Daily Dose of Common Sense

If you think your kids don’t learn anything positive from TV, then these two stories may change your mind. Two young children recently saved the lives of others by using moves they learned on SpongeBob Squarepants.

First, a 12-year old girl performed the Heimlich maneuver on a choking friend. SpongeBob performs this move on Squidward when the squid chokes on his clarinet. Next, an 8-year old boy saved a younger boy from drowning this past April. The boy had seen Larry the Lobster save SpongeBob with a similar move on the show.

Not too shabby for a sponge.

So, your kids are learning from TV, whether you like it or not, and not all the lessons are bad.

Netflix may be a great service but I’ll never subscribe. The reason? Pop-under ads. If you are a web surfer, you’ve seen these ads come up and then disappear quickly as you visit various sites. Then, as you’re closing windows, there’s a stupid Netflix ad taking up space.

I know you can block them with a pop-up blocker, but that doesn’t work all of the time. For some sneaky reason, the pop-under ads sometimes get around it.

If you’re fed up like me, here are a few sites that can help: How to Block Netflix Popup in Firefox, How Can I Get Rid of Netflix Popups?, Netflix Pop-ups in IE8.

Netflix should STOP advertising like this. It doesn’t win them any friends, only enemies.

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OK, I admit that we have a Slap Chop in my house. You’ve seen this product advertised, as well as many others, on late-night TV. Sham Wow, Snuggie, Flobee, Shoedini, Topsy Turvy…the list goes on and on. Do they work? Are they worth the money? Well, Boston.com tested a few of these products for you.

(In case you’re wondering, I think the Slap Chop is a fine product. It’s great for nuts, and other things that are a bitch to chop. Not an easy product to clean, though. Still, it works.)

Infomercials are big business. Even though we’re in a recession, infomercial sales are still booming to the tune of $150 million per year. Even the pitchmen have become famous in recent years. The purpose of the infomercial is to make the product look fun, easy to use, and indispensable. And let’s not forget a sense of urgency. “Order now and we’ll throw in….” But, what you see isn’t always what you get.

Don’t let yourself get sucked in at 3AM! It’s probably just your insomnia talking, but you don’t really need a Magic Bullet. It’s important to read the reviews and do some research before you buy these products. There are several web sites that have already done the heavy lifting for you, such as Consumer Reports, Good Housekeeping, and Honest Infomercial Reviews.

[Via the fine folks at Pat's Papers.]

Huffington Post has a great slideshow of the most frivolous lawsuits of all time. The stupidity is mind-numbing, and makes you wonder about humanity in general. The woman who sued McDonald’s for hot coffee is there, but there are plenty more where that came from. Like the woman who sued a haunted house because it was scary. Ummm….duh. Didn’t anyone on this list have a person who could talk some sense in him or her?

Yes, Lindsay, you made the list, too.

I know it’s not very PC to say this right now, but I’m one of those parents that occasionally let my kids eat fast food. We eat the majority of our meals at home where I can watch fat, salt, and sugar intake. But, as a fun outing, we take the two little ones to eat at McDonalds and then play on the indoor playground.

And, sometimes my kids get a toy with the meal that they are mildly interested in. For a minute.

Well, Santa Clara, California wants to take those toys away. They have passed an ordinance where meals sold to children have to meet certain nutritional guidelines in order to include a toy.

Any meal that has more than more than 485 calories, more than 600 milligrams of sodium, more than 35 percent of total calories from fat or more than 10 percent of calories from added sugar, or any individual food item more than 200 calories cannot include a toy under the ordinance. Violations would be punishable by fines of as much as $1,000 for each meal sold with a toy.

Now, I know there is a childhood obesity epidemic in this country. No one can deny that U.S. kids need to eat better. I have watched Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution in West Virginia with interest, and I’m encouraged by the idea of National Salt Reduction Initiative. It seems like a ball is rolling that will improve the quality and quantity of our kids’ food. But…the toys? Really? Talk about taking your eye off the big picture.

Should we take away the crayons and color books at the sit-down chains? Their food isn’t much healthier for kids:

For example, popular choices on the Kid’s Menu at Chili’s Grill & Bar might get your child anywhere from 210 to 890 calories just for the entree and a side dish, even before you add on a drink, dressing (like a side of ranch dressing for the Chicken Crispers – 240 calories), and dessert.

Do you really think that our kids are fat because of the Avatar figurines included in a Happy Meal? The toys aren’t the lure; it’s the FOOD. Deep-fried and salty, the food is what most kids really want. And, that’s not the end of the world every now and again.

Even when served with a toy.

This post originally appeared on RationalMoms on Monday, May 3, 2010.

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This post originally appeared on July 28, 2009. It’s our second most popular post to date.

Bill Gates recently quit Facebook because he had too many friends. He had trouble keeping track of who he actually knew and which friend requests were from strangers. Although you aren’t Bill Gates, you may still have a little dead weight in your Facebook friend list. Here are some ideas on how to annoy those connected to you and potentially lose some friends.

Mundane Status Updates
“Joe Smith is tired.” Yeah, we’re all tired, Joe. Is that the best you can do? Continually updating your friends on all the mundane tasks in your life just may cause a few folks to de-friend you. So, keep it up with such snooze-alerts as “is bored” and “is going to the gym.”

Talk Politics and/or Religion
Politics and religion are two touchy subjects. People have their own opinions and it’s very hard to convince them to change sides. Talking about your views is a possible way to offend a few Facebook friends who don’t agree, especially if you trash the other side.

Take Every Quiz and Share Results
There are thousands of Facebook quizzes, and some are even entertaining. However, your friends don’t want to know which “Sex and the City” character you are or your Simpsons IQ score. If you want to lose friends, then take all the quizzes you can and publish the results each time.

Keep Sending Invitations
Mafia Wars and Vampires may be fun to you, but receiving invitations to them over and over again is just annoying. We realize that getting more people to play helps your score. And, we don’t care. Lil’ Green Patch may be a good cause, but we’re tired of it. So, if you want to annoy your connections, keep kidnapping people and passing drinks around.

Be an Over-Poster
Everyone has at least one or two over-posters on their friend list. These are people who update their status WAY too often and share links and photos galore. Appearing too frequently in your network’s News Feed is a good way to cause “friend fatigue” and get yourself de-friended.

Tag Friends in Unappealing Photos
Dig up those dusty old photos and crank up your scanner. Horrify your friends! Embarrass your family! It is especially helpful to find pictures where your targets have bad hair days, closed eyes, or strange expressions. And, make sure to tag the photos so everyone can recognize each other.

There are many other ways to annoy on Facebook (like over-punctuating your updates), so feel free to suggest some of your own pet peeves.

Photo courtesy of Flickr: jurvetson

Well, folks, for those of you betting we couldn’t do this for a year…you lost. Daily Dose of Common Sense turns ONE on May 1st. It’s been a crazy first year, and if I would have known then how much I was committing to….

So, dear reader (yes, we know there is only one of you), please give us some feedback. Things you like, things you don’t like, what you’d like to see more of, site design, etc. Let ‘er rip!

Seriously. I’d like to hear what you have to say. The only thing you can’t say is to write more than one post a day, ’cause that ain’t happening at this juncture.

All this week we’ll be reposting some of our favorite posts from the past year. So, get ready for a clip show!

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If you’ve sat through a 3-hour plus movie recently, you probably took a bathroom break at some point during that time. Then, you came back to your seat and whispered to your friend/date/spouse/creepy neighbor, “What did I miss?” Oh, movie intermission, how we wish you were still around.

The 1982 film Ghandi was the last major release to have an intermission. But, don’t blame the theaters. The movie studios are responsible the damage to your bladder:

With a greater number of popular movies approaching and sometimes exceeding three hours in length (even the lightweight “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” lasted 2 1/2 hours) bringing the intermission back seems logical. Contrary to popular belief, the theater owners I’ve spoken to say they would like to have the option –they could sell more concessions, where they make the real money –but their contracts with the studios prohibit intermissions.

Give us a pee break, studios! Between our bladders, the high ticket prices, loud moviegoers on their cellphones, and outrageous concession prices…is it any wonder why people would rather watch movies at home instead of the theater?

[Via Pat's Papers]

The Consumerist has a funny tale of someone who tested an iPad at Best Buy, checked his email, and walked away while still logged in to his mail account. Lucky for him, the next person was a good samaritan and, instead of causing havoc, just logged out for the unknown person.

The good samaritan sent a pretty funny email to the person, and cc:d The Consumerist:

You decided to try out an iPad at your local best buy. But guess what? You logged into the mail app on a publicly used test product and didn’t log out?!?!?!?

This time a good citizen has decided to alert you of your mistake. I will also be kind and log you out Be aware and use some common sense the next time.

If you have the opportunity to test a wireless device in a store, go ahead and check your email. Just remember to LOG OUT when you’re done. That is, unless, for some reason, you want strangers reading your email, having access to your personal information and contacts.

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There’s an iPhone app for everything. Case in point is Bedometer. It’s an iPhone app that measures the calories you burn while having sex.

How does it work? Well, you put your phone on the bed while getting busy, and the application measures the calories burned by the vibrations.

I’m all for trying to stay fit, but if you’re worried about how many calories you’re burning during sex then you’re worrying too much. Relax and enjoy the moment with your significant other. Tracking the fifty or one hundred calories you’re burning during the horizontal mambo is not really that important, especially when your attention should be elsewhere.

[Via MomLogic]