers under $35 on Amazon

by Mark | Oct 7, 2017 | TV and Movies

What is a portable Bluetooth speaker good for? Basically everything, with a few exceptions. Portable Bluetooth Speakers excel whenever you need: A speaker in a place where it would be inconvenient or impossible to be plugged in to power A speaker that can be moved from one place to another A speaker in a place where you can’t put a large speaker due to space constraints Many Portable Bluetooth speakers are also water resistant or even waterproof. This makes them useful for...

Your Towel Isn’t Clean if You Used it Once Between Washes

by Joe | Oct 7, 2017 | Everything Else

Let me start by saying this: My intention here is not to make you fear your dirty towels. It’s more interesting science than anything else, but it may also lead to you changing your towel-washing habits for the better, as it did for me. That being said: We’re clean when we get out of the shower and dry ourselves, so our bath towels must stay clean for a while between washes, right? Not so, according to science Apparently, our towels should be washed at least once every three...

Put IKEA Furniture Together the Easy Way: With a Cheap Power Drill

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...

Getting the most out of your Starbucks visit

by Mark | Oct 6, 2017 | Food and Drink, Starbucks

I love coffee. I got hooked on it when I used to work at Starbucks for a few years. But it’s more expensive than making coffee at home, so I try to get the most for my money when I go. To make it more worthwhile for those of us with a smaller budget for coffee, here are some tips for getting the most out of your next Starbucks visit! Registering for their rewards program (which is as easy as downloading the Starbucks app and following their prompts) means you can get free refills of hot...

Tips you need for finding your next home

by Mark | Oct 6, 2017 | Everything Else

Even if you’re not thinking of moving right away, it’s always fun to look at places where you would rather live. But it’s not so simple as just finding your dream house, especially if you have kids. We’ll look at some more in-depth issues with choosing your next home. Registered sex offenders are required to make it public knowledge where they live. This means you can use the database to check your area for convicted sex offenders prior to moving. It’s disturbing to see how many there are,...

Get Daylight LED Bulbs for Your House, Now

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...

Winter is coming! Staying warm on those cold, dark mornings

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...

How fidget spinners teach your kids physics

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...