Author Archive
Broken Secrets: Phase 2
Today, I want to talk about Broken Secrets — where we’ve been and where we’re going.
I started this site back in November of 2009. The first post was You CAN Use Foil in the Microwave. In fact, if you want to see a list of all the secrets, checkout The Secret Archive.
For those who don’t know, my name is Chad Upton and I’m the creator of Broken Secrets. I’m a 31 year old guy, living in the Midwestern United States. I have a pretty normal day job and I write this site in the evenings, usually after dinner or when my wife Kristen goes to bed.
A lot of people ask me if I make money from Broken Secrets. The answer is a vague, but accurate, “not really.” Technically, the blog generates a small amount of money through amazon referrals (if you buy something) and through kindle subscriptions. Frankly, I’ve spent more on the site than it has brought in, so I think it’s fair to say that I don’t “make” money from the site. Which is fine, I didn’t start the site because I need the money — it’s a hobby.
I don’t believe most people think about the time it takes to research, write, edit and find photos or videos to make a single entry come together. But, most posts take 2-3 hours to create. There are some exceptions, a few posts were created in less than 2 hours and a few took more than 3 hours (especially some of the videos).
Creating content and promoting the blog is a lot of work, but I’ve been lucky. The site quickly gained in popularity. It now gets more visitors each day than it got in the first month of operation.
All of the readers have different tastes and expectations. Some people love the really long, very detailed posts. Others prefer the short, sweet and glossy ones. Therefore, the topics and lengths of posts vary widely. What some readers find useful, others find elementary. What some find informative, others find useless. It all depends on your perspective, and everyone’s is different.
It’s tough to please everybody and that’s OK, the response has still been overwhelming. Up until now, I’ve written every post and delivered one every weekday for the past 9 months (166 posts). That makes for a long workday, every day.
Although the pay is negligible, the rewards are priceless.
Broken Secrets recently won a Webby Award for best personal blog/website. It has been featured by local and national media around the globe. It’s highly ranked in the Amazon Kindle store for blogs and between Facebook, Twitter, Kindle and email, there are thousands of people who subscribe and read daily. Frankly, it has exceeded all of my expectations and passed all of the milestones more quickly than I could have imagined.
The Webby Awards are by far the biggest compliment, they’re like the Oscars of the Internet. They’re the highest award a website can win; I’m honored to have won and had the support of so many of you. At the award ceremony, I got to meet Jimmy Fallon, Buzz Alrdin, Jason Bateman and many other great people.
All of this success means that it’s time to make the site bigger and better. The first step: more high quality content. As I concentrate on more quality content, the site will continue to get updated several times per week, but I may have some other contributors helping out. This will be great, we’ll have some fresh ideas.
I appreciate all your feedback, suggestions and support. You can always contact me by clicking here.
As always, thanks for reading.
Broken Secrets | Chad Upton
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Photo: zagatbuzz (cc)
How to Remove Skunk Smell from Pets, Clothes, etc.
When I was a teenager, I heard an awful noise in our backyard. It was a loud and fearful shriek, like nothing I had heard before; it was followed by the yelping of our yellow Labrador.
Our dog Trooper had just been sprayed by a skunk and he was not happy about it. Frankly, nobody on our block was happy that warm spring night. I could hear the neighbors disgust as they went from room to room and shut their windows.
My mom bathed the dog in the backyard and I went to buy tomato juice. We bathed him in Tomato juice for a while and it was mildly effective.
But, there are some better alternatives.
The home remedy is a foaming mixture:
- 1 Quart Hydrogen Peroxide (3%)
- 1/4 Cup Baking Soda
- 2 Tbsp Dish-washing Soap (not dishwasher detergent)
The baking soda and hydrogen peroxide will create oxygen bubbles that react with the thiols in skunk oil to neutralize the smell. Be sure to use the mixture right away, while it is foaming, before the bubbles dissolve. This was proven to be more effective than tomato juice by Myth Busters in episode 16. This potion can be used on clothing, people and animals.
If you you’re a planner or have a time to go to a local pharmacy, you can pickup a product called Tecnu — I found many internet users who claim it is more effective than the homemade brew while Myth Busters found the home brew concoction to be more effective than commercial products.
Regardless of which method you choose, you should use a proper eye cleaning solution for your pet’s eyes and put cotton balls in their ears to prevent these solutions from getting in their ears.
Broken Secrets | Chad Upton
Sources: eHow, Skunk Removal Recipe, Myth Busters
Trap Doors on Car Bumpers
From satellite navigation to chilled cup holders, modern cars are full of high-tech developments that get you from point A to point B without getting lost and with colder refreshments. Overall, car technology has improved the handling, efficiency, style, safety, comfort and entertainment of our cars.
There are even high-tech bumpers out there. If you see bumpers with three or four dimples aligned across the back bumper, those are likely sensors for the backup warning system.
If you see small rectangular patches, that’s what this secret is about. They’re actually pretty low-tech, but still cool.
Even if your car doesn’t have them, maybe you’ve noticed them on other cars while you’re sitting at a red light (they may be found on front and/or rear bumpers).
They look like trap doors that cartoon characters fall through long after the audience spots them and screams at their television to warn the carbon impaired being of the obvious hazard and their impending doom. In reality, they cover anchor points where you can insert a towing eye (aka “tow hook”).
Check your car out during the summer and if you need them in the winter, you’ll know if they’re there. The towing eye is usually stored with the spare tire and/or jack and it screws in behind these covers.
Like all of the secrets on this site, there will be somebody reading who already knows this one — that’s cool, you can brag (or complain) about it in the comments, or retweet it and say you knew this, “like 10 years ago.”
Broken Secrets | By: Chad Upton
Desktop Snacking Without a Greasy Keyboard
With more work and less help, it’s no surprise that nearly 70% of Americans eat lunch at their desks. At 61% the majority of people also snack at their desk throughout the day.
All that food is one reason keyboards and mice are have more bacteria than most toilet seats. Also, office toilet seats are usually sanitized daily, when was the last time your keyboard or mouse were?
This tip is helpful because your hands never touch your food. This prevents your keyboard from getting dirtier and it keeps your hands from passing bacteria to your mouth.
1. Pour bite-size snacks into a cup or glass.
2. Angle cup into your mouth so bite-size snacks fall into your mouth.
3. Chew, swallow and repeat from step 2.
Broken Secrets | By: Chad Upton
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Sources: Home Food Safety Org, ABC News
Run When It’s Raining to Stay Drier
Sooner or later, everybody gets caught outside when it starts raining.
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
How to Chop Food Quickly, Safely and Easily
The difference between an amateur and a professional is their technique and practice.
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
Dog’s Mouths Are Not Cleaner Than Human’s
This probably shouldn’t be a secret. If you think about the things that dogs lick and humans don’t, then this should be pretty obvious. But, the myth that dog’s mouths are cleaner than human’s is perpetually propagated.
There is an old tale that you should let a dog lick your wounds to speed healing. The wounds may actually heal faster; that’s because the licking will stimulate circulation and clear away dead tissue, but it’s not because their saliva is cleaner than ours.
Some say that dog’s saliva is more acidic than humans so they break down bacteria better. Others look at the fact that dogs rarely get cavities or gum disease as proof.
The fact is, dogs have a similar amount of oral bacteria to humans. But, the types of oral bacteria varies between dogs and humans.
That’s why dogs rarely get cavities or gum disease, the types of bacteria that cause these problems are only found in about 5% of dogs. In fact, viruses and bacteria that affect humans usually don’t bother dogs and vice versa. For that reason, you may actually have a higher risk of becoming sick from kissing a human than kissing a dog. But, that doesn’t mean their mouths are cleaner.
Broken Secrets | By: Chad Upton
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Sources: A Moment of Science, ABC, Life’s Little Mysteries
Mosquitoes are Attracted to Men More Than Women
Female mosquitoes bite mammals for their blood. They don’t do it for food, they need proteins in the blood to form eggs that will eventually make baby mosquitoes.
When it comes to people, they don’t necessarily prefer men to women, but it’s generally easier for mosquitoes to find men than women.
Mosquitoes detect mammals by picking up two chemicals: CO2 and 1-Octen-3-ol. CO2 is obviously in our breath when we exhale. 1-Octen-3-ol is a type of alcohol and it’s naturally in our breath and our sweat. Mosquitoes can detect these chemicals up to 36 meters (118 feet) away.
The more air you exhale and the more sweat you generate, the easier it is for mosquitoes to find you. Typically, men are: larger than women, have higher body temperatures, sweat more and exhale more CO2.
Larger women are also at a higher risk of mosquito bites than smaller women. In fact, a study found that pregnant women are twice as likely to attract mosquitoes than non-pregnant women.
The most effective way to repel mosquitoes is with a product that contains DEET. There are some natural alternatives to DEET: lemon eucalyptus and lemon grass are popular and reasonably effective, although there are other alternatives too. Unfortunately, none of them are as effective as DEET on the skin. DEET provides 100% protection for up to two hours, the natural alternatives need to be reapplied every 30-60 minutes.
Nepetalacton, the active ingredient in Catnip, is nearly 10 times more effective than DEET at repelling mosquitoes. However, it is not effective when applied to skin.
When a mosquito bites you, or when your skin is punctured in general, there is a complex reaction in your body that tries to stop the bleeding. Mosquitoes inject their saliva which contains a number of compounds, one of which is designed to prevent this reaction from happening. That prevents the blood from clotting and allows them to easily extract it. These compounds are the reason mosquito bites are itchy.
Researchers are studying the anti-clotting compounds in mosquito saliva since they could be effective in treating life threatening blood clots and heart-related diseases that affect humans.
Broken Secrets | By: Chad Upton
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Sources: Annals of Internal Medicine, Wikipedia (Mosquito, DEET, 1-Octen-3-ol), NYT
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