Hand Sanitizers Don't Really Work:

Well...according to the FDA, they don't completely. Hand sanitizers do kill some germs, but when it comes to protecting you against things like E. coli, salmonella, H1N1, staph infections and the flu...they aren't as useful as you think.

On their website, the FDA wrote, "Consumers are being misled if they think these products you can buy in a drug store ...will protect them from a potentially deadly infection. The FDA has not approved any [of these] products."

They state that washing your hands with warm water and soap for 20 seconds is still their recommended method for avoiding bacterial and viral infections.

FDA

Lost Luggage:

Even though almost all of the airlines charge baggage fees now, that doesn't mean they're doing any better at actually making sure you and your luggage arrive in the same place at the same time. In fact they're getting worse. The data is in from 2010 and lost luggage went up 6% from 2009. Worldwide, airlines lost 29.4 million bags plenty of which people paid $25 and up to check. That's the equivalent of 12 mishandled bags for every 1,000 passengers or, they lost the equivalent of one bag for every person in Texas and Kentucky combined. (ABC News)

Five Random Facts About St. Patrick's Day:

#1.) St. Patrick Wasn't Irish. We've said it before and we'll say it again, St. Patrick wasn't actually Irish! He was born in Scotland or Wales, and brought to Ireland as a slave. Also, his name wasn't Patrick, his given name was Maewyn.

#2.) Until 1970, Irish Bars Closed On St. Patrick's Day. In 1903, St. Patrick's Day was named a national holiday in Ireland. But in Ireland, bars have to close on national holidays. That was overturned in 1970.

#3.) America Is Far More Irish Than Ireland. There are more than 35 million Americans with Irish ancestry. The population of Ireland is 4.2 million.

#4.) Four Out Of Five Americans Wear Green Today. And about 20 million, or about one out of 13, go to a bar.

#5.) It's Really Easy To Dye The Chicago River. The Chicago River is dyed green for St. Patrick's Day, and it only takes 40 pounds of green vegetable dye to do it. That green lasts for a few days.


You can get the full list HERE.

Five Ways to Save Money on Gas:

Gas has gone up more than 40 cents in the last month, and according to AAA, the national average is $3.54 a gallon.

You probably know that having enough air in your tires is important, because it can improve your gas mileage by about 3%. But here are five more sneaky ways to save money on gas according to Readers Digest.

#1.) Buy Gas at Night or Early in the Morning. Gas stations store their gas underground, and it's denser when the ground is cold. So you actually get slightly more gas for your money if you pump before the sun comes up.

#2.) Try to Hit the Pump Midweek. Gas prices tend to rise on Thursday, then drop back down on Tuesday or Wednesday.

#3.) Don't Get Gas Until You Need To. It's heavy, so driving with a full tank burns more fuel. But don't drive around on fumes either.

#4.) Don't Use High-Octane Gas If You Don't Need It. It seems obvious, but apparently some people still think high-octane gas is good for their low-octane cars. Unless you're driving a high-performance car, a motorcycle, a truck, or an SUV, the higher octane won't improve your car's performance, and it's a waste of money.

#5.) Don't Drive Aggressively. According to the Department of Energy, 60 miles per hour is the most fuel-efficient speed on the highway for most cars.

And according to a recent article on MSNBC.com, speeding can cost the equivalent of between 21 and 71 cents per gallon.

NASA Finds Solution To Global Warming:

This seems just a little short-sighted to me. According to researchers at NASA, in theory, we could completely fix global warming with a Nuclear War. Not a big one. Doesn't have to be big, a small one will do.

They say that a small nuclear war would lead to so many atmospheric changes that it would reduce the planet's temperature by an average of 2.25 degrees.

Sideffects are that it would lead to widespread famine because it would ruin the world's crops, and also probably lead to widespread disease because of all the waste released...but atleast we fixed Global Warming.
(Full Story)

10 Things Showing The Econonomy is Turning Around:

Kiplinger.com just put out a list of indicators that the economy is on the way back up, and the big one is that people are finally replacing their old underwear. When the economy started tanking, underwear sales fell. Now they've finally stabilized.

Here are some more of the signs that things are very slowly getting better . . .

People are buying desserts, appetizers, and Starbucks again. When money gets tight, people tend to order just entrees at restaurants and ACTUALLY brew their own coffee. Now appetizers, desserts, and Starbucks are back.

Fewer depressing Google searches. The number of people Googling things like "unemployment benefits," "Social Security," and "unemployment office" spiked in July of 2010, and has been going down ever since.

People are golfing again. When the economy went down, so did the number of people playing golf around the country. The number isn't going up again yet, but it's stopped going down.

Breast implants are back. Elective cosmetic surgery went way down during the recession apparently most people deemed buttock implants less important than paying the gas bill. Now breast implants, nose jobs, and lipo are going back up. Hooray!

Full List

It's Official Email Is For Old People:

Every time you send an email, just realize this: When you hit the send button, you might as well eat dinner at 4:30 P.M., hitch up your pants, and move to Florida to play shuffleboard. Because email is now officially for Old People.

According to a new study, between December of 2009 and December of last year, the amount of email use by people aged 12 to 17 dropped 59%. For 25 to 34 year olds, it dropped 18%.

In fact, email use dropped for every age group except people over 55. People 55 to 64 spent 22% more time emailing. For people 65 and over, email use went up 28%.

Instead of emailing, younger people prefer to communicate every other way. Except actually talking to each other, naturally. Facebook, instant messaging, social media, and texting all went up as email use went down.

(TechCrunch)