Showing posts with label private cona. Show all posts
Showing posts with label private cona. Show all posts
Thursday, April 5, 2012
the plane would not wait for you
One day, a man stopped a taxi, and he jumps into in a hurry….
Driver: “Where do you want to get to?”
Man: “I went to the airport, I’m pressed for time, please be a little faster.”
Driver: “to catch a plane? when?”
Men: “the flight will depart at 10:20am”
The driver smiled and said: “Don’t kidding, it is already 10:30am, the plane would not wait for you.”
Men: ………
“I’m sorry, I was the pilot of this flight.”
Man: “I went to the airport, I’m pressed for time, please be a little faster.”
Driver: “to catch a plane? when?”
Men: “the flight will depart at 10:20am”
The driver smiled and said: “Don’t kidding, it is already 10:30am, the plane would not wait for you.”
Men: ………
“I’m sorry, I was the pilot of this flight.”
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Have you drawn today?
Finally, we do not have to play the mushroom alone, or even the angry birds. Then recently, there is a game up called “Draw Something” that crazily addicted for the phone users, and fascinated everyone for enjoying the game every day, all around, you can see people are drawing, drawing and drawing.
You might have heard about this App recently, especially since it’s quickly becoming one of the most downloaded apps from the past few weeks. The “Pictionary” for iOS and Androidis a simple and intuitive game that tests your artistic skills with a friend or random opponent.
The game is very simple, players can select one out of three drawing words, playing a painting creation on the drawing, and then send to a friend, coins is the prize for who can hit the word right. Game fun estimated the words, you can enjoy the whole process of drawing by the friends, and the rough drawing art work as a mockery!
The developers of “Draw Something” had a clever decision that connects this game App to the Facebook as the new social platform for users to establish a set of elements of the game, App download has exceeded 10 million. The OMGPOP the game development company CEO Dan Porter said, “Draw Something” has become a cultural phenomenon, the average up to five hundred thousand per hour global news about the game, and the creation of drawings total of nearly five hundred million!
“Draw Something” have the free version and the 0.99 $ versions, played the free version are addictive, but also find the words to repeat, it will then purchase the paid version, vocabulary of thousands of exclusive you draw, which is the marketing strategy.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Facebook email notifications driving you nuts? Here’s how to turn ‘em off
Ever innocently comment on, say, the latest baby picture from one of your Facebook pals, only to be hit with one email after another—all of them notifying you of everyone else who’s ooohing and ahhing? Yep, it gets a little nuts after awhile.
Well, Facebook’s recent redesign of its account settings page makes it a little easier to pinpoint where the torrent of email notifications is coming from—and how to turn off the spigot. Ready for a little peace and quiet?
1. Go to Facebook, click the Account link in the top-right corner of the page, then select Account Settings.
2. If you’ve ever visited Facebook’s Account Settings page, you’ll notice there’s been a little redecorating going on. Instead of a tabbed box of settings, there’s now a series of headings on the left side of the page, while your current settings (such as your displayed name, primary email, and Facebook address) are in the main column. For now, just click the Notifications option in the left column.
3. On the following page, you’ll see a bunch of settings for all the notification options on Facebook—and better yet, a brief rundown of the most recent notifications you’ve received, making it much easier to zero in on the event that’s triggered any annoying Facebook emails.
4. Find the comment, the calendar event, or the “Like” that’s sparked all the notifications? If so, click the nearby email icon to stop the emails cold. Note that by clicking the icon, you’re turning off all email notifications for a given type of event; unfortunately, you can’t stop notifications for, say, the exact “Oh, how cute!” comment you posted on those baby pictures.
5. Want to turn off other Facebook email notifications while you’re at it? Check out the list of settings below your most recent notifications; here, you’ll find settings for everything ranging from alerts when you’re tagged in a photo (a good notification to leave on, perhaps) to a pending purchase on your Facebook “Credits” account (ditto).
Have more questions about your Facebook settings? Let me know!
details refer HERE
Monday, January 30, 2012
Five fantastic flu fighting foods
If ever there was a month when your immune system needs a little extra help it’s January. Not only is it just recovering from all the excesses of December your probably also spending more time indoors where germs can spread more easily. Add to that plummeting temperatures, excessive central heating and a decreased intake of essential nutrients through dieting or skipping meals and it’s no wonder so many of us fall prey to the odd nasty bug or two at this time of year.
The good news is however, that just by adding these simple, bug busting foods to your daily diet you can stack the odds in favour of becoming the ultimate flu fighter and build an immune system with truly super human strength ……
1. Cinnamon
Packed full of disease preventing, immune boosting nutrients, just one teaspoon of ground cinnamon has the same amount of antioxidants as a serving of fresh blueberries. As if that wasn’t enough, research shows that adding ground cinnamon to fruit and vegetables can actually enhance the uptake of antioxidants from foods too. Cinnamon also has antifungal and antibacterial properties which help to fight infection.
How to add it to your diet:
Just one teaspoon of cinnamon a day is all that’s needed to boost your immune system so sprinkle over fresh or tinned fruit, add to curries, smoothies and cake and biscuit mixes or stir into to your morning muesli or porridge. Cinnamon sprinkled over melon also adds a delicious twist or alternatively add it to green or herbal teas.
2. Live yogurt
According to a study at the University of Vienna people who ate live yogurt daily for just 14 days raised their killer T cell count by almost 30%. Why? Live yogurt contains ‘friendly’ bacteria which help to strengthen the body’s natural defences making it far better at warding off potential bugs and viruses.
How to add it to your diet:
Use it to make smoothies and dips, add a spoonful to breakfast cereals and deserts, stir into soups, curries and sauces or eat it topped with plenty of fresh fruit and berries,
3. Garlic and onions
Both garlic and onions contain a compound called allicin which, thanks to its antiviral properties is an extremely powerful flu fighter. So much so in fact, UK researchers concluded that people who took allicin supplements as part of their study not only caught 46 percent fewer colds, they also recovered faster from the colds that they did get.
[See also: Vitamin supplements - essential for health or a waste of money]
How to add them to your diet:
Sprinkle very finely chopped spring onions over chillies, risottos and wraps. Add red or Spanish onions to salads, sandwiches and stir fries. Red onions may be particularly beneficial as they contain quercetin which, so far, has been shown to reduce the likelihood of developing colds and flu.
For a really delicious side to almost any meal finely slice a combination of large white Spanish onions and red onions, place in a roasting tray, drizzle with a little balsamic vinegar and oil and sprinkle over a couple of teaspoons of sugar. Stir lightly then roast in a medium to hot oven for 30 — 40 minutes until caramelized and golden. Serve as a side dish to steak or chops or as a delicious base to a lightly grilled fillet of white fish.
Try roasting a whole garlic head too. Simply slice off the top third so that the cloves are exposed, drizzle with a little oil then place on an oven proof dish, cover with foil and bake in a hot oven for 30 — 40 minutes until the garlic is soft and golden brown. Once cooled, squeeze the garlic from the cloves and spread on warm bread, stir into soups or mix into hot pasta.
4. Blueberries
These little beauties are not only packed with immune boosting, germ busting vitamin C they also have really high concentrations of antioxidants. So much so in fact that when tested they were found to have, gram for gram, considerably more antioxidants than over forty other fruits and vegetables.
How to add them to your diet:
Eat at least a cupped handful a day and if you can’t find fresh blueberries try frozen instead. They are available in most good supermarkets and make a great, ready chilled addition to a smoothie. Alternatively, simply pop the frozen berries in a sieve and run them under cold water for a couple of minutes to defrost before adding them to cereals, deserts, pancakes and yogurts.
5. Mackerel
Mackerel is not only a good source of Vitamin D it is also a great source of omega three fatty acids, both of which play an essential role in keeping your immune system in tip top condition. In fact, according to recent US study, participants with low levels of vitamin D were approximately 40 percent more likely to have suffered from a recent respiratory infection than those with higher levels of vitamin D.
Salmon is also a good source of both nutrients but vitamin D levels can vary a great deal depending on whether it is wild or farmed. Mackerel however is far cheaper and a more sustainable option. Aim to eat it at least twice a week.
How to add it into your diet:
Whether fresh or tinned you’ll still get all the vitamin D and essential fatty acids you need so try adding both into your diet. Tinned, peppered mackerel is delicious added to savoury rice, salads or fish pies and chilled, smoked mackerel fillets make a great, super quick meal added to hot pasta or served alongside some steaming, new potatoes, broccoli or lightly sautéed spring cabbage.
For a truly irresistible dip add a fillet of smoked mackerel to a food processor with a generous squeeze of lemon juice, a couple of spring onions, some low fat yogurt and plenty of black pepper. Whizz for a few seconds until a creamy paste and serve as a dip with crudités or a filling for hot whole meal pitas. Fresh mackerel fillets can be bought from any good supermarket or fishmongers and take just a few minutes to grill. Serve with mashed potato creamed with a little horseradish and plenty of fresh vegetables.
refers: http://uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com/blogs/rachael-anne-hill/five-fantastic-flu-fighting-foods-163502085.html
The good news is however, that just by adding these simple, bug busting foods to your daily diet you can stack the odds in favour of becoming the ultimate flu fighter and build an immune system with truly super human strength ……
1. Cinnamon
Packed full of disease preventing, immune boosting nutrients, just one teaspoon of ground cinnamon has the same amount of antioxidants as a serving of fresh blueberries. As if that wasn’t enough, research shows that adding ground cinnamon to fruit and vegetables can actually enhance the uptake of antioxidants from foods too. Cinnamon also has antifungal and antibacterial properties which help to fight infection.
How to add it to your diet:
Just one teaspoon of cinnamon a day is all that’s needed to boost your immune system so sprinkle over fresh or tinned fruit, add to curries, smoothies and cake and biscuit mixes or stir into to your morning muesli or porridge. Cinnamon sprinkled over melon also adds a delicious twist or alternatively add it to green or herbal teas.
2. Live yogurt
According to a study at the University of Vienna people who ate live yogurt daily for just 14 days raised their killer T cell count by almost 30%. Why? Live yogurt contains ‘friendly’ bacteria which help to strengthen the body’s natural defences making it far better at warding off potential bugs and viruses.
How to add it to your diet:
Use it to make smoothies and dips, add a spoonful to breakfast cereals and deserts, stir into soups, curries and sauces or eat it topped with plenty of fresh fruit and berries,
3. Garlic and onions
Both garlic and onions contain a compound called allicin which, thanks to its antiviral properties is an extremely powerful flu fighter. So much so in fact, UK researchers concluded that people who took allicin supplements as part of their study not only caught 46 percent fewer colds, they also recovered faster from the colds that they did get.
[See also: Vitamin supplements - essential for health or a waste of money]
How to add them to your diet:
Sprinkle very finely chopped spring onions over chillies, risottos and wraps. Add red or Spanish onions to salads, sandwiches and stir fries. Red onions may be particularly beneficial as they contain quercetin which, so far, has been shown to reduce the likelihood of developing colds and flu.
For a really delicious side to almost any meal finely slice a combination of large white Spanish onions and red onions, place in a roasting tray, drizzle with a little balsamic vinegar and oil and sprinkle over a couple of teaspoons of sugar. Stir lightly then roast in a medium to hot oven for 30 — 40 minutes until caramelized and golden. Serve as a side dish to steak or chops or as a delicious base to a lightly grilled fillet of white fish.
Try roasting a whole garlic head too. Simply slice off the top third so that the cloves are exposed, drizzle with a little oil then place on an oven proof dish, cover with foil and bake in a hot oven for 30 — 40 minutes until the garlic is soft and golden brown. Once cooled, squeeze the garlic from the cloves and spread on warm bread, stir into soups or mix into hot pasta.
4. Blueberries
These little beauties are not only packed with immune boosting, germ busting vitamin C they also have really high concentrations of antioxidants. So much so in fact that when tested they were found to have, gram for gram, considerably more antioxidants than over forty other fruits and vegetables.
How to add them to your diet:
Eat at least a cupped handful a day and if you can’t find fresh blueberries try frozen instead. They are available in most good supermarkets and make a great, ready chilled addition to a smoothie. Alternatively, simply pop the frozen berries in a sieve and run them under cold water for a couple of minutes to defrost before adding them to cereals, deserts, pancakes and yogurts.
5. Mackerel
Mackerel is not only a good source of Vitamin D it is also a great source of omega three fatty acids, both of which play an essential role in keeping your immune system in tip top condition. In fact, according to recent US study, participants with low levels of vitamin D were approximately 40 percent more likely to have suffered from a recent respiratory infection than those with higher levels of vitamin D.
Salmon is also a good source of both nutrients but vitamin D levels can vary a great deal depending on whether it is wild or farmed. Mackerel however is far cheaper and a more sustainable option. Aim to eat it at least twice a week.
How to add it into your diet:
Whether fresh or tinned you’ll still get all the vitamin D and essential fatty acids you need so try adding both into your diet. Tinned, peppered mackerel is delicious added to savoury rice, salads or fish pies and chilled, smoked mackerel fillets make a great, super quick meal added to hot pasta or served alongside some steaming, new potatoes, broccoli or lightly sautéed spring cabbage.
For a truly irresistible dip add a fillet of smoked mackerel to a food processor with a generous squeeze of lemon juice, a couple of spring onions, some low fat yogurt and plenty of black pepper. Whizz for a few seconds until a creamy paste and serve as a dip with crudités or a filling for hot whole meal pitas. Fresh mackerel fillets can be bought from any good supermarket or fishmongers and take just a few minutes to grill. Serve with mashed potato creamed with a little horseradish and plenty of fresh vegetables.
refers: http://uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com/blogs/rachael-anne-hill/five-fantastic-flu-fighting-foods-163502085.html
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Love in the life
When he reviews his life, he found that it was a dream probably, the time has taken away the autumn and winter for the past several years, his tears are tired and the dream has gone constantly in a wink, perhaps life is nothing.
Forgotten lots of joy and sorrow in the past, enjoy the memorial dairy, even the time has gone away in a hurry, but she always in his dreams.
Something has been lost and cause no pain, although she remained lots of memories, he has had a good time being with her, life has nothing to be sorry.
The time is living quietly while new moon, there will be a bright sun tomorrow, no matter it was right or wrong, she has walked within his memories.
Forgotten lots of joy and sorrow in the past, enjoy the memorial dairy, even the time has gone away in a hurry, but she always in his dreams.
Something has been lost and cause no pain, although she remained lots of memories, he has had a good time being with her, life has nothing to be sorry.
The time is living quietly while new moon, there will be a bright sun tomorrow, no matter it was right or wrong, she has walked within his memories.
Brobdingnag Restaurant
America's Unbeaten Food Challenges
For many people, the word eating challenge evokes the iconic scene in the movie "The Great Outdoors,"when John Candy tackles "The Old 96er" to the chagrin of his digestive tract. More recently, the Travel Channel's "Man vs. Food" show has popularized eating challenges, which have increasingly become a strategy for restaurants across the country to make a name for themselves, draw in new customers, and simply have fun.
For those testing their fortitude through eating challenges, clearing a plate of outrageously large or spicy meals will often win them a T-shirt, their photo on the wall, and dinner on the house. There are some challenges, however, that push the limits of consumption and no individual has yet to cross the proverbial finish line.
So, which eating challenges remain undefeated? See the full slideshow.
'That Burger' Challenge
Restaurant: That Bar
Location: Danville, California
A massive, undefeated burger challenge can be found at That Bar in Danville, California. Appropriately named "That Burger," the monstrous mass of meat and cheese measures approximately 1 foot in diameter, and includes two 100 percent Angus beef patties, one of which has a hole in the middle where a grilled cheese sandwich is placed. Each patty is topped with four different cheeses - cheddar, American, pepper jack and Swiss - as well as a woven bacon patty. Finally, the burger is topped with crispy shoestring fries and doused in barbeque sauce, with an appropriately sized bun. The challenge also includes one-quarter pound each of fries and onion rings on the side.
In more than 40 attempts, nobody has been able to finish the challenge in the allotted time of one hour. "We're going to need a professional eater to do this challenge," says Stephanie Emig, co-owner and co-founder of That Bar, which is located about 30 minutes outside of San Francisco. "We wanted to have a giant burger. It was a collaboration between the three owners and our chef, and it took a couple tries but eventually we got it to work."
Emig says the burger was created in order to have an interesting menu item. When someone does place an order for the That Burger, it's likely for a group to share. "It's a popular burger on weekend nights for big groups. And if someone does manage to get through this pile of meat and grease all by themselves: They will earn a T-shirt that reads "I ate That Burger at That Bar and it was That Good."
The Inferno Bowl
Restaurant: Nitally's ThaiMex Cuisine
Location: St. Petersburg, Florida
Generally, there are two things that make an eating challenge difficult: sheer size of the portion, or overwhelming heat or spice. The Inferno Bowl at Nitally's ThaiMex Cuisine has both.
The soup is served in a 48 ounce bowl and includes no less than 12 different peppers from around the world. Although the mix changes with the season, it always includes bhut jolokia (also known as the "ghost chili"). The chilies themselves comprise about 16 ounces of the soup. The restaurant uses both Thai and Mexican techniques to draw as much heat out of the peppers as possible.
Ally Valdez, who owns Nitally's with his wife, describes how the dish was created: "My wife is from Thailand and my family is from Mexico...we always argued about who ate the hottest food. So, we went out of our way to find the hottest peppers we could use and made a soup that hardly any family members could eat." They served the soup in traditional Chinese bowls meant for family-sized servings, but limited it to one person. "We found that the people who could eat the hot food couldn't eat that much, and the family members who could deal with the quantity couldn't handle the heat."
Valdez says that since the challenge began in 2009, 116 people have attempted to finish the Inferno Bowl. The closest challenger came within two spoonfuls before throwing in the towel. Others throw in more than that. The Inferno Soup is so spicy that the restaurant requires challengers to eat it outside, since about 40 percent of the challengers have vomited while trying to finish the soup within the 30 minutes allotted.
"You have to come from the depths of hell to finish this," says Valdez, who is currently offering a jackpot of $800 to the first person to conquer the Inferno Bowl.
The Full-o-Bull Challenge
Restaurant: Cowtown Diner
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Not only does Cowtown Diner's Full-o-Bull Challenge boast that it serves the largest chicken fried steak in the world, it might very well be the largest eating challenge, to boot. That's not a surprising claim, given that things are always bigger in Texas. The Full-o-Bull "is Texas to the core," says Scott Jones, owner of Cowtown Diner.
The challenge includes a 64 ounce chicken fried steak, served on an extra-large pizza pan, measures 14 inches in diameter and weighs about 10 pounds with gravy. But wait, that's not all: You must also finish the Texas-sized sides, which include four pounds of mashed potatoes and 10 pieces of Texas toast.
There's one piece of good news: The time limit to the Full-o-Bull challenge is relatively leisurely. You have from when the restaurant opens at 7 a.m. to the time it closes at 2 a.m. to finish the meal.
In the nearly two years since the challenge was created, close to 175 challengers have tried and failed to finish the Full-o-Bull. Jones says the inspiration for the challenge was to have "bragging rights in a place that is known for its beef," and notes that when someone takes on the challenge, the staff sings songs and draws attention to the event.
If anyone ever wins the challenge, they'll get their $70 meal on the house and a shirt that reads "I came to Cowtown Diner hungry and left Full-o-Bull."
The J&J's Kitchen Sink Challenge
Restaurant: J&J's Pizza Shack
Location: Northern Indiana (five locations)
In what is perhaps the oldest undefeated eating challenge in the country, the Kitchen Sink challenge at J&J's Pizza Shack in Indiana has confounded eaters for 27 years. The pizza is the brainchild of John Bogdan, the now-retired founder of J&J's, who created the 16-inch round deep-dish pizza, It includes sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers, onions, green olives, black olives, ham, Canadian bacon, bacon bits, and mozzarella cheese; it weighs about 6 pounds and must be completed within one hour.
Kim S., the manager at the Lake Station restaurant, says the Kitchen Sink is an extremely popular dish for J&J's, because most orders are for groups and corporate events. In fact, The Kitchen Sink is the restaurant's best-selling specialty pizza.
The pizza, which is intended to feed four to six people, has an estimated two to three challengers per year, and at least 100 people have attempted the challenge in the history of J&J's. Surprisingly, the closest anyone has come in recent history to finishing the pizza was a 12-year-old girl, who ate 16 of the 20 pieces before she had to give in.
"When someone does try, the wait staff is all curious, because we really want to see someone do it," says Kim. And, what does someone win if they do finish off the pie? They don't have to pay the bill - the $27.55 pizza is free.
Note: The pizza pictured left is not the challenge pizza, but a normal-sized "Kitchen Sink" from J&J's.
The Hail Mary Challenge
Restaurant: Stadium Grill
Location: Columbia, Missouri
Since opening in August 2009, Stadium Grill in Columbia, Missouri has been offering the "Hail Mary Challenge," which involves finishing the "Unnecessary Roughness," a massive burger measuring an impressive 8 inches high. Restaurant manager Joe Collins says more than 150 challengers have attempted to conquer the burger, including competitive eater Randy Santel. All have failed.
The Unnecessary Roughness includes five-plus pounds of meat, including griddled burgers, bacon, and pulled pork, three cheeses, onion rings, and fried eggs, all stacked between two buns. To complete the challenge, a contender not only must finish the burger but also polish off a full pound of French fries, all within 60 minutes. If someone can conquer The Hail Mary challenge, they will be rewarded with their meal on the house (a $50 value) and $50 in food and drink every month for a year. Best of all, you will become legend in your own time: The Stadium Grill will name the burger after the first victor.
Collins says the burger does a good job of bringing business to the restaurant. "We display it on the weekends for people to see, and we'll sometimes display it out in front of the door." Those that do order it are most likely to share it with friends. "That's not part of the challenge," says Collins, but he's happy to sell it anyway he can.
http://shine.yahoo.com/shine-food/5-undefeated-eating-challenges-171400230.html
For many people, the word eating challenge evokes the iconic scene in the movie "The Great Outdoors,"when John Candy tackles "The Old 96er" to the chagrin of his digestive tract. More recently, the Travel Channel's "Man vs. Food" show has popularized eating challenges, which have increasingly become a strategy for restaurants across the country to make a name for themselves, draw in new customers, and simply have fun.
For those testing their fortitude through eating challenges, clearing a plate of outrageously large or spicy meals will often win them a T-shirt, their photo on the wall, and dinner on the house. There are some challenges, however, that push the limits of consumption and no individual has yet to cross the proverbial finish line.
So, which eating challenges remain undefeated? See the full slideshow.
Restaurant: That Bar
Location: Danville, California
A massive, undefeated burger challenge can be found at That Bar in Danville, California. Appropriately named "That Burger," the monstrous mass of meat and cheese measures approximately 1 foot in diameter, and includes two 100 percent Angus beef patties, one of which has a hole in the middle where a grilled cheese sandwich is placed. Each patty is topped with four different cheeses - cheddar, American, pepper jack and Swiss - as well as a woven bacon patty. Finally, the burger is topped with crispy shoestring fries and doused in barbeque sauce, with an appropriately sized bun. The challenge also includes one-quarter pound each of fries and onion rings on the side.
In more than 40 attempts, nobody has been able to finish the challenge in the allotted time of one hour. "We're going to need a professional eater to do this challenge," says Stephanie Emig, co-owner and co-founder of That Bar, which is located about 30 minutes outside of San Francisco. "We wanted to have a giant burger. It was a collaboration between the three owners and our chef, and it took a couple tries but eventually we got it to work."
Emig says the burger was created in order to have an interesting menu item. When someone does place an order for the That Burger, it's likely for a group to share. "It's a popular burger on weekend nights for big groups. And if someone does manage to get through this pile of meat and grease all by themselves: They will earn a T-shirt that reads "I ate That Burger at That Bar and it was That Good."
The Inferno Bowl
Restaurant: Nitally's ThaiMex Cuisine
Location: St. Petersburg, Florida
Generally, there are two things that make an eating challenge difficult: sheer size of the portion, or overwhelming heat or spice. The Inferno Bowl at Nitally's ThaiMex Cuisine has both.
The soup is served in a 48 ounce bowl and includes no less than 12 different peppers from around the world. Although the mix changes with the season, it always includes bhut jolokia (also known as the "ghost chili"). The chilies themselves comprise about 16 ounces of the soup. The restaurant uses both Thai and Mexican techniques to draw as much heat out of the peppers as possible.
Ally Valdez, who owns Nitally's with his wife, describes how the dish was created: "My wife is from Thailand and my family is from Mexico...we always argued about who ate the hottest food. So, we went out of our way to find the hottest peppers we could use and made a soup that hardly any family members could eat." They served the soup in traditional Chinese bowls meant for family-sized servings, but limited it to one person. "We found that the people who could eat the hot food couldn't eat that much, and the family members who could deal with the quantity couldn't handle the heat."
Valdez says that since the challenge began in 2009, 116 people have attempted to finish the Inferno Bowl. The closest challenger came within two spoonfuls before throwing in the towel. Others throw in more than that. The Inferno Soup is so spicy that the restaurant requires challengers to eat it outside, since about 40 percent of the challengers have vomited while trying to finish the soup within the 30 minutes allotted.
"You have to come from the depths of hell to finish this," says Valdez, who is currently offering a jackpot of $800 to the first person to conquer the Inferno Bowl.
Full-o-Bull Challenge
Restaurant: Cowtown Diner
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Not only does Cowtown Diner's Full-o-Bull Challenge boast that it serves the largest chicken fried steak in the world, it might very well be the largest eating challenge, to boot. That's not a surprising claim, given that things are always bigger in Texas. The Full-o-Bull "is Texas to the core," says Scott Jones, owner of Cowtown Diner.
The challenge includes a 64 ounce chicken fried steak, served on an extra-large pizza pan, measures 14 inches in diameter and weighs about 10 pounds with gravy. But wait, that's not all: You must also finish the Texas-sized sides, which include four pounds of mashed potatoes and 10 pieces of Texas toast.
There's one piece of good news: The time limit to the Full-o-Bull challenge is relatively leisurely. You have from when the restaurant opens at 7 a.m. to the time it closes at 2 a.m. to finish the meal.
In the nearly two years since the challenge was created, close to 175 challengers have tried and failed to finish the Full-o-Bull. Jones says the inspiration for the challenge was to have "bragging rights in a place that is known for its beef," and notes that when someone takes on the challenge, the staff sings songs and draws attention to the event.
If anyone ever wins the challenge, they'll get their $70 meal on the house and a shirt that reads "I came to Cowtown Diner hungry and left Full-o-Bull."
The J&J's Kitchen Sink Challenge
Restaurant: J&J's Pizza Shack
Location: Northern Indiana (five locations)
In what is perhaps the oldest undefeated eating challenge in the country, the Kitchen Sink challenge at J&J's Pizza Shack in Indiana has confounded eaters for 27 years. The pizza is the brainchild of John Bogdan, the now-retired founder of J&J's, who created the 16-inch round deep-dish pizza, It includes sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers, onions, green olives, black olives, ham, Canadian bacon, bacon bits, and mozzarella cheese; it weighs about 6 pounds and must be completed within one hour.
Kim S., the manager at the Lake Station restaurant, says the Kitchen Sink is an extremely popular dish for J&J's, because most orders are for groups and corporate events. In fact, The Kitchen Sink is the restaurant's best-selling specialty pizza.
The pizza, which is intended to feed four to six people, has an estimated two to three challengers per year, and at least 100 people have attempted the challenge in the history of J&J's. Surprisingly, the closest anyone has come in recent history to finishing the pizza was a 12-year-old girl, who ate 16 of the 20 pieces before she had to give in.
"When someone does try, the wait staff is all curious, because we really want to see someone do it," says Kim. And, what does someone win if they do finish off the pie? They don't have to pay the bill - the $27.55 pizza is free.
Note: The pizza pictured left is not the challenge pizza, but a normal-sized "Kitchen Sink" from J&J's.
The Hail Mary Challenge
Restaurant: Stadium Grill
Location: Columbia, Missouri
Since opening in August 2009, Stadium Grill in Columbia, Missouri has been offering the "Hail Mary Challenge," which involves finishing the "Unnecessary Roughness," a massive burger measuring an impressive 8 inches high. Restaurant manager Joe Collins says more than 150 challengers have attempted to conquer the burger, including competitive eater Randy Santel. All have failed.
The Unnecessary Roughness includes five-plus pounds of meat, including griddled burgers, bacon, and pulled pork, three cheeses, onion rings, and fried eggs, all stacked between two buns. To complete the challenge, a contender not only must finish the burger but also polish off a full pound of French fries, all within 60 minutes. If someone can conquer The Hail Mary challenge, they will be rewarded with their meal on the house (a $50 value) and $50 in food and drink every month for a year. Best of all, you will become legend in your own time: The Stadium Grill will name the burger after the first victor.
Collins says the burger does a good job of bringing business to the restaurant. "We display it on the weekends for people to see, and we'll sometimes display it out in front of the door." Those that do order it are most likely to share it with friends. "That's not part of the challenge," says Collins, but he's happy to sell it anyway he can.
http://shine.yahoo.com/shine-food/5-undefeated-eating-challenges-171400230.html
Monday, November 14, 2011
Ashton Kutcher's Tweet-Too-Soon and the Quality of Speed
The Penn State scandal left a lot of people blind sided, and no one more so than Ashton Kutcher. AsKashmir Hill describes in her ‘Google before you tweet’ post, Kutcher was tragically behind the news in a medium where, to quote a conversation I had with Forbes Chief Product Officer Lewis DVorkin, “Speed is Quality.”* Kutcher’s speed and immediacy has indeed been an important quality of his online success, since few genuine celebrities are willing to ride bareback as he has on Twitter.
The Penn State scandal left a lot of people blind sided, and no one more so than Ashton Kutcher. AsKashmir Hill describes in her ‘Google before you tweet’ post, Kutcher was tragically behind the news in a medium where, to quote a conversation I had with Forbes Chief Product Officer Lewis DVorkin, “Speed is Quality.”* Kutcher’s speed and immediacy has indeed been an important quality of his online success, since few genuine celebrities are willing to ride bareback as he has on Twitter.
But Kutcher’s quick retraction and promise to have his tweets vetted by his PR company didn’t salvage his reputation as much as slowing down a bit and reflecting (in public) on his need for speed would have. As online content producers, we’re all in this position of balancing our concern for propagation (now, now, now!) vs. persistance (and then, and then, and then…) Barring a takedown of the internet by Conficker, what you post or tweet will be with you forever. No question, the odds of something embarrassing surfacing in front of a potential employer, a curious electorate or future father-in-law can always be cut down by some prophylactic Googling. But slowing down is in itself a quality and one that can lead to better content, especially in its persistant form.
I’m a busy guy , and I don’t post as often or as immediately as I would like to. And though I sometimes feel like I’m letting the team down, many times I find that if I wait a beat something will emerge that gives me an original angle on something that I would have missed if I felt compelled to file immediately.
As a case in point, I write a blog for the City of Portland, Maine, calledLiveWork Portland that promotes the creative economy here to artists and entrepreneurs from away who might consider relocating to Portland. Last weekend I was covering a creative economy conference in Camden, Maine, called Juice 3.0. I wanted to write a post about what was distinctive about the creative entrepreneurs that I met at the conference and the kind of innovation culture that I see developing in Maine. Sure enough, a few days after the conference, The New Yorker shows up in my mailbox (yes, the physical magazine, not the app!) and Malcolm Gladwell has an article about Steve Jobsas a “tweaker.”
Gladwell’s point about Jobs is that his “sensibility was editorial, not inventive. His gift lay in taking what was in front of him … and ruthlessly refining it.” But even more important than his revisionist recasting of Jobs’ creative genius (still formidable) is his description of the origins of the Industrial Revolution in England:
One of the great puzzles of the industrial revolution is why it began in England. Why not France, or Germany? Many reasons have been offered. Britain had plentiful supplies of coal, for instance. It had a good patent system in place. It had relatively high labor costs, which encouraged the search for labor-saving innovations. In an article published earlier this year, however, the economists Ralf Meisenzahl and Joel Mokyr focus on a different explanation: the role of Britain’s human-capital advantage—in particular, on a group they call “tweakers.” They believe that Britain dominated the industrial revolution because it had a far larger population of skilled engineers and artisans than its competitors: resourceful and creative men who took the signature inventions of the industrial age and tweaked them—refined and perfected them, and made them work.In 1779, Samuel Crompton, a retiring genius from Lancashire, invented the spinning mule, which made possible the mechanization of cotton manufacture. Yet England’s real advantage was that it had Henry Stones, of Horwich, who added metal rollers to the mule; and James Hargreaves, of Tottington, who figured out how to smooth the acceleration and deceleration of the spinning wheel; and William Kelly, of Glasgow, who worked out how to add water power to the draw stroke; and John Kennedy, of Manchester, who adapted the wheel to turn out fine counts; and, finally, Richard Roberts, also of Manchester, a master of precision machine tooling—and the tweaker’s tweaker. He created the “automatic” spinning mule: an exacting, high-speed, reliable rethinking of Crompton’s original creation. Such men, the economists argue, provided the “micro inventions necessary to make macro inventions highly productive and remunerative.”
And there I had it! That was my lead, that was my angle. What I had seen at the Juice conference was that the intersection of the creative economy and the innovation economy in Maine was being powered by a larger than average concentration of “tweakers.” What I have found in Portland and now in this network of innovation clusters spreading throughout the state is that kind of engineering of the possible that powered the Industrial Revolution and could well power the Post-Industrial one. And not only that. Just as I managed to get Ashton Kutcher into the headline and the lead of this post (quite organically, I think) I managed to get Steve Jobs into the LiveWork Portland post!
Paradoxically, learning to slow down can help you speed up when you need to. Years ago, I studied tai chi with the great William C.C. Chen, in New York. I was surprised to find out that many of Chen’s senior students were boxers and that the ultimate goal of this slow, peaceful, controlled movement was fighting. But sure enough, if you speed up those slow arm and leg movements you’ve got some dynamite punches and kicks at your disposal.
* See Lewis’s inaugural post at Forbes where he says , “In the ruckus of the online universe, quality is evolving. Right now, it’s more about timeliness.”
Stalked Steve Jobs - Christine Comaford
I Stalked Steve Jobs (And How To Get A Meeting With ANY VIP)
I was a young CEO and I needed answers. Steve Jobs had them. There was only one thing to do.
So I sent a FedEx letter.
Then I sent another.
Then I started calling.
Then I sent another FedEx, and called some more. Finally, after 7 FedExs and 12 phone calls, Steve’s assistant said he wanted to talk with me.
“You keep sending FedExs and calling. So let’s end it. What do you want?” Steve said, with his characteristic charm.
“Five minutes of your time. I really admire your accomplishments and as a young CEO I have a few questions no one else can answer.”
“Bring a timer.”
“I will. Oh—and thanks.”
He had already hung up.
My surface agenda was to get 5 minutes of advice, watch how Steve’s mind worked, bask in his brilliance, then have a breakthrough.
My subterranean agenda was to find hope again. It was the early 1990’s and I’d left my engineering post at Microsoft. I was depressed and wanted to know why we weren’t really changing the world as fast and as well as we could. Windows hadn’t deeply changed people, hadn’t deeply helped. Wasn’t technology supposed to do that? All I saw were the limitations of software, hardware, peripherals. I’d left feeling frustrated after years of 12-14 hour days pounding code that refused to become bug free.
Remember those chunky white metal kitchen timers from your childhood? The ones with the dial and the ticka ticka ticka sound and the “bing!” ringer? Two weeks later, timer in hand, I shaked Steve’s hand and set the dial for 5 minutes. We’re at a dark conference table at NeXT. He is slouching at the head of the table, to my right. Ticka ticka ticka.
I won’t bore you with the questions I asked, they were mere prompts to get Steve talking. What I do want you to know is that during this conversation, which was almost 18 years ago, Steve shared his vision of the future.
And it was glorious. He described a world where our computers were so seamlessly integrated into our lives that everything we needed was easily accessible. He described the iPod, iPad, iPhone nearly 2 decades before they hit the market. I watched how his brain moved—without limitation—from what might enhance a customer’s life, to what that would mean to them and how they would benefit, to how this would change the world.
He didn’t question that whatever he envisioned could, and would, be created. He didn’t agonize over whether current limitations would hold him back.
I could feel my brain expanding, it felt so big around Steve, so open and limitless. I was tracking him, following his twists, turns, expansions. I felt so smart around him, and it was glorious and freeing and…
Ticka ticka ticka ding! My five minutes was up. I rose to leave, bowing a little as I backed away.
“I’m not done with you yet. Sit down.”
And zoom! We were back in brain expansion mode immediately, flying into the future, the wind blowing our hair, everything possible, everything important. And we needed to create it. It was our destiny.
Forty five minutes later Steve released me. Sitting in my overheated car in the sunny Redwood City parking lot, my head bursting with the remarkable, complex, complete vision of Steve Jobs in my head, I made a commitment.
I would no longer see barricades. Stumbling blocks would now be seen as stepping stones to something better, or something to crawl over or walk around. Previous limitations would now be a mere triviality, at worst a slight inconvenience. There were insanely great things to create and we were here to create them and that’s all there was to it. All thoughts to the contrary were irrelevant.
I was a young CEO and I needed answers. Steve Jobs had them. There was only one thing to do.
So I sent a FedEx letter.
Then I sent another.
Then I started calling.
Then I sent another FedEx, and called some more. Finally, after 7 FedExs and 12 phone calls, Steve’s assistant said he wanted to talk with me.
“You keep sending FedExs and calling. So let’s end it. What do you want?” Steve said, with his characteristic charm.
“Five minutes of your time. I really admire your accomplishments and as a young CEO I have a few questions no one else can answer.”
“Bring a timer.”
“I will. Oh—and thanks.”
He had already hung up.
My surface agenda was to get 5 minutes of advice, watch how Steve’s mind worked, bask in his brilliance, then have a breakthrough.
My subterranean agenda was to find hope again. It was the early 1990’s and I’d left my engineering post at Microsoft. I was depressed and wanted to know why we weren’t really changing the world as fast and as well as we could. Windows hadn’t deeply changed people, hadn’t deeply helped. Wasn’t technology supposed to do that? All I saw were the limitations of software, hardware, peripherals. I’d left feeling frustrated after years of 12-14 hour days pounding code that refused to become bug free.
Remember those chunky white metal kitchen timers from your childhood? The ones with the dial and the ticka ticka ticka sound and the “bing!” ringer? Two weeks later, timer in hand, I shaked Steve’s hand and set the dial for 5 minutes. We’re at a dark conference table at NeXT. He is slouching at the head of the table, to my right. Ticka ticka ticka.
I won’t bore you with the questions I asked, they were mere prompts to get Steve talking. What I do want you to know is that during this conversation, which was almost 18 years ago, Steve shared his vision of the future.
And it was glorious. He described a world where our computers were so seamlessly integrated into our lives that everything we needed was easily accessible. He described the iPod, iPad, iPhone nearly 2 decades before they hit the market. I watched how his brain moved—without limitation—from what might enhance a customer’s life, to what that would mean to them and how they would benefit, to how this would change the world.
He didn’t question that whatever he envisioned could, and would, be created. He didn’t agonize over whether current limitations would hold him back.
I could feel my brain expanding, it felt so big around Steve, so open and limitless. I was tracking him, following his twists, turns, expansions. I felt so smart around him, and it was glorious and freeing and…
Ticka ticka ticka ding! My five minutes was up. I rose to leave, bowing a little as I backed away.
“I’m not done with you yet. Sit down.”
And zoom! We were back in brain expansion mode immediately, flying into the future, the wind blowing our hair, everything possible, everything important. And we needed to create it. It was our destiny.
Forty five minutes later Steve released me. Sitting in my overheated car in the sunny Redwood City parking lot, my head bursting with the remarkable, complex, complete vision of Steve Jobs in my head, I made a commitment.
I would no longer see barricades. Stumbling blocks would now be seen as stepping stones to something better, or something to crawl over or walk around. Previous limitations would now be a mere triviality, at worst a slight inconvenience. There were insanely great things to create and we were here to create them and that’s all there was to it. All thoughts to the contrary were irrelevant.
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