Flying Spaghetti Monster!

The Flying Spaghetti Monster is quite a good topic of conversation. I first learned about pastafarians (followers of the great spaghetti monster) in an anthropology course.

Since high school I've lost more and more faith in organized religion. I won't go into specific details - I have great respect for those who practice religion and my intention is not to bring others' views and beliefs into question.

The idea behind the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM) is mainly a argument against the teaching of intelligent design in schools in America. Basically the argument goes: You believe God helped create the universe, we believe that the FSM helped create the universe - we can't prove you wrong and you can't prove us wrong. Hard to refute that argument...both 'religions' have 'documentation', etc.

I'm not going to go into my personal beliefs...but you might be hearing more about the teachings of the FSM since it tends to bring up some valid points. Interesting food for thought.

Oysters...No, Really...

Okay - What did the oyster say when it walked into the bar? Give up? It didn't say anything, It was too sick from eating a sketchy raw oyster!!!

Oh how I wish that was a funny joke - mostly for your sake, but partially for my own dignity. In either case there is actually a lesson to be learned here (which I learned from visiting the site linked below)...apparently there is this bacteria called Vibrio vulnificus which occurs naturally in unpolluted seawater. This normally would not be too much of a concern (unless you have an open wound in the ocean), but when consuming uncooked oysters it can pose a larger issue for people who are at risk. I happen to be at risk since I have a family history of diabetes…in turn I have to be super careful when eating these buggers - I actually had no idea about this before this evening. The link above provides a comprehensive list of risk factors to consider before eating uncooked oysters.

The only reason I took the chance to write about this (somewhat random) topic is because I know quite a few people who go to oyster bars and consume uncooked oyster. Lesson learned – just be careful about what you consume. Visit Beoysteraware.com for more information, it is a truly a great resource. The site has information about Vibrio vulnificus, treating the bacteria, risk factors and even has some great oyster recipes! If you are looking for information about oysters or the risks related to consuming oysters...this is your site! I'm pretty sure you won't fine a more comprehensive source for information on this topic. They chose a specialty and stuck to it, so you can be sure this site has some good info. Don't be scared...just be informed next time you decide to chow down on some Gulf oysters!

Who is Your Target?

So I will admit that I tend to watch TruTV quite a bit. TruTV is the predecessor of CourtTV...except now instead of Judge Judy they play reruns of Cops over and over. It's awesome. Truly a guys dream.

I have one question - in the middle of the endless reruns of Cops...why are there a ton of commercials for female birth control? It's Cops...I can't imagine that there are more women watching than guys. I hope that TruTV did their due diligence with the marketing research. I haven't seen even one commercial for beer while watching this channel...something I'd consider an obvious choice. For TruTV's sake...I hope I'm missing something obvious...

Revisiting New Orleans

Two or three years ago while I was still in college (imagine that!) I attended a workshop down in New Orleans – me and my friend stayed in the French Quarter for the weekend. It was a few months after Mardi Gras so I figured Bourbon Street wouldn't be too exciting. Boy was I wrong - New Orleans was still crazy, I guess it always is.

I remember hanging out on Bourbon Street having a beer when someone came by carrying a tall neon green plastic cup shaped like a hand grenade. My friend and I asked a few people and eventually hunted down the walk-up window where the drinks were being sold. New Orleans was the first time I’ve ever seen a street front walk-up drink stand…awesome! The ‘hand grenades’ were quite potent, I highly recommend you try one if you have the chance (its sort of a fruity concoction). We spent the whole night walking up and down Bourbon Street enjoying a few drinks, the company of the locals, and the weather! All the locals we met were extremely nice – the one shop owner even gave us a free T-Shirt since he was originally from Philly (which is where I’m from…if you missed that from the name of the blog)…I can’t say I’ve ever gotten a free T-Shirt in a tourist shop before. We had some great time that weekend – It might sound corny but “What happens in New Orleans Stays In New Orleans” was our motto for the trip!

I’d talk about the food too…but I honestly have too many good things to say about it. Every meal we had was absolutely delicious. My point – go to New Orleans if you get the chance…the culture, people and food is unmatched. Need ideas for things to do in New Orleans? Check out the link.

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Made in the USA, unfortunately...

I have to vent for a few minutes. I purchased a product online - a card shuffler. My buddies and I play poker once a week and we decided it would be a nice item to have. I spent twenty bucks and got a decent item...or so I thought. I noticed the batteries weren't included so I stopped at Wawa on the way home and bought a pack of AAA batteries like the box said. When I got home I opened the package to find out that the product actually takes AA batteries...I double checked and the box was incorrect.

I have never heard of a company who printed the incorrect product information on the box and allowed that product to be sold. I don't care what it is - it's unbelievable that a company doesn't care enough to fix the box. I'm thinking about returning the product for that reason alone. I almost wish it didn't say 'Made in the USA' on the box...

Break The Vault!

Most people I know love trivia. Not many people I know participate in any sort of online contests. www.BreakTheVault.com combines the best of both worlds, and is surprisingly simple.

Each week (and sometimes during the week) a contest starts by releasing a clue. An example from the most recent contest reads: "Clue #3: Played piano and guitar, and some of his songs were published and performed at Schubert Hall." The current clue disappears when the next one is released (daily) so those who are diligent are rewarded with a better chance of winning. Anyone (who is registered) can guess as many times as they wish.

The best part? You win cash or a prize if you are the first to guess correctly - $200 bucks for trivia is a good day's work! The cash is deposited into a PayPal account so you don't even have to wait for a check. This is an awesome concept and it's simple to sign up and get started, which is rare these days. Surprisingly, the clues are challenging too so its quite fun. I wish I wasn't so bad at trivia...but maybe this is a chance to hone my skills. Enjoy!

Brought to you by www.BreakTheVault.com

Stuff White People Like

I can’t resist – I read this blog the past few days and it is way to funny not to mention. Stuff White People Like is an absolutely hilarious blog about…you guessed it…stuff white people like. Based off of popular culture and personal experience the author has some very humorous observations and comments about what he or she feels white people like. At first glance it seems to be a racist idea, but I assure you it is all in good humor. Again, a lot of the writing is based loosely off real situations/experiences, but the author plays off of many stereotypes.

If you are mature enough to realize none of this is meant to be harmful…you will probably love this blog. Otherwise I would advise to stay away. There are a ton of different entries, each about something different that white people like. The writing is witty and always fresh – I highly suggest you check it out!

Here is a short list of ‘Stuff White People Like”:
-White people on the news
-St. Patrick’s Day
-Dinner Parties
-Asian Girls
-Coffee

Fantasy Sports Solutions

The NFL season is long over, sadly. My fantasy football team didn’t do as well as I would’ve liked, but there is always next year. The rewards for winning a fantasy sports league can be huge – I know someone who won over $500 in a league last year…that’s insane. While fantasy football is fun, fantasy baseball takes things to a new level. With football you have 16 games to worry about and some playoff games depending on what type of rules the league uses – the MLB season has 162 games which makes the draft even more important so your team gets off to a great start.

Check out this fantasy baseball software [click image for larger view]. It is called Fantasy Sports Prophet’s Fantasy Baseball Software and it is one of the best tools out there, if not THE best tool to help you win your league. This has some cool features if you plan on managing a team this season. My problem always seems to be keeping track of players who aren’t big stars since there are so many names I haven’t heard of before…especially when trying to compensate for injuries mid-season. This product solves that problem - players can easily be researched and compared from any computer since it’s a web-based program (meaning you can access it from any computer, even at a draft party). Players are ranked using predictive modeling which was designed by PhD’s, and the draft assistance tool will make all the information needed to pick the right player readily available. That’s some serious firepower when heading into any fantasy draft.

This software won’t be worthless after the draft, either. Full season roster management with updated mid-season player projections will surely come in handy for those trade offers that seem a little one-sided. All stats, injury reports and major news updates are available within the software so it will act as a one-stop info location for making roster decisions. You will never have to fumble between 3 ESPN.com pages and your draft notes again!

Unfortunately this product is not free – however there is a special promo code, BMC200 which can be entered to receive $10 off. Any serious fantasy sports manager knows how much work it takes to research prior to a draft and during the season – this seems like a great option (especially if you will be joining more than one league) to make better decisions with less hassle. If you’re into fantasy baseball this is definitely worth a shot.

Borrowing Popularity

I debated whether the title of this post cast a negative shadow before the writing actually started...but I think it encapsulates my point quite well. I recently found a link to the garfield minus garfield blog.

This blog is extremely popular with good reason - it is hilarious. The author realized that by removing the Garfield from the comic, his owner Jon appears completely out of his mind. It is worth a look.

Garfield is an insanely popular comic which still appears in papers and online (I see a different strip each day on my iGoogle page). This guy found a new way to look at an old comic...and due to the popularity of the original product, the new product saw huge success as well. Some people would call this 'riding the coat tails'...I call it smart and creative. Anyone can start from scratch...but someone remarkable can find a way to use another's popularity to their own advantage. Obviously copying material is unethical and won't go very far - adding your own twist is the key.

If you haven't look at the blog yet - do it! My personal favorite is the one referring to 'tickling the mailman'...you'll know when you come across it.

Bad Business

So at this point we are all are fed up with the price of oil. It's rising daily and it isn't supposed to stop for quite some time...ugh.

As if that isn't bad enough, now Petro, the company who delivers my home heating oil, is trying to jerk me and my housemates around. We were running low so we called Petro who is the only service that we could find in our area.

Here's what we agreed to on the phone: They would come out and fill half of our tank (roughly 145 gallons) and sign a one-year contract which gives us 100 dollars off our first fill-up. This contract doesn't require automatic fill-up service and will be canceled if we move. Sweet, right?

Here's what has happened since: They came and filled our tank completely (290 gallons) and left a bill for the full amount, with no $100 discount. Here we go...

We have been playing phone tag with our 'account executive' who has misled us every step of the way. Just tonight an envelope came from Petro with our contract that they want us to sign...come on, seriously? Do people actually just bend over and take this kind of treatment? There is absolutely no way we are signing a contract that we didn't agree to from the start - especially since we already received improper service.

I have a better idea - instead of bad business, why not try to provide a clear understanding of what services you provide up front. If Petro only provides service with a one year automatic refill contract (which is what we learned when we finally escalated the case to corporate), then say that up front! If too many people shy away and use an alternative, maybe it is time to rethink your business model. Tricking people isn't going to gain their trust or long term business. What a scam!

Helpful Marketing Resources

If you’ve been following my Blog for the past few weeks you surely know that I have developed quite a passion for Marketing…Interactive Marketing to be more specific. Since graduating and working in the field I have been learning an unbelievable amount (dare I say more than in college?). It’s a fast moving field which is constantly changing. The ‘best’ way to do something today could easily be the ‘worst’ way tomorrow – it keeps you on your toes, to say the least. Recently I got the chance to check out the site of another firm who specializes in SEM.

Apogee is one of many Search Engine Marketing solutions providers. I took a peek at their website and there are some good resources available to read about search engine marketing – these materials are definitely a strong vote of confidence to their knowledge about the marketplace.

The Apogee Search Blog has some great articles on very relevant topics that SEM’s (search engine marketers) are currently talking about. I particularly enjoyed their latest discussion on Google’s recent release of the new ‘Automatic Matching’ technology – well written and very insightful! I’m glad that they have the sense to present pros and cons of the situation instead of just complaining, which is the case with some other bloggers at the moment.

The other resource I have found extremely helpful on this site is the
Search Engine Marketing Glossary. Do you know what the following have in common? Link condom, PPC and CPM. Probably not…there are (at least) two similarities: 1. Most people reading them have no idea what they mean, and 2. They all appear in the glossary. I honestly had never heard of a Link condom...so even experienced interactive marketing employees can learn some new lingo! I wouldn’t spend the time writing about these resources if I didn’t find them helpful...so if you’re interested take a look!

Brought to you by www.apogee-search.com

The Buzz Effect

Which is more effective: Creating buzz about a huge announcement that will be made on a specific date and time, or unexpectedly springing it at a random time?

At first I was thinking that creating a buzz would be most effective since it will get people talking about it and everyone will tune in to hear it…however after thinking it over a little I think I changed my mind.

In either case the ‘announcer’ must have enough reach that people are going to care about the announcement in the first place. If the ‘announcer’ fits that criterion…then I would predict that the faithful listeners would spread the news to other faithful listeners as well as anyone else who might be interested faster if it was a surprise. A planned announcement could come with the expectation that anyone who cares will be tuning in…so there is no need to spread the love afterwards.

Also, anything that relies on ‘buzz’ or hype stands the risk of being over hyped…a common problem for some movies these days. If the expectations are too high then it might be set up for failure before it even launches. Just some food for thought.

Credit Control: An Art or a Science?

I know someone from college who has had credit issues since sophomore year when they opened their first credit card account. This is definitely not a good way to start your life after college, in heavy credit card debt. During college worrying about your credit score isn't on the top of the list of 'things to do'...but after school you have to start worrying about buying a car, house, etc, so it is extremely important.

Recently I've been doing some reading on how to be sure to have the best credit possible...which will in essence save me money down the line with lower interest rates on car loans and mortgages. It's pretty confusing stuff - apparently your score is penalized if you carry a balance on a credit card over a certain % of the credit limit...I always assumed it was ok to use as much of your available credit as possible, but obviously I didn't do my homework. I decided to check my equifax credit report and it turns out everything is in check at the moment.

There are many options for credit repair for those who have fallen into credit trouble. I came across this list of tips on how to manage credit while surfing this site ConsumerCreditDebt.org If you fall under the 'credit problems' umbrella this site is worth a look for their credit repair and debt management solutions. Even if you don't have credit issues there are some good pointers for keeping it where it should be.

Anyway...I still have a lot to figure out in way of my personal credit - I wish it wasn't so damn confusing. I'm currently shopping for a new credit card, I'm not pleased with my current one...so if anyone has any suggestions I'd be happy to hear them.

Brought to you by www.ConsumerCreditDebt.org