Credit Score Savvy
Credit Score Savvy
With the New Year, people often make resolutions to fix problem financial situations. Part of cleaning an individual’s financial house includes taking a hard look at his or her credit. Credit Score Savvy (2003) was one of my earlier articles that I wrote for a local magazine. At that time, I was a loan officer and found that many people were confused by FICO scores and credit issues. In the article I explained factors that affected scores and the ability to finance a home. Although the market has changed since then, a lot has remained the same in terms of confusion about credit issues. A more recent article titled Polish up Your Credit includes some information about things people can do to improve his or her credit score now. What may be most useful from this article are some of the statistics. The following chart provides answers to some of the most basic credit-related questions.
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15 Products Made by Mistake
Have you ever wondered why a certain product was invented? Some of them that have been a big success actually were a mistake.
Think of these products:
1. Coca-Cola – A pharmacist, trying to make a tonic for people with sore teeth, found that when he taste-tested it, it wasn’t too bad. He added a little carbonated water and low and behold . . . a great product.
2. Sticky Notes – Post it notes by 3M was discovered when trying to find a better adhesive tape. The scientist found an adhesive material that just wasn’t sticky enough though. While this same scientist was at church looking for a way to stick notes to his hymnal, he decided to use that not so sticky stuff he created to help hold his work in place. A new idea was born.
3. Scotchgard – Another 3M product was created out of trying to create rubber for airplane fuel lines. After spilling some on their shoes, the scientists realized that this stuff was protective and wouldn’t come off. Through time, the shoes looked dirty everywhere except for where they spilled the substance.
4. Rubber – Its first use was when they discovered it could erase things from a piece of paper. The original substance was unstable because it would become too liquid or shattered based on temperature. When rubber and sulfur were accidentally dropped onto a hot stove, the combination turned out to be something no one had anticipated.
5. Penicillin – Spores that contaminated a bacteria sample were the unintended beginning for this drug. When the scientist took a closer look at these spores, he noticed they were actually doing harm to the bacteria.
6. White Out – A secretary who took pride in her work discovered this while trying to cover up some of her errors. Soon other secretaries were asking to borrow her concoction. This started the Mistake Out Company, later named Liquid Paper.
Do you want to read about some more mistakes? Check out these other famous blunders by clicking on the links below:
7. Corn Flakes
9. Silly Putty
10. Saccharin
11. Slinky
12. Potato Chips
13. Fireworks
14. Play-Doh