Apr
21
I’m allergic to tree pollen, dust, and other common allergens that many others are also allergic to. I purchased an air purifier at the end of last year with hopes of cleaning the air a bit in my room to make it easier to breathe. With that said, you can imagine my surprise when I was told a couple days ago by another person that his doctor had actually advised him to stay away from air purifiers because “they are bad for you.”
Naturally I was skeptical of this claim at first, but after browsing around on Google, apparently some types of air purifiers create ozone which can be hazardous to your health if exposed to frequently. How ironic that something created to make breathing easier could actually make it worse. That’s why it’s important to read about clean air facts before buying a purifier.
Fortunately for me, the air purifier I bought was not one of the hazardous ones discussed frequently on the internet. The one I got utilizes a hepa filter, which is widely known as a high quality product. As it was one of my first air purifier purchases, I decided not to spend too much on it, just so I could see how it worked and how effective it actually was. I have noticed a slight reduction in dust, especially in the areas located immediately around the device, but I do think I could have made a better buy. For instance, the Oransi hepa purifier is a certified device that would probably do a much better job at cleaning my entire room (up to 600 sq feet) rather than a tiny area. Plus, judging by the design of the purifier on the websites I’ve read, it has a much better filter and it even has a filter replacement indicator so you can tell when it’s time to replace the filter.
Apr
20
George Zimmerman has been a hot topic on the news as of late due to his fatal shooting of a young black man named Trayvon Martin. It’s hard to take Zimmerman’s side without being labeled as a racist or a supporter of one. The story (as far as I know) is not entirely known as we only know that Zimmerman called the police and reported someone suspicious in the neighborhood. At some point Zimmerman ended up shooting Martin even though Martin ended up being unarmed. Most of what is not known is what happened between when he called the police and when the shooting took place.
The reason why this is a hot topic is because people are trying to argue that what went down was racially motivated. I tend to disagree, because if it was a hate crime, Zimmerman probably wouldn’t have got the police involved prior to the shooting. Furthermore, when someone is threatened by another person they may feel driven to do something radical in order to protect themselves. We don’t know the specifics of what happened when Zimmerman and Martin confronted one another, but we cannot conclude that because Martin was black that his skin color was also the reason he was shot.
The shooting was clearly a poor choice, and unless Zimmerman feared for his life, he shouldn’t have shot the young man. And honestly, even if he did felt it was necessary to shoot him, he should have at least attempted to make it a shoulder wound or something else that wouldn’t end up killing him. So in that regard, perhaps he should receive some punishment. It does seem like Zimmerman could be facing some very severe punishments however, especially with his lawyers bailing on him and publicly calling him for not staying in contact with him. Hopefully for his sake he’s now using a professional criminal defense attorney such as Robert M. Phillips to represent him in court.
Apr
14
The National Weather Service is usually conservative when it comes to the strength of words being used to describe a severe weather outbreak. In an attempt to make people heed the warnings, a new type of system is being tested in which strong wording will be used, depending on the strength of the tornado. We can expect to see words and phrases such as “mass devastation,” “un-survivable,” and “catastrophic.” I am assuming this will only occur if the tornadoes are confirmed on the ground already by a spotter and they are destructive.
Since we’re experiencing a tornado outbreak in the central U.S. today, it looks as if some of these warnings are already being tested. The following is a tornado warning in Falun, Kansas:
…A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHEASTERN ELLSWORTH… NORTHWESTERN MCPHERSON AND SOUTHWESTERN SALINE COUNTIES UNTIL 630 PM CDT…
AT 552 PM CDT…A CONFIRMED LARGE AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TORNADO WAS LOCATED 8 MILES SOUTH OF KANOPOLIS STATE PARK…AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.
THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION.
HAZARD…DAMAGING TORNADO.
SOURCE…LAW ENFORCEMENT CONFIRMED TORNADO.
IMPACT...MAJOR HOUSE AND BUILDING DAMAGE LIKELY AND COMPLETE
DESTRUCTION POSSIBLE. NUMEROUS TREES SNAPPED. MAJOR POWER OUTAGES IN PATH OF TORNADO HIGHLY LIKELY. SOME ROADS POSSIBLY BLOCKED BY TORNADO DEBRIS. COMPLETE DESTRUCTION OF VEHICLES LIKELY.
LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE…
MARQUETTE AND LINDSBORG.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
TO REPEAT…A LARGE…EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND POTENTIALLY DEADLY TORNADO IS ON THE GROUND. TO PROTECT YOUR LIFE…TAKE COVER NOW. MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A STURDY BUILDING. AVOID WINDOWS. IF IN A MOBILE HOME…A VEHICLE OR OUTDOORS…MOVE TO THE CLOSEST SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER AND PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FLYING DEBRIS.
I guess by testing these warnings they can look back on them afterward and see if the strong wording was justified. They just have to be careful not to cry wolf when saying stuff like “un-survivable” or risk losing the public’s confidence.
Apr
8
While typically thought of as currency, coins can also be custom created to commemorate something such an event or an organization. They can also be used as an award, being a token of excellence for example. Custom Coins are often created for the military, with a military symbol or logo engraved into copper or brass and optionally dyed (to add color). Here’s a good example of a coin used by the U.S. Naval Academy:
In this example, you can see both the color from the dye as well as the engraving of the logo they used, and it looks fantastic.
A coin can also be created to memorialize an event such as a wedding, as illustrated in this example:
As you can see here, color can either be added to the point of near photo quality, or not added whatsoever to present a more traditional style coin. I prefer the traditional style as it looks more artistic.
Custom coins that bear an organization’s insignia or emblem are called Challenge Coins. As aforementioned, they are often as a reward for outstanding service or exceptional performance of duty, typically in the military. These types of awards are traditionally given to the recipient through a handshake. Outside of the military, challenge coins are also commonly used by NASCAR, the NFL, the World Series of Poker, and many other organizations.
The same manufacturers for custom coins also create Custom Lapel Pins. Though that is their technical name, they are often used as badges as a means of identification, sometimes for security purposes. An intricate design on a custom lapel pin can be a great way to help identify people you work with. With the same high quality design as their coin counterparts, custom lapel pins look great too as you can see here:
The last thing I should mention is that both custom coins and custom pins are inexpensive. Each individual unit may only cost a couple dollars, and you can usually have them produced in bulk for a discount.
Mar
29
This guest post from Lewis Beck
We’ve been fine at our house for years without internet access. My husband and I both have it at work and we get our e-mails on our phones so we felt like we weren’t missing out on anything by not having it. Now that the kids are getting older, though, it’s time to look at some wild blue plans. As they’ve made their way into the tween years, both of them want e-mail addresses to keep up with their friends. I’m not ready to buy them smartphones to e-mail and text so I guess we are going to have to bite the bullet and let them get online. I’d much rather they got online at our home computer anyway so I can keep track of what they are looking at and who they are in touch with. Plus, I think it would be a great way for them to stay in touch with their grandparents. Maybe it will even free up my phone line!
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