How to Chill a Hot Beer or Soda in 3 Minutes - Dumb Little Man

How to Chill a Hot Beer or Soda in 3 Minutes

So my father and brother-in-law were over this weekend for a barbecue. My fridge was stuffed with appetizers and salads so I was only able to fit a 12-pack of beer. Normally, this would have been enough so I didn't worry about it. After a couple hours, the stash was depleted.

I did have some more beer in the garage but the 90+ degree Chicago heat had rendered it useless for at least an hour. Now what? These guys all had designated drivers and, in all honesty, they wanted more beer. Little did I know, the old man had a trick up his sleeve that I had never heard of. If I had a video camera ready, I would have taped this because it was pretty cool (sorry, no pun intended there).

Here is how he took beer from 80+ degrees to (seemingly) 40 degrees in about 3 minutes.

1. He took 6 hot beers from my garage and he placed them into a steel pot from the kitchen


2. He tossed in enough ice cubes to completely cover the beer


3. He then filled the pot with water


4. Next, and this is the trick, he tossed in (what must have been) 2 cups of table salt.


5. He took a large wooden spoon and stirred this thing up to be sure the salt dissolved.


6. He placed the concoction into the freezer and in 3 minutes we had ice cold beer.

Frankly, I wish I knew about this little trick years ago. Apparently this works for wine, soda, or anything. The addition of the salt does something that I am admittedly not qualified to explain. If we have any experts that want to weigh in, feel free. I do however know that this works.

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Perseid meteor shower 2009 India Watch today

Perseid meteor shower 2009 India Watch today

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Sky gazers across the country can expect to see some celestial fireworks at night on Tuesday and Wednesday as the night sky will be lit up by the annual Perseid meteor shower.

The Perseid meteor will appear to originate in the northeastern sky, near the constellation Perseus, and shoot off in all directions.

The meteor shower is expected to peak on Tuesday and Wednesday night, when about 30 to 200 shooting stars would be visible every hour.

"People can watch for the meteor showers during the early hours Wednesday. There will be fireballs in the sky," N. Rathnasree, director Nehru Planetarium, told IANS.

The Perseid meteor shower is caused when the earth passes close to the orbit of the comet Swift-Tuttle. The comet was discovered in 1862 and takes some 130 years to circle our solar system.

"A meteor is commonly called a shooting star. These shooting stars can be seen on any night, but when the number of meteors is large, it is called a meteor shower," Rathnashree said.

Meteor showers occur when earth crosses the cometary orbit. As comets move about their orbits they leave a stream of debris when dust and rocky material is liberated from its head as the ice vapourises.

The fast-flying Perseid meteor showers would pick up steam only after midnight, and the greatest numbers of meteors would rain down shortly before dawn, she said.

"The meteor showers last for just a fraction of a second before they are gone. Better keep a close look at the sky for the beautiful show," Rathnashree said.

According to scientists, this year's Perseid meteor shower could be better than usual because of comet dust that has come close to the earth.

The US space agency NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office has said a "filament of comet dust" has drifted across earth's path, and when earth passes through it on Aug 12, the Perseid meteor shower rate could surge to twice its normal value.

Bright moonlight would be a hindrance to catching sight of the meteor shower. Scientists suggest that one should look away from the moon in order to watch the celestial activity.

Twitter thwacked - The Inquirer

Twitter thwacked

Tweeters in shock

By Andrew Charlesworth

Thursday, 6 August 2009, 17:49

MICRO-BOGGING site Twitter went offline for over three hours today, blaming a denial of service attack.

Incessant tweeters, suffering withdrawal, had to be given real work as they sat catatonic in their office chairs, unsure of what to do. Many tweeters were caught outdoors and had to be helped off the streets lest they cause traffic accidents.

Twitter posted news of the attack in its bog.

“On this otherwise happy Thursday morning, Twitter is the target of a denial of service attack," said the statement. "Attacks such as this are malicious efforts orchestrated to disrupt and make unavailable services such as online banks, credit card payment gateways, and in this case, Twitter for intended customers or users. We are defending against this attack now and will continue to update our status blog as we continue to defend and later investigate.”

The service is back online now but Twitter says it is continuing to defend against the attack.

The culprits of the attack have not been established yet. But sources have suggested looking to Iran and the fact that many of the thousands of tweets publicising the recent 'revolution' in Iran could be traced back to a just a few new subscribers in Israel. µ

Bikini completely melts away after a few seconds in water

Named the "Get Naked Bikini", it's being marketed as the ultimate form of revenge for recently dumped dudes. The bikini has upset women’s rights groups, with one campaigner, Rosmarie Zapfl, saying, “It is an absolute insult to women that this has been invented.”

It sounds like Ms. Zapfl needs a gift to calm her down. May we suggest a new bikini?

An average man spends a year of his life ogling women! - Man-Woman - Relationships - LIFE & STYLE - The Times of India

An average man spends a year of his life ogling women!

ANI4 August 2009, 12:52pm IST

Anaverage bloke devotes a good 43 minutes a day eyeing up 10 different girls,researchers have

An average man spends a year of his life ogling women! (Getty Images)

revealed.

And this adds up to a year in alifetime.

As far as the ladies are concerned, well, they ogle up tosix men for 20 minutes a day - or six months of their lives, reports The Sun.

Mark Ireland, ofKodak Lens Vision Centres, which carried out the poll, said: "Men are renownedfor looking at women but it’s interesting to see just how long they spenddoing it.

"A year of your life is a long time to spend with youreyes fixed on the opposite sex."

Researchers assumed aperson’s life of ogling takes place between the ages of 18 and 50.

The poll of 3,000 Britons revealed that most people felt flattered atbeing gazed at, but 16 per cent of women said it made them uncomfortable, and 20per cent said it embarrassed them.

Most women said it was afella’s sexy eyes that first drew their gaze. With men it was agirl’s figure.

Tesco email prank - Banbury Today - Back to Home Page

Tesco email prank

An email circulating the web shows a letter from Tesco's store manager Charles Brown to a Mrs Murray from Oxford.

In it Mrs Murray and her family are threatened with a ban from the Banbury branch unless her husband stops committing pranks such as hiding in clothing racks and moving the 'Caution Wet Floor' sign.

In a statement, Tesco said the email was a hoax and there was no-one at the company called Charles Brown.

"We have seen it before in so many forms with so many different companies," it said.

"It is just one of those jokes that goes round and round. We hope people are amused."

The full email can be read below:

Dear Mrs. Murray,

While we thank you for your valued custom and use of the Tesco Loyalty Card, the manager of our store in Banbury is considering banning you and your family from shopping with us, unless your husband stops his antics.

Below is a list of offences over the past few months all verified by our surveillance cameras:

1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people's trolleys when they weren't looking.

2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at five-minute intervals.

3. July 7: Made a trail of tomato juice on the floor.

4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official tone, 'Code 3' in housewares..... and watched what happened.

5. August 14: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.

6. September 15: Set up a tent in the outdoor clothing department and told shoppers he'd invite them in if they would bring sausages and a Calor gas stove.

7. September 23: When the Deputy Manager asked if she could help him, he began to cry and asked, 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?'

8. October 4: Looked right into the security camera; used it as a mirror and picked his nose.

9. December 3: Darted around the store suspiciously, loudly humming the Mission Impossible' theme.

10. December 6: In the kitchenware aisle, practised the 'Madonna look' using different size funnels.

11. December 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed, yelled 'PICK ME!' 'PICK ME!'

12. December 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, assumed the foetal position and screamed 'NO! NO! It's those voices again.'