new year's eve: top 10 destinations

The new year is already here! Wherever you celebrate New Year's Eve tonight, it's always interesting to know where others around the world decided to do it. See below for a list of the top 10 celebration destinations around the world (according to Yahoo! Travel, which counted the searches visitors made for today's travel, and laid out in the Reuters article here). Some honorable mentions are listed thereafter, as noted by various travel sites as notorious global destinations. Also, click here to get the lyrics to Auld Lang Syne, the traditional song sung at midnight.

1. Las Vegas, USA
2. New York, USA (pictured above)
3. Boston, USA
4. Orlando, USA
5. Paris, France
6. Cancun, Mexico
7. Miami, USA
8. Honolulu, USA
9. Manila, Philippines
10. Sydney, Australia

Honorable Mentions:
    Tokyo, Japan
    Los Angeles, USA
    Toronto, Ontario
    London, England
    Amsterdam, Netherlands
    Berlin, Germany
    Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Technorati tags: new year's eve, top new years destinations, new years celebrations

Photo credit: Countdown Entertainment, LLC

middle schoolers test strength of trash can liners

Last month in Farmington, Arkansas at Randall G. Lynch Middle School, the annual science fair was hosted, featuring over 100 science projects by eighth-grade students. One of the consumer science projects tested four different brands of trash can liners to see which held the most weight. To our delight, simplehuman can liners outperformed Glad, Hefty and Great Value bags. See below for average weight held by the liners before breaking.

• simplehuman: 78 lbs
• Hefty: 59 lbs
• Great Value: 55 lbs
• Glad: 47 lbs

Technorati tags: trash bags, can liners, strongest garbage bag

Photo credit: simplehuman

color of the year! Blue Iris

Each year since 2000, Pantone has announced a color that represents each upcoming year. For 2008, they have selected Blue Iris. See below for the full list of annual color selections. Click here for the article from the New York Times.

• 2000: Cerulean Blue
• 2001: Fuschia Rose
• 2002: True Red
• 2003: Aqua Sky
• 2004: Tiger Lily
• 2005: Blue Turquoise
• 2006: Sand Dollar
• 2007: Chili Pepper
• 2008: Blue Iris

Technorati tags: pantone, color of the year, blue iris

Photo credit: Pantone

flight of the hamsters: a game for the slow holiday work week!

Work a little slower than usual? To fill in a few minutes here and there, try out this excellent game: Flight of the Hamsters! Just keep the hamsters up in the air for as long as you can to get the greatest horizontal distance traveled. Also, check out the other games at the bottom of the linked page if launching hamsters isn't your thing. (But why wouldn't it be?)

Technorati tags: hamsters, games, boredom

Photo credit: Game Zhero

turn and charge: wind-up portable cell phone charger

Warm-up that winding arm! We loved the SideWinder portable cell phone charger because it doesn't get used up like other battery-powered emergency cell phone chargers. Instead, you simply turn the crank on the side of the charger to generate power. It comes with five different cords so that it's compatible with Nokia, Motorola, Sony/Ericsson, Samsung, Kyocera and Audiovox phones. If you don't have one of those, you can special order other adaptors. For a complete list of compatible phone models, visit X-tremeGeek.com.

Technorati tags: portable charger, sidewinder, hand crank generator

Photo credit: SideWinder, X-tremeGeek.com

how to layer a cake like a pro

Want an answer to the cliche fruitcake this holiday season? Go with a traditional layered cake, but with a twist! One of our favorite variations on the classic is to use white chocolate peppermint cream cheese frosting on red velvet cake. Also, see our steps below on how to ice a layered cake from the wish.com slideshow article. Use these tips to get your dessert to garner oooh's and mmm's.

1. Let the cakes completely cool. (Word is that the best thing to do is actually stick them in the freezer for awhile until they're nicely cool and firm.)
2. Using a serrated knife, slice off the rounded tops of each cake. (see photo 1)
3. Ice the top of the first layer (be generous, as this is your middle layer). (see photo 2)
4. Place second layer on top of the first cut side down, align, then refrigerate for 15 minutes to set the icing.
5. Spread a thin layer of icing all over the cake and return to fridge for another 15 minutes. (see photo 3)
6. Slather on the icing! Start with the sides and finish with the top. (see photo 4)

Technorati tags: holiday recipes, how to layer a cake, frosting a cake

Photo credit: Angus Fergusson
Food styling: Helen Shroyer
First published in Wish Winter 2007

holiday imbibing: calories in alcoholic drinks

We all know the holidays are ripe with extra calories. These extras come from many sources: pumpkin pie...hot chocolate...candy canes...eggnog...wine...brandy... Yes, it's easy to see how one's diet regime can fall flat on its face during the winter holidays. Check out the general calorie counts of favorite holiday drinks below that we got from Ohio State's Student Wellness Center and CalorieKing.com. Another great source to check out for beer-specific caloric content is beer100.com. Remember these facts next time you shimmy up to the bar this holiday season.

• 12 oz. beer (regular): 150 calories
• 12 oz. beer (light): 100 calories
• 5 oz. wine: 100 calories
• 4.1 oz. champagne: 78 calories
• 1 cup eggnog: 343 calories
• 1.5 oz. Bailey's Irish Cream: 150 calories
• 1.5 oz. Kahlua liqueur: 190 calories
• 1.5 oz. gin (80 proof): 96 calories
• 1.5 oz. rum (80 proof): 96 calories
• 1.5 oz. vodka (80 proof): 96 calories
• 1.5 oz. whiskey (80 proof): 96 calories
• 4 oz. martini: 160 calories
• 6 oz. daiquiri: 180 calories
• 4 oz. whiskey sour: 160 calories
• 6 oz. long island iced tea: 350 calories
• 6 oz. margarita: 250 calories

Technorati tags: alcohol, calories, holiday dieting

Photo credit: Terry Frank

calling all design students! 2008 simple solutions competition

Can’t wait to do the dishes? Love to iron? Most of us don’t exactly look forward to our household chores – but we all wish we could get through them quickly and more efficiently. That’s the premise behind simplehuman’s annual simple solutions product design competition: creating new ways to make household tasks easier, more efficient, and maybe even fun.

The goal of the simple solutions competition is to promote creative problem-solving among students through product design, and by doing so, increase public attention and awareness of industrial design. Endorsed by the IDSA, students at all NASAD-accredited design schools are invited to participate by designing a new and innovative product, technology, or concept for making household chores easier and more intuitive.

The First Prize winner will receive a $5,000 scholarship. The competition deadline is February 29, 2008. Click here for more information and the entry form.

Technorati tags: simple solutions, industrial design, scholarship, design contest

alarm clocks: outsmart your slumber

Not a morning person? You're not alone. How many times have we hit the "snooze" button one too many times on our alarm clocks, only to oversleep? The alarm clocks below try to outsmart our snoozing ways by, well, outsmarting us. Check them out!

Puzzle Alarm Clock by Bim Bam Banana: When it sounds off, it also shoots out four puzzle pieces into the air. The only way to turn off the alarm is to find the pieces and reassemble them.
Clocky by NANDA: It sounds off like a normal alarm clock. However, if you hit snooze, it will literally wheel off of your nightstand and go searching for places to hide. The only way to turn off the alarm is to get out of bed and find it.

Technorati tags: alarm clocks, oversleeping, gifts

Photo credit: Bim Bam Banana

top video games

Need something for the tech-obsessed junior this gift-giving season? Or, perhaps you're a closeted gamer yourself? Our suggestion: check out the video games below. They're the top rated in the last 6 months according to Gamespot.com.

1. Crysis (PC)
2. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
3. The Orange Box (PC, X360)
4. Halo 3 (X360)
5. World in Conflict (PC)
6. Resident Evil 4 (Wii)
7. Rock Band (X360, PS3)
8. Assassin's Creed (PS3, X360)
9. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (X360, PS3, PC)
10. Gears of War (PC)

a few more notables: Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (X360), The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS), BioShock (PC, X360), Paper Mario (Wii), Ninja Gaiden Sigma (PS3), Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (PS3)

Technorati tags: gaming, gifts, top video games

Photo credit: EA

place settings made easy

Holiday dining can be daunting at times. Check out the diagrams above to get a good grasp on the wares set before you at informal (top diagram) and formal (bottom diagram) settings. A few more tips on place setting-related etiquette are below.

Flatware: Start from the outside and work your way in. Usually, the larger/longer-pronged fork is for the entree. The larger spoon is for the soup. Any utensils at top are for the dessert course.
What's Yours: The small bread plate on the left is yours. Any glasses on the right are yours. A trick to remember: make a circle with your thumb and forefinger, other three fingers extended upward. Your left hand makes a lowercase "b" for "bread." Your right hand makes a lowercase "d" for "drink."
Using and Losing: Once you use a utensil, it never goes back on the table. Rest it on your plate between bites. When you're completely finished eating, place both the knife and fork side-by-side on the plate with the handles at the 4 o'clock position. Be sure the blade of the knife is toward you and not outward at another guest. This was an ancient sign of aggression.

Technorati tags: place settings, etiquette, dining, how to set a table

the mini decanter! and other single serving aids

Oh, what to do when you want that perfect portion? A single glass of finely decantered wine. A lone sandwich with a tad bit of fruit cocktail. A single plate of spaghetti without having to fridge any leftovers. Check out the products below for quick and cool fixes to your single serving needs!

• single glass decanter from Versovino
• pasta measurer from Crate and Barrel
• single serving containers from Rubbermaid

 

Technorati tags: single serving, mini decanter, pasta measurer

Photo credit: Rubbermaid

top 10 foods to help you sleep

We loved the article here from Yahoo! Food on the best foods to help you sleep. A summary is below. Eat a bit of a few of the foods below before bedtime to help you snooze.

1. Bananas: contains melatonin and serotonin, which soothe, and magnesium, which helps relax muscles
   
2. Chamomile tea: a natural mild sedative
   
3. Warm milk: tryptophan (an amino acid with a sedative effect)
4. Honey: a tiny bit of glucose (sugar) tells your brain to turn off orexin, a recently discovered neurotransmitter linked to alertness
5. Potatoes: clears away acids that interfere with tryptophan
6. Oatmeal: contains melatonin
7. Almonds: contains tryptophan and magnesium
8. Flaxseeds: rich in omega-3 fatty acids (natural mood lifter to help calm you before bed)
9. Whole-wheat bread: releases insulin, which helps tryptophan
10. Turkey: famous source of tryptophan

Technorati tags: food for sleep, sleep helpers, inducing sleep

Photo credit: Lars Jensen