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Tag: fan

  • Ceiling Fans: Fast And Easy Cleaning Tips

    Ceiling fans are a luxury to some but a necessity to most. While they can help keep us cool in hot weather, they can be difficult to clean. If you don’t clean your ceiling fans you might notice how much dust can accumulate on the blades. Dirty fans can lead to poor air quality in a room or home and the dirt and dust can even cause your fan to stop working properly. Don’t neglect your ceiling fan, use these tips to help you clean it quickly and easily.

    Feather Dusters
    Feather dusters are a popular choice when it comes to cleaning a ceiling fan, but they can actually make the dust problem in your home worse. Only use feather dusters on fans with a light amount of dust. Feather dusters can cause heavy dust to scatter around your home and accumulate in other places.

    Vacuum Cleaner
    You use your vacuum cleaner to get the dust and dirt off your floors, so why not use it on your fan as well. Of course, you will need the attachments or a handheld vacuum cleaner to clean the blades. Vacuum cleaners are great for cleaning ceiling fans because they remove the dust instead of just spreading it around your home.

    Commercial Tools
    There are numerous dusting tools that can be used on fans. Some brands offer extendable handles to make reaching the blades easier. Regardless of the brand you choose, most of these tools are made the same and are designed to trap or collect the dust as they sweep across it. They are also affordable and easy to use.

    What To Avoid
    Avoid using a broom to clean the fans. Not only will the broom miss most of the dust, it may also damage the fan. If you want to use a cloth to wipe the fan blades, make sure it is damp. The dampness will cause the dust to stick to the cloth. A dry cloth will only spread the dust and dirt to other places in your home. Avoid using harsh chemicals and cleaning products that are not designed for the surface of your fan. They could damage it.

    Don’t let something as simple and easy as cleaning a fan become a hassle. Let these tips help you get the job done faster.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Star Trek Fan Has $500,000 Trek Man Cave

    Star Trek fans will do a lot of embarrassing stuff. They’ll travel thousands of miles to conventions and meet-ups. They’ll buy and make costumes that get worn on days other than Halloween.

    Then there’s the paragon of parenting virtue who only spoke Klingon to his son for the first three years of his life.

    Now comes the tale of a man who has spent three years and nearly half a million dollars fixing up his basement like a Star Trek shrine.

    Anthony Sforza of Long Island went to great lengths — perhaps where no one had gone before — to get materials for his basement Enterprise.

    “It was very difficult at first to find the materials that they used on the show,” Sforza said. “I tried to call them but getting an answer was impossible.”

    “Fortunately I was able to purchase a piece of the original set which I pulled apart to find out the exact paint and materials that were used,” he said. “That’s how I created the basement.”

    Sforza recreated the captain’s conn and other pieces of the Enterprise bridge — NCC-1701, no bloody A, B, C, or D. But he also collects costumes, badges, tricorders, action figures, latex masks, and weapons.

    “My collection probably has about 300 pieces in it,” Sforza explained. “The most notable pieces of the collection are the Captain’s costume, which is called the Monster Maroon.”

    Sforza’s kids love the Star Trek obsession. But his sister thinks it’s a little weird.

    “Anthony’s been obsessed with Star Trek for as long as I think I’ve been alive,” she said. “I don’t remember him ever not being obsessed with it, even when he was a little boy. I think he’s a freak, but he loves it, and he could be into worse things. So if that’s what makes him happy then that’s great.”

    Image via Youtube

  • Man Drops $100K to Look Like Justin Bieber [IMAGE]

    How much money would you spend to look like your favorite celebrity? It certainly isn’t unheard of for people to have plastic surgery to make a certain body feature look like a celebrity’s, but the amount one 33-year-old man spent is outrageous. Equally outrageous is the person who inspired his plastic surgeries. Toby Sheldon of Los Angeles spent $100,000 on multiple plastic surgeries over five years to look like Justin Bieber.

    Yeah. Let that sink in for a minute. That takes being a Belieber to a whole ‘nother level. Sheldon says he’s had several plastic surgeries, Aquamid injections and hair transplants “to look like Justin.”

    Check out an enlarged photo of Sheldon’s before and after shots:

    And here is Sheldon posing after the surgeries with a picture of Justin Bieber:

    (image)

    How well do you think he pulls off the look? Respond below.

    Sheldon says he started having the surgeries five years ago. Bieber is 19, so doing a little basic math, a then 28-year-old man wanted to look like a guy who had barely started his teen years. To each his own, though, right? It’s worth noting that Bieber’s first single One Time wasn’t released on the radio until May 2009, so five years may be a bit of an exaggeration, unless Sheldon found Bieber when he was a YouTube sensation.

    The fan’s most recent surgery was in July, when he had a surgery to make his smile look like Bieber’s. “It’s Justin’s smile that gives him his youthful look. So I had my upper lip lifted [and] my bottom lip plumped out,” the songwriter told British tabloid Closer.

    In addition to the money, Sheldon has also spent a lot of time recovering from his multiple Justin Bieber plastic surgeries. “My smile surgery took more than a month to recover from,” Sheldon said. “And, after my eyelid surgery, I couldn’t open my eyes for a week.”

    It has all been worth it for Sheldon, though. “My friends shower me with compliments,” he said. “They even call me Toby Bieber.”

    So if Sheldon puts that $100,000 to work and can land a few pre-pubescent girl birthday parties, he can earn his money back in about, oh, 100 years?

    Justin Bieber isn’t the only celebrity fans (or at least a fan) are having surgery to look like. One man spent $5,000 to have plastic surgery to look more like Ryan Gosling:

    [Images via Twitter and UPROXX]

  • Fan Fell 65 Feet At Turner Field And Died

    Fan Fell 65 Feet At Turner Field And Died

    Tragedy struck Turner Field, home of the Atlanta Braves, on August 12, 2013. Ronald Lee Homer, Junior, was a devoted Atlanta Braves fan. He was tall, standing at six feet and six inches, noticeable from a distance, and was deeply loved by those who knew him.

    The thirty-year-old from Conyers came to show his support for the Atlanta Braves in the game against the Philadelphia Phillies. While the evening began rainy and stormy, the weather cleared and the National Anthem was sung. Ronald Homer, Junior, leaned over a railing in the upper arena, though it is not clear why, before plunging sixty-five feet and landing in the parking lot that belonged to the baseball players. This incident occurred around 8:55 p.m. after the game had been delayed for an hour and forty-eight minutes and shortly after the actual game had begun. Mr. Homer was transported to Atlanta Medical Center where he did from the injuries.

    The guard rail presently stands at forty-two inches, meeting both the state as well as industry requirements; however, many questions remain unanswered. Was the railing adequately created for someone of Roger’s stature? Should stricter guidelines be enforced to accommodate potential fans of all heights, shapes, and sizes? Why does it take tragedy for changes to be made?

    The Atlanta Braves observed a moment of silence in honor of Ronald Homer and released the following statement:

    The Atlanta Braves extend our sincerest and heartfelt condolences to Mr. Homer’s family and friends. We are saddened by this tragic incident and will continue our investigation along with the Atlanta Police Department. We will have no further comment until the investigation is complete.

    Investigations are under way and concern is being sent to Ronald Lee Homer, Junior’s family, but is that enough? Ron Homer, Senior, Roger’s grieving father, shared this reflective statement, “It’s just something that should never have happened. I just hope nobody ever has to go through what we’re going through.”

    Both parents are grieving the loss of their beloved son. Mr. Homer said, “This this is going to hurt us for the rest of our life. When you lose a kid, not only your kid but your best friend, too, it’s bad.”

    His heart-broken mother had this to say, “I’m just sick. We’re a very close family. He was big-hearted.”

    Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. Other similar tragedies have befallen sports enthusiasts. In the same venue, Turner Field, back in 2008, a twenty-five-year-old young man fell from a stairwell during the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets game, where ultimately he died from sustained head injuries. Just last year on August 31, 2012, Isaac Grubb fell over a railing at the Georgia Dome during the football game between Tennessee and North Carolina State. Again, barely a month later on September 22, 2012, another man fell twenty-five feet over a railing at the Georgia Tech and Miami football game, facing detrimental injuries.

    The death of Ronald Lee Homer, Junior, has not only disheartened his family, but all who hear of the news.

  • Adobe Contest Looking For #1 Photoshop Fan

    Adobe Contest Looking For #1 Photoshop Fan

    #1 Photoshop Fan from Adobe Next Photoshop Evangelist on Vimeo.

    Adobe is running an interesting contest right now. They are inviting people to upload a two minute length tutorial video to Vimeo sharing why they think that they should be the next Photoshop evangelist.

    From Adobe: “submit a two-minute Photoshop video tutorial demonstrating why you should be the Next Photoshop Evangelist. Your video must use Photoshop CS5, a new Photoshop CS5 feature, and, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Photoshop, incorporate the concept of “20″ somewhere in the final image. Have fun!”

    Once you make your video you submit it to their Vimeo group here.

    Adobe will then select up to 12 finalists where the general membership of their Facebook Photoshop Community will vote on which finalist video is the best for the Grand Prize.

    The Grand Prize winner will receive a copy of Creative Suite 5 Design Standard, a trip to Photoshop World (Spring 2011), the chance to demo their tutorial at the conference, roundtrip coach airfare, lodging and meals. All Finalists will also be showcased on the Photoshop YouTube channel.

    So Adobe’s incorporating Vimeo in this one. YouTube. And even Facebook. A nice contest that touches on a lot of the social web.

    Personally I think someone could do something pretty creative with the new painting features using the mixer brush that’s new in CS5. By the way, here is my own review on the new CS5 from a few months back.

    Submissions must be in by August 24th.

    Good luck!

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  • The True “Value” Of Facebook Fans

    The True “Value” Of Facebook Fans

    According to a recent study released by Vitrue last week, Facebook Fans are valued at $3.60 each in earned media for brands. Not everyone was happy with the study and a few even poked holes in the formula and assumptions made.  I also wrote about it here if you’re interested. Despite the formula flaws, I do think it’s a good start to something many marketers are looking for – i.e. what’s the return on investing budget and human capital on a Facebook fan page? In fact, working on the brand side for many years, this question arises daily.  And, the reality is that we may never know the true value of a fan because human behavior changes all the time and technology isn’t quite there yet; not to mention the possible privacy implications.  I do feel that calculating fan value needs to involve more than just impressions.  For now though, I am okay with that.

    Here is a quick recap of the formula used to calculate the valuation:

    1M impressions x 2 posts x 30 days = 60M impressions
    60M impressions / 1000 x $5 CPM = $300,000
    $300,000 x 12 months = $3.6M
    $3.6M / 1M fans = $3.60

    Using this same formula, I did some quick research and found 10 high profile brands and calculated their fan value. You will be surprised and some of the results:

    • Coca Cola – $0.96 cents (5.3M fans and posted 16x in the last month)
    • Youtube – $1.92 (4.8M fans and posted 32x last month)
    • Pringles – $.030 (3.1M fans and posted 5x last month)
    • Adidas – $2.40 (2.7M fans and posted 40x in the last month. Also sharing links to their e-commerce store so one would assume that their fan value is much higher)
    • Red Bull – $1.14 (2.5M fans and posted 19x in the last month)
    • Starbucks – $1.20 (6.8M fans and posted 20x in the last month)
    • Pizza Hut – $0.30 (1.2M fans and posted 5x in the last month)
    • McDonalds – $0.24 (2.1M fans and posted 4x in the last month
    • NBA – $8.22 (2.1M fans and postes 137x in the last month; but this makes sense since it’s the Playoffs.  I am sure the value of fans decreases in the off season)
    • PUMA – $0.84 (1.5M fans and posted 14x in the last month

    Now for those of you who are deficient in math like myself, you will notice that the value of each fan is solely based on the assumed $5 CPM and the frequency of monthly posts.  The value doesn’t change if you have 50,000 fans or 6,000,000 fans.

    Also, in analyzing each of each of these fan pages, I am most impressed with the NBA.  They are doing polls, asking questions, posting videos; wallpaper downloads, linking to their e-commerce store, and their fans are extremely engaged.

    If you work for a brand and have a stagnant fan page or if you are thinking about launching one; here are few pointers which might be useful.

    Disclosure: Starbucks is an Edelman client.

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