Liquid vs. Normal Bandages

Liquid bandages replace a normal bandage with a layer of clear liquid applied directly to the wound. There are multiple brands using different chemicals, and they come in spray-on or paint-on forms.
Tiny cuts and bug bites were sometimes covered with tape, nail polish, or sealing cuts with superglue. Liquid bandage is just an optimized version of that, with an added antiseptic. It is less likely to irritate the wound, and it is easier to apply. (The Mayo Clinic often uses skin adhesive instead of stitches, because it is quicker and less painful.)

Regular bandages tend to fall off of knuckle and finger wounds, but liquid bandages much less often.

As with regular bandages, liquid bandage is useful for treating and preventing blisters. Musicians use superglue or liquid bandages to protect their fingers from stringed instruments.


Of course you can always fall back on the manly alternative, duct tape with a swatch of toilet paper to cover the wound. Ha

Wordology, Cherophobia

It is the fear of being happy, stemming from the Greek word chairo, which means 'I rejoice'. Some people are afraid of happiness and joy. They avoid activities and social events they think will be fun. It is usually a defense mechanism that stems from trauma or conflict. According to Healthline, some medical experts classify cherophobia as a form of anxiety.

Fifteen Benefits of Coffee

Coffee is one of the world’s most popular beverages. It tastes good, provides energy, and has many other benefits.

• It is a good source of antioxidants.
• It can help reduce risk of diabetes.
  
• Drinking two cups of coffee a day provides a 35 percent lower risk of ending up with liver cirrhosis. A 2017 study published in BMJ found it could be possible to see a 20 percent reduced risk by drinking one cup a day, 35 percent by drinking two, and 50 percent with five because of caffeine’s ability to inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells.
• It can help burn more calories. Because caffeine increases energy use whether you are at rest or not, the Mayo Clinic suggests it stimulates thermogenesis, which is just one of the ways you generate heat and energy from the food you digest.
  
• A 2017 study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine suggests drinking coffee might reduce your risk of dying from heart disease and stroke.
  
• A 2016 study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention found drinking it could help cut risk of colon cancer by 50 percent. Researchers say one or two cups for a 26 percent reduced risk or more than 2.5 for a 50 percent-reduced risk.
• A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests drinking it speeds up your heart rate because of how quickly it is absorbed into the blood stream and in turn increases metabolism.
• A 2007 study published in the International Journal of Dermatology, researchers found caffeine could be a potential hair growth stimulant for men with androgenetic alopecia, a common type of hair loss. In fact, the growth of the hair follicles that were treated with caffeine increased 46 percent and the life cycle of the hair was extended by 37 percent.
• Caffeine might suppress your appetite long enough to make you feel less hungry for a while, says the Mayo Clinic.
• A study published by the American Association for Cancer Research found drinking coffee can help reduce the risk of melanoma.
• A 2016 meta-analysis published in the journal Nutrition found drinking high levels of coffee was associated with a 27 percent reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease. A 2015 study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s disease found those who drank as little as one or two cups every day were less likely to experience mild cognitive impairment than those who did not drink coffee.
• In astudy from the Radiological Society of North America, researchers found two cups of coffee were able to boost participants’ short-term memory skills, because of caffeine’s ability to have an effect on higher brain function.
• A 2013 study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that it can significantly help prevent retinal degeneration.
• Research has shown its ability to give workouts a boost and increase athletic performance, and that is why so many Olympians drink it. One report from the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism found the majority of the 20,686 Olympic athletes analyzed had caffeine in their urine.
• A 2003 study in the Journal of Pain found those with high caffeine consumption had significantly reduced muscle pain after working out, which could be explained by caffeine’s ability to decrease sensitivity to pain, opposed to those who drank a placebo.

Wordology, Whopping

This is an interesting word and not as popular as it used to be. It has many definitions, but Whopping and Wopping are two different words, often misused. Wopping is a bit more slang and I will skip that definition.
Whopping is the act of physically beating a person until they can no longer stand. It is also a heavy blow or the sound made by such a blow.
Examples: Planned spending amounts to a whopping fifty billion dollars,
Footballers in whopping studded boots approach the field,
A 100g portion gives a whopping ten teaspoons of sugar.

Incidentally, I enjoy spending a whopping amount of time putting this stuff together for your reading pleasure.

Voice Input

Voice input to control computers and a variety of IoT devices is becoming more prevalent and has been increasing since the technology has finally caught up with interpretation of a variety of voices, dialects, and accents.

This is a great benefit to the estimated 781 million adults over the age of 15 who are illiterate. People who cannot read finally have easier access to the internet, typing, and information through smart devices, such as Amazon's Alexa, Google, Cortanna, Siri, and Bixby. There are hundreds of apps that let users search, write emails, take notes and set appointments with their smartphone. Amazon says more than 1.8 million e-books support audio books, which automatically read aloud the words on the page.

Predictions abound -

• “50% of all searches will be voice searches by 2020” according to comscore
• “About 30% of searches will be done without a screen by 2020.” according to Mediapos
• “We estimate there will be 21.4 million smart speakers in the US by 2020” according to Activate
• “By 2019, the voice recognition market will be a $601 million industry”, according to a report from Technavio.
• “This year (2017), 25 million devices will be shipped, bringing the total number of voice-first devices to 33 million in circulation.” based on a new study by VoiceLabs
• “By the end of 2018 the Google Assistant will reach 95 percent of all eligible Android phones worldwide” according to Techcrunch.

Happy Friday

Each day is not an occurrence, it is an opportunity.

Take advantage of the opportunity to be happy on a Happy Friday!

Online Manuals

If you need a manual for almost anything in your house, you can go to https://www.manualslib.com/ and likely find it. It has manuals online that cover almost two million products with 2,832,546 pdf manuals.


Just enter the keywords in the search field and find what you are looking for. Search results include manual name, description, size and number of pages. You can either read manual online or download it to your computer.

Amazon' Choice

You may have noticed some items on Amazon have the text 'Amazon's Choice' next to the description.  It means that many buyers have purchased and were satisfied with it, as told to Amazon through reviews data, is highly rated, well-priced, and available to ship immediately. It also means the item has a low return rate and a best-seller ranking.

Reference Thesaurus

Stuck for a word that you know is on the tip of your tongue, but just won't come out. Try  http://www.onelook.com/reverse-dictionary.shtml

This site lets you describe a concept and get back a list of words and phrases related to that concept. Your description can be a single word, a few words, or a whole sentence. Type in your description and hit Enter to see the related words. You can find a word if you only know its definition.

Almond, Rice, and Soy Milk

The basic method of modern domestic almond milk production is to grind almonds in a blender with water, then strain out the almond pulp with a strainer. Although it is made of nuts and water, it is called Almond milk, because it has a milky white consistency. It contains neither cholesterol nor lactose and an eight ounce glass contains the equivalent of about 4 almonds. It has fewer calories if unsweetened and has no saturated fat.

Even though almonds are a good source of protein, almond milk is not. Almond milk is also not a good source of calcium unless supplemented with calcium as well as vitamin D. It can also be fortified with protein.
Rice Milk is made from milled rice and water. It is the least allergenic, which makes it a good choice for people with lactose or nut allergies. While rice milk can be fortified with calcium and vitamin D, it is not a natural source of either of these, just like soy and almond are also not.
Rice milk is very high in carbohydrate and very low in protein, so it is the least desirable choice for people with diabetes as well as people who want more protein.

Soy Milk is made from soybeans. It is also a popular milk alternative for vegans and people who are lactose intolerant. Since it comes from plants, it is naturally free of cholesterol, low in saturated fat, and contains no lactose or cholesterol.


Soybeans and soy milk are a good source of protein, calcium (when fortified), and potassium. Soy milk contains almost as much protein as cow’s milk, yet is lower in calories than whole milk. A 2008 Harvard study showed that higher intakes of soy-based foods caused fertility problems and lower sperm counts.

Farther vs. Further

The terms have very similar meanings, but are not interchangeable. Farther is taken more literal and refers to an actual physical distance that can be measured, while further explains a more symbolic distance that cannot be measured.

Some Examples: To further the conversation, he asked how much farther it was the beach. She studied to further her education, but she had to drive farther to get to school.

Zinc for Colds Works

Zinc is one of the only ingredients linked to shortening a cold. Unlike Vitamin C, which studies have found likely does nothing to prevent or treat the common cold, zinc may actually be worth it. The mineral seems to interfere with the replication of rhinoviruses, the bugs that cause the common cold.

In a 2011 review of studies of people who were recently sick, researchers looked at those who started taking zinc and compared them with those who took a placebo. The ones on the zinc had shorter colds and less severe symptoms.

Microwave vs. Conventional Cooking

Many are under the false claim that microwaving foods robs them of their nutrients. This is false. Microwave ovens cook food using energy waves. The waves cause molecules in food to vibrate quickly, building up their energy as heat.

It is true that some nutrients begin to disintegrate when heated, whether from a microwave, a stove. However, since microwave-cooking times are typically much shorter than oven-cooking times, microwaving often keeps vitamins more intact than other cooking methods.

Happy Friday

Smiles are free, but priceless gifts.
Share your priceless smile, especially on a Happy Friday!