wardrobe malfunction fixes

We've all had one of those days. A shirt button magically disappears… A strap somehow snaps open… A seam unravels before your very eyes… When wardrobe malfunctions occur, one can do two things: either change into that extra outfit you have stashed in your office drawer or MacGyver your way into a fully functional fashion statement. See below for a few tips on some common malfunctions and their fixes.

• missing top button/catch on waistband: Replace a missing or broken waistband button/catch with a binder clip (see picture above). We've found that the 1 1/4" ones work best.
• run in stocking: A quick dab of nail polish (obviously colorless is best) or hair spray will stop a run.
• sweater snag: Poke the snag through to the other side of the sweater so that the longer portion of the snag is out of sight on the inside. Don't ever cut a snag! It will cause a hole.
• torn seam: Seemingly repair a torn seam with a small safety pin. Just follow the stitching line with the pin and make sure the pin's latch is on the inside of the garment.
• fallen hem: Use packing tape to tack the hem back into place.
• shoe scuffs: Use a Sharpie pen to fill in any discoloring scuffs or scratches.

Aside from general office supplies, keep the following around your desk as a handy kit for wardrobe emergencies:

• safety pins
• clear nail polish
• small sewing kit
• stain remover pen
• extra set of clothes
• small hair straightener (can be used as an iron in certain instances)

Technorati tags: wardrobe malfunction, wardrobe emergencies, quick fixes

Photo credit: Office Depot

great gadgets: digital picture frames

If a picture's worth a thousand words, digital picture frames must be worth several copies of War and Peace. New digital picture frames not only display your digital photos, they also can make them into a slideshow with nifty transitions and MP3 soundtracks, or even play short videos taken with your digital camera. Definitely a step up from the dusty family photo album. (And much easier to switch out all of the pictures!) Check out a few of the sites below to shop for digital photo frames.

• digitalframez.com
• Kodak.com
• RitzCamera.com

Technorati tags: digital frame, photo album, digital photo, slideshow frame

Photo credit: digitalframez.com

good dog! er, robot.

A popular YouTube video is circulating that shows off Boston Dynamic's Big Dog robot. The animalesque robot was developed for the military as a pack mule of sorts. Specifically designed to be able to handle a variety of terrain, one can't help but be amazed at its agility on icy pavement. Check out the Mass High Tech article here and the video here.

Technorati tags: big dog, animal robot, robot

Photo credit: Boston Dynamic

quiz: are you savvy about energy efficiency?

Sure, you turn off the lights when you leave the room. You use reusable bags at the grocery store or reuse the plastic ones you get. Perhaps you even own a hybrid vehicle. However, we challenge you to take this quiz from USA Today on how much you know about saving energy. Once you've completed that, you can check out Ontario Power Authority's website here to get more energy-saving tips.

Technorati tags: energy, efficiency, saving electricity

Photo credit: InkyCircus.com

antioxidants: put those Easter candies to good use

After this Easter weekend, many households (or at least overstocked store shelves) probably have a plethora of chocolate leftovers. While it is true that chocolate has antioxidant properties, not all types of chocolate are created equal. What actually makes chocolate "good" for someone is its flavanol content, which is a phytonutrient with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Flavanol is relatively low in milk chocolate and highly processed chocolate in comparison to pure cocoa and dark chocolate. Other consumables with flavanols include red wine, apples, cranberries,  and green and black teas. See the Hershey's article here on flavanols and antioxidant properties of chocolate.

Technorati tags: chocolate, antioxidant, flavanols, easter candy

Photo credit: ChocolateWorld.net

SugarSync: how sweet it is

In this teched-out world, it's highly likely that you own more than one Internet-capable device. It seems many use one computer for work, another for home, yet another for travel, probably have an iPhone or other some such device as well. What to do when you want all of your electronic devices updated at the same time? Perhaps, upload your newest batch of digital photos to one device and have all those photos magically appear on all of your other devices almost instantaneously? What you're looking for is a push synchronization service. One we've heard the most about is SugarSync, a service that can sync a myriad of documents and other digital media between PC, Mac, and other Internet-ready devices. You can also view all of your backed-up files remotely from any computer connected online. Read the press release on Yahoo! Finance here.

Technorati tags: sugarsync, push sync, synchronization

Photo credit: Sharpcast

bracketology: march to the madness

It happens every year. Offices, classrooms, households lay victim to the syndrome that is college basketball. The fixation is so great that it has been officially titled "March Madness." The custom is to fill out a bracket, choose the teams you think will win, and see how your results compare to your other maddened friends. (Many bet on how their bracket will fare.) See the links below for more information on this phenom. Be sure to hurry and fill out your bracket now! The first round of games is tonight! Who do you think will take home the National Championship?

• CBS Sportsline
• NCAA Men's Basketball
• BracketContest.com

Technorati tags: bracketology, march madness, basketball, ncaa, tournament

Photo credit: RazorGator.com

best of the worst: healthy fast food

Awhile back, we gave you a few tips on healthy fast fooding (see post here). Now, with swimsuit season a mere few months away already, we decided to consult the AOL article here on the low-cal options available at many of the most popular fast food chains. See a summarized list below. Also, check out DietFacts.com for general nutrition facts on your fast food favorites and the AskMen.com article here on some of the worst, yet most common fast food options available.

McDonald's
quarter pounder without cheese and mayo (410 calories)
asian salad with grilled chicken (300 calories)
fruit-n-yogurt parfait with granola (160 calories)

Subway
6" breakfast western omelet sandwich (400 calories)
veggie delite wrap (400 calories)
6" turkey and ham sub on honey oat (290 calories)

Panera
whole grain bagel with 1 tablespoon reduced fat veggie cream cheese (400 calories)
8 oz. low fat veggie southwest tomato and roasted corn soup (110 calories)
half asiago roast beef sandwich (350 calories)

Taco Bell
tostada fresco style (200 calories)
ranchero chicken soft taco fresco style (170 calories)
gordita supreme beef (310 calories)

Arby's
chicken bacon swiss sandwich (460 calories)
sourdough ham melt (380 calories)
jr. roast beef sandwich (270 calories)

Fazoli's
spaghetti with marinara (450 calories)
slice cheese pizza (270 calories)

Chick-Fil-A
chargrilled chicken sandwich (270 calories)
southwest chargrilled salad (240 calories)
chick-n-strips (290 calories)

Au Bon Pain
vanilla yogurt with granola and blueberries (320 calories)
jamaican black bean soup (240 calories)
half turkey and cranberry chutney sandwich (340 calories)

Technorati tags: fast food, healthy meals, nutrition, diet

Photo credit: AskMen.com

how to win at office politics

One common theory on social power is to simply be as anonymous as possible. The King's Court metaphor is a good one, mentioned in the book, "The 48 Laws of Power" by Robert Greene. Think of it this way: if you are the one to eloquently speak up in the King's court, the King may appreciate you, but the rest of the court will be envious and begin plotting your downfall. If you are the one to nonsensically speak up in the King's court, the King won't take you seriously, yet the rest of the court will find you mildly entertaining and without threat. So, the best thing is to simply say nothing, wait for everyone else to mess up, then be left by default as the only one who hasn't done anything. Clearly, this may not work in every scenario, particularly at the office where opinion counts. Check out the tips below on office politics, inspired from the article here.

• Whatever you say, assume it will be heard by everyone in the office. Thus, choose words wisely at all times! If you say something about someone, pretend he/she is standing right behind you so you're sure not to offend.
• Never reveal your entire strategy to anyone. Don't tell your favorite chum that you're plotting to take over so-and-so's desk/office.
  
• Keep your image as spotless as possible. Sure, that night you spent in jail in college for streaking is a funny story. But it can come back to haunt your image at a later time.
• Keep it business, not personal. No one at the office needs to know details about how your date went the other night. A simple, "Yeah, I had a good weekend, thanks. How was yours?" will suffice nicely.
  
• Stay out of gossip rings as much as you can. It'll take some willpower, and you run the risk of being gossiped about yourself, but the best way to respond when someone's trying to play you against someone else is to simply remain neutral, act mildly surprised at anything negative said, and get back to work.
• Fess up when you screw up. If all of your skeletons are out of the closet, strewn about for all to see, no one has anything to really talk about. Again, as long as you take responsibility for your actions, they can't come back and haunt you at a later time.

Technorati tags: office politics, career, professional etiquette

Photo credit: Keetsa

time to save your daylight!

Reminder! Tomorrow (March 8) is daylight saving time in the United States. At 2 a.m. wherever you are (unless you're in Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, or American Somoa, which choose not to participate in daylight saving), you "spring forward" to 3 a.m. automatically, thereby "losing" an hour and gaining an hour of daylight in the evenings. If you're curious about how/when other areas of the world address daylight saving, click here.

Technorati tags: daylight saving, spring forward, dst, daylight savings time

be bold at blackjack: learning tools and charts

Unlike slots or poker or roulette, blackjack is a casino game that relies mostly on the player and his/her decisions. To be a truly good blackjack player, you must understand that the game itself rests on rules of probability and can, therefore, be played systematically. And while there is always the counting cards route, unless you're a savant or practice religiously, this option can be a bit daunting for beginners. See above for a handy chart that shows general strategy of play based on probability. Another handy site we liked is HitOrStand.net. An excellent teaching tool, it gives general rules and strategy for blackjack, as well as has a program that tells you how to play with pop-up tips as you play. It rewards you for good strategy rather than winning hands.

Technorati tags: blackjack, gaming, probability, odds

Photo credit: WizardOfOdds.com

efficient tools to calculate delegates

Regardless of what party you belong, keeping tabs on how your political favorite's doing can often be daunting. What with all of the delegate counts per state, PLEO delegates (A.K.A. "superdelegates"), and all the different caucus dates, how can you easily quantify the chances of your contender? Enter Slate's Delegate Calculator, a handy tool where you can enter your (or a poll's) predicted outcomes of the remaining state caucuses to see how near or far your delegate has to go before claiming victory. Another handy tool is the polling page on RealClearPolitics.com. It averages the major political polls to keep you informed on where your candidate stands. If you prefer to do your delegate calculating the old fashioned way, take a gander at the Takumi Keyboard Calculator, which features a computer style keypad and can also connect to your PC via USB if you so choose.

Technorati tags: delegates, election, superdelegates, calculator

Photo credit: Takumi