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Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of ROI

The Ring Knife

IMG_20130412_091302[1]I received the ring knife in the mail the other day from the Handy Twine Knife Company and this is one review that has me mixed.

You see, I received two different types of ring knives and both were at the other end of the spectrum quality wise. The orange one was high quality metal that was dipped in an orange vinyl coating. The other one was green plastic that reminded me of a cheap plastic toy out of a cracker jack box but with a sharp blade on it.

Suffice to say, I loved the orange one. It felt solid and sturdy during use and worked wonderfully on fishing line, twine and popping off plastic straps on a large box. I will definitely be adding this to the tackle box and will likely even pick up a spare or two for the tool box.

The plastic green one however was a bit “flexible” and left me with concerns that the plastic was going to break and the end result would be a run-away blade finding flesh. (For the record, it DID NOT and I am able to type this review all fingers still in tact.) While I might keep it around for small jobs, it will only be used if I can’t readily find the orange one. In fairness, I may have reviewed it higher it didn’t come with the vinyl covered metal one, which is a tool I can see myself using often. Safely.

 

Paid Survey Program Looking For Beta Testers

There is a new survey program in beta testing called PaidViewpoint that is looking for beta testers to sign up and actually get paid their viewpoints. Not points, not entries to win but actual cash via PayPal.

The more you answer the higher your TraitScore, the higher your TraitScore, the more you earn per answer.

If you like participating in survey’s, this this one is for you. If you like being paid for your opinion, then this one is definitely for you.

PaidViewpoint.com/?r=ou89ql . #beta #paidsurvey

An Open Letter To Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Regarding Their Use of Carrageenan

Dear Ben and Jerry,

Please stop adding seaweed to your ice creams.

I was extremely disheartened to learn that a company I had always respected for their high moral values and a company mission to “improve the quality of life” had started using an ingredient that has a history of health concerns – carrageenan, a red seaweed extract. Yes, I know that carrageenan is approved by the FDA but I always felt that Ben and Jerry’s had much higher standards than those set at the FDA. Isn’t that one of the reasons why you take a stance on GMO’s and used egg’s from cage-free hens?

Suffice to say, I miss my New York Super Fudge Chunk… I want it back. I want to be able to enjoy it again but I refuse to have it as long as it has carrageenan. You should know that many refuse to eat anything with carrageenan in it and my family is one of them. As such, we no longer buy Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and are now buying from your competitors. If sales are not what they used to be, might I recommend removing carrageenan and making a very big deal about it. Your sales will jump back up.

Remove the carrageenan and restore my faith in the B&J mission to “improve the quality of life”. After all, ice cream made from “high quality dairy ingredients” doesn’t need a seaweed extract.

Learn more about the dangers of carrageenan:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrageenan#Health_concerns

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA401181/Is-Carrageenan-Safe.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1242073/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22011715

https://www.google.com/search?q=Carrageenan+cancer

A former fan,
Robert

 

CANGUN1 Review

The CanGun1 Spray Can Tool advertises that it has an “Exclusive FullGrip Trigger” and in this case, it certainly is a full-size grip. Many other items that claim to have  full size grips are often made for smaller hands and do not have as comfortable grip in the hands of a full grown working man. That is not the case with the CanGun1. At 6′ tall and over 200 pounds, I am not a small guy and neither are my hands. As you can tell from the pictures below the CanGun1 fits comfortably with plenty of grip.

CanGun1

The trigger was smooth and allowed for a nice even covering with very little effort on pulling the trigger which certainly makes the CANGUN1 a recommendation for anyone that has arthritis or large projects to work on.

Not only is the CanGun1 easier on the finger but it is also easier on the wrist. Using spray paint cans with the “one finger” method requires your wrist to be in a right angle, however the CanGun1 allows for a more natural and comfortable position of the wrist that also allows for more control when painting.

Installing and removing CanGun1 on a spray can is a bit tight the first couple of times (especially in colder weather) and the secure fit that this provides is certainly appreciated. However, I can envision spray paint mishaps happening to a user if they are not careful and do not take the half a second to look at the clear to understand picture of how to properly install the CanGun1 onto the aerosol can.

Favorite features:

  • A true full size grip that was built for a real mans hand.
  • Allows for a smooth application of spray paint.
  • Virtually eliminates finger and wrist fatigue during big projects.
  • Puts painting projects back in the reach for many with arthritis.
  • Snaps onto any standard aerosol can.
  • Made in the USA

All in all very high marks for this product and highly recommended.

Ken Becker, inventor of the CanGun1, says that the CanGun1 is available nationwide through all Ace Hardware Stores, Tractor Supply Stores and on Amazon.com with new retailers being added regularly.

Enjoy Life’s Puddles

Take time today to enjoy the little things that make you smile.

take-time-to-enjoy-puddles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Royal Purple’s MaxFilm – Little Can. Big Results.

I had the chance to product test Royal Purple’s MaxFilm – Good stuff. I will be using it from now on instead of long time favorite WD40.

MaxFilm leaves a dry film lubricant which greatly outperformed other spray lubricants I have used in the past. My first impression was that the can was a bit too small for the price but after using it and seeing that I didn’t have to use nearly as much to get the performance results I needed, I felt that the can was just right and certainly fits better in my tool box.

Definitely give it a shot if you see it at your local retailer.

 

Wolves At The Door

There are wolves at your door. You might not see them but they are there. They are disguised behind bits and bots and they quietly test the handle on your door a thousands times a day to see if they can get it to open. They are hackers and they are trying to get into your site right now.

If you are running WordPress on your websites, you need to stop what you are doing right now and do three things. (All things in threes.)

  1. Change your admin name to something other than “Admin”. Why? To log into an account a hacker just needs the user name and password. Since most people leave the default username as “Admin” a hackers work is already 50% completed. Now they just need to figure out your password. To do this, you will have to set up a second user account with administrator rights. Name it anything other than “admin” and then log out, log in to your newly created account and delete the old “Admin” account. Don’t worry, you will not loose all of the great posts you have written, as long as, you select the option to associate all of your old posts to your new admin account.
  2. Install the WordFence Security plugin. It is a free enterprise class security plugin that includes a firewall, virus scanning, real-time traffic with geolocation and more. It also alerts you when someone logs in as Admin and it shows you all of the failed “Admin” login attempts and where they originated from.
  3. Upgrade to the Premium API key to do even more. At $17.95/year it is cheap insurance for any business website.

Taking these steps can save you some heart-ache, frustration and if your website is revenue generating, it might just save your business.

 

Reqruented?

Searches are up for the term “reqruented” after reports that:

‘Todd Palin reqruented a massage therapist now busted for “prostitution”.’

The sex scandal was first published by the ENQUIRER, a ‘tabloid’ that broke the John Edwards affair. But this post is not really about the Palins or the scandalous accusations but about the term ‘reqruented’ and it’s use (or lack-there-of) in the English language.

As of this posting, a search on Dictionary.com finds no results. Neither is the term found in the Oxford Dictionaries.

Even on Google, when you do a search for “reqruented -palin” a paltry 14 results are returned. As might be suspected, a good portion of the results are legal in nature indicating that it is more of a legal-term.

[caption id="attachment_77" align="aligncenter" width="392" caption="Google search results for 'reqruented'."]Google search results for 'reqruented'[/caption]

The domainer in me briefly toyed with the idea of registering reqruent.com (which, as of this posting, DomainTools is showing as still available) but I decided not to. My main interest in the term is as a search marketer and the fascination by the search trends that can be generated by a breaking news story that includes such a rare and seldom used word.

That, and I wonder if my wife will let me get away with using ‘reqruent’ in our next Scrabble game.

Google Adds Friends To Description

“You are known by the friends you keep” may be an old saying but it is finding new meaning in the world of search.

Google is testing adding “Friends” in a gray text sub-headline when returning search results from Facebook.

Every day, Google brings a little more of the social media world into the search results. If you have been hesitant to embrace social media, you can not afford to wait any longer. Social can have a very positive impact on how (and IF) you are found in the search engines.

Baby Dancing To Beyonce

One of the funniest things that I’ve seen in a long time. Makes me laugh even more because I have a young toddler who loves to get down and dance as well. Especially have to love the leg shake about a 1/3 of the way in. :)