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Squirrel Tray

post from Cooking Gadgets on 06 October 2008 08:45:16 PM. © Cooking Gadgets

This Squirrel Tray combines "magical imagery" (I was going to say "whimsical", but the product copy was so close I used it!) wiht lattice work. I was inspired by it because it somehow reminded me of Bambi, and who doesn’t love Bambi?Each tray is made of laminate applied to recycled wood core. They are made [...]

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Stumbleupon Lashes Out Against Bloggers

post from Renaissance Culinaire on 06 October 2008 05:12:00 PM. © Renaissance Culinaire

What is Stumbleupon? It is a social networking site, which allows people (i.e stumblers) to submit pages, or video or photos on the web that people can review and post whether they like or dislike the content, members can also build up a network of friends or fans that can subscribe to a stumbler's reviewed content.

Stumbleupon.com is one of the more powerful tools used for SEO, and can launch your sites into popularity by giving other stumblers the chance to view your link by referral of another stumbler - if that particular stumbler has allot of subscribers , or is highly regarded on the site - this can mean basically the equivalent to Internet gold for your site in the form of traffic. Search engines seem to love pages that are added to this service. And having your pages reviewed gives your site a better web presence.

By far stumbleupon.com has been one of the more popular sites for bloggers' to social network and get their content known, and helps to increase page views in turn adding to revenue from advertisements placed on blogs. By adding badges, stumble links and merely stumbling the very articles that fill up Stumbleupon's site, this has basically inundated Stumbleupon.com with traffic, which in turn gets them sponsors and huge advertising revenues.

Then WHY you ask is Stumbleupon.com targeting bloggers? These very same people who hurled the SU site into popularity ? How do you ask is Stumbleupon.com lashing out at bloggers?

Apparently it started with Entrecard.com. What is Entrecard? Entrecard is a blogging service that allows a widget to be placed on your blog, where people can give you Entrecard "credit" in exchange for advertising on your site., and vis a versa. Entrecard members signed into Entrecard get credit for visiting other members sites and "dropping" their ad card, by pushing on the widgetbutton that says "drop" - which lands the user's blog ad in the "recent droppers" section of the user's dashboard at Entrecard.com, or by clicking & visit the blog who's ad currently is displayed by the widget and also by adding comments to other Entrecard members' blogs.

Apparently, it started with some nefarious dealings involving bloggers posting to a forum about exchanging Entrecard credits for a stumble of their recent blog posts. Stumbleupon.com reacted by banning ALL posts referencing Entrecard from being stumbled on SU. If you do try to submit a post to stumbleupon.com , you will get redirected to this page of Banned Sites. The below pictue is a screenshot of what it says.

O.k, you may be wondering why am I posting about this? At 8:35 a.m this morning I received an email from Stumbleupon.com:

from StumbleUpon
to renaissanceculinaire (at ) gmail.com
date Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 8:37 AM
subject Your StumbleUpon account has been frozen
mailed-by stumbleupon.com

Your StumbleUpon account privileges have been restricted and the account is under review.

Accounts are placed under review for breaching our Terms of Service, which may be found here: http://www.stumbleupon.com/terms.html

The most common cause for account suspension is a contravention of the clauses which forbid the use of personal accounts for the promotion of a business, product or service, and also with regard to the sending of 'spam' messages to other members.

If you wish to appeal this suspension, having first reviewed the TOS, then you may contact us here: http://www.stumbleupon.com/feedback.php but be aware that we will only have imposed the suspension if we believe it to be warranted.

I immediately responded that I had done nothing to violate the TOS . I was NOT a business owner using SU for promoting a business; Nor was I spamming members with messages, I rarely used the message system.

I couldn't believe it. I had used, promoted and encouraged others to use Stumbleupon.com. Now my account was frozen? I went to twhirl, my twitter client that I use to post tweets to twitter, starting with "I am really tired of Legit, talented bloggers getting bullied by sites like Digg.com & Stumbleupon", because there was a slew of banned bloggers from both sites recently. Here are my typed series of tweets:

My contacts were like What? And sent replies such as "I wasn't aware there was a problem with SU", or "DDOS attack?", Some, not regular users weren't sure where I was going with the tweet.

Then I got a Direct Mail from another contact, who asked "what? Your Su account was frozen this morning?", I answered back and got his reply which said:

"everyone in the comments of my post was banned from SU this morning"

What?! That is right - because I merely posted a comment on a random blog (which was NOT a banned site on SU), I was banned from Stumbleupon.com. I hadn't even stumbled ANYTHING related to Entrecard.com, nor had I participated in receiving EC credits for stumbling any sites. Stumbleupon.com had found that random post and banned every blogger that commented on the post, from the Stumbleupon.com site.

Yes, because I am an Entrecard user, I was targeted this morning by Stumbleupon. Yesterday I noticed a tweet from one of my contacts on Twitter that mirrored the spirit of The Problogger Love-in, a social networking experiment and experience that connected bloggers using various social networking sites to each other.

I thought it was a great idea, retweeted it to my own twitter stream, and then added the first comment for that particular post. I had referenced that I had 2 blogs on Entrecard, and noted that this blog, Renaissance Culinaire, was one of them and proceeded to link to my stumbleupon profile, within the comments. I had NO idea that SU had banned Entrecard.com.

ImpNerd owner Gary Hess, the original blog where the post I had commented on, is here. All the previous comments of the recently banned members have been removed. You can view what SU's support said in response to Gary's questioning here.

Stumbleupon has gone too far. Bloggers are the life blood of SU. I was unfairly targeted, for commenting on a post related to Entrecard. I, like many other bloggers are being unfairly punished for a sketchy forum post that included a few participants. Most people do NOT even know about the ban. How long will SU be combing the Internet for linked SU profiles that are randomly, somehow by coincidence, tied to a post that references Entrecard?

blogs that flickr, renaissance culinaire, entrecard, stumbleupon, SEO, traffic, internet, banned sites by Stumbleupon, twitter, twhirl, targeting bloggers unfairly

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RenaissanceCulinaire/~3/413225793/stumbleupon-lash
es-out-against-bloggers.html

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Knossos Restaurant

post from Ya Salam Cooking on 06 October 2008 04:09:00 PM. © Ya Salam Cooking

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http://themiddleeasterncook.blogspot.com/2008/10/knossos-restaurant.html

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Fruits and Vegetables, By the Month

post from Ya Salam Cooking on 06 October 2008 03:16:00 PM. © Ya Salam Cooking

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http://themiddleeasterncook.blogspot.com/2008/10/fruits-and-vegetables-by-month.h
tml

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Things that make me happy #19

post from The Cutting Edge of Ordinary on 06 October 2008 03:13:00 PM. © The Cutting Edge of Ordinary

Well if you haven't found this gem of a little online store, you need to haul it over there and check them out. Them is Nuts Online and they are one of my very favorite places to shop online for all things yummy.

I've been buying from them for about 3 years now and I can't begin tell you how wonderful their products are. Well actually I will begin to tell you, lol. If you're thinking how much nuts can one person buy....well silly people, they sell so much more than just nuts. I buy herbs, teas, dried fruits, and sweets! (they sell my beloved coco-cola gummies!) and so much more! They sell so many different things I could never list them all here. You won't believe it. Everything is super fresh and all very, very reasonably priced.

They are located in NJ and have been in business since 1929. You want to talk about fast shipping. They are lightening fast. If I order on a Monday, I get my stuff Tuesday. Do I pay for overnight shipping??? Hell no, they are just that fast. Of course I'm in RI so I am a closer than most, but they are quick. Here's an example. Last year I placed an order, as soon as I pushed the "place my order button" I remembered that I needed just one more thing, yes that's always the case with me. So a few minutes later I called them up to see if I could add to my order. The gentleman who answered the phone said sure I could add to the order then asked me to hold on a minute, he yelled to the person packing my order and asked him to add my missing item! That's how fast they are. Minutes after I placed the order, they were getting it ready to ship. It's amazing.

I don't brag or boast about a company unless I really love it and I can honestly say, you would not be disappointed with any of their products. I just placed another big order tonight. I'm getting some new teas that I can't wait to try, some goodies for the kids, some wheat germ, fried peas (they are the best), toasted corn.....you get the idea.

If you do order...let them know I sent ya cause I think I get a 10% discount....and no that's not why I posted this. I really just wanted to let you all in on this really terrific place! So go....shoo...go buy some nuts and candy and teas and herbs and........just go.

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http://thecuttingedgeofordinary.blogspot.com/2008/10/things-that-make-me-happy-19
.html

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Original Recipes Round-Up #4

post from All Posts on 06 October 2008 03:08:36 PM. © All Posts

The Original Recipes Round-Up has now come to the fourth edition. Incredibly creative cooks all around the world have been sharing with us their delicious concoctions each month for the past three months.
Do you make your own recipes? Would you like to try? The fact that we create them ourselves makes them even more valuable and brings us such great satisfaction when a success. Join the fun and share your recipe with the round-up!
Please check out the details and rules of this monthly event.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.ismyblogburning.com/original-recipes-round-up-4-0

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A-Mano Primitivo

post from The Amateur Gourmet on 06 October 2008 01:29:00 PM. © The Amateur Gourmet

I think I may have a house wine. I never intended to have a house wine, but then I bought a bottle of the A-Mano Primitivo you see above and really fell for it. For the price ($10.99), it has a complexity that reminds me of the nicer wines I've had at fancy meals out at restaurants but it isn't so complex that you can't pair it with robustly flavored food, like my favorite roast chicken. (I know chicken's supposed to go with white; but this chicken is so heavily seasoned, with fennel seeds and cayenne pepper, it's totally a match for a powerful red like this.)

In truth, I'm starting to become more of a red guy than a white guy. While a cold white is refreshing on a hot summer's day, I really enjoy the depth and richness of red wine. And though my preference is generally for French wines (the best wines I've had in my life have been at French restaurants), somehow this Primitivo does the trick. And it's an ideal house wine (defined as: a wine to keep around the house) because it pairs really well with pastas and meats and many other things you wouldn't expect a red wine to complement; somehow it does.

Wow: I just wrote a whole post about wine. I know some readers have been eager for me to write more about wine and this was the first bottle in a long time--maybe the first bottle ever?--that inspired me to write a post. Though, just so I don't oversell it, I do agree with this wine blogger that "the acidity [is] a little harsh." Yet, this write-up uses impressive wine-language to capture what I do like about it: "[It] shows loads of berry fruit, less spice than a Zin, earthiness, a touch of vanilla complemented with pepper....nice acidity and a finish that adds a counterpoint of Italian burnished leather."

Italian burnished leather! Isn't that a little extreme? I mean Italian leather, sure, but burnished leather? Methinks these wine bloggers go too far.

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http://www.theamateurgourmet.com/2008/10/amano_primitivo.html

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7 Deadly Sins Plates

Take the 7 Deadly Sins and Floral FruFu plates and you get a set of dishes worth talking about!!Greet, Gluttony, Wrath, Pride, Sloth, Lust, and Envy - all yours on reworked vintage Enlish and Japanese china plates. Via wists Tags: plates, dishes, dishware, vintage, deadly sins, 7 deadly sinsShare This

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http://feeds.b5media.com/~r/b5media/CookingGadgets/~3/Yfm9LUScMbE/

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Nourishing Fall Recipes

With apple and pumpkin pies, roasted nuts, hot chocolate and fragrant tea, steamy soups and filling stews, Fall is a time of comfort food. The weather is starting to cool, comfy sweaters are starting to appear and delicious Fall food is starting to grace our table.

I think it's time for another carnival!

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http://www.ismyblogburning.com/nourishing-fall-recipes

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