A ride-along is an arrangement for a civilian to spend a shift in the passenger seat of a police car, observing the work day of a police officer, Firefighter, or Paramedic.

Ride-alongs are offered by many police departments around the world. There is a minimum age to participate in a ride-along. Depending on the department, it is often somewhere between the ages of 14 and 18. When participation of those under 18 is permitted, consent from a parent or legal guardian may be required. Those with criminal records or problems on previous ride-alongs may also be barred from participation. The most common form of ride-alongs are Law Enforcement Explorers, or Auxiliary or Volunteer Police officers.

People go on ride-alongs for various reasons. These include interest in a future career in law enforcement, personal interest in law enforcement without such a career, journalists wishing to write reports, and those interested in community relations. Regardless of the reason, all citizens who meet the department's eligibility requirements are generally welcome on a ride-along.

Ice cubes are small, roughly cube-shaped pieces of ice, conventionally used to cool beverages. Ice cubes are sometimes preferred over crushed ice because they melt more slowly; they are standard in mixed drinks that call for ice, in which case the drink is said to be "on the rocks."

Ice cubes that are crushed or sheared into irregularly-shaped flakes may add an interesting aesthetic effect to some cocktails. Crushed ice is also used when faster cooling is desired, since the rate of cooling is governed by the number and average radius of the ice particles.

Melting ice cubes sometimes precipitate white flakes, commonly known as "floaties". This is calcium carbonate which is present in many water supplies and is completely harmless.^{[citation needed]}

American physician and humanitarian John Gorrie built a refrigerator in 1844 with the purpose of cooling air. His refrigerator produced ice which he hung from the ceiling in a basin. Gorrie can be considered the creator of ice cubes, but his aim was not to cool drinks: he used the ice to lower the ambient room temperature. During his time, a dominant idea was that bad air quality caused disease. Therefore, in order to help treat sickness, he pushed for the draining of swamps and the cooling of sickrooms.