Author: Kirstin Fawcett

Need to write an important email? If you can, avoid composing it on a Monday—but if it can’t wait, make sure to double-check the subject line’s spelling, grammar, and punctuation before hitting the “send” button. As Business Insider reports, a new analysis conducted by email productivity tool Boomerang found that online missives sent on Mondays are more likely to contain subject line errors than digital dispatches crafted on other days of the week. In turn, these emails are less likely to receive a response from recipients.

Boomerang used automated grammar-checking software to scan the subject lines of more than 250,000 emails and monitored their response rate. Not surprisingly, they discovered that Monday—the day we’re settling back into business mode after a weekend away from the office—is when people make the most mistakes.

Stray typos might not seem like a big deal (unless you’re a die-hard grammarian), but Boomerang’s data scientists discovered that they affected reply rate. Mistake-free subject lines had a 34 percent response rate, but emails containing one or more typos in the subject line—think improperly capitalized words, spelling errors, and faulty punctuation—had a response rate of only 29 percent. The more errors there were, the less likely the email was to receive a reply.

Even minor mistakes mattered: Email subject lines with a lowercased subject line received a response around 28 percent of the time, but when senders utilized proper capitalization, the number jumped up to nearly 33 percent.

If you’re notorious among your colleagues for your poor composition skills, take some consolation in the fact that Boomerang’s findings likely carry more weight for cold emails than routine correspondence.

“If you get an email whose subject line is riddled with mistakes, you might assume it is spam and not open it, let alone respond,” Brendan Greenley, Boomerang’s data scientist, told Business Insider. “We expect that mistakes have a bigger effect on whether someone reads or responds to a cold email compared to emails from friends and colleagues.”

Typos weren’t the only thing wrong with Monday emails: They also contained subject lines with the most negative sentiments, and “moderately positive and moderately negative emails get more responses than neutral emails or those with extreme positivity or negativity,” Greenley told BI.

Since the average office worker sends and receives around 120 emails per day, it’s hard to dodge important correspondence at any given moment, let alone Mondays. So if your first work day of the week does involve a big-deal email, just remember to keep your tone upbeat (even if you’re not feeling it), and scan it for errors before you send it off. And if it’s possible, plan ahead: Write emails ahead of time—ideally over the weekend, when our typo frequency is at its lowest, and our moods at their highest—and schedule them to go out Monday morning.

[h/t Business Insider]

Everyone loves a good blooper reel—especially when it includes screw-ups, overlooked gaffes, and embarrassing behind-the-scenes moments from one of history’s most beloved (and highest-grossing) media franchises. In the video above, the TV and film trivia whizzes from YouTube channel Screen Rant list 10 blunders from the Star Wars movies that you may have missed. Clearly, the Force isn’t always with actors (or directors, producers, and crew members).

[h/t Screen Rant]

Banner image: Getty Images

After a blizzard strikes, car-reliant commuters typically hunker down at home to avoid slippery roads. But according to physicians, plenty of danger lurks in their driveways. In 2012, more than 34,000 people visited the ER with snow removal-related medical problems, which range from back and shoulder injuries to heart attacks and strokes.

Experts say that snowbound homeowners underestimate the physical difficulty of digging out their driveways. The wintry chore is a moderate physical workout in disguise, and many homeowners simply aren’t in great shape. If you regularly skip the gym, you’re more likely to hurt yourself while wielding a heavy shovel.

Doctors advise people with a history of heart problems or other medical conditions to avoid shoveling—but for the rest of us, a gadget called the Snow Wolf might make the chore a little less arduous. As Good Housekeeping reports, it’s a long-handled, lever-like shovel attached to a large wheel that lets you clear a path in a single pass.

According to Snow Wolf’s manufacturers, experts at the University of Massachusetts independently studied the invention and found that the wheeled shovel lowered test subjects’ risk for lower back injuries by around 85 percent (and reduced overall physical exertion by as much as 80 percent) when compared to regular shovels. That being said, the Snow Wolf’s $180 sticker price makes it much more expensive than a standard snow shovel—but some may argue that a healthy heart or a pain-free back is priceless.

[h/t Good Housekeeping]

The world looked very different a decade ago. George W. Bush was president; the final Harry Potter book hadn’t been released yet; and while smartphones existed, they weren’t mainstream. But as The Verge reports, that last part began to change on January 9, 2007, when Steve Jobs announced a “revolutionary product”—the first-generation iPhone—in a keynote speech at the Macworld 2007 expo in San Francisco.

The iPhone was sold as a mobile device, but as Jobs described, its potential wasn’t restricted to phone calls. As he described it, the gadget was “a widescreen iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone and a breakthrough internet communications device.” People could use it to communicate, and also to listen to/watch entertainment, store photos, and surf the internet.

“An iPod, a phone…are you getting it?” Jobs added. “These are not three separate devices. This is one device. And we are calling it iPhone. Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone.”

Not everyone was enamored with the iPhone. Some people said it was too expensive; others complained that it was only available on Cingular (later AT&T Wireless), or only came with 2G telephone technology. Plus, some people still loved their flip phones (remember the Motorola Razr?).

Still, the iPhone’s popularity began to soar, slowly and steadily, after its official release on June 29, 2007. That year, as market intelligence agency Mintel points out, standard mobile phone sales declined for the first time, and smartphone sales exploded to more than $12 billion. And in the past 10 years alone, Apple claims, the company has sold over one billion iPhone units.

By now, the iPhone has been redesigned many times—it’s come a long, long way from the first-generation product that Jobs initially presented 10 years ago. But today, we can take a few minutes to remember the clunky gadget that changed technology (and our lives) by watching the video below.

[h/t The Verge]

The 1990 film Home Alone is a blueprint for turning any house into an obstacle course for intruders. But thanks to the magic of Hollywood, 8-year-old Kevin McCallister’s series of punishing booby traps—designed to thwart burglars Harry and Marv from robbing his home—result in few visible injuries, aside from a humorously placed burn here and a glue-coated feather there.

For fans who have always imagined the Wet Bandits facing a much darker (or should we say redder) fate, Mashable reports that a creative YouTube user, who goes by the name BitMassive, has created two alternate endings for the film that are way gorier than any scenarios director Chris Columbus had up his sleeve. They’re called Home Alone With Blood, and if blockbusters with body counts don’t faze you, you can view them below.

[h/t Mashable]

Charlie Chaplin fans, Pastafarians, and home chefs wanting to wear their love of cooking on their sleeves and on their heads will appreciate this silly colander shaped like a bowler hat, sold by English online novelty store The Fowndry (and spotted by Laughing Squid). The flexible polypropylene kitchen tool costs £10 (around $12 US), and can be used for washing fruits and veggies, straining noodles, or as an impromptu accessory if you feel like emulating Chaplin’s famous “dinner roll dance” from silent comedy The Gold Rush (1925) in the middle of meal prep. (Just remember to rinse it off first.)

All images courtesy of The Fowndry.

[h/t Laughing Squid]

A rescue dog named “Bowie,” with unusual eyes that match his rock star namesake, needs a forever home—and the late singer’s son is trying to help him find one. This week, Duncan Jones, an English film director and child of David Bowie and model Angie Bowie, took the canine’s cause to social media, asking Twitter users to adopt him, Mashable reports.

Anyone? https://t.co/A5pAHZxg78

— Duncan Jones (@ManMadeMoon) January 5, 2017

Hoping someone near that dog might be able to help him find a home. One of those weird ones that got to me.

— Duncan Jones (@ManMadeMoon) January 5, 2017

Aside from his make-up, sequined suits, and blonde bouffant, David Bowie’s most striking characteristic was his different colored irises. One of them had a permanently dilated pupil, thanks to a fight he got into as a teenager, which made the blue iris appear brown. Canine Bowie—a three-year old lurcher, which is a cross between a sighthound and a terrier, herding breed, or large scenthound—also has one blue eye and one brown eye. The pup’s eyes are likely the result of a condition called heterochromia, which David Bowie didn’t have.

Bowie is currently under the care of Dogs Trust Bridgend, a canine rescue organization in Wales. Shelter workers told WalesOnline that hundreds of potential owners have passed up the needy dog because of his unique eyes. They also pushed for readers to adopt him.

Some hold the superstition that odd-colored eyes are unlucky, and as an especially unlucky day—Friday, January 13—approaches, shelter workers hope that won’t deter potential adopters. 

“It’s such a shame that Bowie has been overlooked so far, but we’re confident we’ll find a home for him soon,” Angela Wetherall, a manager at Dogs Trust Bridgend, told WalesOnline. “Despite the superstition that Friday the 13th brings bad luck, we’re really hoping potential new owners will put any superstitions to one side and consider re-homing our blue-eyed boy Bowie.”

“Not only will you be offering a four-legged friend a happy home, but you will be gaining a new best friend,” Wetherall added. “We don’t see what’s so unlucky about that.”

Bowie is reportedly social and energetic, so he needs an owner with a personality to match. People who are interested in helping the canine find a new home are instructed to contact Dogs Trust Bridgend.

[h/t Mashable]

Harriet Tubman’s residence near Auburn, New York is now closer than ever to becoming an official national historic park, the Associated Press reports.

According to New York state senator Charles Schumer, the Department of the Interior has finalized a land transfer agreement that allows for the National Park Service to create the park. Now, all the Harriet Tubman National Historic Park needs to become a reality is approval from the secretary of the interior. (Congress approved legislation to create the park in December 2014, along with a similar park near Tubman’s birthplace on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.)

In 1859, the famed Underground Railroad conductor moved to the Auburn area—then home to a strong abolitionist community—after New York senator William Seward offered to sell her his home. Tubman lived there with her parents, and in 1896, purchased 25 acres of adjoining land to build a housing community for elderly African-Americans, eventually called the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged. In 1903, Tubman deeded the home to a local church, the Thompson Memorial AME Zion Church, on the condition that they manage the home.

The Harriet Tubman National Historical Park will include several properties, Syracuse.com reports. The land transfer deal approved by the Department of the Interior allows for the Harriet Tubman Home, Inc. and AME Zion Church to sell its ownership of the church and the Home for the Aged Rectory to the federal government. Meanwhile, Tubman’s former home, the Home for the Aged, and a historic barn will be jointly run by the National Park Service and Harriet Tubman Home, Inc. through a preservation easement.

“As a New Yorker and an American, I’m deeply proud to see Tubman Park finally become a reality,” Schumer said in a statement quoted by Syracuse.com. “The Tubman Historic Park in Auburn will be a magnet for visitors that will tell the amazing story of Harriet Tubman’s life, an extraordinary American, and her story deserves to be shared with our children and grandchildren. This park will serve that solemn purpose and preserve her legacy for countless generations to come.”

[h/t Travel + Leisure]

Americans spend billions of dollars on cough syrup per year. We think we’re paying for the privilege of feeling better—but according to the American Chemical Society’s latest Reactions video, we might be swallowing a lie.

Scan the label of a typical cough medicine, and you’ll likely notice at least one (or more) of the following ingredients: a cough suppressant called dextromethorphan, or DXM; expectorants like guaifenesin, which thin and loosen mucus in the lungs; decongestants like ephedrine; and antihistamines like loratadine.

DXM will probably make you drowsy. But aside from getting a good night’s sleep, multiple systematic reviews (that’s scientist-speak for literature reviews that collect and analyze multiple studies or papers) have found little concrete evidence that these concoctions improve cold symptoms. In fact, clinical trials suggest that cough medicines are just as effective as—get this—a placebo.

If you’re looking to tame the tickle in your throat, you might be better off drinking plenty of fluids, taking a steamy shower, drinking tea with honey, and sucking on a cough drop or hard candy, as they soothe the throat by increasing saliva production. However, if you’re a staunch devotee of over-the-counter medicines, there aren’t any concrete findings stating that cough syrup doesn’t work. Take it if you notice an improvement—but make sure you don’t consume too much of the medicine to amplify its effects, as large doses of DXM can cause dizziness, uncontrollable eye movement, convulsions, and in some extreme cases, even death.

[h/t Lifehacker]

Carrie Fisher, who died at the age of 60 on December 27, 2016, played an intergalactic ruler in the Star Wars franchise. Now, to honor the late actress’s legacy, fans want her to be made into Disney royalty. As TIME reports, a man named Cody Christensen launched a Change.org petition requesting for Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger to make Princess Leia an official Disney princess, joining the ranks of Snow White, Cinderella, and other heroines. (Reminder: Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012, thereby adding Princess Leia and her Force-wielding sidekicks to the entertainment conglomerate’s roster of characters.)

Website GeekExchange.com interviewed Christensen, who points out that some people say Princess Leia can’t be made into a Disney princess because a real actor portrays her instead of an animated figure.

“With Carrie’s death, I think that it’s time to change the rules,” Christensen told GeekExchange.com. “I actually have five daughters, and there are constantly princess movies playing in the background. We are big fans of the current Princess lineup, but I think that Leia is a really strong, positive, awesome role model for my girls, and she would make a great addition.”

The petition reads:

“After the tragic lose of Carrie Fisher, we feel that it is only fitting for Disney to do away with the rule that an official Disney princess must be animated and make Leia a full-fledged princess. This would be a wonderful way to remember Carrie and a welcoming to one of Disney’s new properties that is beloved by millions.

What we are asking is that the Walt Disney Corporation hold a full ceremony inducting Leia as the newest Disney princess as well as a special service in memory of Carrie Fisher.”

As of noon on Thursday, January 5, Christensen’s petition had more than 35,000 signatures. 

[h/t TIME]