Author: E Hansen

“Life Hacks” For your Car

Posted in Car Maintenance
BMW at the New York International Auto Show 2019

As a car enthusiast, it is easy for me to quickly disregard a lot of “cheesy” tricks that can help the maintenance of your car. Popular youtube channel, Top Tenz, posted a video regarding life hacks for your vehicle. Some of the remedies that Simon speaks about are not reliable and i would like to shed some light on those hacks. The Hacks in the video include;

  • Use Toothpaste to Clean Headlights
  • Use Nail Polish to Cover up Paint Scratches
  • Park East in the Morning so Your Window Will Defrost
  • De-Ice a Lock
  • How To Cool Your Car Down Quickly
  • How to Get Rid of Car Sickness
  • If you Get Stuck in the Mud or Snow, Use Your Floor Mats to Get Out
  • How to Find the Gas Tank While Driving
  • How to Remove Bumper Stickers
  • Don’t Have a Heavy Set of Keys
TopTenz video about car “hacks”

First, I would like to provide some better solutions to some of the ones offered in the video.

*Don’t Use Nailpolish to cover scratched paint*

Nailpolish is a creative way to fix scratches in paint. I will give Simon creativity points for this one. Although it is really not safe to use with the car’s paint and on the metal. A better alternative would be to buy the factory pant color. Most car companies make touch up paint for very affordable prices that come in nailpolish-like containers.Since it is the factory paint, it will be identical to the actual paint on the car. You cant go wrong with the real stuff. There is no point in using a bootleg color hoping that it looks good.

https://www.kiaaccessorystore.com/kia_touch_up_paint_pen.html
KIA brand touch up paint pen for $9.95

*Dont Use a Hairdryer for Bumper Sticker Removal*

A plastic Razorblade removing a decal.

Contrary to popular belief, a hair dryer is not an acceptable remedy for taking bumper stickers off. With having experience removing a lot of vinyl decals and stickers from vehicles in the past, i can confidently suggest something better. Using plastic razorblades, soap & water, and a HEAT GUN, are the right materials to use. A heatgun is less powerful than a hairdryer but is hotter in temperature. It is very effective in removing bumper stickers and reheating the adhesive. After blasting it with the heat gun, use a mix of soapy water to spray the surface and go to town with a plastic razorblade! The plastic razorblade will not damage the surface of the car.

*DO NOT Use Toothpaste to Clean Headlights*

A toothpaste remedied headlight lens. Note that in the “after” photo the lens is still fogged!

Using toothpaste to clean old foggy headlights is a popular home remedy that is widely known around the world. Unfortunately it does not work as well as we would all hope it would. Using toothpaste does clear the headlight lens up for a period of time, but that period of time is from twenty minutes to an hour. Instead, what should be done is involved with sandpaper and clear coat. This process produces much better results. First you need to wetsand the headlight lens with sandpaper and water. After that is complete the next step is to tape off the surrounding area and spray the lens with a clearcoat spray can. The result of this is incredible and the headlight looks brand new!

Notice the results of this compared to the toothpaste. 10x better!
Here is the video for the process.

However, This video does offer some unique tips and tricks regarding vehicle maintenance and care. It would just be nice to have either a second opinion or ask someone who is qualified in the industry. Simon does offer great tips with, for example, parking your car in the direction of sunrise for defrost, or knowing which side of your car the gas tank is on.

The advantages of Strategic games

Posted in UncategorizedLeave a comment
A war between Hungary and Yugoslavia. The battle-plans are clearly shown above to simulate what the armies will do and where they will attack.

Grand strategy games are something that are truly special. They allow improvement for the human brain in a number of locations. Specifically, the game Hearts of Iron IV offers a unique vision on tactical and strategic thinking. The game is almost a more in depth version of the popular board game risk. It is set during the times of world war two. You can play as any country in the world during that time period and command its armies. You are allowed to choose whatever political path you like which is a feature that is kind of cool. You can choose the path of conquest or the path of defending your country from attackers that could be everywhere. This game offers very intense sessions of playing with some games lasting up to 4 hours. One benefit that I have personally gained from this is learning geography. I have become very familiar with the world map and where countries are located on the world map. It is a very satisfying feeling to know where a country is located in the world when people talk about certain things whether it be politics, or even culture. Another benefit of this game is brain exercise. This game can be related to a constant game of chess. There are no turns and it takes place in real time. Everything is constantly moving and you have to be prepared for whatever your enemy throws at you. It offers a chance to grow and develop your creativity and practical thinking. Almost like planning battle plans in real life.

The World map of the game in the 1936 start date.
https://www.paradoxplaza.com/hearts-of-iron-iv/HIHI04GSK-MASTER.html
A Modification for the game which allows it to take place during the Cold War era of history. Here you can see how the gameplay functions and the required strategic thinking behind it.

this is a game that I can sit down and enjoy with my friends. A game that allows me to exercise my brain and creativity while still having fun. I dont often think about how things like this can benefit me, but this one struck me as a suprise.

A Movie Review

Posted in ReviewsLeave a comment

The Social Network

The Social Network is a film that was released in late 2010 that encapsulates the humble beginnings of a small homegrown website named Facebook. Well, some would say humble. Facebook today has millions of users that are actively using it. The movie does a very impressive job at telling the true story of Mark Zuckerberg and how Facebook came to be. The movie does this by telling a narrative type story while still keeping it factual and the audience entertained. I myself like these types of history based movies told in a narrative style, so naturally, i was engaged for almost the entire movie. The movie had a good balance of humor and serious moments that kept the audience engaged and actively waiting to see what would happen next. Mark Zuckerberg [played by Jesse Eisenberg] had some serious genius moments throughout the movie. There was a point in the movie where the infamous relationship status was invented by Mark. It was actually invented in a super funny way that I recommend you watch to find out! Another genius moment was when they moved the company out to California. This is more of a subtle genius moment. The move out to California allowed the company to grow in substantial amounts. Mark’s Companion throughout the movie, Eduardo, was an important figure during the startup of Facebook. A lot of the company was funded by him in the beginning. He made one fatal mistake towards his final days in the company. He did not have a lawyer with him to help him sign legal documents. Before he knew it, the company was swept out beneath him and he was cast out. Alongside this, the Winklevoss twins did have a big part in the creation of Facebook. They came up with the idea initially to create a Harvard dating site, and Mark expanded that idea by bringing it to an international scale. After many lawsuits and meetings, Mark got the rights to Facebook and the winklevoss twins settled with getting the rights to their original Harvard Connection website. This was a fantastic movie with a serious message about business and how things can work in the real world. For the worse and for the better…

Introduce Yourself (Example Post)

Posted in IntroductionLeave a comment

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

  • Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
  • Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

  • Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
  • What topics do you think you’ll write about?
  • Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
  • If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.