Wise Bread (Maly Oudommahavanh)

Should You Put Your Keyboard in the Dishwasher?

Maly Oudommahavanh — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 01:27:24 +0000

In a perfect world, I would abstain from putting my feet on the coffeetable. I'd also not eat over my keyboard and sneeze all over it. Well, it isn't a perfect world and my coffeetable is all scuffy while my keyboard is so grimy that I train my eyes to look everywhere but down even as I type these words. While the sticky soda stains and cookie crumbs embedded in my keyboards nethers give me pause, what really makes me flinch is the thought of how many germs are crawling around on my office implements .

Sure, I could just wipe down my keyboard with a Purell wipe but why do that when there is the rumor that you can just stick keyboards in the dishwasher? Even NPR got interested in this. After snooping around the net a bit, it turns out a lot of people have already tried this method of cleaning their keyboards. And some put only parts of the keyboard in the dishwasher for cleaning. For the most part, the dishwashing method actually seems to work!

Don't have a fancy pants dishwasher? People wash keyboards the old fashioned way, too.

And washable keyboards do exist . Here is someone putting one to the test:

In the end, I just ended up resorting a Lysol wet wipe. Why? It takes anywhere between 24 hrs and 5 days for my non-washable keyboard to dry out and I just can't go that long without one. Whether it is worth the time and sacrifice for you to use this method to clean your keyboard is up to you!

Awesome photo credit goes to tonystl .

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Angelina Jolie is a Wisebread kind of Girl!

Maly Oudommahavanh — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 19:58:40 +0000

By Maly Oudommahavanh

Angelina Jolie wore a vintage black dress to the New York premiere of her new movie "A Mighty Heart". She got the dress from a secondhand store called Wastelend. How much did the dress cost?

$26!

Who knew that Angelina ascribes to our "Living large on a small budget" philosophy, too? Of course, her small budget is completely arbitrary and by choice, not necessity, and her Christian LeBoutin shoes cost more than what I earn in two months . .. but I still appreciate her gesture.

You can see pics of Angelina in the dress here . Credit for the great little black dress picture goes to Ende .

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Get $50 from JetBlue for flying on a $39 flight

Maly Oudommahavanh — Fri, 18 May 2007 10:14:33 +0000

By Maly Oudommahavanh

Following the lead of the big airlines, JetBlue is starting their own frequent flyer program called TrueBlue. And to sweeten the pot, they are offering a $50 flight credit for travel in the fall if you join TrueBlue now and book a flight before June 1 (with travel by June 15).

With some of their flights like Long Beach to Las Vegas priced at $39, you can come out $11 ahead with this deal in theory (you'll break even, probably, after taxes). Still, if you use JetBlue frequently or are just planning a short trip this summer, this deal is worth looking into!

To check out the $50 TrueBlue promotion, go here .

photo credit goes to saaby

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Stephen Colbert, the next K-Pop Superstar? Watch the Video and Decide!

Maly Oudommahavanh — Sat, 12 May 2007 21:12:13 +0000

By Maly Oudommahavanh

As if I needed further reason to fall in love with Stephen Colbert!! Colbert is miffed that Korean popstar Rain beat him out in TIME mag's top 100 most influential list so what does Colbert do? He comes out with a k-pop video of his own! Stephen manages to work in references to Kim Chee, Hyundai and "MASH" the tv show .. all while singing in Korean. PRICELESS!

BTW, this was a web poll driven list and the Colbert fanatics were outdone by hordes of teenaged K-pop fans and, to put things in perspective, Sanjaya Malakar landed at #3. If, in reality, we were living in a world where Sanjaya were actually the 3rd most influential person in the world, I would be hunkered down in an underground basement, replete with duct tape and canned goods, waiting for hell to finish freezing over.

credit for the Stephen Colbert screen shot goes to Aaron Gustafson

Here's the music video of Stepehen's parody of Rain, followed by the complete bit from the show (with background on Rain and the MV Stephen parodies):

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Easy as Pie: Bring Mom to a Movie and Get a FREE Gift Bag!

Maly Oudommahavanh — Fri, 11 May 2007 19:33:39 +0000

By Maly Oudommahavanh

Still need to make last minute plans for Mother's Day? Slacker! Still, it really is easy as pie: bring Mom to see a movie for Mother's Day (and one she'll probably like) and you both get free gift bags! Spend obligatory bonding time with Mom (without fighting the vicious Mom's Day brunch restaurant crowds!). Get free swag. Watch the oh-so-cute Keri Russell (or Nathan Fillion. Your preference!). Not a bad deal at all....

And if you're wavering still about seeing "Waitress", Rotten Tomatoes currently gives it a very fresh 88% rating! Go here for details about this movie and free swag deal. This offer is available in select cities.

Yummy pie photo credit goes to Curious Stranger !

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Coca Cola, Renaissance Soda: Curls Hair, Removes Blood, Powers TVs!

Maly Oudommahavanh — Thu, 10 May 2007 23:36:09 +0000

By Maly Oudommahavanh

I don't drink Coke. More accurately, I won't drink Coke (unless mixed with rum and a splash of lime, of course). Call me crazy but I just have no desire to corrode my intestines. And I just don't like the taste. However, I will use Coke to clean out my car batteries. Curious about other uses, I googled coke and found out there is a whole internet world out there aswirl with rumors about Coke's many magical properties. I knew Coke could tenderize meat and make my pennies very, very shiny but I didn't know it could also (allegedly) curl my hair! A temporary home perm, just for the price of a .75 cent can of coke? Yes!

Rumors of Coke's renaissance properties run the entire gamut of categories:

Beauty

- Curl your hair

- Get a deeper tan

- Soften your skin

- Fade your dyed hair color

Health

- Relieve a Jellyfish/Bee sting

- Chase away Montezuma’s Revenge

- Chase away a cold

Household

- Clean your toilet

- Clean your pots

- Remove oil stains from driveways

- Get greener grass

My favorites, of course, are the random uses for Coke:

- Preserve a submarine (!!)

- Power a tv

- Clean blood off the highway

You can read about these and other mythical properties people attribute to Coke here .

Are some of these just bunkum people have sent in for laughs? Maybe. My boyfriend mentioned that tv's Mythbusters has confirmed the blood removal rumor and refuted the toilet cleaning rumor (though, to be fair to Coke, Adam used motor oil to dirty up the toilet!). And Wikipedia tells me that Mythbusters has debunked some others of the Coke myths and confirmed a few. So, I put it out to the WB readers: which have you tried and work or don't work? And which ones are just plain BS? Or just put your own entry into the ever growing mythos of Coke.

I'm glad that 2-liter of Coke leftover in my pantry from a party months ago will finally get a sense of purpose as a magical and all-purpose haircurling, tan deepening, skin softening beauty elixir!

credit for the fantastically colorful photo goes to Meanest Indian !

Permalink | 9 comments | Maly Oudommahavanh's blog | Channel: Life Hacks, Food and Drink

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FREE 2-liter of Diet 7UP

Maly Oudommahavanh — Thu, 10 May 2007 00:17:26 +0000

By Maly Oudommahavanh

This lady is going to great lengths to prove she is worth that lemon-lime soda. Oh, the sweet, sweet lemon lime nectar of the gods! And it is nice how 7UP has no caffeine and won't corrode pennies, t-bone steaks or your insides. And if you're counting calories, there's diet 7UP! Even better, here's a coupon for a free 2-liter of Diet 7UP . Any Wise Bread readers who feel like posting a picture up with their 2-liter balancing atop their head, please feel free to!

photo credit to thefabergirls

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For $11, Give Mom a Handpicked Pearl this Sunday

Maly Oudommahavanh — Wed, 09 May 2007 20:18:23 +0000

By Maly Oudommahavanh

Remember how you would come home from school as a kid with a crummy stick figure scribble or an "African mask" made from macaroni and a paper plate . . . . and your mother just freaking loved it and stuck the 'art' on the wall immediately? Come on, admit it, even you knew back then your work was kind of chintzy but it just proved that Moms go gaga over handmade gifts!

While you probably can't show up for Mother's Day brunch this Sunday with flowers made from popsicle sticks and still get away with it as a thirtysomething, there is a gift out there that may still elicit that same "Aw, you did this all yourself for me? Sweetie!" reaction from Mum: a handpicked pearl . Stupid.com even has photos of the step-by-step 'harvesting' and jewelry-setting process. True, the pearl won't be the biggest in the world and the super chintzy fake gold necklace will probably turn the dear old gal's neck slightly green but all the cachet is in being able to say you harvested and made the pearl necklace yourself. You can even embellish the story and say you found the pearl after hours of searching in the ocean. Well, that or just fling the oyster shell and can remnants at your siblings while taunting them about how your mother now definitely loves you the best out of everybody.

photo credit to paparutzi

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She Spent Only $20 on Clothes Last Year

Maly Oudommahavanh — Tue, 08 May 2007 11:10:43 +0000

By Maly Oudommahavanh

Living on a $20/year clothes budget: Mission Impossible? No. Extreme, yes, but not impossible for one woman: Alex Martin. She spent only $20 last year on clothing. Granted, she only wore one basic piece of clothing the whole year, a little brown dress, but she rocked that dress every day and wore it for 365 days straight. Why? It was a feminist statement, an art statement and "also a let's stop wasting time and money thing". The craziest part? According to her, most people didn't even notice she was wearing the same thing day in and day out.

Incredulous? Alex documented her entire experience and you can read all about it here .

brown dress photo by lollyknit .

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