Son of a Beekeeper

Lenzr Photo Contest for Mobile App Developer, Natural Medicine Clinic and Car Insurance Quotes

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:18:00 -0500

Lenzr is really hot in the cold month of December 2009, just look at these amazing contests that task shutterbugs to scour their collections in search of strange images. The competitions are really very imaginative and very compelling.

Ontario Tourist Attractions 2 comes courtesy of Kanetix.ca, an online car insurance quote finder that specializes in helping Canadians get the lowest automobile insurance rates by using the comparative powers of the internet to execute powerful online searches.

Macro Photos of Life is sponsored by a genius Canadian mobile app developer and the prize is an EAT LOCAL Eastern Ontario wine tour and breweries tour that includes one night accommodation at a luxury Trenton Ontario b&b made almost entirely out of pine timber, and two wholesome locally produced meals.

Medicinal Plants in Nature celebrates the healing properties of wild herbs and flowers and roots and gums - these medicinal plants grow everywhere and the photographer that can make the best one wins a prize courtesy of a natural medicine clinic in Toronto and Muskoka Ontario Canada. The PRIZE is $330 dollars worth of Neal’s Yard Remedies.

Give a click and check out this amazing festival of flowers and fauna and fun tourist attractions. Contest open to all Canadians (except residents of Quebec) that are 13 years old and older. Give it a try!

Toronto wedding cakes photo game

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:41:00 -0500

There was a time when I had a lot of potential to live a normal life and find a girl and marry her and have a family. The ceremony would be complete with a giant pastry from Toronto wedding cakes to eat chocolate or raspberry or peaches or sugar icing and kindness. Served on porcelain plates with savory vanilla cream sauce and little bits of shredded cheese melting into a warm sugar gravy.

That’s when I woke from my day dream and vision of sugar plums and other confectionaries went transparent in the heat of some new online excitement - i love websites that let me gamble money and yet I loath casinos because I just dont trust them. But I’ve found a photo game called Mazoolo that presents visitors with the interactive challenge of voting on other people’s pictures while nervously waiting the results of their own work and yes this activity can yield real cash, but only if you wager Paypal funds on your own photos. Otherwise the tokens are free.

Members of Mazoolo don’t need to seek out contests for their photos – the website admin does that for them. It also reports daily how many contests their photos have won, placed second or third (or fourth or fifth - there are five photos in every match). I wagered 1$ Paypal against my best photo of the prettiest girl I know, Miss Teen Canada Siera Bearchell. Check out the image below to see how my photo of Siera has now won a match, lost a match, and broke even in the last three random events. This results in an overall profit of two tokens. All photos are charged one token to enter a game. When a game is done: #1 wins 2 tokens, the math: -1+2=+1 #2 wins 1.5 token,the math: -1+ 1.5=+0.5 #3 wins 1 token, the math: -1+1=0 #4 and #5 lose 1 token

myCELLmyTERMS in Financial Post!

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:58:00 -0400

myCELLmyTERMS in Financial Post!:

Fresh from CBC Dragons’ Den where they did a huge deal for $400K for a third of their company, the guys from myCELLmyTERMS.com were just interviewed today in Canada’s Financial Post.

Here’s an inside look at what it takes to start a company that will no doubt revolutionize the wireless landscape in Canada. The three big cellular service provider companies are resisting change, because they are making so much money - along comes these guys with help from Dragons Brett and Arlene to make change.

Are you getting the best cell phone deal? Are you sure?

Wise New Warranty Elephant

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:43:00 -0400

How many new products did you buy last year? How many of them are still covered by their factory warranties? Will you remember to check these products for flaws or defects before the expiry date?

Now WarrantyElephant.com will help you remember. The free email service is perfect for anyone who buys six or more new items a year, or has a messy file system habits. Warranty Elephant is a free service that always remembers the submitted information dates and sends short simple email reminders to consumers informing them exactly when their warranties are about to expire.

Check out the Warranty Elephant Blog for more insight into this smart little company and their free service.

How To Market Events in Toronto Oct 14th 2009

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:02:00 -0400

Everything Smojoe knows about how to market an event in Toronto will be revealed on Weds Oct 14th, 2009 starting at 6:00pm - 8:30pm inside the Spoke Club 600 King St W, Toronto. Get tickets in advance here they’re cheaper.

https://secure.gettickets.ca/?event=15422

Rob Campbell of Smojoe has lots of experience marketing live events online including the Miss Teen Canada-World pageant event this summer. That’s when I went on a quest to find and index all manner of web services that are built to capture local event listings, and that’s what I’ll be talking about on Weds.

Deb Lewis of City Events will headline the presentation and share years of her empiric knowledge condensed inside a handy workbook that’s being printed for distribution to attendees. Smojoe will supplement the symposium with spicy insights that showcase superior web tactics, like how to make an effective Craigslist ad etc,

Come listen Weds Oct 14th as Smojoe explains his Story Funnels to Buckstops marketing methodology. Bring your ideas to the event and share as Rob Campbell will be giving away twelve jars of Campbell’s Honey to build buzz and reward audience participation. More details on Smojoe blog.

New Lenzr Photo Contest: Ontario Tourist Attractions ends November 1st

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 17:32:00 -0400

Ontario Tourist Attractions photo contest on Lenzr sponsored by, Kanetix insurance & mortgage rate quotes, is a search for pictures that celebrate of our province’s most interesting destinations.

This web challenge hopes people will upload shots of Canada’s Wonderland, Marineland, and Ontario Place with a shot of CN Tower in the background.

Have you ever been to Upper Canada Pioneer Village in Cornwall Ontario? or Black Creek Pioneer Village in North York Ontario?

Ontario Tourist Attractions photo contest commenced Sept 2nd 2009, and will end at 12:01 am on the morning of November 1st 2009.

The Prize is American Express gift certificates. There’s a $200 value first prize, followed by a $100 second prize unit.

Time Management Guru at Bristall.com

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 22:07:00 -0400

Steven Prentice is Toronto’s best time management guru, author and public speaker. His company is the official sponsor of Lenzr’s third photo contest, Emergency in Toronto

The challenge tasks local photographers to submit pictures of Toronto’s emergency workers in action. This contest is a really difficult challenge, probably the hardest on the site this summer. It requires being ready and in the right place at the right time - you’ve got to have your camera ready!

The slightly morbid theme was selected because it best represents the idea of saving seconds, and precious moments of time - similar to the wisdom conveyed in this sponsor’s vocational seminars. Time is definitely precious to Toronto’s first response teams, and Lenzr hopes to harvest images that suggest speed and action.

The Reward? they could win a luxury watch. How exactly? Toronto police, firemen and EMS techs are good time managers, especially when responding to a crises. Photographers that capture these precious seconds could win an Esquire Verve 2020 silver-tone men’s watch with four diamonds. This timepiece has Quartz movement, is water-resistant and features a stainless steel bracelet with butterfly clasp.

Contest ends 12:01 AM on August 31st 2009

Play Safe! Please dont risk your life or anyone elses’ in your quest for the perfect photo, but if you happen to catch a three alarm fire on your way home from work…

Summer in Toronto Photo Contest for Smart Phone

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 21:05:28 -0400

Take pictures of Summer in Toronto and you could win a smart phone! This contest is wide open on Lenzr.com and unlike other challenges anything goes in this event. The winning image will probably be a magic moment on very summer day somewhere in Toronto, and it will definately be a photo that everyone really likes and gives a generous thumbs up.

Contest ends midnight August 31st, 2009 . On Lenzr.com the winning image is always the picture with the most green thumbs up at the end of the contest period.

The user that uploads the winning photo, may at the end of the contest period midnight August 31, 2009, choose any one (1) smart phones that are available in the Canadian Wireless industry, courtesy of Canada’s best cell phone plans company website. The winner picks their own smart phone - how cool is that? This offer includes but is not limited to the Palm Pre, iPhone, Blackberry, etc. More details on and you can read about the My Terms Network Inc, on Lenzr’s blog.

Lenzr = Photo Contest

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:15:00 -0400

First Lenzr Photo Contest

The first photo contest on Lenzr.com asks public to upload their best shots of Toronto’s skyline. Contest ends midnight August 31st; the winning photo, the image with the most green thumbs up, wins the prize.
The prize is a new digital camera, a Pentax Optio P70 is a 12 megapixel super compact camera with a wide-angle 4x optical zoom lens (27.5-110mm equiv.). It has a 2.7-inch LCD display, Advanced Face Detection, Smile Capture, Blink Detection, and Pixel Track Shake Reduction “to assure sharp images with low noise even in poor lighting.” The Optio P70 can also capture 720p HD video at 15 frame-per-second.

The Complaints Website As Citizen Journalism

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 10:56:30 -0400

Angry content is good content, and few categories are as compelling or infectious as user submitted complaints.

Because such a large percentage of Canadian society now has a voice, its only logical that a truly canuck customer service website should appear to harvest opinions and data from people when they are the most emotional.

Right after a customer snaps, they need to vent. When Canadians go online they end up on American sites where their remarks cant do much good (or bad) to a local homegrown company. Only local complaints websites could ever be expected to advocate on their behalf.

TellOscar.com is Canada’s first online complaints website, and it’s as cathartic as it is effective at soliciting a response from this nation’s worst business offenders.

Good complaints are an art form. This type of user submitted content is rare and precious and very readable. The best complaints websites put that angry content right up front, and remove all barriers to harvesting it on the back end. For example new users can register after they’ve recorded their beef, as part of the submission process.

Miss Teen Canada And Her Blog Army

Tue, 26 May 2009 10:19:47 -0400

Things are different this year at The Search For Miss Teen Canada World.

This year each of the contestants must keep a personal blog. In fact they are graded 10% of their final score on the quality of their web journal.

And that’s because social networking is breathing new life into the beauty pageant.

And now the pageant director actually depends upon the reigning champion to be able to manage her share of the expanding MTCW social net. Its not a one sided relationship anymore; now they are partners who go to work promoting events and sponsors together.

Katie Starke keeps a blog right on the Miss Teen Canada World website.

And all the contestants are now blogging on the Sugar blog network.

So with all this advanced social media innovation, The Search for Miss Teen Canada has become more than a beauty pageant; now it’s a real quest for an new internet celebrity to represent our nation in Houston Texas at the Miss Teen World competition in August.

The four MTCW Judges (Elmer Olsen, Lorraine Zander, Eltom John, and Clarence Ford) have been asked to award high scores to smart girls with great personalities. So believe it or not, a girl’s physical appearance is actually not that important anymore. Now the succesful candidate must indeed be a leader.

Miss Teen Canada must be able to take command of a powerful blog army.

This week’s Smojoe blog is entitled, How Smojoe Uses...

Thu, 07 May 2009 12:20:51 -0400

This week’s Smojoe blog is entitled, How Smojoe Uses Squidoo Lenses and its handcrafted by me to help readers understand Squidoo and how to bring traffic to what can be a pretty lonely place. Squidoo can help you social market your client’s diverse goods and services (and ideas) all in one place. In the blog post you will find seven social marketing tactics which you can apply to help market the Squidoo lens at the center of your next branded social net.

Beekeeper Turns Blogger On Sugar

Sun, 03 May 2009 20:14:13 -0400

A beekeeper’s blog! Don’t miss this amazing 75 year old blogger as he describes his day to day existence as a Canadian beekeeper.

Barehugs is the boss at Campbell’s Honey , which is located near Dartford Ontario Canada. Each summer this apiarist and his family unwrap their beehives, feed medicine and add supers to help the honeybees harvest the sugars from local flowers and make tasty pure honey. This summer however, something is different - now the Canadian beekeeper is blogging On the Sugar blog network.

Follow along as Mr Campbell describes the apicultural advancements necessary to make several tonnes of pure Canadian honey each season. He talks about the science and the art of beekeeping. Its a lifestyle choice that he compliments with Yoga and fresh baked bread.

Is Honey Good For You?
Years ago, I wrote an article, Is Honey Good For You? which has since become a top search result for that common question. If you’re looking for knowledge, there’s a lot of information about health and bacteria and the benefits of eating honey. There’s also a great deal of insight single variety honey - that’s honey that was made from just one flower source and its the latest craze with gourmet chefs.

2009 Toronto Bottle Show

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 08:10:13 -0400

Terry Matz of TorpedoBottle.com was all smiles when I pointed the camera at him. He collects torpedo bottles of all colours and nationalities. He’s my newest friend. You can see his interview here, and read all about the 2009 Toronto Bottle Show on Dumpdiggers.com.

This scene from the 16th annual Toronto Bottle Show in the gymnasium at Humber College on 19th August, 2009.

Understanding Umbilical Cord Blood

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:13:00 -0400

United States is poised to become a world leader in embryonic stem cell research, passing Canada by leaps and bounds.

On March 9th, 2009 US President Barack Obama reversed the federal opposition to Stem Cell research, and overturned an order imposed by former President Bush that both financially and legally limited the science. The best Canadian minds will probably migrate south, following the money, but the medical breakthroughs that result could benefit all mankind.

Stem Cells and Disease

Stem cells are thought by most scientists and researchers to hold potential cures for Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and even cancer. There’s no question that hundreds of rare immune system and genetic disorders will soon be cured by stem cell technology, and perhaps much more.

Pro-Life Opposition to Embryonic Stem Cells

Advances in embryonic stem cell research will benefit us all, but the research is not without debate. Staunch pro-lifers and most pro-life organizations regard the destruction of the blastocyst, which is a laboratory-fertilized human egg, to be the murder of human life. They believe that life begins at conception, and that destruction of this pre-born life is morally unacceptable. Induced pluripotent stem cells might mitigate some of that controversy - these cells were first produced in 2006 from mouse cells and in 2007 from human cells. This has been cited as an important advancement in stem cell research, as it may allow researchers to obtain pluripotent stem cells, which are important in research and potentially have therapeutic uses, without the controversial use of embryos.

Umbilical Cord Blood Is Much Less Controversial

Private cord blood banks do not store embryonic stem cells. Their business is to preserve newborn baby’s cord blood, up to 180mL of blood from a newborn baby that is returned to neonatal circulation if the umbilical cord is not prematurely clamped, from the delivered placenta of the mother. Cord blood collection poses no harmful risks to either the mother or the baby. This procedure does not really affect mother or baby, nor does it interfere with the process of giving birth. Cord blood contains haematopoietic (blood) stem cells, and there are already current therapies (eg bone marrow transplant) that use HSC to treat blood/immune diseases and cancers. So the banked cord blood is “useful” whether or not iPS technologies come to fruition or not.

Cord Blood Contains Adult Stem Cells

In 2005, University of Toronto researcher Peter Zandstra developed a method to increase the yield of cord blood stem cells to enable their use in treating adults as well as children.

Canadian scientists share the international community’s excitement over the new American position and increased funding policies, because the technologies to be discovered will enable North American families to use their baby’s cord blood stem cells for a wider variety of illnesses. The potential for new therapies and treatments is huge, and it’s all possible with cells harvested from biological material that up until this point in history was often thrown away, buried below a new shade tree in the backyard. It’s safe to say, each newborn baby’s cord blood could hold the secret to so many of life’s mysteries, and end so much pain and suffering without any negative moral implications. With an eye on tomorrow’s medicine, this is your family’s biological insurance policy.

Virgin Mobile says Screw You Recession

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 01:01:00 -0400

Virgin Mobile is now targeting frugal teenagers.

A funny web site called Screw You Recession encourages visitors to message money saving tips and interact with a funky custom built recession panic meter.

All joking aside, that’s actually where I learned about Freecycle and that site looks amazing, a place where good karma is currency.

Stone of Destiny opens in Canada on Friday Feb 19th, 2009...

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 17:53:00 -0500

Stone of Destiny opens in Canada on Friday Feb 19th, 2009 (limited release). This movie is based on the true story of Ian Hamilton’s Christmas morning 1950 heist, when he stole the rock from Westminster Abbey in London.

Directed by Charles Martin Smith, Stone of Destiny stars Charlie Cox, (Stardust), and Robert Carlyle of (Trainspotting, Full Monty) and some brave Scottish students that include Rab Affleck, Kate Mara and lets not forget about Billy Boyd. There’s a very cool Billy Boyd fan site here.

Z.O.S. TV Show Website Has Breakthrough Flash Game

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:22:19 -0500

Would you trust this beautiful woman? Follow her into that seedy bar and she will lead you to a criminal warlord who gives you a needle and an ounce of heroine.

Zone of Separation is a new Canadian TV show which airs Monday nights at 10 PM EST on The Movie Network (TMN), Movie Central. The show details the troubles had by international peacekeepers in the Balkans in the 1990s.

Last Tango in Jadac is a new interactive website for the television show that presents users with an interesting challenge - try to get out of town alive.

Dance Marathon At Harbourfront Starts Tonight!

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 09:25:00 -0500

Put on your best shirt and dancing shoes, and don’t forget to apply lots of underarm deordorant…

Yesterday, Dead Robot wrote about a marathon dancing event that starts tonight!

On the evening of Weds Feb 4th there’s interactive, duration-based performance dance event at Toronto Harbourfront Centre.

Come dance with me at the Toronto Dance Marathon.

This planned activity is a genuine endurance contest as well as a staged performance event, hopeful amateurs can mix with bluemouth inc. members under the direction of floor judges! Its going to be an evening of many dances.

Chocolate Basil Martini

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 05:00:51 -0500

Chocolate and basil may seem like an unlikely combination, until you try it.

Son of a beekeeper implores you to try this cocktail and discover its complimentary flavours. Unlike most chocolate cocktails, this one is not especially sweet and if prepared as suggested, has a wonderful, velvety texture. It can be served before dinner but it makes a wonderful after dinner drink, too.

Yields: 2 cocktails. Ingredients:

4 ounces quality dark ‘drinking’ chocolate

12-16 fresh sweet basil leaves

3 ounces top shelf vodka

Ice cubes

Sprigs of fresh basil leaves for garnish

This recipe also works well with fresh mint. Directions: Muddle the basil in a cocktail shaker or pint glass. Add the hot chocolate pistoles and boiling water. Stir until the chocolate pistoles have melted and let cool to room temperature. Add the vodka and ice. Shake and strain into a chilled martini glasses. Garnish with fresh basil and serve immediately. You can double, triple or quadruple this recipe and make it in advance if you’re entertaining a large group. Simply make the hot chocolate-basil base in a pitcher or blender and refrigerate until ready to use. Make sure you strain out the basil before serving!