Interesting Fact of the Day……

Today most everything runs on electricity.  So, it’s not surprising that many companies look for alternative methods of generating electricity.  Some companies have gotten very creative in their endeavors to tap into alternative methods of generating electricity!

HP has proposed using cow manure to help power their data centers. WOW

According to InterestingFacts.Org, the manure that would be used will be from midsized dairy farms. Electricity will be derived form it by putting it through an anaerobic digester. The heat that is derived from this process would be used to power the turbines of the data centers cooling system. The electricity that is derived from this process will be used to power the data center. The temperature of the anaerobic digester would be regulated by the waste heat that is generated by the data center. This process ensures that there is maximum efficiency. This process also produces enough energy to be able to run the dairy farm. Thus one not only saves power use by the data centers but also the dairy farm.

Is it weird that Willow Smith’s new song, Whip My Hair, is growing on me?!!  Sad but true……..I think it’s more weird that she’s only 10!

Check it out!

I am on the hunt for a new laptop, and as my mind swirls from all the different choices to consider: hard drive, memory, screen size, etc……

Talk about information overload!  One thing I did come across during my research is a cool FREE operating system.  This is perfect for those of you who are constantly irritated with the various Microsoft operating systems.  It’s called Ubuntu.  Although, I have yet to download it, as I am borrowing currently borrowing a laptop…..I plan on checking it out as soon as I get my new laptop ordered!

Check it out at: http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop

Let me know what you think!

Only a few days away from the Summer season, but it feels like it is already here.  I was so excited today, I woke up early to plan a much needed day by the pool.  Like every year, my first time out in the sun I want to make sure I am getting a good tan.  So, yes, as always I ended up with a sunburn.  Not sure if I will ever learn.  I’m sure this painful sunburn will soon turn into a nice tan, but this evening I find myself searching for a home remedy for sunburn relief.  I thought I would share!

Sunburn Relief: Home Remedies

Vinegar: white or cider

Tea (yep regular ‘ol tea bags)

Dairy: milk or plain yogurt

Oatmeal

Baking Soda

I am going to try bathing in some vinegar…..will report back on my sunburn pain level!

For more information and tips on how to use these household remedies check out this link:  http://tipnut.com/sunburn-relief-home-remedies-over-50-soothing-treatments/

I was listening to the radio during my morning routing this morning, and heard some interesting information.  According to a recent study performed by a British research company, employee productivity is at its highest at 11:33 am on Tuesday.  Since today is Tuesday, I found it fitting. . . .guess I better hurry up and get productive!!

The full article is by Lisa Johnson Mandell

The Magic Hour: 11:33 Tuesday

It makes perfect sense: Mondays are spent recovering from the weekend, catching up, and organizing the week to come. By Tuesday you’re ready to dig in and get things done, before you start losing steam. Believe it or not, the majority of the workers surveyed said that energy and enthusiasm begin to flag as soon as Wednesday.

A poll of 3,000 employees revealed that on Tuesday, 93 percent of workers mean business: They’re at their peak, organized and rarin’ to go. Efficiency and communications skills are at their apex, and workers feel fresh, competent and confident. That’s the best day to schedule productivity evaluations and important pitches with clients; not only do employees give their best presentations, but clients are more enthusiastic and receptive.

Tuesday is also the best day for staff meetings, as the energy and focus of that day bring up the best ideas. Four of 10 people said they schedule Tuesday meetings for this very reason.

On Monday, workers are busy revving themselves up, battling hangovers or exhaustion from an active weekend, catching up on gossip, answering emails and preparing for all those Tuesday meetings and presentations.

It seems a bit odd that things start to take a dip by Wednesday, but that’s what more than half of those surveyed admitted. While they take shorter breaks, including lunch, on Monday and Tuesday, by Wednesday they start lengthening their break periods. Twenty-four percent admitted that they’re already looking forward to and planning for weekend activities by hump day.

The majority of workers surveyed say they purposely plan a lighter workload for Thursday and Friday. Some say it’s because they don’t want to leave things hanging over the weekend, while others admit that they lack professional focus at the end of the week. Thirty percent of the workers surveyed say that Friday is the worst day of the week for them.

Overall, Tuesday, seems to be the favorite of both employers and employees, with performance peaking just prior to lunch. Just watch: Slackers will use this information to goof around even more during the rest of the week, but the savvy employee will use it to get a leg up on everyone else on the other days. What’s your first impulse?

I learn something new everyday.  Yesterday, I opened a forward that a coworker had sent me.  It had been sitting in my inbox for quite sometime, but in my brief moment of boredom I opened it.  I just had to share.

For those of you who don’t know what a palindrome is, the Wikipedia definition states, “A palindrome is a word, phrase, number or other sequence of units that can be read the same way in either direction (the adjustment of punctuation and spaces between words is generally permitted).

I just seem to remember learning about a palindrome in school, and then realizing I knew a girl named “Hannah”, and thought it was so cool her name was the same both forward and backward!!

Until yesterday, I was unaware that a palindrome could be a phrase.  Some popular palindrome phrases are:

“Go hang a salami, I’m a lasagna hog”

“Was it a rat I saw”

“Step on no pets”

Moving on to the original point of my post, I watched a youtube video called “Lost Generation”  Very cool!!

Granny fined £1,000 for selling goldfish to a child

LONDON — A grandmother was fined £1,000 and electronically tagged for selling a goldfish to a child, triggering a wave of derision about the over-zealous use of animal protection laws.

As well as the fine, pet shop owner Joan Higgins, 66, was given a dusk-to-dawn curfew and forced to wear an electronic tag for selling an animal to a person under the age of 16, in a ruling slammed by her son as a farce.

The pair were prosecuted after the Trafford Council in Manchester sent a 14-year-old boy to buy a goldfish in a “sting” operation following reports that their shop, Majors Pets, had sold a gerbil to a teenager with learning difficulties.

Neither Higgins nor her son Mark, 47, asked the boy’s age nor how he planned on caring for the fish, prosecutors said.

“I think it’s a farce and legal lunacy and I told the council that,” said Mark Higgins, who was also fined and ordered to do 120 hours of community service.

Clever Art with Paper Scraps from Better Homes and Gardens

Paint Store Art

Gather paint chips in your favorite color palette from the home center or paint store. Trim them so just the paint colors show and arrange them in a pleasing display, placing lighter colors next to darker shades and rotating the chips to fit. Use double-stick tape to hold the paint chips in place on the cardboard backing piece from the frame. Place mat on top and frame.

Display Your Papers

Show off your favorite line of papers by decoupaging them to a canvas to create do-it-yourself art. Paint the edges of the canvas to complete the look.

Do you have old vhs tapes laying around and think: “What will I ever use these for”?  Trend Central’s article, VHS Rewind has some cool ideas for what to do with those old vhs covers and tapes laying around!

VHS Hard Drives

Turn that old VHS into a top secret hard drive!  Etsy shop CentennialMerchant turns old tapes into hard drives offering up to 640 GB of unique storage.

VHS Notebooks

Turn that favorite VHS cover into a chic notebook!  Etsy Shop Rock-n-Mama offers some of these notebooks.  If you have your own favorite VHS cover, it would be easy to make your own notebook by cutting the cover off, and taking it to Staples or any store that does binding (they can put the spirals for the notebook in)!