Cockeyed.com
Encyclopedia
Cockeyed.com is a website that covers a variety of subjects, most of which are projects undertaken by the site's creator, Rob Cockerham. As the creator lives in Sacramento, California
, many of his projects take place in notable Sacramento landmarks, such as Arden Fair Mall
and Arco Arena
.
One of the most popular articles is called "How Much is Inside", which has been put together one episode at a time since 1998. There are more than 40 episodes online.
Other sections are the Pranks, the educational Science Club and Cockerham's Incredible Creations, all of which are presented with pictures detailing the steps of the project.
Cockerham has also used the site as a platform to locate and harass spam
mers.
A particular focus of the website is the multi-level marketing
business opportunity from Herbalife
. Rob has dedicated many pages to criticizing its independent distributors' use of signs in public spaces as well as the Herbalife business model.
Rob Cockerham has made appearances regarding Cockeyed.com on NPR
, 20/20 and in a segment during the 24 Hours of Foo
event on MTV2
.
Rather than using statistical methods to estimate the contents, the group favors measuring the amounts. For example, to figure out how much is inside of a keg, they (and an invited group of "fellow scientists") poured and consumed 141 individual cups of beer. A simpler (but less interesting) way to determine the amount would have been to simply calculate the volume of the keg and divide by the volume of each cup.
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
, many of his projects take place in notable Sacramento landmarks, such as Arden Fair Mall
Arden Fair Mall
Arden Fair Mall is a two-level regional shopping mall located on Arden Way in Sacramento, California, USA. It consists of over 165 tenants, encompassing over of retail space. It is anchored by JCPenney, Macy's, Nordstrom and Sears...
and Arco Arena
ARCO Arena
Power Balance Pavilion is an indoor arena, located in the Natomas area of Sacramento, California. It is the home of the NBA's Sacramento Kings.-Background:...
.
One of the most popular articles is called "How Much is Inside", which has been put together one episode at a time since 1998. There are more than 40 episodes online.
Other sections are the Pranks, the educational Science Club and Cockerham's Incredible Creations, all of which are presented with pictures detailing the steps of the project.
Cockerham has also used the site as a platform to locate and harass spam
Spam (electronic)
Spam is the use of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately...
mers.
A particular focus of the website is the multi-level marketing
Multi-level marketing
Multi-level marketing is a marketing strategy in which the sales force is compensated not only for sales they personally generate, but also for the sales of others they recruit, creating a downline of distributors and a hierarchy of multiple levels of compensation...
business opportunity from Herbalife
Herbalife
Herbalife International is a global nutrition, weight-loss and skin-care company. The company was founded in 1980 and it employs around 4,000 people worldwide. Herbalife reported net sales of USD 2.7 billion in 2010...
. Rob has dedicated many pages to criticizing its independent distributors' use of signs in public spaces as well as the Herbalife business model.
Rob Cockerham has made appearances regarding Cockeyed.com on NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
, 20/20 and in a segment during the 24 Hours of Foo
24 Hours of Foo
__FORCETOC__24 Hours of Foo was a live special on MTV2 hosted by the rock band Foo Fighters, which aired on June 11 and 12, 2005. It was very similar in concept to 24 Hours of Love, a live special hosted by Courtney Love that the channel aired in 2002....
event on MTV2
MTV2
MTV2 is a cable network that is widely available in the United States on digital cable and satellite television, and is progressively being added to analogue cable lineups across the nation...
.
How Much is Inside? Adventures
This largest section of Cockeyed.com contains documentation of projects in which Cockerham and his friends measure the usefulness of products, including:- How much gold is inside GoldschlägerGoldschlägerGoldschläger is a Swiss cinnamon schnapps , a liqueur with very thin, yet visible flakes of gold leaf floating in it...
? - An estimate to the ratio of various nuts inside Mixed nutsMixed nutsMixed nuts are a snack food consisting of any mixture of mechanically or manually combined nuts. Peanuts , almonds, walnuts, Brazil nuts, cashews, filberts, hazelnuts, and pecans are common constituents of mixed nuts...
- Measuring the average length of RamenRamenis a Japanese noodle dish. It consists of Chinese-style wheat noodles served in a meat- or fish-based broth, often flavored with soy sauce or miso, and uses toppings such as , , kamaboko, green onions, and occasionally corn...
noodles - Counting the distribution of color and phrasing in a bag of Conversation Hearts
- Counting how many chips can be dipped in one can of SalsaSalsa (sauce)Salsa may refer to any type of sauce. In American English, it usually refers to the spicy, often tomato based, hot sauces typical of Mexican and Central American cuisine, particularly those used as dips. In British English, the word typically refers to salsa cruda, which is common in Mexican ,...
- Other "How Much is Inside?" projects measure the utility of:
- Paper towelPaper towelA paper towel is an absorbent textile made from paper instead of cloth. Unlike cloth towels, paper towels are disposable and intended to be used only once. Paper towels soak up water because they are loosely woven which enables water to travel between them, even against gravity...
s, SharpieSharpie (marker)Sharpie is a manufacturer of writing instruments whose products are sold in over 20 countries. Originally a name designating a single permanent marker, the Sharpie brand has been widely expanded and can now be found on a variety of previously unrelated permanent and non-permanent pens and markers...
pens, A Christmas treeChristmas treeThe Christmas tree is a decorated evergreen coniferous tree, real or artificial, and a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas. The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas started in Livonia and Germany in the 16th century...
, Bacon Bits, Dial Complete soap, A PumpkinPumpkinA pumpkin is a gourd-like squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae . It commonly refers to cultivars of any one of the species Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita mixta, Cucurbita maxima, and Cucurbita moschata, and is native to North America...
, An AcreAcreThe acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
, A KegKegA keg is a small barrel.Traditionally, a wooden keg is made by a cooper used to transport items such as nails, gunpowder., and a variety of liquids....
of beerBeerBeer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
, SpaghettiSpaghettiSpaghetti is a long, thin, cylindrical pasta of Italian origin. Spaghetti is made of semolina or flour and water. Italian dried spaghetti is made from durum wheat semolina, but outside of Italy it may be made with other kinds of flour...
, PopcornPopcornPopcorn, or popping corn, is corn which expands from the kernel and puffs up when heated. Corn is able to pop because, like sorghum, quinoa and millet, its kernels have a hard moisture-sealed hull and a dense starchy interior. This allows pressure to build inside the kernel until an explosive...
bag, VegemiteVegemiteVegemite is a dark brown Australian food paste made from yeast extract. It is a spread for sandwiches, toast, crumpets and cracker biscuits, and filling for pastries...
spread, A Chevy TrailblazerChevrolet TrailBlazerThe Chevrolet TrailBlazer is a mid-size sport utility vehicle produced by the Chevrolet division of American automaker General Motors.On November 10th, 2011, General Motors officially revealed a second generation of the vehicle to be sold worldwide...
, A MillionMillionOne million or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian millione , from mille, "thousand", plus the augmentative suffix -one.In scientific notation, it is written as or just 106...
DollarDollarThe dollar is the name of the official currency of many countries, including Australia, Belize, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.-Etymology:...
s, Dust-OffDust-OffDust-Off is a brand of dust cleaner containing difluoroethane; it is used to remove particulates and dust from computers and electronic equipment...
can, Handrolling TobaccoTobaccoTobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
, OreoOreoOreo is a trademark for a popular sandwich cookie by the Nabisco Division of Kraft Foods. The current design consists of a sweet, white filling commonly referred to as 'cream' or 'creme', sandwiched between two circular chocolate or golden cookie pieces....
s cookies, a pound of ground Coffee beans, Coca-ColaCoca-ColaCoca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
bottle, french friesFrench friesFrench fries , chips, fries, or French-fried potatoes are strips of deep-fried potato. North Americans tend to refer to any pieces of deep-fried potatoes as fries or French fries, while in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, long, thinly cut slices of deep-fried potatoes are...
, KetchupKetchupKetchup is a sweet-and-tangy condiment typically made from tomatoes, vinegar, sugar or high-fructose corn syrup and an assortment of...
, PrintComputer printerIn computing, a printer is a peripheral which produces a text or graphics of documents stored in electronic form, usually on physical print media such as paper or transparencies. Many printers are primarily used as local peripherals, and are attached by a printer cable or, in most new printers, a...
Cartridge, Chewing GumChewing gumChewing gum is a type of gum traditionally made of chicle, a natural latex product, or synthetic rubber known as polyisobutylene. For economical and quality reasons, many modern chewing gums use rubber instead of chicle...
, 40-Foot Shipping ContainerContainerizationContainerization is a system of freight transport based on a range of steel intermodal containers...
, Magic ShellMagic ShellMagic Shell is an American dessert product produced by Smucker’s. It is a syrup that quickly hardens into a crispy shell when poured onto a cold surface, which is the origin of the product's name. The syrup is primarily designed for use on ice cream...
, BatteriesBattery (electricity)An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...
, DoritosDoritosDoritos is a brand of seasoned tortilla chips created by Arch West and produced since 1964 by the American food company Frito-Lay ....
, CheeriosCheeriosCheerios is a brand of breakfast cereal by General Mills introduced on May 1, 1941 as the first oat-based, ready-to-eat cold cereal. Originally named CheeriOats, the name was changed to Cheerios in 1945 because of a trade name dispute with Quaker Oats. The name fit the "O" shape of the cereal pieces...
, NewspaperNewspaperA newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
, LipstickLipstickLipstick is a cosmetic product containing pigments, oils, waxes, and emollients that applies color, texture, and protection to the lips. Many varieties of lipstick are known. As with most other types of makeup, lipstick is typically, but not exclusively, worn by women...
, Silly stringSilly StringSilly String is a children's toy of flexible, sometimes brightly-coloured, plastic string propelled as a stream of liquid from an aerosol can. The solvent in the string quickly evaporates in mid-air, creating a continuous strand. Silly String is often used during weddings, birthday parties,...
, "Blood", Aluminum foil, Expanding Foam, Whipped creamWhipped creamWhipped cream is cream that has been beaten by a mixer, whisk, or fork until it is light and fluffy. Whipped cream is often sweetened and sometimes flavored with vanilla, in which case it may be called Chantilly cream or crème Chantilly ....
, EZ Cheese, ToothpasteToothpasteToothpaste is a paste or gel dentifrice used with a toothbrush as an accessory to clean and maintain the aesthetics and health of teeth. Toothpaste is used to promote oral hygiene: it serves as an abrasive that aids in removing the dental plaque and food from the teeth, assists in suppressing...
and one fake measurement of Shaving creamShaving creamShaving cream is a substance that is applied to the face or wherever else hair grows, to provide lubrication and avoid razor burn during shaving. Shaving cream is often bought in a spray can, but can also be purchased in tubs or tubes. Shaving cream in a can is commonly dispensed as a foam or a gel...
.
- Paper towel
Rather than using statistical methods to estimate the contents, the group favors measuring the amounts. For example, to figure out how much is inside of a keg, they (and an invited group of "fellow scientists") poured and consumed 141 individual cups of beer. A simpler (but less interesting) way to determine the amount would have been to simply calculate the volume of the keg and divide by the volume of each cup.