A hiccup, or “synchronous diaphragmatic flutter,” is a rapid involuntary contraction of the diaphragm, which results in a large volume of air rushing abruptly into the lungs. This is typically accompanied by a “hic” sound as the airflow forces the vocal chords to suddenly close. The physiology of a hiccup is much like that of a knee jerk reflex (when a doctor taps your knee with that little hammer), but the hiccup reaction occurs within a few cranial nerves that extend between the neck/head and the chest. A bout of hiccups can be brought on by a number of different stimuli including prolonged laughing, eating too rapidly, various nervous system disorders, and even chemotherapy. But far more important than how or why we get the hiccups is how we can get rid of them.

I was astonished to discover just how many hiccup “cures” there are on the web. WikiHow has a particularly awesome article listing nearly 80 different methods for curing hiccups. My immediate reaction to this was, shouldn’t ONE be enough? Unfortunately, hiccups are not well understood and many of these home remedies may work for some people but not for others, so an extensive list of alternatives is not entirely unreasonable. What really astounded me, though, was the sheer variety of proposed treatments. Here’s a small sampling:

• Drink a glass of water while upside down.
• Cough or scream when you feel the next hiccup approaching. Repeat 3-4 times.
• Suck on a lemon wedge topped with 4-5 drops of aromatic bitters.
• Lean your head back and place a penny on your forehead. The hiccups will be gone after 1-3 more times.
• Drink a half teaspoon of pickle juice every 7-10 seconds until the hiccups stop.
• Alternate a spoonful of sugar with a sip of water until the hiccups are gone.

As a whole, these remedies have no unifying theme, and I while I haven’t personally tested all of them, I have to wonder if a placebo effect (or just a coincidental cessation) might have been the genesis of more than a few. I am also bothered by the use of the phrase “until the hiccups stop” in many of the treatments on the web. There are reported cases of hiccups (albeit rare ones) that lasted years. How much pickle juice might I expect to ingest before the costs begin to outweigh the potential benefits?

In my personal experience, the “cures” I tried never worked for me (including upside-down drinking and being startled by a friend), and I always resorted to the more apathetic method: waiting it out. That is, until recently. Several months ago, my girlfriend had a bout of hiccups and she decided to experiment with various improvised remedies. Most of her trials had no effect, but she eventually discovered a simple breathing pattern that eliminated her hiccups completely. Her method follows:

1) Take a deep breath through your nose. Fill your lungs as much as you can.
2) Hold the breath for 10 seconds.
3) Breathe out completely.
4) Repeat steps 1-3 once more.

The entire process takes less than 30 seconds, but I have used it at least five separate times now with amazing success (only one initial failure that was cured on a second attempt). While I can’t promise that it will work for everyone, it has worked for the few people I’ve shared it with so far, and it’s strikingly similar to some of the other “breathing methods” listed on the wikiHow site. In fact, a closer look at that article reveals something interesting: there are more than 10 methods devoted predominantly to breathing. Wikipedia provides some reasoning: a few researchers have theorized that hiccups may be an evolutionary remnant of amphibian breathing that is similar to gulping. More importantly, amphibian gulping is inhibited by high levels of CO2, and so are hiccups. When you consciously adjust your breathing using one of these remedies, not only are you taking more active control of your diaphragm, but you are also manipulating gas exchange in your lungs and blood. More simply, holding your breath is an easy way to increase physiological CO2.

There are also more than 15 methods listed on the wikiHow article that include some form of drinking. While these are far less likely to dramatically impact blood chemistry, they will alter your current breathing pattern, which may in turn help disrupt the involuntary reflex of your diaphragm during hiccuping. I can’t say for sure that the “pickle juice method” is complete nonsense, but I wonder if it might work just as well using plain water.

It’s hard to say exactly which methods will work for any one person, but at least a few of these cures appear to have some scientific rationale while many others seem rather arbitrary. Bottom line: next time you have the hiccups, I recommend trying any of the breathing or drinking methods before resorting to balancing a penny on your head. Good luck!

Broken Secrets

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Source: Wikipedia, wikiHow

Image: Cayusa (cc)

Between high school and college, I had a sales job that required a suit and tie. I learned a lot at that job, more than I probably realized at the time — about operations, sales, security, people and life itself.

I often carpooled with my friend Ryan and I’ll never forget the little secret he passed on from his dad Tim.

Before you get in a car wearing a suit jacket, take the jacket off and turn it partially inside-out: loosely fold it along the middle of the back so the inside of the jacket is on the outside, leaving the sleeves wrapped inside. Then place it flat on the back seat or in the trunk to prevent the jacket from wrinkling or getting lint or stains on the outside of it.

It’s not very comfortable to wear a suit jacket in a car, so you’ll probably take it off anyway. Folding it inside out will cut down on lint rollers and dry cleaning.

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Photo: Swing Candy (cc)

If you eat potatoes, in any form, you’ve probably come across a partially green one.

Most importantly, don’t eat the green part — it’s toxic enough that you may get very ill, and it can cause death in rare cases. Secondly, it’s very bitter, so you’re not going to enjoy it. French fries and potato chips are also affected, so avoid the green stuff there too.

The green coloration is chlorophyll. Like many other plants, chlorophyll is formed with enough exposure to certain types of light. Of course, many green leaves are part of a healthy diet, so it’s not the chlorophyll itself that is the problem.

Exposure to light can also cause another reaction that forms a substance called “solanine.” It is not related to chlorophyll, but is often formed at the same time. Solanine is toxic. 16 ounces of a fully green pototo could be enough to make a 100lb person sick.

The green chlorophyll is a good warning about the presence of solanine, but solanine can form when chlorophyll does not. So, even if the potato looks normal, the bitter taste will serve as a warning.

Cooking a green potato will not help, it’s still toxic. But, a cooked potato cannot turn green since the required enzyme mechanisms are destroyed in cooking.

Bottom line: if it’s green or bitter, skip it.

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Photo: Selva / Eden (cc)

Sources: Purdue, Elkhorn

Google is an amazing search engine. Most of us use it to find websites with information, but it can do so much more than show you websites with answers. There are hundreds of built in features that can give you the information directly, without having to go to another site.

Movies Times

Enter “movies” followed by your town/city/postal or zip code and you’ll see some movie times for a couple popular movies along with a link to get the full list of movie times for your area.

Track Packages

Just type in a FedEx, UPS or USPS tracking number and Google will give you a link to see the shipping details.

Track Flights

Enter the airline and flight number and search. No more clicks, the info will be right there.

Find the Best Price

Enter the model name or number of a product you’d like to buy. Then click the “shopping” link at the top and Google will show prices at online retailers. To ensure you get the lowest price, you can sort by price (including shipping). There will likely be some retailers that you’ve never heard of, so you can read retailer reviews and sort by their rating as well.

Define a Word

Lets say some fancy pants uses the word “noetic” and you don’t know what it means. You could go to your favorite dictionary site, or you could type “define:noetic” into Google search. It’ll give you a list of definitions from various sites.

Unit Conversion

Whether you need to convert cups to gallons or go between metric and imperial units, Google’s conversion engine can help.

Currency Conversion

Just type in the value and the currency to convert from and to, example: 100 Euros in Australian dollars

Time

You think you’re doing a nice thing, calling somebody far away to make sure they’re well and give them a familiar voice to talk to. Then they answer the phone as if you woke them up in the middle of the afternoon, but you forgot that’s 4am in Tokyo. You can easily avoid this by checking the local time before calling.

Weather

Should you pack shorts or pants for your weekend getaway? Get a 5 day forecast in seconds (and easily switch between F/C).

Stock Quotes

Just enter the stock symbol and search.

There are many more of these features and I’ll be sure to share more later.

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I used to have a long walk to school. I mention this because walking to school has the same affect on rainfall as washing your car — it only rains at the worst possible time and it stops immediately after you stop caring.

When you’re stuck in the rain, you might think about whether it would be better to run or walk. When you run, you collide with more rain but you also reduce the amount of time you are exposed to the rain. When you walk, you collide with less rain but for a longer duration. So which is better?

It turns out that running is the better option, assuming you run fast enough to reduce the time you are exposed to rain. Myth Busters tested this in episode 38 if you want to check it out.

Broken Secrets | By: Chad Upton

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Sources: Myth Busters, Wise Geek

In this case, it’s fairly easy to do it like a pro. You just need to know the right technique.

For a quick tutorial, watch this video from Chef Jacob (if you can’t watch the video, read below).

When you’re slicing, dicing and chopping vegetables, you’ll place one hand on the knife and use your other hand to hold the food and guide the knife. The knuckles on your guide hand will maintain constant contact with the side of the knife. You will curl your fingers under your knuckles to protect them from the cutting edge of the knife. Your thumb will oppose your knuckles and stabilize the food. You can see the correct hand position in the photo below:

For those of us who have never been to culinary school or worked in a restaurant, this is a tip that we can really benefit from.

Thanks to Chef Jacob of FreeCulinarySchool.com.

Broken Secrets | By: Chad Upton

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Source and Photo: @ChefJacob

Unless you’re an avid runner or maybe work at a shoe store, you probably don’t know how to buy shoes that compliment your feet and the way you use them. It can be hard enough to find a shoe that looks good, fits on your foot and feels comfortable, but it takes even more to find a pair that fits your arch and the angle of your ankles. But there is a way.

Even if you don’t run, you can still benefit from buying the right running (or walking) shoes — especially if you spend a lot of time on your feet at work or at play.

For example, the only “running” I do is running errands, but I often wear running shoes because they’re comfortable and lightweight. With the right shoes, there is less stress on your feet, ankles, knees and hips.

When you walk, the heel of your foot will touch the ground first and as you roll your foot forward, your weight will be transferred to the front of your foot. Depending on the angle of your foot, you may be putting more weight on the inside or outside of your foot. Doing that hundreds or thousands of times a day can lead to pain and discomfort in your feet and other parts of your body.

If your hips, knees or ankles produce external rotation, you will be more likely to angle your feet as you walk (known as pronation of the foot). Your shoes can compensate for natural irregularities or make them worse and that’s why it’s important to get the right shoes.

Good shoe stores will help determine your arch type and level of pronation. Once you know your arch type and pronation, there are different shoes that will suit you. A local running shop is a good place to start, they’re generally the most knowledgeable retailers of shoes. Some websites with good fitting advice are: Road Runner Sports, Zappos, Dick’s and New Balance.

One way to determine your arch type is by standing (to put weight on your feet), then sliding your index finger under your arch. If you get your finger up to 1/2 an inch under your foot then you’ve got a low arch. 1/2 inch to 1 inch is a medium arch. More than an inch is a high arch.

The other way to determine arch type is the paper bag test. You wet your feet and stand on a paper bag. Looking at your wet footprint and the size of the gap left by your arch, you can tell if you have a low, medium or high arch. This way is pretty common, but it’s a bit more subjective than the index finger method.

To determine your pronation (ankle roll), you’ll need the help of a friend. They will stand behind you to see how your ankles behave as you walk. If your ankles stay very straight, then you have neutral pronation. If they roll slightly inward or outward then you’re considered an under-pronator. If they roll inward excessively, then you’re an over-pronator.

Another way to determine pronation is to put a used pair of your running shoes on a flat surface and see if the shoes tilt inward towards each other, or tilt outward, away from each other.

Shoes are divided into three categories for different feet type: stability, motion control and neutral. Stability shoes are for under-pronators. Motion control shoes are for severe over-pronators and perhaps obviously, neutral shoes are for neutral pronation.

Most online retailers categorize shoes into these groups. A good shoe store will be able to tell you which shoes are your type as well.

The other approach to running footwear is: barefoot. There is a popular book on running called Born to Run which suggests that we are literally born to run in our bare feet and the best runners in the world come from tribes of barefoot runners who run well into old age without injury.

For now, I think I’ll stick with my runners.

Thanks to Kristen for suggesting this secret!

Broken Secrets | By: Chad Upton

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Sources: Wikipedia (Foot type), New Balance (Running Gait), Zappos, Dick’s

Photo: Jason Alley (cc)

The ceiling of your upper floor also has the most insulation of any place in your home. It’s there because hot air rises — in the winter, you don’t want to lose that heat. It’s the same reason you put a hat on your head in the winter.

In the summer, that thick insulation in your attic is doing the same thing it does in the winter, trapping that heat on your upper floor. If you have a central heating/cooling system, it should suck hot air from the upper floor and mix it with cooler air. But, it’s not always running and it can’t always keep up with the hot air that is produced inside your home, from people, electronics and appliances.

A good solution is to run the ceiling exhaust fan in a central bathroom on the upper floor during the hottest hours of the day. To help, you can get an automatic timer control light switch; these can be used to run the fan and have it automatically shutoff after a certain amount of time — this might also be useful after somebody uses the toilet.

In some regions, it is even part of the building code that an on/off switch for the upper floor hallway bathroom fan is placed next to the thermostat on the main floor. It’s there so you can turn on the exhaust fan when you turn on the air conditioner (there is also a switch in the bathroom to control it from there). This is not a widespread building code, but it’s worth having a look beside your thermostat. If you’ve got a light switch there that doesn’t do anything, try it again and listen for the hallway fan.

Broken Secrets | By: Chad Upton

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Sources: MSU, About.com

In the US and Canada, wireless phone operators are required by law to connect all calls to 911 services, whether the customer account is active, past due or even canceled.

Even if you don’t need a wireless phone for your social life, it may be a good idea to keep an old phone in your glove box in case of an emergency. There is even an organization called AmericanCellPhoneDrive.org where you can donate an old phone or request a free phone for this exact purpose.

If you have a disabled phone without a service contract and want to use it for 911 service, you may want to test it. DO NOT just dial 911 to test it, they will likely send help, even if you say it was just a test. The proper way to test 911 service is to call the non-emergency number for your local public safety answering point (PSAP) office and schedule a 911 test. That way, they will be expecting your call and know for sure that it is a test. In the US, there is a list of non-emergency contact numbers for PSAPs listed here.

When you call 911, you should be aware that your location will also be transmitted to the operator.

Some cell phones have built in GPS receivers, allowing them to receive radio signals from space and accurately determine a very precise location on earth. But, GPS is rarely available when indoors and obviously many calls originate indoors. Calls to 911 may not use GPS location data, because the phone does not support it or because a GPS signal cannot be found (typical when indoors).

When GPS is not available, the wireless provider can get a fairly accurate location of the phone by analyzing it’s signal and the location of the towers that are receiving it. Current regulations require that a phone carrier can pinpoint a cell phone within 300-600 meters, depending on the technology the phone is using. By 2012, phone carriers should be able to pinpoint you location within 50-300 meters.

Broken Secrets | By: Chad Upton

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Sources: 911 Wireless Service, FCC

Credit cards are a real life game and depending on how you play, you can win or lose real money.

When you lose, your credit card issuer wins big. When you win, your card issuer still wins, just not as much as when you lose. So, if you’re going to use a credit card, then you better be winning.

Some people have lost and decided not to play the game anymore, they cut up their credit cards and swear off credit forever. Depending on your lifestyle this may or may not work. In many cases, you need a credit card to rent cars, reserve hotel rooms, book flights and buy online.

Credit card issuers make it easy for you to lose the game. When you apply for their card, they ask you what your income is. Once they know they can trust you, they increase your credit limit beyond what they know you can afford to pay back each month. If you take the bait, they start lining their pockets with your hard earned money. If you carry a balance, you instantly lose the game — if you want to be a winner, be sure you pay your bill in full every month.

That’s the first step to winning. The second step is to switch your card to a high dividend credit (or debit) card. Dividend cards pay you a cash reward for using your card, usually 2-5% of how much you spend. This might not sound like a lot, but many people can make over $1000 per year with this.

Your card issuer makes money in two major ways. Every time you use your card, they charge the retailer 2-5% on every transaction. Secondly, when people don’t pay their bill in full, they collect large finance fees.

With dividends, your credit card company rewards you for using your card because they’re betting that you’re not going to pay your bill in full every month. Even if you do, they still make 2-5% on everything you spend. They win either way, it’s just a matter of how much they get.

The secret is to get a good dividend card and use it for every single purchase you make. Stop using cash, no purchase is too small for your card. If you go to Starbucks, pay with your credit card. There is no reward for paying with cash. A good dividend credit card will pay a minimum of 2% cash back on everything along with up to 5% cash back on certain purchases. If you consider your income and take away how much you put away for savings, the rest is potential spending you can earn dividends on.

In this economy, you might be lucky if you get a 2% raise this year. Switch your credit card and get that raise right now.

If you want to reduce the risk of losing, have your card issuer lower your credit limit to half of your monthly income. Of, if you take some time to do the math, figure out exactly how much cash you need per month for the things you can’t buy with credit and reduce your credit limit by that amount. For example, you may have to pay your rent or mortgage by check or direct deposit. Deduct this amount from your monthly income and make your credit limit that number — a number you can definitely pay back in full each month.

Paying your rent or mortgage payment with credit cards could be a significant payoff in itself. Lets say your rent or mortgage is $1000/month. At the 2% minimum cash back, you will earn an extra $240/year just on rent alone.

Get out of credit card debt. Never carry a balance. Pay for everything with a dividend card. It’s easy money to earn, you just have to change the way you spend your other money.

Broken Secrets | By: Chad Upton

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Photo: thetruthabout (cc)

Since the post office has very strict requirements for addressing a letter, they should all be exactly the same. The post office guidelines are recommended for fastest delivery and I’ve compiled a list of rules that are the most surprising or commonly abused.

Since most of my readers are in North America, I’ve compared the requirements from the US Postal Service and Canada Post — they’re very similar and they contain good practices that are applicable to sending mail in most places.

Mail is typically sorted by a machine, but if the machine can’t determine the address then it will be dropped in a bin for a human to sort it. Most of the requirements are design to make it easy for the machine to understand where you’re trying to send your letter.

No Punctuation Allowed

One rule that will surprise most people: no punctuation is allowed. I know your third grade teacher said you should put a comma between the city and the state, and maybe she was right at the time, but that’s not right anymore. Don’t use periods either, using punctuation will only slow the mail down. It’s going to be a tough habit to break, I know. There is one exception, and that is when the name of the City, Street or Town contains punctuation, such as an apostrophe (for example: St John’s).

State Abbreviations are Only 2 Letters

States and Provinces should be written with their standard 2 character abbreviations. Since no punctuation is allowed, using the proper abbreviation is important for the sorting machine to recognize the State or Province. Canada Post requires that two spaces are placed between the State/Province and the Postal Code, this also helps the machine find the State/Province. Click here for a complete list of proper Canadian and American abbreviations.

Placement

The return address should go in the top left corner (although Canada Post also allows it on the back of the envelope at the top). The destination address should go in the middle of the envelope, left justified. Capital letters should be used since they are easier for the machines to read (not a US requirement, but still recommended). City, State and Postal Code should be on the same line. If mailing internationally, the Country should be added on its own line.

These are not my rules, they come from the US and Canada post offices. You’ll find links to the a complete list of requirements in the sources.

PS – That’s not my real address, don’t send mail there… seriously. However, both addresses are special. ;)

Broken Secrets | By: Chad Upton

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Sources: US Postal Service, Canada Post

Achieving the striped affect is pretty straight forward. The grass appears lighter and darker because the blades of grass are bent in opposite directions. The lighter looking grass reflects more light because of the angle of its blades and the darker ones reflect less light because of their angle.

To bend grass in opposite directions, start by cutting the lawn in opposite directions. The back and forth method is the simplest example.

Most people cut their lawn like that anyway, but the stripes aren’t as dramatic as the professional fields. To improve the contrast, be sure to set your mower at its highest setting. Longer blades of grass bend better and will have a more dramatic look. In fact, longer grass makes for greener grass too — it protects the roots from drying out and turning yellow.

But, here’s the professional stripe trick, after cutting at least two different directions, roll the grass with a lawn roller. Roll the lawn in the same direction that you mowed, this bends the grass better, which intensifies the affect.

Lawn rollers can be bought or rented at many home and garden stores.

Broken Secrets | Written By: Chad Upton

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Source: Scotts

Photo: pamhule (cc)

In case of fire or theft, the best place to put them is in a fireproof safe. This might sound like overkill, but affordable models start around $30.

Safes are an obvious place to put valuables, so you want a bolt-down model — thieves don’t usually have time to open a safe during a robbery but they’ll want to take it with them and open it later.

If you’re looking for a less obvious hiding place, there are many options. You can buy “diversion safes” that look like everyday objects such as: canned food, bleach, candles, books, clocks and many other items.

If you’re going to use one of these safes then you should store it with other similar items; it doesn’t work well if there is a can of fruit in your sock drawer.

The fake bleach container and candle are both good since there are many places you might find those in your house. The bleach container could make a good hiding spot for the spare key in your garage.

The other thing about these “safes” is that they’re not always that safe. For example, they’re not fireproof and they’re very easy to get into, but they can be useful for storing a bit of spare cash when thin-mint go on sale.

If you don’t want to buy a diversion safe, you can make your own. Pringles cans work well.

Sometimes, it just comes down to location. Reader’s Digest interviewed a number of convicted burglars to find out their secrets to successful home robberies and among other things, the robbers revealed that they rarely ever go into kids rooms. Simply putting stuff in your kids rooms may be secure enough, although you may never find it again either.

The same interviews revealed that robbers don’t go near your house if they see a flickering TV or hear a radio because that’s a sure sign that somebody is home. You can buy a small device that emulates a flickering TV and it’s much cheaper to buy and operate on a timer than a real TV.

Although these hiding places would be great for an Easter egg hunt, they shouldn’t be used for really valuable items. The best place for that stuff is in a proper safe, safety deposit box or federally insured instrument such as a bank account.

Broken Secrets | Written By: Chad Upton

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Sources: Reader’s Digest, Reader’s Digest, FakeTV.com

Don’t get me wrong, Facebook is a lot of fun and a great way to stay in the loop, but I wish there were fewer FarmVille updates.

Thankfully, Facebook has made it very easy to hide these updates. If you put your mouse over an update, a “hide” button will appear in the top right corner (figure 1).

Figure 1

Click the hide button and you’ll have the option to hide all updates from that person or hide the updates from that application (figure 2).

Figure 2

Click “Hide FarmVille” and you’ll never see another FarmVille update. The same technique works for other applications (“apps”) such as Mafia Wars, Cafe World and others. On that note, if you’re not already a fan, join Broken Secrets on Facebook — I won’t spam your feed, I promise.

Broken Secrets | Written By: Chad Upton

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You know your own car like the back of your TV remote, but you’ve got nothing on this car. The gauge is near empty when you realize you have no idea which side the gas cap is on.

You’ve got a 50/50 chance, so you wing it. Unfortunately, there’s nothing that says, “this ain’t my car” better than stopping on the wrong side of the pump.

That’s why they invented the gas arrow. Look for the arrow on the gas gauge, it points to the side of the car where the gas hole is.

Of course, not all cars have this arrow. Some people will also say that the pump icon indicates the side of the gas cap with the pump handle, but that’s not universally true.

My Dad shared this secret with me a few years ago.  I shared it with a few friends, some of them shared with a few friends and if all goes well, everybody will know about the gas arrow and other little known facts. That’s what this site is all about.

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Source: My Dad

One of my favorite “Awesome Things” is “Learning a new keyboard shortcut.” Since I’m talking favorites, I want to share one of my favorite keyboard shortcuts: the space bar.

If you’re reading this in a web browser or you do a lot of reading on the web, this is one shortcut you should learn before all others. To scroll your browser down exactly one page, press the space bar.  To scroll up one page, hold shift while you press the space bar.

It’s that simple, happy reading.

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Photo: jakebouma (creative commons)

I’ve spent my fair share of time commuting in planes, trains and automobiles, but few of these experiences were memorable. Even fewer were memorable in a good way. But, I’ll never forget the bus ride when I first listened to the song, “I Will Follow You Into The Dark” by Death Cab for Cutie. I had played the song dozens of times before, but this was the first time I really listened to it.

You see, there was a problem on the commuter rail line and buses were being organized to take us to our destination train stations. I usually caught a much earlier train, but I stayed downtown after work to visit with some friends. It was late, I was really tired and it was way past my usual bedtime. I was stuck on that bus for a very long time, but it actually wasn’t that bad.

I’ve talked about this phenomenon with other commuters and many of them agree that a short commute can be therapeutic. Whether it’s by car, train or bus, that time alone between work and home lets you gather your thoughts for whatever comes next.

Music relaxes me, which helps me organize my thoughts. Of course, headphones are the polite way to listen in public, although there’s always some guy playing brick breaker on his blackberry at volume level 10. Beep, Beeeep, Beep Beep, Beeeep (times infinity).

Most ear-bud and in-ear style headphones have a clip or sliding collar that holds the wires from the two earphones together. If you position that clip or collar at the end of the wires that is nearest the earphones, it will prevent the two wires from getting tangled with each other. This will save you a lot of time and frustration the next time you listen.

When you wind the cord around your device, hand or whatever else you do with it, keep in mind that cables should be cared for and you should not force the cable to bend in someway that it does not want to bend — doing this with any sort of electric cord will shorten its life.

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Lap after lap, hour after hour, there’s a lot of wear from all that horsepower.

Although I was surprised to learn about this secret weapon of professional performers, it only makes sense that high performance voices get their own brand of lubricant for their motors too. If you’re going to take your vocal chords for a lap, you might want to grease the wheels with vocalist throat spray.

It’s not just singers who can benefit from these sprays.

I used to teach software training courses and after talking all day, my throat really hurt. On the other hand, my brother is a super sports fan and especially at live games he is yelling and screaming at his team for hours. Teachers and super fans could both use this throat spray. I also see moms in the grocery store who could use this stuff after yelling at their kids all day.

For whatever tickles your uvula, you might consider some vocal spray to stop the squeaks.

A few popular options are: Clear Voice, Saving Grace, Farleys

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Written By: Chad Upton

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The purpose of sterilization is to remove fungi, bacteria, viruses and spores. Some people believe exposure to some bacteria is a good thing, and they might be right, but exposure to some varieties of these organisms can be very bad for you.

There are a number of ways to perform sterilization using: heat, chemicals, radiation, pressure and filtration.

Heat is probably the most misunderstood method of sterilization. It is a popular practice to boil baby products in water and if the duration is long enough, it may disinfect them but it does not sterilize them. The boiling method is really good at removing particles, which can be a source of bacteria, but is not great at killing the bacteria itself. If you do use this method, be sure to start with cold water since hot water from your tap is already a bacteria risk (see: why you shouldn’t drink hot water from your tap).

To sterilize with heat, you need a holding time of 3 minutes at 273 °F  (134 °C). Water turns to steam at 212 °F (100 °C), so you can’t use water to sterilize something directly. But, you can use steam. In fact, that’s basically what hospitals use inside a device called an autoclave. It is like a small dishwasher that uses steam and pressure to sterilize items. Color changing tape is used inside to tell the operator when optimal sterilization conditions have been met. Some new dishwashers and clothes washing machines have steam cycles too.

Chemical sterilization is another common method of sterilization. Bleach is one of two sterilizing chemicals that you might find in your home already. Some laundry soap contains bleach and many dishwasher detergents contain it too. It is especially important in your dishwasher since most dishwashers use hot water to release food from dishes and hot water from your hot water tank can be a bacteria risk on its own. This is also why it is especially important to get rid of dishes with cracks and crevices where bacteria can flourish.

The other chemical that you may have already or can easily find at the drug store is Hydrogen Peroxide. High concentrations of 35% or higher can offer very short sterilization cycle times. The retail formula is usually around 3%, and it is much safer at that concentration but will require lengthy exposure to sterilize.

Running your toothbrush through the dishwasher with a bleach based dishwasher detergent is probably your best bet. Of course, take all safety precautions for these methods and read the packaging for all chemicals.

Broken Secrets

Written By: Chad Upton

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Sources: Sterilization, Steam

The point is, rice is really good at absorbing water.

So if you drop your cell phone in a bucket of water, toilet or swimming pool: get it quickly; turn it off; dry it and immediately put it into a bag of uncooked rice.

If you can access the battery, you should take it out too since some devices, especially cell phones, are still consuming power on standby, even when they appear to be off.

If you’ve got a wet vacuum, like a shop-vac, you should use it to suck some of the water out. A friend of mine (you know who you are) spilled water on my laptop keyboard once. I flipped the laptop upside down immediately, turned it off and pulled out the battery. It set it down and ran to get the shop-vac. While keeping it upside-down, I sucked all the water out of the keyboard.

If you try this, be careful of loose pieces. Some of these vacuums are really powerful — mine sucked up a couple keys from the keyboard, but I was able to retrieve them from the vacuum canister and reattach them. I left the laptop powered off overnight and it worked flawlessly in the morning.

Do not use a hair dryer or any other type of blower, you will only push the water deeper — gravity is much more productive at sucking water out than trying blowing it out with a hair dryer.

If your basement is stacked with boxes from every piece of electronics you’ve ever purchased, like me, have a look inside those boxes. Electronics often ship with silica gel packets. You know, those little condiment sized packets that say, “DO NOT EAT” on them? Those absorb moisture even better than rice and that’s why they’re there in the first place. If you can find any of those, put them against the electronics when you put it in rice.

After you’ve placed it in rice, you want to leave it there as long as possible. Although some people have reported success after only a few hours, you want to leave it off and in rice for as long as possible, 24 hours or longer if possible.

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Written By: Chad Upton

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Sources: All Recipes, Wiki How, Seattle Weekly

My friend Scott worked in a restaurant back in our high school days. While we were having dinner one night I asked him how they did it.

For the smaller sized dipping bowls, they would take two ladles, put one ladle cup inside of the other while sandwiching a small tortilla shell between them. Then they would hang on to the handles and dip the other end into the deep fryer. After a short amount of time they would remove the ladles from the fryer; as the tortilla cooled, it would hold its shape. It was a good bowl, but it was a great deep fried bowl shaped nacho when that last bit of salsa was left at the bottom.

For the large taco salad bowls, the process was the same although they used large strainers with handles on them and large tortilla shells.

If you want to make these at home, you can make them in your oven. Place a bowl upside down on a cookie sheet. Spray both sides of the tortilla shell with cooking spray and lay the tortilla shell over the bowl. Put it on a low rack and bake at 450 for a few minutes.

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Written By: Chad Upton

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The hate comes from all of the embarrassing moments they are responsible for. I remember being at work when a co-worker pointed out in front of a bunch of other people that a dryer sheet was hanging out of the bottom of my pant-leg. They all thought it was pretty funny of course, and I think most people have been there. I have a few other embarrassing dryer sheet stories, but the great things about them are more interesting.

Fabric softener is really useful in your laundry and understanding what it does and how it affects fabric is important to knowing when to use it.

Most modern washing machines have a reservoir that can automatically add fabric softener liquid to the load during the rinse cycle. Of course, fabric softeners are also available in my favorite form: dryer sheets.

In either case, they coat fabrics with a thin layer of chemicals.These chemicals have lubricating and electrical conductive properties.

The conductive property is important for preventing a buildup of static electricity. If you live in a dry climate or experience dry winters, using fabric softeners will make a noticeable difference in the static buildup and cling that your clothes have.

The lubrication property helps make the fabric stain resistant by repelling liquids, which is great for clothing and most other laundry. Unfortunately, this is bad for towels since you want towels to absorb water from your hands, body and anything else you’re drying with a towel.

Broken Secrets

Written By: Chad Upton

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Sources: My Mom, Wikipedia

There are a few services available that let people choose the caller id number that appears when they make a phone call.

Telemarketers and collections agencies are not allowed to change their number, but some still do.

I share this secret because caller id spoofing is becoming popular among fraudsters. You should be weary of any caller asking you for something, especially money or personal information. If a caller claims to be from your financial institution or another company that requires personal information, ask them some information that confirms they are who they say they are. For example, if it’s your cell phone company, ask them which calling plan you’re on.

Here are some of the caller id spoofing services:

• Telespoof
• Spoofcard
• Phone Gangster
• Spooftel
• Spoofapp (for iPhone, BlackBerry or Android)

Due to potential abuse of these services, the state of Florida outlawed caller id spoofing services for a couple years, but that decision was recently overturned. Others states are working on laws to make them illegal, but for now, they are legal in all states.

There are some legitimate uses for this service. If your profession requires that you make calls from home or cell, this service could be used to show your office number instead of your personal number.

There is a cheaper option called *67. Dial that before you dial a phone number and it blocks your number from being displayed for that call — it’s free in most places.

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Written By: Chad Upton

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]]> http://brokensecrets.com/2010/03/08/caller-id-can-be-hacked/feed/ 3 Broken Secrets caller id http://brokensecrets.com/2010/03/05/dishwasher-detergent-has-bleach-in-it/ http://brokensecrets.com/2010/03/05/dishwasher-detergent-has-bleach-in-it/#comments Fri, 05 Mar 2010 05:50:15 +0000 Chad Upton http://brokensecrets.com/?p=1605 ]]> I learned it the hard way.

A couple weeks ago, I popped the cap off the dishwasher detergent and some splattered on me. I didn’t think much of it, but a couple hours later I noticed one of my favorite t-shirts had pink spots on it.

It surprised me, but I knew immediately what caused it. Just to be sure, I checked the dishwasher detergent ingredients and there it was, “Chlorine Bleach.” I knew we had another brand, so I checked that one too — same thing!

That was news to me and I asked a few other people if they knew dishwasher detergent contained bleach and it was news to them too. The question is why?

The bleach is there for good reason. It is one of the safest and most cost effective ways to sterilize your dishes.

In an earlier post, I talked about hot water from your water heater. It’s great for loosening dirt in clothes and it makes your showers comfortable, but it is a breading ground for bacteria.

Your dishwasher uses hot water and steam to loosen food particles, where bacteria will multiply otherwise, but it uses bleach to kill bacteria, prions and many but not all spores.

Broken Secrets

Written By: Chad Upton

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Sources: Sterilization

I like to use Google products (formerly known as “Froogle”). It compares prices at thousands of retailers and show you the best deals along with ratings for each retailer.

Google products also searches sites like ebay. Although, it’s worthwhile checking ebay independently, there are lots of auctions for new products or if you’re willing to take a used one then you’ll get a great deal. If you’ve looking for something that doesn’t ship well, such as appliances, be sure to check craigslist.org or kijiji.com (owned by ebay). They let you search for products in your area so shipping is not necessary.

Sometimes the best price is at a website you’ve never heard of. This is when customer ratings and common sense are really helpful. If you’ve never heard of the retailer and can’t find a phone number for the office on the site, then I probably wouldn’t order from them. Amazon might be the only exception to this and in fact they’re one of my favorite online retailers, they frequently have the best price and their shipping and customer service are great.

If you’re searching for cameras, be weary of small companies based in New York City. They usually have the best price on camera equipment, but there are lots of online horror stories about some of these companies.

If you’re searching for travel products (hotels, flights, car rentals) then I suggest an aggregator such as kayak.com. It goes out to all of the other travel sites and pulls in the best options from each, then it provides tools to filter those results.

If you’re specifically looking for a hotel, I like hotels.com. Every ten nights you stay, you get one free. It’s similar to having a hotel loyalty program but this gives you the freedom to stay at any brand of hotel. Another tool I like for hotel searching, is Map Channels. Just type in an address and it will plot nearby hotels with vacancy on a map — hover over the hotels to see the price. This really helps if you’re trying to get a hotel in a very specific part of a city or near an event or address. Also, be sure to read my previous post, “You Can Request a Mini Fridge in Your Hotel Room.”

After you’ve found the best price, swing by a coupon sharing site to see if you can save even more, or at least get free shipping. RetailMeNot.com or CouponCabin.com (and others) will let you search by retailer and provide you with coupon codes you can enter at those sites. I tried entering a few popular retailers (Amazon, Home depot, Sears, American Eagle, Target) and they all had coupon codes. DO NOT make an online purchase without checking these sites first, otherwise you’re just giving away your money.

Broken Secrets

Written By: Chad Upton

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A lot of factors affect the fuel economy of your car. Some of them don’t vary much with speed, such as the resistance of the engine pumps and accessories. Other factors, like the size of the frontal area and the drag coefficient create increasing resistance with speed.

The faster you drive, the more energy is needed to overcome the aerodynamic resistance of the car. Up to 40 mph, that isn’t really even a factor. So, if you’re driving a box then your best fuel economy is likely closer to 40 mph than 50. If you’re driving a teardrop shaped eco-car, then you’re likely closer to 60 mph. Of course, engine size and other factors are involved too.

If you’re in a hurry, then going faster than 60 mph (95 km/h), presents new problems. Getting above this speed, your transmission is starting to run out of gears, so the engine has to keep turning faster and faster without getting any mechanical advantage from the transmission — that burns a lot of extra fuel. This also hurts your ability to overcome the exponentially increasing resistance — your engine can only turn so fast. But, if you’re in a small car then your fuel economy at 70 mph is likely still better than a large SUV traveling 60 mph.

If your car has a fuel economy display, be sure to take notice at many different speeds to find the best speed for your car. If your car does not have a fuel economy display and you do a lot of driving then it might be worth getting a device that will read your vehicle data and calculate fuel economy accurately. Try: Car Chip Pro ($75-85) or ScanGuage II ($160).

Broken Secrets

Written By: Chad Upton

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Sources: ThinkQuest, How Stuff Works

I met Todd at my first part time job, we used to work early weekend mornings during high school. I was too young to have a driver’s license, so my dedicated parents would always drive me.

That was before remote starters, so I would usually start the car a few minutes before leaving. Actually, that’s not true — my Dad was usually the one starting the car a few minutes before I was ready to leave, which was about 10 minutes after I told him I would be ready to leave.

It didn’t make much difference to the car — it was still cold for at least half the trip. On the rare occasion that I started the car, I would turn the heater to its hottest setting and turn the fan to full blast. That’s actually the slowest way to warm the car, so lets talk more about the fastest way.

The trick is very counter-intuitive, so I want to briefly explain how the car heater works for this secret to make sense.

The item pictured above is a heater core. Most cars have one of these inside the dashboard. Hot liquid passes through the fins, which are there to create a lot of surface area so that air passing through can pickup as much heat as possible before it comes out the air vents. It works just like the radiators in many older homes in that sense.

The liquid is heated by excess engine heat, so if the engine is cold then you won’t get any hot air from your air vents. Your engine has a cooling system which is designed to draw heat away from the engine so it does not overheat. The heater works in a similar way, removing heat from the engine and using it to heat the air being blown into the passenger compartment. So, when you turn on your heater, you are essentially cooling the engine by transferring some of its heat to the inside of the car.

To heat the engine faster, you want to stop that heat loss. It’s similar to heating your oven, you don’t leave the door open because you’ll lose all of the heat.

You want to turn the heater off by moving the temperature control all the way to cold. Also, turn the fan off to ensure it is not blowing air across the heater core which transfers heat away from it. This will trap the heat in the engine cooling system (reducing its ability to cool the engine) and therefore heat the engine more quickly. It traps the heat in, just like closing the oven door.

If your car has an automatic climate control system that allows you to dial in the temperature then there is no need to worry about these suggestions to make them heat the car faster, most of these cars do it automatically. If your car has automatic climate control, it’s normal that the fan doesn’t blow when you first start the cold car. The vehicle engineers already know this secret and have programmed it into the car. The fan does not run until there is adequate engine heat to warm the air (unless you want to warm the car more slowly and manually activate the fan).

This knowledge is helpful to all drivers, even if you never plan to drive in cold weather. If your engine is overheating in hot weather, set the climate control to hot, turn the fan on full blast and roll down all the windows. This will dissipate engine heat through the heater core and help cool the engine.

Broken Secrets

Written By: Chad Upton

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Thanks to Todd M for sharing this secret many years ago.

Sources: 2CarPros, How Stuff Works

Some related posts:

• Idling a Cold Engine Is GOOD For The Environment
• Locking the Gas Pump Trigger
• How to Prevent a GPS From Falling Off the Windshield

It doesn’t shave as close as a straight blade or cartridge razor, but it does shave time off my morning routine. It’s an easy way to catch up when I’m running behind or anxious to get working earlier.

I’ve had the same electric razor for about 10 years. I got it as a gift and it has worked really well, but its ability to hold a charge has degraded significantly since it was new. When it was new, I could travel for a week and not recharge it. Recently, it has required a charge after every use.

A couple weeks ago, it failed to run for more than a few seconds. I charged it again, and had the same result.

The internal rechargeable battery had finally failed.

I checked with the manufacturer’s service department and they don’t service my model anymore, but they said a battery replacement service usually costs $60-80 (plus the cost to ship it to them). When a good electric razor starts at $70 (and goes much higher), they’re really telling you to get a new one.

The electric razor is assembled with tamper-proof screws, so the average person can’t open it. They do that because they’re hiding a very big secret inside.

Of course I own a set of tamper-proof screwdrivers. If you haven’t read it already, you should read my earlier post about acquiring a set of your own (click here).

It took me less than one minute to open the electric razor and discover: the rechargeable batteries inside are AA size! I easily replaced them with new rechargeable batteries and saved a bunch of money.

So, if you’ve got a rechargeable product, be sure to open it up and see if you can easily replace the batteries before you buy a new one or have it serviced.

When you get rid of your old batteries, never throw them in the trash — the garbage truck crushes them, then in the landfill the battery leaks into the water table and ruins our water supply. It’s easy to recycle them properly, Best Buy and Whole Foods both have free battery recycling containers in many of their stores. I have a small box of dead batteries that I keep beside my box of new batteries and when it gets full I drop it off at one of these stores.

Broken Secrets

Written By: Chad Upton

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You’ll need a thin sturdy object to operate the manual eject, a straightened paperclip works well. In rare cases, the hole will be slightly smaller than a paperclip and a sewing needle will be required.

Look for a round hole on the face of the CD drive that is just large enough to feed a paperclip through. The following photos show the manual eject hole on a desktop and laptop CD drive.

Once you have found the hole, push a straightened paperclip through the hole and when you feel it stop, push a little harder and it should push open the motorized drive tray (desktop) or release the drive lock (laptop).

If you’ve got a Mac, most new models have a slot load drive (there is no tray that the disc sits on, similar to most car CD players). Some of these drives are particularly bad at ejecting CDs with uneven edges (if yours does this then you’ll know what I’m talking about) and there is a paperclip method for these drives too. There is an Apple support document for this issue; you’ll have to click here to view it since I can’t use their material.

Maybe you’ve seen that hole and wondered what it was for, maybe not. Frankly, it doesn’t matter, because you know now and that’s what we do here.

Broken Secrets

Written By: Chad Upton

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I went to my local supermarket yesterday to pickup a few things. Being Super Bowl Sunday, it was pretty much the worst day to go grocery shopping. Normally, I would just go another day but I needed some things for later in the day (like most other people there I’m sure).

All the cart bumping and line shoving could have been avoided if I just went early in the morning or late the night before. That’s what I usually do — try to go shopping around 8pm-9pm, that includes any stores that are open late (ex. Target). Many stores are now until 10pm and some are open 24 hours. I try to take advantage of these hours since I usually get the store to myself. It actually makes shopping peaceful and efficient.

You’re never bumping carts with anyone or waiting for them to pick the perfect type of soup so they can move their cart and you can get past. If you need help from a store employee, they’re usually available and easy to spot since there’s nobody else in the store.

Perhaps the two best parts of shopping off-peak: there are rarely lineups at the checkout, which is a big time saver itself. You also get a prime parking spot, really close to the door, which is particularly nice in the winter.

If you’ve never been an off-peak shopper, you are probably starting to see the benefits. But, there are some of disadvantages too. For example, the pharmacy, salad bar and meat counter are often closed after 7pm.

If you’re lucky, the night shift employees have the radio turned up so you can sing along and toss products into your cart from three point distance. If you’re unlucky, the night shift employees have brought their own music.

There are also times when you can’t avoid a busy grocery store and that why it’s awesome when the guy with a full cart of groceries lets you go ahead because you’re only buying one thing.

Broken Secrets

Written By: Chad Upton | follow me on twitter

Photo by: timmenzies (Creative Commons)