Are You Missing Some Money?

So I was checking out Lifehacker.com today and came across this article about unclaimed money and property that you can easily look up by state. It is legit and the links take you to the website for your state's treasury. It ranges from things like insurance checks to tax refunds. I decided to check it out because I had a few minutes of free time, and in less than 30 minutes I had found claims to money for my wife, father-in-law, best bud Mike(who is starting his own business, more on that soon), my dad, and the estate of my Grandmother. This all happened in the last hour, and the claims still have to be filed, but it is looking good. Some states show you the amount or property, while others require you to fill out a claim form before telling you. For instance, the Texas site I found my dad's claim on says it is for something like $125.83 and the company the check was written from. It was from 1987, so I wonder if it gained interest? Like I said, this is really easy to check out, but be sure to check out all the states you have lived in!

Shoes With A 50,000 Mile Warranty

This has been making the rounds on the web for a few months now, and thought I would share it here. It is an article about how to make sandals from an old tire. They look pretty cool and would probably last for years. Looks pretty easy to do, and how often do you see a tire thrown out on the side of the road in the ditch. I think it would be cool to go a little farther with the idea and put in some kind of canvas upper to make even more durable footwear. They would be quite the conversation starter/piece.

A New Turn On The Crankshaft!

I saw a link to an article about this over at Autoblog a couple of weeks ago, and have been meaning to share it. It is really interesting and if it works out may be one of the biggest advances in internal combustion engines in a long time. The quick rundown is that most engines made today are either 2 stroke (mostly small engines like weedeaters, lawnmowers, dirt bikes, and personal watercraft) or 4 stroke (automobile engines and some newer personal watercraft and dirt bikes).
See, the thing is 2 stroke engines are VERY bad on the environment, burning a lot of oil while running. The 4 stroke engine is better, but still very inefficient. If this new 6 stroke works out, it would mean much more efficient (better gas mileage, less pollution) engines. One of the most interesting thing about it is the new engines don't need a cooling system!! Interesting stuff, so if you get a chance check out the story in the links above. Be sure to read all the comments in the Autoblog article for some other folks perspectives.

Where you been, Dude?

Noticed this post on Lifehacker today, and think it is a pretty cool idea. It is a review of 3 different websites that let you map everywhere you have been, as well as share what you did there. Most of the people I know have been around the block a bit, so why not share some of your better stories. Check out the REVIEW here. If you get a life travels map going, leave a comment so other people can check it out.