Want More Hits?

We all want more and more traffic coming to our sites, reading our postings, and we want them having fun. Yes, there are many sites out there can that can help bring in those hits. One of the best is definitely Buzzfuse. Not only is it effective, but also it is more importantly easy. I went to the site, registered for free, and tagged some content so my site can start getting the benefits of Buzzfuse. I really strongly recommend everyone to check it out. They have a premium upgrade which gives you a lot more power but you can sign up for free, try the service, and then see if you want to upgrade. Go there!

Some Dude Eats It

Check out this video of some guy eating it big time at A-Basin. I don't know when it was taken or by whom but it is pretty good! If you have not gone to A-Basin, go there!

Need a Refresher on Romance?

While Valentine's Day is not a holiday it certainly has almost as much importance as typical holidays. If you are in a relationship with somebody odds are that somebody is expecting something. Usually they are waiting for something romantic. If you need ideas, just well check out the link and read about some ideas. The site, RomanceForEveryone.com, is really great and has many good ideas. Saying "I miss you" a lot is important and also one idea is not so much a romantic idea per se, but it is usually necessary at one point or another: saying you are sorry. That is very important to the relationship. But again, check out the site, see what it has to offer you, and get hopping on the romance!

Hello Africa & Antarctica?

This is cool:

I can't believe I didn't notice this before. One of the visitation views that my stat counter provides is last 200 visitors by world map. As you can see I have not yet penetrated the African continent or Antarctica. Anyone have any ideas about how I can do that?

Change the IFOCE Contract?

Mega Munch commented on my post about the IFOCE saying in part:

Why don't the eaters come together and lobby the IFOCE to change the non-compete rule? Start an online petition. Something!

I'd be all for that but I do not think it would go anywhere because 1) not enough eaters have the cojones to step up, 2) eaters with anything substantive to gain and darlings of the IFOCE (see Joey, Pat, Tim, etc) would not speak up, and 3) without #2 then I doubt ANY number of signatures from the little people would result in any action from the IFOCE regarding changes to the contract. It's their baby so they will do what they want.

About #1, Rhonda Evans posted a great comment on eatfeats, saying:

To be honest, I expect few (IFOCE) eater attitudes to change, and I think it’s due to what I call the prestige factor, based on two premises:

1. Being associated with those two or three world class eaters that a minute percentage of the population DOES ever so remotely associate with. (”He’s on the Wall of Fame!)

2. Having (or living with the dream of having) one’s face planted on national TV every so often. Let’s face it, such opportunities are few and far between with the AICE. Case in point: outside of Japan, Eatfeats, and the AICE site / participants, has anyone seen, heard about, or know about the US versus Japan world eating championship matches that just occurred?

There you have it.

Yes, indeed, there you have it.

Find It Here!

Where I work it seems there are quite a few people who are turning to online sites to meet someone. Before they try an online site I think they should go to Prime Dating Sites to check out what is the best Matchmaking Service to meet singles on the Internet. COuld the best site be eHarmony? Maybe Date.com? Online dating is big and getting bigger but you do not want to go to just any site. Why? Well, here they can tell you the whys, why nots, ins, and outs of meeting people online. They also tell you how to find a soul mate. It is really good information: like their no-punches-pulled rundown of how it is to date people. So check them out before you take the leap.

CROX and More

As I'm sure you're aware (quite painfully I bet) the market has been going all over the place. Yeah yeah, long term the market is good to be in. But short term, now, OUCH! Since the beginning of the year - though I have no hard numbers - our portfolio is down quite a bit. Sure it will go back up, but when?!? Will CROX get back to where it was? SBUX?

Plastic Surgery Soon?

Too bad I do not live in the Los Angeles area. If I did I would surely go to Los Angeles Plastic Surgeons and get something done. Their website lists the procedures they perform. There is even a photo gallery so you can see some before and after sets so you can judge how good of a job they really do. You can read up on the doctors, and that will totally set your mind at ease when you go in. The success of a plastic surgery is determined more by the patient than anything else, so the more you know is better for everyone involved. Check out the site and find a Los Angeles Plastic Surgeon now!

They Might Be Alive

On the IFOCE website there is a new news story. A year in review for 2007. The date on it is 1/1/08. So yeah it is old news but it may show a sign of life at the IFOCE world headquarters. That is news in itself.

As the counter in the sidebar shows, it has been a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time since any contests have been announced. Almost 4 months! Eatfeats.com picked up on the counter, and there has been new talk about the situation (I guess you can call it that). The anonymous Rhonda Evans posted "her" thoughts, and I could not agree more.

It seems to me that since the Fed demands eater loyalty, and makes virtually no exceptions for eaters to eat at extra-IFOCE contests, they need to reciprocate just a bit and allow eaters to participate outside the currently dormant organization. (This probably doesn’t apply to Joey and Pat B., however, since they would have too much to lose.)

Perhaps an announcement would be appropriate to explain both the reason for the current state of things / lack of contests in the IFOCE, as well as future initiatives. I think your devoted eaters have a right to know IFOCE. I think the eaters’ fans would also like to know what’s cookin’.

I know I would.

Anyway, you’d better be careful, as it seems to me that timing is right for an new (professional) organization to emerge that REALLY takes CE as seriously as its participants and really cares about its members. MLE has the talent, but the organization is run by those who manage it foolishly. It’s time for a change.

I have never liked the clause in the contract saying that signed eaters can only take part in IFOCE-sponsored events. That seems stupid. What is so bad about letting me, or any other 20+ or 15+ or whatever eater eat in any contest they want? Not an AICE-sponsored event, I can sort of see why that would possibly be detrimental. If some dude beats a ranked eater in some local pie eating contest then he might check out the IFOCE website and maybe even sign up for a contest. He might tell his friends, and on it goes. Yes, getting the IFOCE name out there is bad. Superbad.

Rhonda is on the mark about an announcement. Rich, George, Kate, what is going on? Someone reads eatfeats.com so you know how many of the anonymouses (but they are loyal anonymouses I bet) feel, so spill it.

Review: Need a Host?

I think I might have found the absolute best site out there for getting all kinds of web hosting information and finding your web hosting choice! And the address is obvious - http://www.webhostingchoice.com. They have a super search area where you can pin down exactly what you want in a host, and they will then find a match for you. They give you so many options to search on. And then there is everything else you will find on the site. The FAQs. Just about any question you might have about web hosts is answered. And they also have a great section that tells you what stuff means. This stuff can be quite confusing so it is great that this site makes it so easy. Check it out!

Look at My Meat

I don't know what kind of cut it was, but man was it good. And lean too. Just over a pound before cooking. No bone -- all meat.

I cooked my meat on the Foreman, and it did a great job. Perfectly seared on the outside, juicy and tender on the inside. And there was some prime lube in the meat lube tray. The cooked meat was an even 12 ounces.

The finished product, ready to go. Some chicken wings, and the meat. Note the nose in the lower right of the shot.

And here, it is gone. Man that was good.

I had not cooked a steak on the Foreman before. It came out perfectly. While an outdoor grill is always my first choice, I would put my meat on the Foreman any time.

New IFOCE Contest Posted!

Over in the sidebar on the right side is a ticker counting the days since the IFOCE last announced a contest open to anyone. According to the eatfeats.com archives, the last contest announcement by the IFOCE was the September 29th grits contest in Louisiana. A mention of this announcement was posted on eatfeats about Septemberr 11th at 8pm. So I'm using that date as the last time the IFOCE announced a contest that was open to anyone.

Why?

Some people have asked "Why Florence?". Well, duh:

Nah, there are many more things. I would have preferred Canon City, just a few miles up the road, but things being things it ended up being Florence. And that's all good!

Light It Up

Have you heard all the hype about landscape lighting? Like cars and so much other stuff today, landscape lighting is all about energy efficiency. LED lights are the next big thing! It was that only businesses and luxury homes even thought about landscape lighting. But now we all can. And why? LED lights. The new lights have brought the costs way down – so we can all enjoy the safety, crime deterrence, and flexibility in installation that LEDs provide. I think you should check out the site for so much more information. They will tell you what the whole deal is, and they will answer just about any question you might have. Great site. LEDs are great lights.

Eat Up!

Yikes! I've cultivated a few science projects in refrigerators before but not like this one. This is some pre-cut Canadian Bacon that I had in the fridge for a bit too long.

It's not that bad, you say. There's no green mold enveloping it like the McDonald's food at the end of Super Size Me. Just a few spots, no big deal.

The shot above kind of captures the 3-D relief of the growth on the left side. That's nasty. Kind of like the bacon grew a mole.

I scraped it off, and the meat below the mole doesn't look too bad considering what was growing.

I then cut the mole in half and it fell apart so that was that.

Review: Bad Credit?

If you have bad credit then I found a really great site for you to visit. You know very well that the way to improve your credit is to get a loan or open a credit card but you are in a catch 22 because it is hard to find companies willing to lend and make bad credit loans. Especially now with the number of people in trouble growing day by day. Look here for all kinds of info, resources, and other valuable information.

Another CROX Update

Whoa. It sure is getting kind of bad! Sure, the bleeding will stop sometime but Crocs stock (CROX) sure has taken and keeps taking a beating. You know about the falling 1/2 in one day. It has gone up down up down since, but overall it sure is trending down. Keep watching and we will see how it goes.

Pepperjam Rocks!

Have you heard about Pepperjam Network? If you have not, you have got to check them out. They aim to solve two shortcomings found on just about every affiliate network – bad tools and lack of transparency. They have a revolutionary idea but it is so simple. They provide real time chat, so you do not even have to think about it. I will not go in to each issue they address, but you gotta check them out to see all that they can do for you. You definitely will not be sorry. That is unless you do not want to maximize profits! Since you want to, click to them.

---------------------------

Press Release:

Pepperjam Announces Launch of Next Generation Affiliate Marketing Network

Pepperjam, a two-time Inc. Magazine fastest growing company and industry leading full-service internet marketing agency, today announced the launch of Pepperjam Network, a proprietary next generation affiliate marketing network.

If you are an advertiser or affiliate and would like to sign-up for Pepperjam Network please visit www.pepperjamnetwork.com.

“Pepperjam Network represents an evolution in affiliate marketing. The creation of Pepperjam Network represents eight years of research and development and the combined ideas, feedback, and intelligence of hundreds of affiliate marketers and advertisers. Pepperjam Network will forever change the face of affiliate marketing by putting power back in the hands of affiliates and advertisers to build long-term, profitable partnerships through better communication tools and transparency,” said Kristopher B. Jones, President & CEO of Pepperjam.

Among a variety of affiliate marketing enhancements, Pepperjam Network addresses the two primary shortcomings of other existing affiliate networks, namely (1) poor, unreliable communication tools and (2) lack of affiliate transparency. With Pepperjam Network, affiliates and advertisers can communicate in real-time via Pepperjam Chat™, thereby providing a reliable communication system to build stronger, more profitable partnerships. Pepperjam Network also provides advertisers with an unprecedented measure of affiliate transparency, which helps to establish trust, protect brand integrity, and lays the groundwork for open, long-term, profitable relationships.

Pepperjam Network also introduces pepperjamADS, which is a first-ever affiliate marketing widget that affiliates can use to serve customized contextual ads from one or multiple Pepperjam Network advertisers at the same time.

Pepperjam Network was designed to make the experience of affiliate marketing profitable and educational, with the goal of allowing affiliates and advertisers to truly understand and maximize the critical affiliate marketing channel.

Unlike the traditional networks, Pepperjam Network uses Web 2.0 technology to provide affiliates and advertisers with an easy-to-use, cutting-edge interface designed to facilitate and optimize the affiliate marketing process. For instance, Pepperjam Network offers industry leading source-level tracking and reporting - this robust technology is especially beneficial to search marketing and sophisticated super affiliates that want to take advantage of the most up-to-date technology available to track commissions at the keyword level.

Here is just a sample of what many industry experts are saying about Pepperjam Network:

“Even after all these years using Commission Junction on the merchant and affiliate side, I still find it terribly clumsy to find what I want. With Pepperjam Network it is quick and easy. Pepperjam Network is what an affiliate network would look like if it were built from a wish list from both the affiliate and merchant perspective,” said Shawn Collins, Cofounder of Affiliate Summit.

“As both an advertiser and a affiliate, I am on the lookout for affiliate marketing systems that meet all our company’s needs. Pepperjam Network is without a doubt the most comprehensive, practical and useful affiliate marketing system I have seen to date. Pepperjam Network demonstrates that it is possible to combine style with substance in a network that provides site owners and advertisers with tools and resources to increase their bottom line,” said Joel Comm, New York Times Best-Selling author and CEO, InfoMedia, Inc.

About Pepperjam:

Pepperjam is an industry leading full-service internet marketing agency offering marketing services and advanced technology in the areas of pay-per-click, search-engine optimization, affiliate marketing, and online media planning and buying. The company was founded in 1999 by internet marketing expert, accomplished speaker, and published author Kristopher B. Jones. Pepperjam has received numerous awards and achievements, including recognition by Inc. Magazine for two consecutive years as one of the fastest growing privately-held businesses in the United States. Learn more at www.pepperjam.com.

BK vs. BK

Uh, if you remember my post from a couple of days ago about the vending machine at work now having Burger King Ketchup and Fries flavored snacks, you will remember my reluctance to try these. Last night I did try them. Side by side with the actual Burger King fries with ketchup. Dave, you won't be needing me to mail you a bag of these snacks.

This photo shows how the BKKF (Burger King Ketchup and Fries flavored potatoe snacks) look compared to the BKFK (Burger King fries and ketchup).



Here's a close up of a BKKF and a BKFK. They were similar in one respect - all the flavoring seems to be in the toppings on each. Without ketchup the BKFK had no taste actually. And without the artifical red topping the BKKF wafer had no taste.



Part of the comparison was a smell test of each. As I said above, the BKFK alone had no taste. And no smell. The BKKF smelled like ass.

This was the only way to eat a BKKF. Top it with a BKFK. Who thought these were a good idea? OK, maybe an OK idea but who thought this final version was the one??

I'm looking for the new BK Flame-Broiled Burger chips. These offerings probably won't be on the market too long so I better hurry.

Hey 4 Eyes!

As you might know I got some eyeglasses not too long ago. Had I had more time, I think I found the place I would have bought from and you should too. This is the find - Great Discovery: www.ZenniOptical.com. Check out all they have and all they can offer you. And it is so easy to save some big bucks here! You can learn a bit at their website too, so click to it.

CROX? SBUX?

So it is not like I'm panicking or anything but man, when are CROX or SBUX going to stop the bleeding? Both companies are not worthy of the slides they are on. Sure, CROX is a new stock from a new company but it has solid numbers and solid outlooks so what gives?!? And SBUX, come on need I say more?!?

Review: The Power

Every day all of us have to deal with quite a lot of stuff. We all have our own ways of dealing with things. I think I have found a great way. Using subliminal messages. And at http://www.subliminal-power.com/ you can find out about their products, and why they are so revolutionary. Not only is it a great idea, subliminal messages are an easy way to change you life! Really! You should go to the site and find out more. I do not want to give the secrets away. Get there and learn what it can do for you. And find out how easy it is. You will wonder what took you so long.

Snackin' With BK

This is the newest item in the vending machine at work. Burger King Ketchup & Fries flavored potatoe snacks. I have not tried them, and I don't know if I will. BK has also come out with Flame-Broiled Burger chips.

Review: Be A Nobody

I am sure you people know that the internet is far from anonymous. Everywhere you go and everything you do can be traced. As The Police sang, “every move you make, I’ll be watching you”. There is a popular forum for the competitive eating world, eatfeats.com. The moderator from time to time can verify or deny claims be anonymous posters. Why? Because nothing is anonymous. Even hackers can find out your IP and launch attacks against you. Scary. You can stop all that and be actually anonymous by going to http://www.hide-my-ip-address.com/. Go there now and find out how to do a lot of simple stuff including hide IP address and much more! Do it now!

LMFM

There is really no accessible way of knowing what your body fat percentage really is. The measurement methods (say you take weight, height, abdomen, neck, etc) and calculate some formula are easy to do and not too far off. Using calipers to measure skinfolds at 5 or more spots can be more accurate but it depends heavily on the skill of the person doing the measurements. BIA can be more accurate yet, but there are many important factors that can skew the reading: eating, drinking and exercising can affect the results a lot. There are a couple techniques using x-rays. Very accurate but very expensive.

The next best way: hydrostatic weighing. I finally found, here in Denver, a company who does this. But they do not have openings until January.

Until then, you should try this US Navy method. Mine? 4.4 - a few points lower than I want, but a lean, mean, fighting machine!

Deja Vu All Over Again

Many people when they have some problem try to solve whatever the issue is by themselves. I am all for that! Be strong! Figure it out! If you need some help with helping yourself then check this. The site, http://www.subliminal-cds.com/, is jam-packed with the hottest CD titles and subliminal messages! The categories are dizzying – brain power, fears, phobias, physical, skills, relationships, and many more! You really should go to the site and see it for yourself! And if you go there and order today, you receive free stuff! You get two free hypnosis sessions, two free memory books, a memory course, and as always your satisfaction is completely guaranteed!

Alfonso's Otra Vez

We went to Alfonso's again. Yeah, yeah, we're still going to try each restaurant in the Canon City/Florence/Wetmore metroplex but we had to go back to Alfonso's..

I got the shredded beef burritos combo:

Shredded beef, green chile, green pepper:

You see my beef in the foreground and in the background is the chicken burrito combo T-Bonz got.

Here is my beef smothered in the red sauce. Alfonso's gives you a bottle of their red and a bottle of their green.

Hypmotized!

We all have our own reasons for eating – competition, making money, having fun, or seeing what our bodies can do – but we all could be looking for an edge. One of the best ways to get an edge would be to go to http://www.instant-hypnosis.com/ and check out their endless array of self hypnosis stuff available. The site is really good too. There are the downloads to peruse and also a whole lot of other resources so you can dive into what they do before you commit to it. Be sure to read the FAQs so you can see where they are coming from and find out why you need this! Get ahead! Get hypnotized!

UEPa Hits Cheeburger Cheeburger

With the Pennsylvania arm of the UEPa (United Eaters of Pennsylvania, duh!) visiting the Niner Diner, it was only natural that the UEPa-Colorado do something, right? With me in attendance there was a quorum. And a majority. Actually, with me present the entire membership of UEPa-Colorado was there. And T-Bonz, Mommye Tommye, Ricky Bobby Tommye, Rhonda Tommye, Chris Tommye...

Out east the UEPa was taking on 3lb burgers + 5lb fries. Nothing like that at Cheeburger Cheeburger (heretofore, CC). One pounder.

Before (1,2) the burger was not so dry. I ordered it Medium (CC's lightest setting). And the deep inside was perfect. The crusty outside shell wasn't so bad but the cow between that and the pink middle area was dry. Bone dry. T had me add ketchup, and that helped, but still.

In what was great timing, after that one the waitress brings out another pounder with every topping.

Except of course mayonnaise. And no guacamole. And no Grey Poupon. With jalapeno cheese.

I didn't see, hence forgot to hold, the Chopped Black Olives. Here I am picking them off the top. Later I would discover there were many more chopped black olives hidden UNDER the patty. Picked those off too. Bonz said "with all the other stuff you wouldn't have even known the olives were there". Yes I would have.

Below, it didn't take any time at all before the many juices were running down my hands. What was behind this poopy-colored discharge I do not know.

The photo fails to capture how bad this particular juice looked. And it tasted just as bad.

Above and below are inspired by the mixture of jalapeno peppers, horseradish, salsa, Tabasco, banana peppers, and the olive juice. At once it was both tangy and acidic, and also much more stomach-churning than I had thought.

At CC the drinks are in mason jars. I usually hate drinking from those jars but the lid lip provided a needed grip for my poopy-juice-and-stuff slimed hands. Drink? Water. Watch those calories.

And to show for it - a photo for my wall.

To have the first one and then the other one with all the toppings was my plan, and that I did. And I am glad I got the 2nd one with all the toppings. But I won't be getting that again. Actually it was quite disgusting. Five tops, maybe 10, sure. There are some interesting combinations possible. But 21 - no. Even with that, quite a successful meeting of UEPa-Colorado.

What's Up?

This has been me.

Turn Clicks into Calls!

Check this out! Many businesses have a presence on the web, but users click Contact to talk to the business and they are forced to dial a number. Ifbyphone has an ingenious way to solve all that. Call the customer. Check out the demo to have all your questions answered. It is wonderful! Just remember this: Ifbyphone - free click to call and custom voice mashups!

Here's the news release:

Ifbyphone Releases revolutionary Phone-Me-Now: the world’s first Zero Configuration Click to Call With 100 free minutes per month Phone-Me-Now

Promises to be biggest Killer App of 2008

Chicago, IL: December, 2007 - Ifbyphone, a voice infrastructure and applications development company providing enterprise class services to Small and Medium sized Businesses (SMB’s), has just released a solution destined to revolutionize the web to voice space: Phone-Me-Now, a zero configuration click to call application. To introduce Phone-Me-Now to hundreds of thousands of businesses that will be able to use it as a sales tool, Ifbyphone is making it available free of charge for 6 months and providing the first 100 minutes per month of usage for free as well.

This patent pending solution can be integrated in less then 60 seconds into any website, email or hyperlinked document and requires no experience to configure. It's literally the Internet’s first instant voice mash up tool.

"While many companies provide click to call services we were troubled by how complex they are to use. Users had to cut and paste HTML or javascript, rendering these services outside of the technical reach of thousands of businesses. Once we designed this patent pending solution we configured our existing smart click to call services to work with the Phone-Me-Now interface." says Irv Shapiro, Founder and CEO of Ifbyphone. The zero configuration Phone-Me-Now service is literally the Holy Grail of web to telephone integration and ease of use.

Using Phone-Me-Now is as simple as typing:

www.phone-me-now/your-business-number

into any web site, Word Document, Powerpoint Presentation, Spreadsheet, PDF or email. When a reader clicks on the link they are prompted for their telephone number and the Ifbyphone systems call your business, calls the reader and conferences the call. Phone-Me-Now works with any telephone number you register on your Ifbyphone account.

"We wanted to eliminate any barriers to basic click to call, and know that Phone-Me-Now will immediately set an industry standard for rapid deployment. If the Internet is all about speed and response, what could be a more appropriate Killer App for 2008 than Phone-Me-Now, which puts a business owner in instant voice communication with their customers," adds Shapiro.

Free Phone-Me-Now accounts can be updated to additional Ifbyphone packages that include:

- Click to Call with Custom Dialog Forms
- Integrated Call Routing and Reporting
- Find Me
- Virtual Voice Mail
- Virtual Receptionist
- Outbound Voice Broadcast
- Web Configured Voice Dialogs (Hosted IVR)
- Call Recording
- Backend Database Integration
- A Complete Call Management API

All Ifbyphone solutions work with any telephone system and are fully portable if a company moves from one telephone transport vendor to another.

# # #


About Ifbyphone:

Ifbyphone is a hosted voice application and platform company with a simplified approach to the deployment of stand-alone and web-integrated voice services for small and medium sized businesses (SMB). Combining advanced telephony and web services, Ifbyphone's web-integrated voice applications turn the small business telephone into a powerful tool, increasing lead generation, improving sales conversion and enhancing the customer experience. Ifbyphone makes it easier for customers to connect with you from online and off. All of Ifbyphone's applications are accessible via a click on a Web site, an inbound call to a toll free number, an outbound call or with the help of a programmable API. Our configuration and deployment tools look and feel just like Web applications, and require no previous knowledge of telephony programming or terminology.

Previously available only to large enterprises, Ifbyphone is delivering these converged voice and web solutions at affordable monthly fees, with no major upfront costs. The company's services are available online and through a network of SMB value-added resellers.

It's Here

2008 is here. I do not know what it holds for anyone, but I hope you make it a good one. Do what you want to do, and do not let anyone stop you. Keep following my stories and we'll see what goes where this year.