Did you know toy makers have a terrible time selling anything in the months following Christmas? It seemed fairly obvious to me the first time I read that, but fascinating part is how they deal with it.

Toy makers start with advertising a new toy at the beginning of December so kids get hyper than they already are for the latest and greatest toy to show off to their friends. So all these kids run around informing their parents that they want this toy and of course their parents (or relatives) make a promise.

These toy companies then only release very few numbers of this particular toy that they so heavily advertised. Why? So they can sell off other [inferior] toys during this time period. Parents have to settle for the other toys, because there aren’t any of the “good” toys to be found,

Magically after Christmas, toy manufacturers stock stores with the toy originally advertised in early December. The parents, realizing they previously promised, proceed to buy it for their child. That, my friends, is influence.

But back to my original reason for this post. Social proof.

I was driving through town today and something got me thinking. An intersection’s light turned yellow just as I was entering. Looking through my rear-view mirror, 2 cars – neck and neck and a good 15 to 20 car lengths behind me – both ran it.

Would they each have ran it if the other car wasn’t there?

This Influence book speaks about the Bystander Effect. To put it simply, it’s the phenomenon that if other people around are (or not) doing something, it’s natural for others in the vicinity to do the same. ie: If someone is stopped on the side of the road in a busy area, the chances of someone stopping to help is astronomically lower than if there is only one person around.

To link this in with my original point… Would these cars have ran the light if they weren’t neck and neck? It’s impossible to say for sure, but there’s a good chance they wouldn’t have. Being neck and neck could have had each of the drivers thinking “Well, this other car is going through the light, so it must be okay that i do as well.” It’s no longer being thought of as being legal or morally wrong, but rather if it’s the norm for that particular point in time.

What are your thoughts? Leave a comment below.

From: http://piranhaa.net/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=canada_supplements

So I’ve gotten pretty tired of all these supplement companies in Canada screwing us around with artificial price fixing.

Example: Animal Paks. Base price in the USA: $23. In Canada: $57. I’ve noticed in stores this number can be closer to $80. Sure, there’s a little overhead such as shipping and the dollar exchange, but do you expect that number to be 2.5 TIMES MORE?

This is a list I’ve compiled of the cheapest supplement stores to order from when ordering from Canada. This list will be updated on a continual basis to best reflect the newest pricing. I hope it can provide some value to all of you looking at purchasing supplements.
The Stores

FitnessOne – They charge taxes up front, so no surprises at the door. Shipping is very reasonable even for small orders.

True Protein – The KING of bulk supplements. They use high standard supplements and will even provide documentation of test done to prove the amount they say on the label is the real amount inside. They don’t carry everything (yet), but they’re extremely fast and price are outstanding.

Use the coupon code at TrueProtein: AWC917 for an extra 5% off your order – or 10% off if ordering 16lbs or more of whey protein.

iHerb – Ordered my first order from them (in Nov ’09). Their shipping rates are very reasonable. They ship USPS, so the only charges at the door from Canada post is $5 + taxes (if it’s over a certain amount). My last order was $47CDN, but I never got charged anything.

EJO886 at iHerb checkout to receive $5 off your first order at iHerb.com
The Supplements

Animal Pak:

*
USA: $23 for 44 paks Link Here
*
Canada: $57 for 44 paks Link Here

ZMAs:

*
USA: $15 for 180 capsules Link Here
*
Canada: $23 for 90 capsules Link Here

Vitamin D:

*
USA: $10 for 240 – 2000IU Gel capsules Link Here
*
Canada: $10 for 90 – 1000IU Gel capsules (Popeyes In-store)
*
Canada: $8 for 180-1000IU Link Here
*
NOTE: This is 6 times as much for about the same price. A small exchange rate, shipping is about the same, and 6 times more product.

I used a disposable email address on CBC’s website a little while ago and didn’t think too much of it. Today I received an email from www.up0.net trying to sell me Immunity-FX crap. It says I’m subscribed to “Afexa Life Sciences Inc.” , yet I’ve NEVER heard of this company in my life. Doing a Google search for the email address I used resulted in no results – meaning I never posted the actual address on a comment or anything.

I’ve contacted CBC via their web form about the issue and I’ll keep the blog updated with what they send back.

UPDATE: No response as of yet. Submitted a SECOND complaint now and still waiting. I’m hoping people get fired over this. This is what I sent:
I have not heard back from my first complaint, so I’m sending in another to ensure it gets answered.

Someone may either email me at …… or call me on my cellphone @ ….

UPDATE 2:This is my THIRD attempt to contact CBC and have not received any notification back. I am not very happy with the way CBC is handling this complaint. Here it is again.

Someone may either email me at ……. or call me on my cellphone @ …

UPDATE 3:
This is my FOURTH attempt to contact CBC and have not received any notification back. I am not very happy with the way CBC is handling this complaint. I would also like a response on what CBC’s online privacy policy is regarding handing out email addresses to marketers.

Someone may either email me at … or call me on my cellphone @ …

From http://www.intensemuscle.com/101628-post61.html

1 – First Important Lesson – Cleaning Lady. During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until I read the last one: “What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?” Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.”Absolutely,” said the professor. “In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say “hello.” I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

2. – Second Important Lesson – Pickup in the Rain One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car. A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab. She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man’s door. To hi s surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A special note was attached.. It read: “Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband’s bedside just before he passed away… God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others.” Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole.

3 – Third Important Lesson – Always remember those who serve. In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. “How much is an ice cream sundae?” he asked. “Fifty cents,” replied the waitress. The little boy pulled is hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it. “Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?” he inquired. By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient. “Thirty-five cents,” she brusquely replied. The little boy again counted his coins. “I’ll have the plain ice cream,” he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies.. You see, he couldn’t have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.

4 – Fourth Important Lesson. – The obstacle in Our Path. In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand! Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

5 – Fifth Important Lesson – Giving When it Counts…Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hspital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare & serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, “Yes I’ll do it if it will save her.” As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, see ing the color returning to her cheek. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, “Will I start to die right away”. Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.

Cocksucker. Wow, I’ve never written that word before; hardly ever said that word before but given that it’s gotten so much use lately, I thought I’d take it out for a spin. Cocksucker. Not bad, but as a word it’s remarkably devoid of subtlety. It’s like using a sledgehammer to open a steamed clam when a butter knife would do the trick.

I first started thinking about the word when it was uttered about a dozen times last week on the debut of HBO’s new Western series, “Deadwood”.

Who’da thunk that word was even around back in the mid 1800’s? I expected plenty of dadburn varmints and a few consarnits, but “cock sucking whore”? Caught me completely off guard.

Another place I didn’t expect to see the word cocksucker was in a bill introduced to the House of Representatives, but sure enough there it was in between a bunch of other naughty words in H.R. 3687. The bill is designed to punish television and radio broadcasters for using profane language and the pertinent portion of the amendment decries the use of “shit”, “piss”, “fuck”, “cunt”, “asshole”, and the phrases “cock sucker”, “mother fucker”, and “ass hole”.

The bill also attempts to anticipate any usage of the preceding words:

“…compound use (including hyphenated compounds) of such words and phrases with each other or with other words or phrases, and other grammatical forms of such words and phrases (including verb, adjective, gerund, participle, and infinitive forms).”

Too bad the grammar experts forgot that a couple of those words could be used as adverbs if you get real creative. That’s fucking exquisite. What a bunch of maroons.

What’s the penalty for using any of these words? Well, the Senate wants to be able to levy a fine of $275,000 for violators but the House of Representatives, in a bold display of one-upsmanship, wants the fine to be $500,000 regardless of ability to pay.

All this hysteria because of Tittygate; all this because of a nanosecond flash of a breast on national television. One wonders if the freakin’ Taliban would have responded with such righteous vigor in similar circumstances. Somewhere in some special Hell, the Puritans are nodding in approval.

No one’s safe, either. Radio and television stations are going Mr. Rogers on us; doing everything they can to assure that no profanity or illicit image slips through. CBS plans to institute a 10-second delay during the upcoming broadcasts of the Final Four because, I dunno, the starting guard for the Syracuse Orangemen might start buggering the center for the Vanderbilt Pants Salesman in celebration after a particularly good 3-point shot. Either that, or often overzealous Dick Vitale might scream out, “Fucking A, baby! Way to sink that cocksucker!”

Or consider that Clear Channel, the Evil Empire of radio broadcasting, is looking into buying equipment that will allow a full 20-second delay just in case, I suppose, someone lets rip a particularly long litany of cuss words, one reminiscent of the one I let loose at Chris Shugart when he spilled a Yoo-Hoo down my keyboard and I had to write several Atumic Dug columns without the use of the letter “o”.

Pretty soon, they’ll even start putting a delay on children’s shows. Oops, too late. MTV plans a delay for Nickelodeon’s “U-Pick Live” game show because it’s quite possible that one group of kids would start calling the other group cunts when they sank more Nerf balls into the basket than their team.

And lo, the editing of TV shows has begun in earnest. On the episode of E.R. that aired the week after the Super Bowl, the shots of a withered old woman’s deflated breast were snipped out because a naked 90-year-old woman with tubes in her nose might be construed by the Puritans as overtly sexual. This week’s episode of “Without a Trace” had a scene where a suspect leaps out of the bathtub and starts hoofing it down the street. In a panic fueled by fear of monetary fines, it was re-edited to remove even a glimpse of the suspect’s hairy fugitive butt.

Worse yet, the fines and firings have already begun. Sandra Tsing Loh, a commentator on NPR–friggin’ NPR!—was fired because, while doing a pre-recorded monologue on sewing, she uttered a profanity and her editor forgot to bleep it. “Knit one, purl two…Fuck! Jabbed my damn finger!”

Imagine the horror the three or four children who were listening to NPR must have felt! Well, at least that Asian bitch won’t be around to hurt them anymore!

And then there’s Howard Stern. He hasn’t changed the content of his radio show in years but for some reason the FCC has suddenly decided that Howard is offensive. Ironically, hypocritically, Howard’s been fined for using some of the same language that Oprah used on her daytime TV show while discussing oral sex with teenage guests. Go figure.

To add insult to injury, Evil Empire Clear Channel took Howard off the air in six radio markets. Man, if that guy doesn’t stop with the sexual shenanigans, he’s going to lose his 8 million rabid fans…what’s that, the reason they listen to Howard is to hear sexual shenanigans? Ho-ly H.R. 3687!

It seems the FCC and Clear Channel picked on the wrong guy. Howard, except for a few minor forays into politics over the years, has been largely apolitical. No more. He’s calling for a “Million Moron March” against the current administration, vowing that he’ll be able to sway the election against President Bush. Given his demographics and his popularity, it’s quite possible he could do just that.

Most recently, Simon on “American Idol” was caught on camera resting his hand against his face–with his middle finger extended–while fellow judge Paula Abdul droned on in her usual simple-minded way. Simon and FOX are now under siege, even though his unfortunate hand pose might have been inadvertent. If it wasn’t inadvertent, good for him because someone needs to give Paula Abdul the finger.

FCC head Michael Powell, son of Colin Powell, says that H.R. 3687 “…sends a signal to the industry that the gratuitous use of such vulgar language on broadcast television will not be tolerated. We need to do this to protect the children.” (Never mind that three years ago Powell said that “…there are a lot of things children shouldn’t see, but I don’t know that I want the Government as my nanny.”)

Excuse me, Michael, Michael lapdog, but screw the children.

If the briefest glimpse of a partially denuded tit is going to upset your kid, in Howard Stern’s words, your kid’s a homo.

When I was ten years old I use to hide copies of “Playboy” and “Hustler” in the woods near my house and bicycle out to leer at them after dinner. Did I grow up depraved? Okay, bad example. Is little Chris Kochmanski, who used to accompany me to the woods, depraved? No. He’s in advertising.

And the notion that vulgar language is going to somehow render the moral fabric of the children is ludicrous. I mean, what actually is a swear word or cuss word? Why is the word fellatio more acceptable than blow job or for that matter, cock sucker? It all means the same glorious thing. Why is anus more acceptable than ass hole? I don’t get it. They’re just words that were deemed profane by tight-assed white men who in life were quite composed but who are now decomposed.

I’ve got an idea; I’m going to make up a word and declare that it’s vulgar. Let’s see…okay, I’ve got it. From now on, the word schnookie-pookie is obscene. And since most profanity has to do with body parts or sexual function, a schnookie-pookie is when making love, a girl sticks a finger up the guy’s butt. The two of you are deep in the throes of carnal love when all of a sudden, out of the blue, schnookie-pookie!

If you really want to complain about children being exposed to vulgarity, take a look at junior’s CD collection. Take a listen to something by 50 Cent, or my favorite, Peaches. Why don’t the Feds go after them?

I better shut up because that’s probably their next step.

If I had a kid, I wouldn’t care if I caught him looking at picture of a dwarf giving a hummer to a goat. Believe me, if you raise a kid right; teach him to be honest, non-violent unless there’s no other alternative, and respectful of all life, believe me, he won’t be pleasuring sheep for pay when he grows up, regardless of whether he’s a dwarf or not.

This is a scary situation and the next place that this Western Taliban could attack is the Internet. It’s more than possible—it’s quite likely. There’s even a little publicized Porn Czar in Washington now whose job it is to “clean up” the Internet. What’s even scarier is what he and people like him will label as porn or harmful to children. It’s like my mother who once, in a cleaning frenzy, Ajaxed my baseball that was autographed by the entire 1968 World Series Champion Detroit Tigers. I saw all that ink as valuable beyond words but to her it was just dirt to be erased. Wiped clean were the memories, the sweat, the history, and all that was left was a perfectly white baseball.

Combine all this hysteria with the recent crusades against ephedra and pro-hormones and what we’ve got is a not-so gradual erasure of our personal freedoms. What’s next? Make masturbation illegal? Sure, take away all my hobbies; take away all that’s dear to me.

I hope this is just election year bullshit. The alternative is just too fucking depressing to contemplate. I hope it’s nothing more than the Puritanical cause of the moment and things go back to normal and the First Amendment is again considered a pretty important and wonderful thing.

If that happens, I’ll go back to giving the Puritans the same time-honored advice that’s worked well for decades; I’ll even write it in Puritan-ese so that they can more easily understand it:

If what thee are watching offends thee, switch thee the channel.

© 1998 — 2004 Testosterone, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Worldwide use of this social application has been increasing at astounding rates.  With recession numbers at multi-year lows, more and more people are turning to the one place they can feel relaxation during a time of high stress. It’s no surprise there are more than 72 million Facebook users in the United States alone.

Facebook’s Anonymous consists of a small group of individuals who want to spread the word about how much time is wasted on the popular social network.

“There are huge privacy concerns that come along with all the time people are spending on that website. It’s basically Big Brother keeping track of you at all times” says Samantha Grey, the leader of the new group, “surely the government will find ways to obtain access to that gold mind of information, without a court order.”

The popularity has grown exponentially, especially in the mobile use department.

“Everywhere I look, people have their heads down and completely out of tune with the world around them,” Steve Henderson – the co-founder of the new group said, “People are totally out of touch with reality and their social skills are diminishing at alarming rates. I fear our society’s social downfall, will ironically, be from a social website. Just the other day a young lady fell into an open manhole while browsing Facebook on her mobile phone.” Steve is speaking of this article.

It’s unclear whether or not the group will turn their focus into more a more general area, including other popular sites such as Twitter, Myspace, or Nexopia, or strictly focus on Facebook for now. The group is still working on straightening out legal documentation, but hopes to be ready to be taking sign-ups starting early 2010.

Anyways, it can be found Here

Enjoy!

These are terms people used to find your blog.

Yesterday:
chimpanzee testicles
chimpanzee shaved male

If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. This isn’t an easy game for anyone, even the guys who progress quickly. This is because it all slows down in time. It just happens to be different times for all of us. If you can’t handle it, then try the Stairmaster and stay the hell out of the weight room! The rest of us have work to do and don’t need your negative ass in the way.”

From Bustin’ Ass 101 by Dave Tate.

Pick a mediocre weight. You may need to swallow some man-pride here, cause you sure as hell won’t be doing as much as you do with the 1/4 MAX ROM (Range of Motion) you normally use for calves. It’s okay, the little girlies you’re chasing at the gym will only laugh at you AFTER you fall on the ground from the pain. Make sure no sharp objects are around you, cause you’re going to fall to the ground shortly after finishing up your first time trying this.

• Use the standing calf machine
• Do an explosive rep upwards (as fast as you can) and as high up as you can go with your calves
• Do a 5 second negative (Count to 5 as you come down slowly)
• Hold at the VERY BOTTOM of the movement for 15 seconds
• Repeat for 10-12 reps

Seems easy? Ha! This is only a fraction of what a true DoggCrapp trainer does. Want to up the intensity, just a little bit? Pretend you’re trying to touch your toes to your shins while you’re holding the weight at the bottom – sinking your heels into the floor. You’re killing 2 birds with one stone here. You’re getting a terrific ROM and ensuring maximum muscle growth, while stretching your muscle. Sure it takes 4 minutes, but you don’t have to stretch your calves again … at least not until next time you go at this exercise.

If you’re not crying, not walking straight, or not getting any noticable gains in a matter of weeks, you are either superman (and your calves can’t possibly grow any larger), or you’re really not doing them properly.