Below are the most popular names of boys from the 1900s (1900-1909) and the 2000s (2000-2008 ytd).

Rank	1900s	2000s
1	John	Jacob
2	William	Michael
3	James	Joshua
4	George	Matthew
5	Charles	Andrew
6	Robert	Christopher
7	Joseph	Joseph
8	Frank	Daniel
9	Edward	Nicholas
10	Thomas	Ethan

Note, Joseph is the only boy’s name that ranked in the top 10 for both decades although it was absent from the top 10 from 1940-1979. I would have expected to see more of the classic names like John, William and Robert in the 2000s. Oh yeah, check out my list of the best selling toys of 2008 here.

Okay, how many of us have heard of a cat surviving a fall from hundreds of feet? Every once in a while a news story will pop up telling of some skyscraper-dwelling cat that amazingly walked away after some kid threw it over the balcony. (Or maybe it just fell.) But have you ever wondered exactly how the cat survived?

The answer is actually an interesting study in physics. If you recall, the acceleration of a falling body (gravity) is 9.8 meters per second squared, or 32 feet per second squared. A quick conversion tells us that a falling mass is increasing its speed about 22 miles per hour for every second it falls. So a cat (assuming he started at zero mph when he fell off the balcony) will be traveling about 22 mph after one second, 44 mph after two seconds, 66 mph after three seconds, etc, etc.  But… any falling mass in the Earth’s atmosphere will reach a terminal velocity (Vt) depending on its weight, mass and shape. Its shape will determine air resistance, hence, a spherical cat will have a higher terminal velocity than a rectangular one.

Well, since there are no spherical or rectangular cats, we have to estimate this terminal velocity for cats. I just read that an actual cat’s Vt is about 60 mph. I guess a group of rogue scientists calculated this by throwing a few cats off a building and timing their descent until they hit the ground. Or maybe they’re just estimating.

So why is a cat’s terminal velocity only 60 mph whereas a fat human’s would be about 120 mph? The answer here is more of a study in biology than physics. A cat has a very sophisticated inner ear and sense of balance. That’s why they usually land on their feet after a fall. But this same sense that innately tells a cat that it’s falling also tells it that it is accelerating — and then when it’s stopped acccelerating (reached its Vt). When this happens, a cat will flatten itself out, thus creating a much higher air drag (almost like a parachute or flying squirrel). Then it’s velocity will actually decrease to such a speed that may allow it to survive the fall.

I think this has been proven (or hypothesized) by studies after the fact from vets in big cities reporting incidents of falling cats surviving. An interesting result is that falling cats have a 10% chance of being killed in falls from two to six stories but their chances of survival are increased twofold when falling from 7-32 stories. I don’t think there has been enough data collected from cats falling more than 32 stories to be statistically significant.

How about that? Cool, huh? If you enjoyed this little scientific rambling, check out my list of best selling toys when you get a chance. I’m still trying to plug my store selling educational and science toys.

So here’s something cool. I love browsing the bargain books at Barnes & Noble for the occasional great find. Last weekend I came across a book called “Top 10 of Everything 2008.” Originally it was about $25 but wow, it was in the bargain rack for $6.98. “What a deal!” I said to myself. Anyway I bought it and just randomly flipped to a page. I’m going to create a category here called my Random Top 10 Lists. So here’s my first entry. Behold, the Top 10 Animated Movies of all time…

1. Shrek 2, 2004, $921 million
2. Finding Nemo, 2003, $865 million
3. The Lion King, 1994, $784 million
4. Ice Age: The Meltdown, 2006, $652 million
5. The Incredibles, 2004, $634 million
6. Monsters, Inc., 2001, $529 million
7. Madagascar, 2005, $529 million
8. Aladdin, 1992,$504 million
9. Toy Story 2, 1999, $485 million
10.  Shrek, 2001, $484 million

Now my question after looking at this list is– is it really fair? If someone compiled a normalized list, and maybe based everything on a standardized year, say 1990, would the results still be the same? Ie., how would the money Aladdin made in 1992 ($504 million) compare to the $528 million Madagascar made in 2005? Based on a normalized scale, I would think that Aladdin was a much more successful movie. And what about Snow White? Adjusted for inflation, Disney’s 1937 classic is often hailed as one of the top 10 moneymaking films of all time. So the several million that film grossed in 1937 dollars would probably top a billion today. And oh yeah, since I’m always plugging my store, check out our list of best selling toys.

I have a fictional friend who likes to stop by her local Starbucks on her way to work in the morning. I haven’t been to a Starbucks Coffee store in a while so I’m not sure what the going rate for fancy coffee is, but I think she pays about $37 a day for her latte cappuccino frappuccino mucho grande drink. She only makes about twelve cents an hour - did I mention she works in a sweat shop in a third-world East Asian country and writes blog reviews in bad English to supplement her income? Anyway, she really wanted her coffee one day last week but she didn’t quite have the $37 needed. Another fictional friend recommended she get a payday loan. She was afraid she would get fired if she used the fax machine at her sweat shop to send in the paperwork, but her friend told her about this new company that will offer a no faxing payday loan.

What a great solution! She went to this company called Personal Cash Advance and found just what she needed. As she’s a pretty savvy blogger, she noticed this site had a decent page rank and fairly high Alexa ranking so she knew it was a reputable organization. After a few minutes of browsing their website, she was easily able to apply for a no faxing payday loan and get enough money to support her Starbucks habit for the next two weeks! “Wow,” my fictional friend said. “I’m going to recommend them to all my blogging friends who work in sweat shops.”

I’ve never thought of applying for a credit card online before as I get about seven solicitations a week in the regular mail saying I’m “pre-approved” for this card or that one. But what about those unfortunate people who don’t get all these offers for credit cards in the mail? What are they to do?? I suppose if they were looking for credit cards, they could use a site like the one I’m reviewing right now. It’s actually a pretty clever concept. The company is called Your Credit Network and they started as a general information site about credit cards, their offers and overall financial planning. I guess the site was successful enough that now they offer a feature where users can search for the latest and greatest credit card offers and apply online.

It doesn’t look like the site was intended (nor is it currently) about making money from applicants. It’s about providing comprehensive information for people researching the various credit cards. What I liked best about the site was their ease of navigation and how they broke down the different sections. A user can search for information about: low interest credit cards, instant approval credit cards, cards that offer rewards programs, or cards for people who may have no credit history or a history of bad credit. And they rank them by a certain algorithm and based on user feedback. It appears to be a pretty useful site for anyone researching their opportunities about credit cards.

Okay, so this classic horror movie from 1958 has been sitting in my TiVo “now playing” queue for a few months now and I’m finally watching it. Well I’m not completely watching it as I’m writing in some blogs and doing some other website work, but it’s at least playing while I work. By today’s standards, it’s pretty much a terrible movie. It was probably pretty bad even back in 1958. But it’s kind of fun to watch.

Right now, 39 minutes into it, they have the giant spider on display in what looks like a school gym. Oh, the apparently dead spider just kicked a guy. I’ve got to watch that again. Okay, I did. Here’s a quote right before the kick. “Usually, if nature produces a freak it dies immediately. Because it can’t adapt itself to life. It’s what we ordinarily call a bird spider.” I guess this science teacher sees a lot of 30-foot spiders, that’s why they “ordinarily” call it something. Geez. But the kick was cool.

I guess 1950s rock music revives giant dead spiders as that’s what happens next. It escapes killing the janitor who is played by Hank Patterson who some of you may recognize as Fred Ziffel on Green Acres or Hank Miller from Gunsmoke. I love recognizing actors from old obscure movies and then looking up to see from what TV Land or Nick-at-Night show I recognize them from.

Moving on now- the spider terrorizes the town. Then the sheriff tries to kill it with some DDT and dynamite. They end up electrocuting it and all is well in the end. Overall, a pretty cheesy movie but kind of fun to watch.

 

Where’s the first place you would go if you were wanting to get a loan to buy a car? I thought about this for a bit the other day while sitting in traffic in my 2000 Jeep Cherokee with no air conditioning. It was about a hundred degrees outside and probably 110 degrees on the blacktop stopped on the interstate. I started thinking to myself that I need to do something. As my second car is a 1978 Datsun B210 with no air conditioning, I figured getting a new car sometime will be the way to go.

As I had about $4 in my wallet, I sat down at the computer and typed loan for car in my favorite search engine. After looking through the first 14 million or so websites, I thought I would try one of those places that actually compete for my business. I figured that I’m a low credit risk and there will be dozens of companies wanting to give me a loan. Maybe.

I did happen to find one site that is kind of a liaison between me (the consumer) and auto loan lenders. Go figure, the company’s name is Get The Best Auto Loan (get rid of the spaces and throw a dot com at the end and you have their domain name as well). It looks like they have a pretty big network of lenders who will basically get your pertinent information (via a simple website form) and then give you a quote. They have no idea what other lenders are giving you a quote so they’re obviously bidding for your business in the blind and hoping their rates are low enough to be competitive. It’s a pretty neat concept and one we’ve seen in other lending markets. So if you don’t find them by searching for loan for car, you can go to their site directly – or via the link in this very sentence…

 

Have you ever wondered why insurance companies will charge more to insure 18 year old little Johnny Redneck and his souped up 1969 Camaro? It’s because statistically, he’s much more likely to slam his car into a pole when peeling out leaving the Dairy Queen. But why is this? Is it because he’s a knucklehead? Mostly, yes. And he’s young and immature.

 

If you’re in the market for a new auto insurance company and want to find out some current rates for insuring your own adolescent driver, take a look at a site I stumbled across recently. It’s called CarInsuranceRates.com and it’s mostly an informational website that helps consumers find the best auto insurance rates. The website is pretty professional and fairly easy to navigate. Plus, they’ve got a solid archive of articles and advice about finding the best car insurance.

 

One interesting article I read addressed the very subject I mentioned above - insuring adolescent drivers. We all remember the days when our parents complained about the high rates for insuring teen drivers. And, well, the statistics say that this is probably a pretty fair policy as teenagers have proportionately more accidents than more mature and experienced drivers. In fact, any reputable auto insurance company will start giving price breaks to drivers after they turn 21 and again at age 25. But they also give breaks to drivers who get married. Why do you think this is? I guess the statistics say that married people are more responsible. I wonder if my wife thinks that about me…

 

Not too long ago I was researching some debt consolidation services for an MBA point paper on the topic of financial management. Do a quick search of debt reduction and you’ll likely find millions of sites telling you exactly how you can get debt free. The truth is that there’s no easy answer. You may have to start making better financial decisions and certainly you’ll have to start exercising some self restraint. That being said, there are some reputable services that offer help in doing this.

One of the firms I came across in my research was a company called No Debt Today. They offer programs for consolidating several types of debts (such as credit cards, unsecured loans, auto loans, etc.) Another of their programs is specifically for folks who may just need help consolidating a few credit cards. This is likely one of the most common problems people need help getting corrected as many of us know what it’s like when we end up using our credit cards more than we should from time to time. If you’re not paying attention, or perhaps a couple of unforeseen circumstances lead to unexpected bills, this could happen to anyone. If you’re serious about finding a decent debt reduction program, check them out. Even if you’re just researching, they’ve got some interesting information on their website that might help you make a decision.

 

While many may think payday loan providers can be a seedy lot, there are times when getting a cash advance makes fiscal sense. Imagine this scenario. You just moved to a new city to start a new and better job. With most employers you will work at least one pay period before receiving your first pay check. This could mean that you’ll be working there 2-3 weeks before getting paid. Maybe this is usually okay, but what happens when the deposit you put on your new apartment was a little more than expected and then the alternator on your car goes out? You already knew that money was going to be tight until you got settled in but without transportation you can’t even get to your new job to start getting settled in. Now, say you need $600 to get your car repaired but that would deplete your checking account and you’d be eating Ramen noodles for the next two weeks while hoping you could scrape enough gas money just to get to your job.

This is a case where payday loans might make sense. Granted, they may be higher interest than a traditional loan, but if you pay it back as soon as you get your first pay check, it won’t be that bad. And if it allows you to get to work to start getting your life moving in the right direction then this could be a valid solution. Another advantage of these loans is that they can usually be completed in a day whereas a traditional signature loan with the bank could easily take a week or more. Do note that if you find yourself starting to rely on payday loans, you might need to consult a financial adviser. Check out the National Foundation for Credit Counseling at 1-800-388-2227 before you let it get out of hand.