Stuff I Wonder

So, we all know that the better we rank on Google, the more traffic we will have.  Now, how do we go about learning?

I recently went in what I thought would be a nice stroll through the web in search of SEO knowledge. Little did I know I would be entering a dark path filled with trolls, vandals, and burglars hidden on the side of the road, waiting for unsuspecting victims.

If you’ve ever typed “SEO” into google you know exactly what I’m talking about. Many claim to have the secret keys to google’s algorithms, other claim superior link authority, others claim one-click success, and they all will gladly share with you for a modest sum of 97 trillion dollars.

Obviously, not everyone out there is a scam, and many are willing to provide useful knowledge and insight. I am digesting this information and will soon gladly share what I believe works, in hopes that I’ll help someone out there save a few trillion dollars.

For now, I ran across a free SEO report from… freeseoreport.com and was impressed with all the data and insight they shared for free.  I ended up comparing their suggestions to what google suggests, and indeed they were spot on. I did have to give them my email, but so far I haven’t been bombarded with follow up emails or hype marketing… so they seem pretty nice.  However, if they act shady, I’ll be sure to let you know.

Feel free to check them out if you need your site analyzed for seo effectiveness, or stay tuned for my future findings on the subject.

A guy named Dave is able to memorize hundreds of phone numbers, entire credit card numbers, faces, recipes, decks of cards, and all sorts of stuff. On the other hand, others have a hard time remembering a single phone number, their anniversary, or where they place their keys everyday.

Many people seem to think that they are either born with a good memory or not, and that there’s nothing to do about it. However, for those of us who like to question everything, we realize that those with great memory capabilities aren’t necessarily smarter, more special, or more gifted than the rest of us.

Take for example Dave, the guy we mentioned at the beginning. As a child, Dave was diagnosed with two learning disabilities: ADHD and dyslexia. He struggled in school and constantly got in trouble, but out of frustration, was determined to better in school by bettering his memory. It turns out he did quite well. As a matter of fact, Dave Farrow is now a memory expert.  He holds 2 Guinness World Records in memory techniques, and teaches  classes on Memory Improvement for the U.S Army, Bank of America, and other companies. Here are some tips and tricks that Dave used as a child and some he uses and teaches now. He calls them mnemonics.

What are mnemonics, and how they can be used?

MNEMONICS are simple tricks or devices that can help us memorize and remember stuff. Most of us are actually familiar with them, and have been using them since we were kids. Basic mnemonics  include acronyms, rhymes, acrostics, etc..  Advanced mnemonics, like the ones used by the pros, are very similar to basic ones, but are tweaked in such a way that lets them remember all kinds of impressive stuff.  Here’s a short description of some:

• Acronyms are the most familiar type of mnemonics. NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration.  Likewise, we are able to recall what FBI, CIA, IRS, etc stand for.
• Rhymes are also taught since we are in elementary school. Rhymes are also the reason we are able to remember our favorite songs or poems.
• Acrostics are like acronyms, but instead of making a new word, you make a phrase or sentence. For example, the sentence “My Dear Aunt Sally” in math class reminds us that you “Multiply and  Divide before you Add and Subtract.”

Now, these may seem too basic; in fact, people stop using basic mnemonics when they grow up, but why? The fact that they work wonders cannot be denied.  Now, you can build on top of these basic tricks and expand much further. Here are some more advanced mnemonics:

• Linking Method: You link something new to something you already know. For example, let’s say you’re trying to learn a bit of Spanish. The Spanish verb for sleep is “dormir”. If you remember that in college  you sleep in a “dorm”, it will be a lot easier to remember that dormir means to sleep, because you “dormir” in a “dorm”.
• Funny/Shocking Method. If you link something new to something very funny, or shocking into your mind, it will be easier to recall. An example that this works is the fact that we are all able to recall where we were and what we were doing on September 11, 2001, but we probably don’t remember August 4 of that same year. Try recalling where you put your keys this way:  if you put them on the kitchen table, while placing them down, imagine a huge key the size of a person falling from the sky and making a huge hole in your table. Next time you look for them, you’ll remember where your keys are.
• The Major System is a great way of memorizing long numbers. Basically, you convert numbers into sounds, and then make easy to remember sentences that you associate to that number.  I actually used this one myself to memorize my credit cards and almost all the phone #s in my phone.

There are many other methods, and very simple to use once you learn them; you just have to learn how to use them.  If improving your memory is something that interests you as well, and you’d like to learn how to use advanced methods like the ones above,  I recommend checking out Dave Farrow and/or Harry Lorraine.   They have both actually built upon these and invented a few other simple tricks.

So, making hot wings at home you say? Should I try it? I will get right to the point: ABSOLUTELY!

I was wondering the other day whether it would be worth the trouble making them at home (you know, because there are some things that are just not worth making from scratch, considering the time, money, and end result/flavor, etc.) So, I went ahead and tried it. I ended up trying different recipes, methods, breaded vs unbreaded, frying vs baked, and different sauces.  What I was able to distill from all this edible research astonished me. I had stumbled accross: the easiest way in the world to make the best hot wings in the world. Better than any restaurant I had tried them from.

Yes, as it turns out, making your own hot wings at home is so easy it probably only requires an IQ of 2, and the cooking skills of a newborn, or not even that. Basically, there are only 2 steps to follow; yes, 2 steps, not even 3.

• Step 1: Stick the wings in the oven.
  Yes, I know some of you might be used to have them deep fried. I tried both versions, deep fried and baked, and I was skeptical myself at first. The deep frier version is indeed good but requires more work and ingredients and probably only adds 1 notch of goodness in an overall 110% goodness scale.  Seriously, don’t worry, they’ll still be better than your local restaurant’s and will taste just as sinfully good baked vs fried.

  Also, some of you might be used to breading them, but it only adds another 1 of those flavor notches, and it’s a lot more work and time. Actually the original Buffalo wings from Buffalo, NY were NOT breaded.

  The wings:   I bought just regular old chicken wings from the meat aisle at my local grocery store.  I got the ones that are already cut for you. They cost probably 10 cents more per pound than the uncut ones, and save you from having to use a knife.

  I stuck about 20 wings in the oven for 1 hour at 425 degrees. I didnt even preheat the oven.

• Step 2: Coat them with the wing sauce.
  Now, the sauce is important. The flavor of the sauce is what makes the difference. For this, I found the original sauce used inBuffalo, NY: Frank’s Red Hot Sauce. You can find it in any grocery store.

  Once you get the wings out, you pour the sauce over the wings. The bottle comes with little instructions on how much butter you should mix in with the sauce to get a really awesome taste, but once you’ve got the sauce ready you basically just dip the wings in the sauce and then pour the sauce over the wings until they are good and covered

That’s it. 2 steps.

You can play with the butter/hot sauce mixture, but since I like them really hot I went like 80% sauce and 20% butter.

So, for a recap: for a fraction of the cost and for like 10x better flavor, you can have hot wings at home. But remember, the sauce is what makes the difference. I am in no way affiliated with Frank or his sauce, but I just haven’t found any better wing sauce. If you do, please let me know.

I love fitted sheets.  They look cool on a bed.

I also hate how they look when they are not on a bed.

It seems like no matter how you try to fold a fitted sheet, it never feels right.  Sometimes I even get this guilty feeling, as if the unfolded sheet was sitting there, taking up its extra space, giving me a look of disapproval,  judging my sub-par folding skills. So I just quickly stuff it away and forget about it.

You would think they should come with some sort of instruction; no one I know personally seems to know how to fold one properly.

Well, Ladies & Gentleman, wonder no more. I present to you, a folding genius:

In case you are not able to see video, Martha Stewart has a nice little how to with pictures.

Who knows, you might actually enjoy folding your sheets next time.

So this morning I am enjoying my coffee, and as I am adding half & half, I realize I have no idea what the stuff is. Seriously, for many years, I have just been drinking it without having any clue.  Well, I know it’s good, and I know it tastes like milk, but why is it called half & half. What is it half of?  Maybe it’s my distraction, my lack of appreciation, or maybe it’s just that I really like the stuff and don’t question its origins.

Well, today that was going to change. I was going to figure it, and I was going to find out why I could only have half of it.   For sure, if I read and study the box, I can find out. Sounds like a great place to start.

I actually read the entire box, all 10 sides of it, and I learned quite a bit, which I will be happy to share.    For beginners, I learn that this stuff is traditional… (maybe there’s crappy modern versions of half & half?)…

Also… you can depend on it to enrich your day with simple pleasures….

Hmm… that’s all great… but nothing so far about WHAT it is and where it comes from.

But wait, there’s more: “Half & Half is the ideal coffee complement!  and a wholesome ingredient in countless favorite dishes.”   Ahhh… there we go… that’s what I was looking for… I had no idea where to pour this into.

So,  the box goes on and on about how great it is, and how you can even use it to complement your coffee.  However, the question still remains… what is it?

Well, I figured my coffee would have to wait, I was on a mission now.  Aha, Wikipedia to the rescue. So this is what wikipedia has to say on the subject:

“The United States dairy product known as half and half is a mixture of one part milk to one part cream.”

Hmm… I dont know about you… but I actually had no idea what cream was either.  So, what is it?

Cream is a dairy product that is composed of the higher-butterfat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, over time, the lighter fat rises to the top…

So, basically half & half is really high fat milk (10.5–18% fat), but not super fat compared to cream itself, which is 30–36% fat.  They mix half milk, and half cream, to arrive at a perfectly liquid and creamy consistency to complement your coffee.

Hmm.. interesting… but now, this makes me wonder… why can I only have half of it? Can I go find the actual cream and pour it into my coffee? After a little more research, I found I can actually buy the cream itself; it is sold in stores as “whipping cream!”.   So, my next project will be to seek it out, try it with my coffee and report back later.

On a side note, I think I might start to have a clue as to what 2% milk is, but that will be a whole nother subject.

Let me know if there’s anything you’ve been wondering yourself or if there’s anything you’ve found out and would like to share.