Archive for the ‘Miscellaneous’ Category
1950s’ Halloween Costume Ideas
June 14th, 2011 |1950s’ Halloween Costume Ideas
America in the 1950s is thought of as a time of conservative dress and behavior, the “golden age” of American commerce. We had a huge middle class, a vibrant pop culture scene, and the beginnings of both the Cold War and the conflict in Vietnam.
1950s’ Halloween costumes are popular because they’re relatively easy to put together, they’re easy to recognize, and something about the 50s makes us go nuts. Nostalgia for the 50s spiked in the 70s and 80s but is still going strong, judging by the popularity of Halloween costumes…
How to Describe Yourself
April 27th, 2011 |How to Describe Yourself
Most of us aren’t comfortable with the idea of describing ourselves in any context. There’s lots of different reasons why you may need to be good at this. Online dating profiles are little more than self-descriptions with a few optional pictures and some emoticons. Even more serious–lots of job applications these days require you to describe yourself in a certain number of words. And what about meeting someone in public that you’ve never seen before? How would you tell them who to look for if you’re shy about describing yourself?
Here’s a guide to describing yourself.…
What Is Solar Power?
February 2nd, 2011 |What Is Solar Power?
Solar power is energy that comes from the Earth’s Sun. When scientists and ecologists speak about harnessing solar energy, they talk about finding technologies that collect solar rays and store that energy, converting it for use in heating homes and energizing the batteries which power everything from cars to flashlights. You might be wondering what “solar rays” are.
What Are Solar Rays?
The Sun produces solar rays through the process of nuclear fusion. The same process which explodes hydrogen bombs also power the vast energies of the stars. Only a tiny fraction of the…
Top 5 Reasons You Need a Home Safe
January 10th, 2011 |In recent years, bank consolidations and closings have been in abundance. Today, the safest place to keep your valuable belongings is right in your own home. However, with the risk of burglary, fire and water damage, one cannot be carefree about where they store documents, cash, media files, firearms, jewelry and other valuables. To guarantee your belongings, you just can’t rely on a bank anymore, you need a home safe for a few different reasons.
1. Everyone Owns Valuables – You don’t have to be hoarding tons of cash and jewels to need a safe. Everyone has things of value…
Who Is Harley Davidson?
January 7th, 2011 |We’ve all heard of Harley-Davidson. The name has become so iconic that even people that know nothing of motorcycles associate it with top-of-the-line bikes. Over the years, the myth behind this brand of motorcycles has grown to supernatural proportions. So who is Harley-Davidson?
The Early Years
To be honest, a better question would be, “Who are Harley-Davidson?” Despite what some may think, “Harley Davidson” is not the name of a person, but rather two people. You see, in the early 1900s William S. Harley and his childhood friend Arthur Davidson began putting engines on bicycles in a backyard shed. As…
What Is Glass?
October 9th, 2010 |Glass is one of the most well-known substances within human society to date. Yet amazingly few individuals are truly aware of what glass is and how it is made.
What is Glass?
Glass is, put simply, a non-crystalline (or amorphous) solid. “Non-crystalline” refers to the fact that the ions within the glass do not arrange themselves into the form of a repeating pattern. Most metals are crystalline solids. Glass, as a non-crystalline solid, is extremely brittle.
Glass in its most basic form is formed from silica. Silica is a substance with the chemical formula of SiO2. While glass can be…
What Is an Eternity Ring?
October 8th, 2010 |What Is an Eternity Ring?
The ring, a continuous circle, has been a symbol of friendship and relationships for thousands of years. The first people to make and wear rings were the ancient Egyptians. All rings, in effect, could be called ‘eternity’ rings, but as will be discussed later in this article, an eternity ring, because of its unique construction, is a special category of ring. Comprised of an uninterrupted circle of metal, often encrusted with precious stones, rings have long been a symbol of eternal love and friendship. The round, unbroken circle of an eternity ring meant then, and…
What Is a Pot Belly Stove?
September 15th, 2010 |What Is a Pot Belly Stove?
A pot belly stove is a type of wood burning stove (used either to cook or to give off heat) that is made of cast iron. Pot belly stoves are generally freestanding (not attached to any structure) and are normally vented through a wall or up out of a ceiling. The term itself, “pot belly stove”, comes straight from the look of the stove itself. Pot belly stoves are shaped like barrels, bulging out in the middle resembling a pot belly on a person. The pot belly stove is now mostly an antique item…
How to Pick a Lock
September 9th, 2010 |How to Pick a Lock
If you find yourself locked out of your home with no way to get back in, you’ll wish you knew how to pick a lock. Losing a key to a padlock can be a pain in the butt — why pay the high prices of locksmiths to have your locks opened for you? Most people have no trouble learning how to pick a basic lock — most locks in your home are simple pin-and-tumbler locks that are extremely easy to pick if you have the know-how and the right lock picking tools. Using…
What Is an Online Gift Card Exchange?
August 17th, 2010 |Internet Gift Card Exchanges
Ever received a gift card for a store you hate? Or maybe you don’t hate the store, but you don’t live near enough to a franchise to make the gift card valuable. Online gift card exchanges exist as a trading post for gift cards, gift certificates, and even high value coupons. The idea behind the online gift card exchange is simple enough — find people who want your gift card (ideally people with a gift card you’d trade for) and setup a simple trade. This way, you don’t waste your gift, and someone else gets to…
Weekly Recap
August 7th, 2010 |We didn’t make a lot of posts this week, but the posts we did make were substantial. (Most of them were about 2000 words.) Here’s what we posted this week:
- How to Sell a Screenplay
- What Is the Wine of the Month Club?
- How to Get Rid of Warts
- How to Get Rid of Bags Under Eyes
Check back every day, because we’re always uploading new content. Some weeks we post twice or even three times a day, but sometimes, if we’re covering subjects in more depth, we’ll make fewer, but longer, posts.
The AskDeb.com July Recap
July 31st, 2010 |We did a lot of blogging on a lot of different subjects this month at AskDeb.com. I’ve recapped our posts thematically here for your convenience, so you can check out any questions and answers and topics you might have missed.
Entertainment Topics
At the beginning of the month, we blogged about multiple entertainment topics, including books, movies, television, and sports:
- Best Summer Books for 2010 – Our list of the best summer books of 2010 includes something for everyone: poetry, science fiction, inspirational, and literary fiction books.
- What Movies Are Coming Out in 2011? – Now that 2010 is
…
What Is the Fastest Motorcycle in the World?
July 31st, 2010 |What Is the Fastest Motorcycle in the World – 2010?
When you’re talking about fast motorcycles, you need to make a clear distinction between those that are street legal and those that aren’t. This makes a big difference.
The definition of “street legal” changes a little state by state, so it is hard to say outright whether or not a specific motorcycle is “street legal”. For instance, in the state of California, motorcycles built after 1985 are limited to a certain noise level. Standing 50 feet away, the noise of the motorcycle’s engine must not be louder than…
What Is the Fastest Airplane in the World?
July 30th, 2010 |What Is the Fastest Airplane in the World?
Since airplane technology is usually developed alongside or with the cooperation of a country’s military establishment, it can be difficult to pin down exactly what the world’s “fastest airplane” really is. There are no doubt dozens of incredibly fast airplanes in development around the world that we just don’t know about yet.
To that end, here’s a breakdown of the five fastest airplanes in the world. Some of these are launched from traditional runways, some are launched mid-flight from other aircraft. Some of these planes have rocket engines, and some use more…
Weekly Recap
July 24th, 2010 |We like to post a weekly recap of the posts we’ve made at the AskDeb.com blog, so here it is for this week:
- How Much Is Silver Worth? – We have quite a few articles about what various things are worth, like How Much Is My Car Worth? and How Much Is My House Worth? The article about silver is a new one in the same vein, and so is this week’s post about How Much Is My Computer Worth?
- How to Manage Depression – Depression is one of the most common illnesses in America. I’m surprised we haven’t
…
What is Spy Gear?
July 20th, 2010 |What Is Spy Gear?
Spy gear is a generic term for surveillance, security, and all-out spy equipment. People don’t always use so called spy gear to spy on people — other applications for things like hidden cameras include home security, some practical purpose like hunting, or just for fun. Spy gear includes just about anything a spy in the movie uses. Spy gear enthusiasts use things like bug detectors, noise generators, and covert recorders to “spy” on people or as commercial security systems.
Where to Find Spy Gear
Most people wouldn’t think twice about setting up a security system to…
What Is a Hidden Camera?
July 19th, 2010 |What Is a Hidden Camera?
A hidden camera is any camera (still or video) that is hidden in a space and used to film people without their knowledge. Hidden cameras are also sometimes called spy cameras. The camera is either disguised as something else or is hidden away from sight so that it is not visible to the people being filmed.
Hidden cameras are popular in commercial settings (where business owners use them to capture the behavior of customers or employees) or even for in home surveillance. Popular disguises for hidden cameras include video cameras built into smoke detectors, clocks,…
AskDeb Recap for the Week of July 5
July 16th, 2010 |We took some time off from posting here at the blog, but we’re back 100% now. Here’s a recap of what we posted this week at AskDeb.com–most of the blog posts are about sports, entertainment, and television this week:
- Best 2010 Summer Books – Looking for some good summer reading? Our local literature specialist has provided a list of suggestions to consider when planning your 2010 summer book list. Some of the suggested books include Kings of the Earth by Jon Clinch, Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens, and The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender.
- Where
…
Astrology.com
July 1st, 2010 |Astrology.com Daily Horoscope
As you would expect from a site named Astrology.com, this astrology and psychic website offers the most complete list of astrology readings. Astrology.com offers both Chinese and Vedic Astrology, like most of the other websites out there, but Astrology.com also offers Mayans astrology. With the coming of December 21, 2012, and the end of another 5,000 year Mayan cycle on that date, the public has become more interested during the last few years in what the Mayans had to say about our future.
Be the best you can be with The New You in the…
Where Is the Best Place to Find Meteorites?
April 22nd, 2010 |Where Is the Best Place to Find Meteorites?
The best place to find meteorites is any area with a dry climate, such as a desert or dry lake bed.
When a meteoroid hits the surface of the Earth it leaves behind meteorites. These are exciting pieces of geology because they originate in outer space and end up right here on the surface of our planet. Finding a meteorite is like finding a piece of another world.
What Do Meteorites Look Like?
When most people think of the word “meteorite”, they think of a chunk of iron — the most readily…
Where to Buy Pepper Spray
April 19th, 2010 |Where to Buy Pepper Spray
Pepper spray is an effective deterrent against all kinds of threats. This non-lethal weapon can be used to render an attacker or other threat blind, incapacitated, and unable to pursue you. Pistols need loading (and a license to carry) and the ease with which pepper spray is used makes the expense of owning and caring for a gun unnecessary. When you need a way to protect yourself, pepper spray is the most user friendly and inexpensive method.
Whether your carry pepper spray on hunting trips ( to keep away attacking animals) on the job as…
What Are Gift Experiences?
April 13th, 2010 |What Are Gift Experiences?
A “gift experience” is any gift that allows the receiver to have a completely interactive experience. As opposed to regular gifting, in which you give a person a wad of cash or a new pair of boxers, “gift experiences” are usually one-time-only experiences that last for a few hours.
Gift Experience Vouchers and Certificates
What Are Some Examples of Gift Experiences?
The term “gift experiences” covers a huge variety of gifts, from skydiving trips to rock-climbing, surfing, and even all-day spa visits. Here’s a short list of some…
How Does the Eye Work?
February 6th, 2010 |How Does the Eye Work?
We use our eyes everyday without really understanding how they work.
The human eye is a miracle. It adapts to different lighting conditions and uses light rays to focus itself. When all of the parts of the human eye work right, light is translated into nerve impulses and transmitted to the brain, where we think of those impulses as “images”. The whole thing takes place without any influence or human input. Our eyes are like extremely high-tech cameras stuck into our heads, and most of us have no idea how it is they actually work.…
How Does Gravity Work?
February 4th, 2010 |How Does Gravity Work?
We’ve all heard the schoolroom description of the discovery of gravity — that Sir Isaac Newton was hit on the head with an apple and instantly postulated the concept of gravity. If only this were true!
We know a few things about gravity — we know that it causes two objects to be drawn to one another, such as when you flip a coin and it hits the floor.
We also know that gravity had some hand in forming the planets, stars, and other bodies that make up the universe. We learn that gravity keeps the…
Fun Questions to Ask Strangers
October 22nd, 2009 |Fun Questions To Ask a Stranger
Talking to strangers can be one of the hardest things to do, if you’re introverted or unsure of yourself. Thinking of a decent ice-breaker that might interest a stranger, but not appear to be a come-on, is hard to do when you’re sitting on a bus or in the waiting room at some office. Even when you’re at a party where everyone presumably arrived to have a good time and get to know other people better, asking fun questions to a stranger can seem, well, strange.
Sometimes, though, off-the-wall questions break the ice and…
How to Fend Off a Shark Attack
September 11th, 2009 |How to Fend Off a Shark Attack
So you’re in Australia on your dream vacation. One minute you’re snorkeling with the family, wondering what you’ll eat for dinner, not thinking about work, maybe you’re even a little bit happy. Suddenly, below you, the distinct outline of a shark appears. Before the hair on the back of your neck has time to settle, three more sharks appear. This is not good.
If you know how to fend off a shark attack, you’ll be less likely to soil your wetsuit should you find yourself in this scenario.
The best way…
7 Cool Articles You Might Have Missed
September 3rd, 2009 |Here are 7 cool articles from our main site that you might have missed the last time around:
- Male Pheromones and Female Pheromones
- How to Make a Garden Fountain
- In Love With a Married Man?
- How to Style Curly Hair
- How to Hide Pimples with Makeup
- How to Bury a Dog
- How Much is my Classic Car Worth?
And some interesting stuff on some other sites:
- Fantasy Football Cheat Sheets
- How to Introduce Yourself on a Dating Website
- Great Movie Cameos
- Superman Costumes
Who Is Ray Kurzweil?
August 19th, 2009 |Who is Ray Kurzweil?
My first exposure to Raymond Kurzweil, better known as Ray, came while reading Rolling Stone magazine earlier this year. In the January 2009 issue, Kurzweil appeared in David Kushner’s article “When Man and Machine Merge”. Kurzweil’s words in that article stuck with me. Ray Kurzweil said in Rolling Stone that he wanted to clone his dead father via an exact genetic copy obtained from DNA in the father’s grave. That’s right — Kurzweil expressed an honest desire to build a copy of his dead dad by inventing special nanorobots that could enter his father’s grave…
Where Will this Month’s Solar Eclipse Be Visible?
July 21st, 2009 |Where will this month’s solar eclipse be visible?
This Wednesday, June 22, 2009, a large portion of the population of Earth is in for quite a show.
The longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century is about to take place — specifically, this Wednesday, with time around 2:35:21 UTC. This will be the longest totality event until June 13 2132, when none of us will be alive to view its beauty — hell, it is unlikely that any of our children will be around then.
There will be no other eclipse to rival its duration for over a…
What Is Juneteenth?
June 19th, 2009 |What is Juneteenth?
Every June 19th, African Americans in as many as forty states across the country celebrate Emancipation Day. Sometimes called Freedom Day or simply Juneteenth (which is a mashup of June and Nineteenth), the day is set aside to remember the passing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Though President Lincoln’s emancipation proclaiming the end of slavery in the United States was “effective” on January 1, 1863, news of the emancipation moved slowly, due to lack of communication (there was no CNN, no national newspapers) and because white slave owners who may have heard about the emancipation were not…
What Can I Get My Dad for Father’s Day . . . that Won’t Break the Bank?
June 18th, 2009 |What can I get my dad for Father’s Day . . . that won’t break the bank?
We are all suffering to some degree from the economic crisis. It isn’t just Americans — countries around the world are feeling the belt tighten.
Unfortunately, Dads appear to be yet another victim of the falling value of our money. A recent survey by the National Retail Federation suggests that the average consumer is going to spend $90.89 on Father’s Day gifts, down from last year’s $94.54. If you’re like me, you looked at that number and wondered who is buying their…
What Is Bunker Hill Day?
June 17th, 2009 |What is Bunker Hill Day?
Bunker Hill Day is an official holiday in some parts of Massachusetts. Some state employees in Masachusetts, including many in Boston, the state’s largest city, get the day off from work, and schools and local groups commemorate the battle of Bunker Hill with parades, receptions, and other events.
Every June 17th, the people of Boston and Suffolk County, where the battle that launched America’s war for Independence took place, take time out to remember that battle, to honor those who died, and to celebrate America’s freedom.
To celebrate Bunker Hill Day, many people will…
What Is Flag Day?
June 12th, 2009 |What is Flag Day?
Every year, on June 14, the United States of America celebrates “Flag Day”. Though “Flag Day” is not an official holiday, many towns around the country hold parades and other celebrations to honor the American flag.
Typical ways to honor the American flag are to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, sing our National Anthem (“The Star Spangled Banner”), put on skits depicting the founding of the country, and so on.
In terms of parades, the longest running “Flag Day” celebration is held every year in Quincy, Massachusetts. The “Flag Day” parade in Quincy began in…
What Is Cinco De Mayo?
May 5th, 2009 | Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican holiday that began with the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Learn more about Cinco de Mayo history plus celebrations and activities you can participate in.