More drastic alarm clock measures

If Wakerupper, the subject of yesterday’s post, doesn’t prove sufficient to rouse J or K from their slumber, perhaps of of these babies would do the trick.

The Sonic Bomb Clock with Bed Shaker:

Even Ninjas need their sleep. For a Ninja, sleep is a time of renewal, contemplation, and rejuvenation. And when a Ninja sleeps, it is a very deep sleep. Most sleeping Ninjas can only be roused from slumber by another Ninja, which is a big problem if you are a Ninja, are tired, must wake up for a secret Ninja mission, and the only Ninja in your office. Good thing we found the Sonic Bomb Clock – it will wake even the soundest Ninja Nap.

The Sonic Bomb Clock has an adjustable volume alarm with a maximum loudness of 113 decibels (just for reference, a jackhammer is about 100 decibels!) And the bed shaker does just that. Slip it under your mattress and your ears will bleed and your bed will shake, and there is no way you will oversleep. Or, you could turn the sound alarm off and tape the bed shaker to your office chair. You’ll be vibrated awake without disturbing the drones. Then you can get back to your Ninja activity refreshed and ready for action.

or perhaps the Fire Bell Alarm Clock

If it practically takes a fire drill to get you out of bed, you’ll appreciate the impossible-to-ignore clang of this bright red alarm clock. When it’s time to get up, you’ll stop, drop and roll right out of bed.

Wakerupper.com – Free Wake-up Calls and Telephone Reminders

Some members of the Dailydad household have trouble waking up to the alarm clock in the morning.  It seems that the only sound capable of penetrating their sleepy haze is the cell phone … and then they are up in a flash.  Perhaps Wakerupper is the answer.

Use Wakerupper to…

Set a wake-up call at a specific time
Remind yourself of important events
Remember to take medication on time
Escape from a boring date or meeting
Remind child or spouse to do chores
Set reminders for tasks and follow-ups

Wakerupper.com – Free Wake-up Calls and Telephone Reminders

My sleep is "reasonably optimized" according to the BBC

Take this test. I scored 49% and, in a polite way, the site suggested I could perhaps do a bit better with my sleep habits.

Negative Calorie Foods: 15 Foods That Actually Burn More Calories Than They Contain

Seems too good to be true…

if you’re a snack-o-holic who can’t stop munching and crunching in between meals, try snacking on one of these negative calorie foods instead of gobbling down a cupcake or big bag of chips. Your body can burn more calories just by chewing and processing the snack than the food contains already. In other words, you’ll be able to keep eating throughout the day without packing on extra pounds

and, alas, it may very well be too good to be true.  There is a lot of debunking discussion on Wikipedia and elsewhere.  All-in-all, it is still better (health- and fitness-wise) to snack on the foods on the list, rather than a King Size Butterfinger candybar (a Dailydad favorite).

Bootstrapper » Negative Calorie Foods: 15 Foods That Actually Burn More Calories Than They Contain

Dorm Room Light Art

Interesting waste of time.  Perhaps J could convince a few of her dormmates to give it a shot.

Expanded treatment of urban light art here: WebUrbanist » 3 Kinds of Urban Light Art: From Dorm Room Tetris to Architectural Light Graffiti

Credit Cards Ensnare Naive College Freshmen

(photo by flickr user b.franchina)

From The Consumerist:

Eager young college students are ripe targets for the hordes of credit card marketers that blanket campuses every year. But they’re adults, right? They can make rational personal financial decisions themselves and in the absence of any education about how the credit system works, right? Survey results tell a different story:

• 56% of all undergraduates report obtaining their first credit card when they were 18
• 83% of all undergraduates in 2001 had at least one credit card.
• The average student has four credit cards.
• College students’ balances have gone up 134% in the last decade.
• Three out of five students with credit cards maxed them out during their freshman year.
• 71% of young adult cardholders do not pay their balance off in full each month.
• The average undergraduate credit card balance is $2,169.
• College seniors graduate with an average of $4,000 in credit card debt.

If you can teach your kids to beware “stranger danger,” you can tell them about the APR bogeyman finance fee fiend.

Read more here. Can you say No Thanks?

Credit Cards: Credit Cards Ensnare Naive College Freshmen

For Sleepy Drivers, Coffee vs. Napping

On the next overnight drive to Michigan, Dailydad will start out and drink lots of coffee while J and K nap and then drink some coffee before taking over.

From the New York Times Well blog:

But what was surprising is that the effect of coffee and napping varied by age. For middle-aged drivers, aged 40 to 50, coffee was a far better choice. Caffeinated coffee lowered risk for these drivers by 89 percent, while the nap only reduced line crossings by 23 percent. But among younger drivers, a nap was almost as effective as caffeine. Among 20- to 25-year-old drivers, the risk of line-crossing fell by 66 percent after a nap, and 74 percent after drinking caffeinated coffee.

Or we could just take the bus.

(photo by flickr user edge of space)

For Sleepy Drivers, Coffee vs. Napping – Well – Tara Parker-Pope – Health – New York Times Blog

Washington Walks

Dailydad tries to get five to six miles of walking in each day and, according to this report by the Brookings Institution, Washington DC and environs tops the nation in the number of “walkable places”. One of the walkable places cited in the study is Bethesda, where Dailydad does the bulk of his walking. The health benefits of walking are well documented. J can’t avoid walking up, down and all around Boston College. Now, how do we get M and K out a bit more often?
(image by flickr user kate at yr own risk)

One in four do not consider dad to be immediate family

Dailydad may have to hire a publicist.

A quarter of children do not consider their father to be part of their immediate family.

From the Times Online

The Art of BS: How to Succeed on Papers and Essays | College and Finance

From the College and Finance blog

I’ve decided to provide a few tips (ten) I’ve learned when writing essays or papers. My tips may not ensure you get that A, but they should help you improve your grade. At the very least, these tips should help you to not fail. Remember, there’s no substitute for actually knowing the material. However if you forget a few things, then you can use some of these tips to make the best of what you know.

Dailydad seconds the advice about actually knowing the material.  At some point you’ll end up with a boss, co-workers, or clients who’ll know you’re less than prepared.

The Art of BS: How to Succeed on Papers and Essays | College and Finance