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How Ballparks Stripe Their Grass
In North America, professional baseball fields are the highest form of manicured lawns. Elsewhere, professional football pitches and cricket fields are admired.
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
Source: Scotts
Photo: pamhule (cc)
Keeping Secrets Safe at Home
You probably have things in your home that you want to keep safe: cash, checks, credit cards, jewelry, computer data, documents and other valuables.
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
Sources: Reader’s Digest, Reader’s Digest, FakeTV.com
Remove Farmville Updates from Your Facebook Feed
Many of my friends play Facebook games like FarmVille and Mafia Wars. Although my Facebook news feed is littered with requests, I don’t have any interest in watering their crops or feeding their puppies. All that noise makes it difficult to get to the heart of Facebook productivity, making jokes and sending pokes.
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
Understanding Trucker Signals
By Chad Upton | Editor
You can’t go far on the highway without seeing a semi-truck. While they may be intimidating to some, in many cases they are the most careful drivers on the road — their life and livelihood is on the line.
Truckers usually communicate with each other using citizen’s band (CB) radios, but they communicate with you using headlights, turn signals and trailer lights. In a lot of cases, you probably don’t realize they’re doing it.
Trucks have a lot of advantages over the average driver. For example, they sit a lot higher, so they see past other cars when you can’t. Also, from their CB radio, they know about things that are around the next corner.
The most common signal is used by cars and trucks in oncoming lanes. They will double-flash their headlights when they just passed a police speed trap that you’re heading toward. While this is very helpful, be sure you know your local laws about this, in some places it is against the law.
More than two consecutive flashes from oncoming traffic signals that there is another type of danger ahead, such as a foreign object on the road and drivers should proceed with caution. These two signals are often confused, but the appropriate action is the same, slow down. (more…)
Pure Vanilla Extract is 35% Alcohol
I made vanilla crème brulée a few weeks ago and I used a lot of pure vanilla extract, almost twice the amount the recipe suggested. I did a Grand Marnier flambé on top and although it tasted great, the best part was the excuse to buy a blowtorch.
Now, when you buy something labeled “pure”, you expect it to match the definition of pure, “unmodified by an admixture; simple or homogeneous.” But, that’s not what you get with pure vanilla extract.
In the United States, the FDA requires Pure Vanilla Extract to contain alcohol if it’s going to be called “pure.” Specifically, it must contain at least 35% alcohol and 13.35 ounces of vanilla bean per gallon.
It turns out this is not a rip off, alcohol actually helps extract the flavor from the vanilla beans. Not only that, vanilla extract gets better with age, maturing in about 2 years.
Alcohol free versions are available, but will not be labeled as “pure.”
Broken Secrets | Written By: Chad Upton
Sources: dictionary.com, wikipedia, FDA, Arizona Vanilla
Photo: Jocelyn | McAuliflower (cc)
Use Your Watch as a Compass
I remember in third grade science class, my teacher asked for a helper who had a watch with a second hand. I volunteered because my watch had two hands, the first one and the second one. I was really embarrassed when she explained that the second hand was actually a third hand that measured seconds.
Watches are more jewelry than necessity these days. Many young people don’t wear watches because their cell phone keeps the time. But, if you do have an analog watch, you can use it as a compass. If you don’t have an analog watch, you can draw one in the dirt or picture it in your mind.
Let’s say you’re lost in the woods, or maybe you’re just lost on Wood street in Chicago. You know it’s getting close to dinner time and you were going to meet your friend by the lake for dinner. You know the lake is East, but you don’t know which way that is. So, you think back to this post on BrokenSecrets.com. (more…)
Start Your Lawn Mower in One Pull
If your mower is hard to start or runs rough, this secret is for you.
I get a lot of these secrets from my dad and he gave me this one last spring. My mower ran a little rough and it took a couple hard pulls to get it going. Within a few starts after this secret, it was starting with one easy pull.
The secret is pretty simple: use premium gasoline!
I know what you’re thinking, “I’m not made of money!” But, this is a very affordable experiment to try. In your car, it costs significantly more to use premium fuel, so you’re probably not going to use it unless you have a high performance car that requires it. But, the fuel your lawn mower burns might only cost a few extra dollars per year for premium.
The benefits to your mower are as easy as 1, 2, 3:
- Starts easier
- Runs smoother
- Lasts longer
The proof is in the pull. Now that it starts easily and runs smoothly, I know it’s going to last longer and that’s worth a few more dollars per year.
The same applies to your car. If your car engine runs rough, you should give mid-grade or premium fuel a try. Your engine may sound noticeably better, idle smoother and start much easier too. If not, then it’s a waste of money.
In fact, the FTC says that premium fuel is a waste of money unless your car requires it or runs rough without it. If neither your mower nor car engine improve with premium fuel, then stop using it.
Broken Secrets
Written By: Chad Upton
Photo: yewenyi (cc)
Sources: Louisiana.gov, FTC
Stop Cords from Falling Behind Your Desk
At some point, everyone with a rechargeable gadget will curse gravity as the cord falls behind their desk. This is extremely annoying, mostly because you never want to go under your desk if you don’t have to; although, you’ll probably find some other lost treasures when you do.
A friend shared this secret with me recently and it blew my mind: use binder clips to catch the cables.
I bought a pack of Medium Binder Clips at Staples (24 @ $2.79) and I weaved my cables through — they work perfectly. If your cable slides through easily, you may need to tie a very loose knot in the cable or even better, put a couple zip-ties around the cable to stop it from falling through.
Broken Secrets | Written By: Chad Upton
Caffeine Makes Headache Medicine Work Faster
Not all, but some medicine actually contains caffeine to make it work faster, particularly headache relief medications.
I went to CVS pharmacy and snapped this picture of their headache relief formula.
As you can see, the main ingredients are acetaminophen (aka “Tylenol”) and Aspirin. But, there is a significant amount of caffeine too.
At 65 mg, that’s about the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee. Caffeine allows faster absorption of these drugs and makes them 40% more effective according to Web MD. That means you don’t need to take as much, saving you some money and reduces side effects.
Although it reduces the amount of painkiller you need to take, it raises the amount of caffeine you consume. This creates a slight risk of additional headaches due to caffeine withdrawal when you stop. Be sure to read the package directions and not take more than recommended.
Broken Secrets | Written By: Chad Upton
Sources: Web MD, International Coffee Organization, WP Caffeine, WP Codeine,
Extend the Life of Printer Ink Cartridges
If you’ve got an ink jet printer then you’re likely spending a lot of money on ink. Most of these printers use expensive and sophisticated ink cartridges. These cartridges monitor usage and estimate the amount of ink remaining. The estimate is usually conservative, meaning it indicates you are out of ink before you’re really out of ink.
If you reset this memory then you can keep printing until the cartridge is actually empty. Depending on the brand and model of cartridge, this reset is actually really easy. If you look above the small circuit board on the cartridge, there is sometimes a pinhole reset button, kind of like the paperclip eject hole on most cd rom drives.
Check out the following video to see a demonstration.
I should also note that not all cartridges can be reset in this way. Here are a couple of sites that show other methods of resetting some cartridges.
Doing a cartridge reset is also useful if you refill your own cartridges, since the cartridge may report that it’s empty even after you refill it. If you do a lot of color printing, you may consider generic cartridges or even a continuous ink system:
I should also mention that laser printers have become extremely cheap. I rarely print in color, so a black and white laser printer is very cost effective for me. When I need to print photos, there are lots of drug stores or department stores that do a great job for a low price. If I need to print color documents, there are many great places to get that done at a reasonable price too. With a $100 laser printer, you’re often able to print thousands of pages of text on the toner cartridge that is included.
Big thanks to Derek Santos for sending the video and inspiring this post.
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