Fan Brands to decorate your barbecue grill

Here's something different for your next BBQ: brand your steak, chicken or pork with the logo of your favorite sports team. Whatever will they think of next?!

But actually, fan brands are not new. After a successful initial launch in 2002, Fan Brands Logo Branding Irons came under new management in summer 2005 when purchased by leading sports manufacturer Fan Mats.

Luckily, there's nothing as hot and unwieldly to handle as a traditional branding iron; just lay your meat on the grill where the fanbrand logo is already heating. Fan brands are available for NFL, MLB, and select collegiate logos at major retailers in America.

Somehow I seriously doubt this is a product that will be popular in Africa or Europe any time soon.

Fish love bloodworms! Find & order bloodworm

Bloodworms have a creamy pink color, as their pale skin allows their red body fluids to show through. According to Wikipedia, this is the origin of the name "bloodworm". Unless you are a Star Trek fan looking for regulan bloodworm, chances are high that if you are looking for blood worm right now, you're going fishing! Possibly you have fish in a tank and have heard how much aquarium fish thrive on bloodworm.

The best way to find bloodworm suppliers in your area online is to be very specific and include your city or area name in your google search. Or you can order from afar - there are many types available to order, from live bloodworm bait hand-harvested out of Maine to freeze dried bloodworm for tank fish.

Have a good catch!

Provigil: a new drug to make us smarter

I've been reading The Power of Now and A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, in which he proposes that that the mind is a tool, which we need to learn to use and then put aside. Now Provigil and other smart drugs offer a way to enhance the mind's effectiveness.

With the smart drug provigil, instead of getting high, you get focused. Some call it steroids for the brain, still others have dubbed provigil viagra for the mind. Wouldn't it be nice if progivil could make us smart enough to solve some of the world's pressing problems?

But thinking deeper... what will this kind of brain enhancement opportunity lead to? Will there be a new wave of academic doping? Peer pressure to take it at work? The New York Times offers an interesting review of the ethics at play. Johann Hari blogs eloquently about his personal experience.

Picher oklahoma, Picher okla, Picher ok tornado damage

In Picher Oklahoma, a twister damaged a 20-block area yesterday. At least 10 people died in Picher and the death toll could rise there.

Google news results are changing by the minute as new updates on the Picher area tornadoes are posted. AFP reports 11 dead and severely damaged buildings in oklahoma and missouri. Associated Press reports 19 dead including an infant. May they rest in peace.

Aztec Rex - not another teen movie!

At the top[ of the google hot trends today, Aztec Rex is a movie showing on the SciFi channel in May about the untold story of the first scouting expedition to central Mexico by imperialist colonizer Hernán Cortes and a small band of soldiers in 1522. They are captured by an Aztec tribe who placate the last remaining Tyrannosaurus rexes in the valley with virgin sacrifices. FANGORIA® - America's Horror Magazine has a full review of what promises to be a satisfying gore fest for horror film lovers.

Like USA Today's critic Robert Bianco said, "The question is whether it's fun awful or just awful awful, and you can only find the answer by watching." Not really my style of film, but at least it's not another teen movie

YoThatDopePic.com and BusyPeoplePics.com - same predator, new scam?

It's a jungle out there! Scams and lies, viruses, spies, trojans... it truly saddens me that there are human hearts out there behind the dangers we face. This unnecessary aggression against people's peace of mind in the name of getting rich online is so very cruel.

Surfers and social networkers please beware of ANY message you receive saying your picture or information about you already appears on a website somewhere. YoThatDopePic.com and BusyPeoplePics.com are just two of the dangerous predators out there right now. The jungle is not quieting down, so be sure to always protect yourself when you go out networking and surfing. The lions are showing us that they will go anywhere to trick you into voluntarily giving them your information. It's not just about email anymore.

To avoid being attacked, do NOT provide any information to a website that already claims to have something on you without doing a thorough google search to find out about them. The Yo that dope pic scam and the busy people pics scam appear to be part of the same effort, if not the exact same thing.

Now that you are aware, please be sure to tell your friends about this new breed of online predator so that they don't fall into the trap either.

Busy people beware - your pics are NOT on busypeoplepics.com

Frightening and sad, but true - social network users are falling prey to a new wave of viral scam-spam designed just for them. One of the latest stories is the busypeoplepics.com scam website.

Ironically, one of the top results that comes up in google when you search for busypeoplepics.com is not the website itself, but a page from Digg that links you to the site. This is a really scary thing, so watch out. When you see a social network link to the busy people pics site, just don't go there.

According to All the Latest News, it works something like this:

1. You get a fake message from an online friend (they already fell for the scam) saying “is this u on busypeoplepics.com?” and the message includes a little javascript file that plugs your profile pic right into the message.
   
   
2. When you visit the busypeoplepics site, they use an automated script that grabs your email and password, which then goes and logs in as you on whatever site you told them you were referred from.
   
   
3. The scam script then sends out hourly batches of bulletins, emails, comments, etc. to all your friends with the same message about your pics being on this site.
   
   
4. Next, the busypeoplepics site tries to scam you into giving up more than just your email and password by scamming you into thinking that the “friend” who referred you to has reserved you a “free gift” like a ringtone or a cellphone.
   
   
5. Supposedly, you can’t see your pics until you take care of the free gift. They try to dupe you into signing up for a music club or a Blockbuster video membership just to be able to see your pics on this scam website.
   
   
6. Ultimately, you find that you can’t get to any pics on the site because there aren’t any. Oh yeah, then you find there are no “free gifts” either.
   
   
7. Then the next round of spam and scam starts, usually switching to a brand new website because there’s any angry mob of victims in hot pursuit.

This spam and scam routine has been going on for two years, but these scammers are now attacking social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook with huge volumes of fake messages.

Beware, and take care!

Do you (or your kids) watch Chasing Zoey? Here's what kids think the oneowin sweepstakes codes are

It's lovely to see kids collaborating online to figure out the Chasing Zoey oneowin Sweepstakes codes.

Over at YahooAnswers, kids who watch Chasing Zoey are answering the following questions:

• What were the oneowin codes for May 1?
• What was the oneowin code for May 2?

There's also an official Chasing Zoey thread at TV.com

At nick.com/oneowin, kids can read all about the Chasing Zoey One-O-Win Sweepstakes, and enter the codes to win.

Sorry - doesn't look like there is any way to watch Chasing Zoey online. If you (or your kids) missed it you will need to find a friend who is willing to tell you what the one-o-win Sweepstakes code at the end of the show was.

Datasettlement.com to the rescue for millions of US consumers

Ouch! Millions of US consumers are affected b y this identity theft case. Are you one of them?

A notification program began today in the United States and Puerto Rico, as ordered by the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida (the "Court"), to alert people who

had a credit card;

paid by check for an online or phone purchase;

got cash at a casino;

or had a check that bounced or was returned,

about a proposed settlement reached with Certegy Check Services, Inc. and Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (together called "Certegy" or the "Defendants") in a class action lawsuit about stolen personal and financial information. Preliminary approval of the settlement was granted by the Court on March 21, 2008.

The lawsuit claims that a senior database administrator employed by Certegy took confidential information of millions of consumer's records and sold them to a third party for marketing purposes. Certegy fired the employee when the incident was discovered. The lawsuit further alleges that Certegy did not adequately protect confidential personal and financial information of its clients. Certegy denies that it did anything wrong, and the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing or an indication that any law was violated.

The Class includes anyone in the United States and Puerto Rico whose credit card, debit card, checking or demand deposit account numbers or information was included in multiple databases. This includes millions of consumers who were previously notified by their financial institution or Certegy that their personal and/or financial information was stolen.

A toll-free number, 1-877-580-9770, has been established in the case (called Lockwood v. Certegy Check Services, Inc. No. 8:07-cv-1434-T-23TGW), along with a website, http://www.datasettlement.com/, where notices, claim forms, and the settlement agreement may be obtained. Those affected may also write to Data Settlement, PO Box 3410, Portland, OR 97208-3410.

Full article @ Earthtimes.org

Whatever would the Kentucky Derby be without the Mint Julep?

The official mint julep recipe- The mint julep has been the traditional beverage of Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby for over a century. Click to visit the Kentucky Derby website for their official recipe (branded with a specific whiskey I see... hmmm) ...

Churchill to debut world's largest mint julep - 30 Apr 2008

This weekend, Churchill Downs will display the world's largest mint julep. A 6-foot-tall acrylic glass filled with Early Times Mint Julep will be located in .. hmmm there's that brand of whiskey again. The world's largest hmmm? How perfectly american.

Mint Julep Cupcakes

For those who want to drink your mint julep and eat it too. Ingredients: 1/2 cup flour 1/2 cup sugar 3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature 1/4 cup milk 1/4 cup bourbon 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 egg, at room temperature 3 tablespoons minced fresh mint derby frosting ... ok, if we're only supposed to use one brand of whiskey here, I think I'm going to get angry. I'm not even gonna look at the link. But if you want to try mint julep cupcakes, you should!

World’s Most Expensive Mint Julep Cup - To celebrate the 35th anniversary of Secretariat’s victory in Kentucky Derby 99, Woodford Reserve is selling “the world’s most expensive mint julep... cup”. OK, so does it necessarily follow that the most expensive Mint Julep Cup is one in the same as the largest one mentioned above?

When it comes to Mint Julep, is bigger necessarily better? I wonder what the horses think about all this.

the legend of sleepy hollow and rip van winkle wake up after nearly 200 years

Washington Irving's the Legend of Sleepy Hollow awakes after a Rip van Winkle like doze, and maybe it all happened differently than we were taught... meanwhile Barrack Obama gets slurred as Rip van Winkle for stuff that happened 20 years ago? Interesting examples of how old urban legends and fairy tales persist throughout 200 years of reality. Any ideas out there on what Washington Irving might have really been trying to tell us?

Download & watch the full length Legend of Sleepy Hollow movie at zml

Buy the original Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip van Winkle at Amazon

Bonus: 'HEADLESS HORSEMAN' STREAMING DVD COMMENTARY

And so ourwwworld begins

Thank you to everyone who visits this blog! My intention is to donate the ad revenue from ourwwworld to the Life in Africa childrens programs in Kampala and Gulu, Uganda.

See http://www.ned.com/group/lia-global/news/5/ for more regular updates from Life in Africa's weekend lunch club program for war affected children, and have a really great day today!