The Gillette Curse

I am not sure if anyone has picked up on this, but it seems Gillette is having some problems with the people they are paying to advertise their products.

It started in the fall of 2009. During a World Cup qualifying match between France and Ireland, France's player Henry Thierry blatantly used his hand to keep a ball from going out of bounds, then he passed it to a teammate who scored the goal that kept Ireland from the World cup. I wrote a blog about it earlier and how I feel Soccer needs to start using instant replay for such situations.

However, in this blog I am talking about Gillette's troubles. After the handball incident, there were many people (including the entire country of Ireland) who boldly stated that they would no longer use Gillette products as long as Henry Thierry was one of their sponsors. Gillette made some public comments on the issue, but in the end did nothing.

Just a few months later, one of their other major advertiser, Tiger Woods, took his historic fall from grace. I don't care to get into the details of that mess, but lets just say in the end Gillette decided to drop Tiger as a sponsor.

This only leaves Rodger Federer amongst Gillette's major three endorsers who hasn't made a huge publicly ridiculed mistake. And we all know it's just a matter of time, because it is quite obvious there is a Gillette Curse. Much like the Madden Curse (for those who don't know, whichever NFL player appears on the cover of the Madden video game has almost always gotten injured the next year), the Gillette curse is a reminder that, although it may be nice to get that extra cash, you would be a lot safer if you just let the offer pass you by.

Perhaps I should suggest a new Gillette spokesperson who is guaranteed to never fall from grace. He is pictured below.

Meet Sid. Even if this guy somehow gets famous, we all know there isn't going to be any temptation for him to have an extra marital affair. Mainly because that would require him to first be married.

Well, you heard it here first. Endorsing Gillette is just as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than jumping out of a helicopter through the blades of another helicopter, into a used syringe pit that has really pissed off bears.

Check out my other blogs in my blog archive.

Leo the Cat

Well, it's been a while since I've posted. I blame the new year festivities and Christmas. That and I started working full time. I just wanted to write a quick blog stating that my wife and I just got our first pet, Leo the Cat!

We got him from a shelter and he has been great!

Sorry again about the slowness in posts, hopefully I start up again soon.

Two Simple Ways to Take Screenshots

I recently wanted to learn how to take screenshots for an upcoming blog post. When I looked up how to do it on Google, the first couple articles I read on how to do it were a little confusing. This gave me the idea of clarifying the issue for others. The methods I show, as far as I know, only work on PC's. Also, be sure to read the important note near the end.

A screenshot, if you didn't figure it out from the name, is a picture of what you are viewing on your screen. There are two ways of taking screen shots. First, you can simply press the print screen (Prnt Scrn) button on your keyboard (if you are using a laptop it is probably above your F10 key. On a desktop the Print Screen key is probably above the Insert key(which is above Delete)). This will save a picture of your entire monitor. Here is an example of what I am talking about...

(Result of hitting Print Screen, get whole monitor field)

The second way you can take a screenshot is by holding down Alt and then pressing the Print Screen button. Here is a picture for what I am talking about again...

(Screenshot taken by holding Alt+Prnt Screen, only the program window is viewed)

IMPORTANT NOTE! -> When you take a screenshot from either of the methods mentioned above, it will seem like nothing happens. This is what I was confused about when I was trying to learn how to do screenshots. I thought a window would pop up asking me where I wanted to save the screenshot, but this is not what happens. What happens is the computer stores the screenshot as if you performed the copy command (control+c). When you open a program that can handle it, you can just hit paste (control+v) in order to view your screenshot.

The simplest way to view your screenshot is to use paint. After you take your screenshot open paint, and simply hit control+v or go to edit and select paste. It may be helpful to change the size of your starting canvas by selecting image and selecting attributes (control+e). Then simply save your picture. The reason I like using paint is you can save the file as a JPEG, which allows you to import it onto things like this blog. If that is not what you need it for, you can certainly view your screenshot using a wide variety of other programs such as Microsoft Word or Excel.

Hopefully this is helpful. I know some people may already know this trick, but I felt the available information could use some clarification. As always thanks for reading, and check out my other entries in the Blog Archive to the right.

Tracking your Blog/Website Traffic

If you have a website or blog, one thing you probably love to know is how many people are coming to see it. Most likely, you have already looked into ways in which you can track this. I just wanted to suggest the stat tracker I use, ironically named StatCounter (click name for link). I am in no way endorsed by StatCounter, I am just a happy customer and have found their information useful.(This is what their logo looks like)

YBFHU4PDNWXB

While there are many websites that offer free counters to place on your blog, StatCounter offers a wide array of options to go with the counter. You can change the appearance of

the counter on your blog/website, or even elect to have the counter invisible (which is what I do). It is free to open an account and you also get free valuable statistics, such as how people came to find your website and where they are viewing it from. You can also find out if someone is a returning visitor or if it was their first time.

(here are some screenshots)

This screenshot shots visit length

This screen shot shows number of visitors

The set up is pretty easy and, like I said before, free. You simply set up your account, tell StatCounter how you want the data to be handled, then you are given html code to place on your blog/website. That's it!

While you can get more advanced information for a fee, I find that for my small projects the information given is ample, and I truly appreciate it. If you have a blog or website, give it a try!

I also have a funny story from StatCounter (actually it was kind of annoying). When I started this blog I set up StatCounter to track my website statistics. Initially, about 10-20 people viewed my blog daily. After that, however, nobody for about three weeks even visited my blog. I was getting bummed out about it, but then realized I had accidentally deleted the html code from my blog that allowed StatCounter to keep track of my website. Immediately after correcting the error I was getting about 20-30 views daily!

Here is the link again for StatCounter's Website: http://www.statcounter.com/

Thanks for reading. Please leave any questions or additional ideas in a comment, and check out my other posts in the blog archive!

Paper Airplane?-No. Paper Helicopter?-Yes!

Before I get started, here is a link to a YouTube video I made on the same subject.

I am sure almost everyone on Earth knows how to make a decent paper airplane. Well, maybe that's not true. Many people overlook how important and impressive paper airplane skills are. Be that as it may, I thought I would show you a new dimension of flying paper objects by showing you how to make a paper helicopter.

If you want, before we get started you can copy the plans I made below. Technically this plan will remove any need of me, but why would you want to get rid of your faithful guide?

(Paper helicopter plans. Solid lines are folds, dotted lines are cuts)

The dimensions I chose were 2"x7" for the drawing above. I just chose those numbers randomly. If you want to make the helicopter bigger or smaller it should work as long as you stay near to the proportions.

Step by step time. First, cut the long dotted lines on the drawing. On top (the right side) fold one flap directly toward you, and the other away. These are the "blades" of the helicopter, fold them so if you hold the chopper sideways, you will see a T-shape. Next, fold the little flaps on the bottom (left side of drawing) so that one goes over the middle, and the other goes under. After these folds place a paper clip on bottom over all three edges. This keeps your helicopter together while giving it some weight so it falls the way you want it to.

Alright, simple enough. Now all that is left to do is to find the highest point you can and drop that sucker. The spinning will leave you mesmerized. I am not sure why I am fascinated with flying objects, but I am sure you are too.

As always thanks for reading, leave some feedback, and check out my other posts in the blog archive on the right.

Einstein Trivia of the Day

Alright, seeing how this blog is titled do-it-yourself Einstein, I thought it would be a nice change of pace to throw out a little Einstein trivia. So, without any further ado, here is today's Einstein trivia...

Q. For which theory did Einstein win a Nobel Prize?

I'll give you some time to think about it.........Okay, that was long enough.

The reason I find this to be a fun piece of trivia is because most people get the answer wrong. The theory Einstein is most famous for is his theory of Special Relativity (you know, E=mc^2), yet this is not the correct answer.

Einstein won the Nobel Prize for the Photoelectric Effect (CLICK HERE for a link with more information about the 1921 award). "What the heck is that?" you ask. I don't blame you, it is pretty obscure. The only reason I know about it is because it has to do with nuclear science.

(Image 1. Crude drawing I just did in paint of the Photoelectric Effect)

The Photoelectric Effect occurs when a gamma ray hits an inner shell electron completely transferring all of the gamma's energy to the electron. The electron is then booted from it's atom. It would be like a cue ball in pool hitting another ball and transferring all of it's energy to the eight ball. The cue ball would stop in it's tracks after hitting the eight ball.

Well, that's all for the first installment of Einstein trivia. Hopefully it was as interesting for you as it was for me!

Feel free to leave a comment or read my other blog entries, which can be found in the blog archive to the right. I am still just starting out with this blog so if you find it interesting, I would greatly appreciate any feedback.