Fat Burning Furnace Review by CashSherpa.com

In the spirit of the New Year I wanted to do a review of one of the top selling fat burning programs online. It’s called the Fat Burning Furnace created by Rob and Kalen Poulos. If you plan to buy this product please read this review first. It’s hard to get unbiased reviews for the products since everyone is selling the product on their web site. Even searching YouTube many of the ‘testimonials’ seem biased.

Here is one YouTube testimonial that seems legit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rJ43isw3gk&feature=related

Program breakdown:

- Boost metabolism
- Diet program is rather basic
- Program is mostly based on increasing exercise
- Increase metabolism by doing basic strength training at least 20 min. a day
- NO CARDIO REQUIRED
- More muscle means increase in RMR (resting metabolic rate)
- There are multiple versions of the program (Deluxe, Ultimate, and Blowtorch)
- System is sound, but does it really require the purchasing of this material? If you want to find work out plans for free I’d recommend BodyBuilding.com. Also, I diet that has worked for me search Google for the Paleo Diet it’s further explained in the book 4-Hour Body by Timothy Ferriss. If you do want to purchase this program visit here: Fat Burning Furnace

The Fat Burning Furnace is a web site and product that’s sold for people trying to lose weight. It’s currently a very popular product online, and sold through affiliate marketing by many web owners. But is it a good product? Will it do what it claims, and help you actually lose fat? There’s so many scams out there, especially with those kind of products, so how do you know your hard earned money goes to the right people? Here’s some actual facts about the Fat Burning Furnace.

First, it’s interesting to note how amazingly difficult it is to find real, actual consumer feedback about a product like Fat Burning Furnace. A simple Google search brings up pages of sites with the name in the URL, such as fatburningfurnaceguide.org or fatburningfurnacereviews.com and so on. All of these sites have almost identical reviews, using the same graphics, and fill in the first 20 pages of your Google search results. Some of the top results include words like ‘scam’ and ‘does it work’ yet all come back to an amazing, glowing review, clearly not written by an actual customer. I for one wish these products would provide more actual, balanced feedback, instead of investing in buying dozens of domains to spread articles and fill the results of anyone trying to find real information about the product. Now that isn’t to say the product itself isn’t good. In fact, when you do find consumer reviews, it’s actually all pretty positive as well.

While the main web site for Fat Burning Furnace doesn’t specify what exactly is included, it turns out that this package comes with an ebook that explains Rob Poulos’ plan, the creator of the Fat Burning Furnace, along with various sheets for exercise routines. The product also has an optional series of videos, in which you can see a lot of what you’re expected to do to lose weight. The basic principle of the program is to do daily exercises, around 20 minutes a day, along with getting a specific diet. It’s clear from looking at the material here that it’s highly science based, and there’s few doubts that should someone follow this system correctly, they will lose weight. There’s various levels to this program, aimed at different people and their specific needs, and while it covers the exercising part well, there’s less material when it comes to nutrition. You’re expected to do a lot of preparation by yourself. Also, the text is filled with product recommendations, which may go over more like a sales pitch than a true weight lost product.

Overall, is it something that’s worth the money? At $39 for the base price, and $69 for videos, it’s hard to say. For a new user, someone who wants to lose weight, and doesn’t know how to go about it, then yes it’s probably very likely that they can get what they’re looking for out of this system, especially if they are able to stick to the schedule. However, if you already have good knowledge of nutrition and exercising, then investing in actual training videos may be a better buy. I’d lean to the side it’s not worth the price. I’d purchase a $10 book such as Timothy Ferriss’ 4-Hour Body for real results. In his book best part you get a “cheat day” where you can eat as much as you like to boost your metabolism.

Mashup’s Ultimate United State of Pop 25 Song 2011 Mix

This is the ultimate pop mix from blended together from the top 25 songs of 2011. The mix was created by Jordan Roseman also known as DJ Earworm. The video just hit YouTube and I’m sure in a few hours or days it will have millions of hits. The cool part about the Mashup video is its not only the top pop songs, but also the music videos all mashed up together.

Watch the video below posted on YouTube:

The four other Mashup videos from 2007-2011 have generated 68 million views on YouTube. Be the first to post this on FaceBook or Twitter check it out!

Bing Now Tied to Yahoo in Web Searches

In the ever growing online search business, Google has been the king for many years now. After replacing AltaVista and Yahoo almost a decade ago, it’s the go to place for many of us when we’re looking for information online. But ever since Microsoft shelved their MSN search and launched Bing, the little product has been gaining grounds. Now, the Microsoft engine has just tied with Yahoo, at 15% each. As it keeps growing, it’s slowly eroding the dominant player, and getting a few more eyes to turn its way, as Microsoft keeps improving their site for users to get better results all the time.

According to numbers from Hitwise, a company monitoring the search engines, every month Bing has been gaining market share, while Google has been going down, ever so slightly. At 1% or less at a time, it’s going to be quite a while before Google starts becoming a minority, but already the company is worried. The interesting thing about Bing and Yahoo is that both are actually the same thing. Bing search powers Yahoo, so both of them use the Microsoft engine, which can make the numbers seem even more impressive, at around 30% versus 65% for Google. Of course, these are all guesses made by the various analytics firms, and the true numbers might be lower for the two up comers, with some saying they are still at 13% or even 11% each. Still, Microsoft is definitively growing on Google’s territory, and that has analysts intrigued.

Bing has grown from very little to what it is today. Many users feel Bing give them better results than Google on a number of fronts. Some of the popular functions include video search, which gives previews of the videos right there on the search page, and an image search which doesn’t filter out more risque content in the same way that Google seems to. Of course, anyone using a Windows Phone, or the default Internet Explorer bar, will also be using Bing. Whatever the reason, people are getting more accustomed to it, and that’s the last thing Google want. Still, Microsoft isn’t making money with it. In fact, the company is losing tons of money on Bing, because it’s spending so much making it better, and making those partner deals. Whether they have a true plan for future monetization of their engine is unknown, although since they are Microsoft, most figure they have the money for it.

Overall, this is all a very good thing for consumers. More competition is better, and the fact that Google no longer has such a strong monopoly forces them to innovate even faster. We get more competition, more choice, and more innovation, which is something the Internet thrives on. As both companies keep growing, we’ll see which one will end up being the favorite of most users in the years to come.

Signazon.com Review by CashSherpa.com

A lot of different types of industry have adapted to the Internet, and now sell online. One fairly unusual business however is a store that makes and sells signs. Signazon, a name clearly created to play on the brand of Amazon, is one such store. This is a place that advertises as a sign creation service, both for organizations and individuals, and boosts many different features and services. I’m used Signazon for a magnetic sign for one of my companies. It was better quality than a local company here in Seattle at a lessor price. Here’s a review of their offerings.

Despite the catchy name, the site looks very professional. Based in Dallas, Texas, Signazon has been created in 2005 and offers a large variety of signs and similar items. Their site claims the finest service, creative ideas, and the lowest price around. Indeed, when looking at reviews of Signazon, and what people who buy there often think, it seems their support is indeed very good. They take care of their customers, and create what people want. They quickly rose to one of the most well known online sign creation service, and have expended to make products in many different categories. Whether it’s for a holiday, a baby shower, a wedding, or even a graduation, Signazon has products that matches it. Thanks to the wide array of selections, it’s easy to find what you need, and browsing through the pages is simple and straight forward. There’s few types of signs that cannot be made, and when you select a model, you can customize it to fit your own needs as well.

The materials used are also quite varied. When you order a sign, you can select whether you want a paper banner, or something more durable, like plastic or aluminium. These signs can be made in any way you want, and the amount of customization is pretty good. They have a dozen sizes already, and you can also order your own custom size if you want. During the selection process, you can also specify options like whether you want them printed on both sides, or have wire stakes included. It’s hard to find an option that isn’t available. This is what helps Signazon distinguish itself from competitors. The prices are quite good as well, since they are already printing signs for so many people. They have all the needed equipment to print and ship those items country wide, and are even better equipped than many local printing shops.

Overall, it’s hard to compare it to other online services since Signazon is fairly unique. Of course, there’s already a lot of local printing shops out there, and it’s easy to compare it to those. Certainly, if you need things done today, then maybe Signazon may not be quite as fast for you, but if you want the best selection and price, with a fast service, then maybe it’s the site you need. You may never want to take a trip to your local store again after trying them out.

Visit Signazon.com

Find Broken Links with Broken Link Checker

While watching the Affiliate Summit East keynote with Wil Reynolds I got this idea. Mr. Reynolds suggested that all bloggers use a broken link checkers on their blogs. Not only will this allow your blog to stay current is also presents SEO opportunities. For example if you link to another relevant web site and after a few years that site closes its doors you might be able to buy the expired domain. A great WordPress tool I found is called Broken Link Checker http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/broken-link-checker. Broken Link Checker currently has a 4 out of 5 star rating on the WordPress web site.

Key features:

• Monitors links in your posts, pages, comments, the blogroll, and custom fields (optional).
• Detects links that don’t work, missing images and redirects.
• Notifies you either via the Dashboard or by email.
• Makes broken links display differently in posts (optional).
• Prevents search engines from following broken links (optional).
• You can search and filter links by URL, anchor text and so on.
• Links can be edited directly from the plugin’s page, without manually updating each post.
• Highly configurable.

Plugin is very easy to install and works great with the current version of WordPress.

Trillian FPS Camera Capturing Video at the Speed of Light

Most consumer cameras have settings that allow them to take several pictures in a row. A good DSLR will give you the opportunity to take perhaps 5 shots inside of a single second. This can be quite useful to capture an animal in movement, or a fast moving car. There’s even cameras out there that can capture a thousand shots in a single second, and they are used to capture some spectacular shots, like a bullet moving through the air. But now, researchers at MIT created a brand new camera called the Trillian FPS Camera, that can take over a trillion images per second, and capture shots at the speed of light.

First, this isn’t your typical consumer camera. The device is still very much a development system, and requires a specific setup. The camera itself is also more than just a normal camera, it’s a large box that contains hundreds of sensors, all taking shots, with a computer alternating the shots so that they take a trillion images every second. Also, right now this camera can only take pictures in one dimension, which means you need a set of mirrors to rotate the angle used, so that you can get a two dimensional image. All this means you’re not likely to get this technology in your personal camera any time soon, and right now the price would make it prohibitive anyways. It’s a device still confined to the labs, for all intent purposes. Still, that doesn’t mean there isn’t uses for it. Thanks to this setup, shots can now be seen at the speed of light, which means you can actually see light photons travel through the air, something never seen before.

As the shots are taken, the scientists show off a beam of light, from a highly precise laser, illuminating a scene. You’re now able to see the light hit each object in the scene, and see how it gets scattered and absorbed by the various surfaces. This brings a lot of possibilities in many fields. For example, industrial designers could use such a camera to see how their materials react, and if there’s any defect in their construction, based on how the light acts. Also, this may make light imaging possible in medical fields, in places where we currently use x-rays, because now simple light photons can be seen travelling through space. There’s a lot of different uses that can be seen for the Trillian FPS Camera, although for now they are mostly in the scientific and industrial domains. The scientists say they envision a time when normal cameras may get such a technology, but it’s likely to be a while still.

It’s unclear how expensive the Trillian FPS Camera would be, simply because it’s not for sale. It’s still a development device, and still being perfected by the engineers at MIT. Still, it’s a very interesting breakthrough in technology, and something camera lovers would be very interested in getting one day.

Watch this video of camera capturing light going through a soda bottle. Pretty awesome!

Pogoplug Series 4 Spec Review by CashSherpa.com

Pogoplug  makes the Pogoplug Classic, Pogoplug mobile, and its newest Pogoplug Series 4. Pogoplug is a company that makes it possible to host your own cloud. The Pogoplug  Series 4 makes it possible for you to have your own unlimited cloud service. You can hook up your HDD through one of four different connection ports, including two USB 3.0 inputs, one USB 2.0 port and an SD card slot. So with this device unlimited means you can connect devices to the Pogoplug so cloud storage is unlimited. Users automatically get free 5 GB online storage which is optimized for mobile users. Only downside I can think of is your local cloud service encrypted. I think there might be a danger in that your local cloud could be hacked.

Visit the Pogoplug web site:

https://www.pogoplug.com/

Feature breakdown of the 3 models:

Pogoplug Classic

• Host your own cloud.
• Infinite storage expansion
• Gigabit Ethernet
• USB 2.0
• US $49.95 + Shipping

Pogoplug mobile

• Host your own cloud
•  Infinite storage expansion
• Gigabit Ethernet
• USB 2.0
• SD card slot
• Streamlined, next-generation design
• US $79.95 + Shipping

Pogoplug Series 4

• Host your own cloud
• Infinite storage expansion
• Gigabit Ethernet
• USB 2.0
• SD card slot
• Streamlined, next-generation design
• USB 3.0 x 2
• SATA/USM
• US $99.95 + Shipping

CNET Review of Pogoplug Series 4:

Review of BigCommerce by CashSherpa.com

When you run a business, and want to embrace the Internet, you can quickly find that it’s not as easy as it sounds. You need so many things to be successful only, like a shopping cart solution, a way to sell on multiple social sites, mailing list management, and more. You need a solution that’s simple and integrated, from a company that can help you and your business make their online presence both enticing and profitable for you. This is where BigCommerce comes in, and how it can help you succeed on the Internet.

Visit BigCommerce now. No set up fee.

BigCommerce has the tag line ‘The easiest way to sell online’ and in many ways it’s true. They offer a large array of services that are integrated, and made especially for businesses to succeed where others failed. At the heart of this is their web site, along with all of the services available there. From a single menu, you can get access to all the services you would need. This includes SSL certificates, so you can setup a site that’s secure and encrypted, design services, in case you don’t want to hire your own designer, credit cards services, along with shopping cart options, so that you can have full merchant services online, just like you may already do offline, and affiliate services, so you can become a partner and make more money by using the site.

One of the big advantages of BigCommerce is the complete creative control that they give you. You aren’t crammed into a preset system that forces you to do things their ways. You can get your own website with its own unique look, and have all your services integrates into it. Another advantage is how the site provides integration on many popular platforms, like Facebook or eBay. By using a single click, you can sell directly on Facebook, and provide your goods or services to the millions of users of the social networking site. They also have a lot of additional services like automated email marketing, flexible photo displays, and mobile options.

On the finance side, BigCommerce is also fully equipped. They have full inventory control, in cases where you sell and ship physical goods. They allow returns with a full return system as well. They also have services to create ads, coupons and promotions, so that you can fully control the kind of marketing you’re doing for your products. Thanks to their credit card services and shopping cart integration, when a customer is ready to buy, they can do so in confidence as well.

Overall, BigCommerce is a great solution if you need a one stop shop for everything. It doesn’t offer as much customization as if you were to go off on your own and do your own system from scratch, but few services do. If you want an easy to use, complete solution, then this is really a site to try out.

Testimonials from users:

“If you want a quick overall assessment of it’s quality, I’d say 4 1/2 out of five – but from the attitude of the staff and the constant innovation that is taking place I have a feeling it is going to get a lot, lot better (ReviewBigCommerce.com).”

“BigCommerce is also far better than that of the Yahoo shopping cart and Volusion shopping cart. In terms of monthly price, BigCommerce offers the lowest monthly price (AndrewBleakley).”

YouTube Review of BigCommerce:

Microsoft’s New Study Shows Domain Name Bias

Microsoft has just released a white paper titled, ‘Domain Bias in Web Search.’ Microsoft with this paper was set out to investigate the question… Do domain names matter? Microsoft found out that domain names do in fact matter greatly because users are more likely to believe the content is related to their search if company has a relevant domain name.

Here is a link to the 10 page PDF study that proves there is a domain name bias. If you are in the business of selling a domain name or want to buy one I’d recommend the study.

http://ilpubs.stanford.edu:8090/1021/1/wsdm12-domain-bias.pdf

SEO marketers have suspected there is a domain bias for years, but this study proves it. The study observed actual users in real time.

“We begin by studying the difference between domains that a search engine surfaces and that users click. Surprisingly, we find that despite changes in the overall distribution of surfaced domains, there has not been a comparable shift in the distribution of clicked domains.”

“We find that domains can actually flip a user’s preference about 25% of the time.””

“What is surprising is that users click on results from rep-utable domains even when more relevant search results are available.”

“Our experiments are geared towards proving that domains can so drastically influence perceived relevance that users will favor some domains, regardless of content. Viewing content on the Internet as products, domains have emerged as brands. And users have developed such fierce brand loyalty that their clicks are tainted by domains.”

“Our experiments also reveal that search results concentrate over time on fewer domains with increasingly larger share of results pointing to the top domains.”

“This trend is accompanied by an increase in click-through rates (even after factoring out query distribution changes) and is in contrast to the growing size of the web content and the number of registered domains.”

What this study means to you! Rank doesn’t matter as much as having a quality, trusted domain name. If you already have a good domain name this is great for you, but it’s hard these days to find an inexpensive top level domain name.

Movie Audience Down to Post-Sep. 11th Levels

Fewer people, according to the Associated Press, during the last 2 weekends went to the movies than in the post-Sep. 11^th downturn.

Movie revenue in the US was $77 million over the weekend. The movie “New Year’s Eve” debuted this weekend #1 with $13.7 million. $13.7 million meant it was the worst weekend in 3 years since Labor Day 2008. Compared with last year at this time, ticket revenue was down a whopping 17.2%.

Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian says he can’t believe how bad it is out there.  Only 19.8 million people went to the movies over the last tw0 weekends. These 2 weekends mark the worst time since Sep. 11^th where only 22.3 million people went to the movies. Overall box-office revenue is down 3.87% in 2011, while attendance is off by 4.71% from last year.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. “New Year’s Eve,” $13.7 million ($12.9 million international).

2. “The Sitter,” $10 million.

3. “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1,” $7.9 million.

4. “The Muppets,” $7.1 million ($1.2 million international).

5. “Arthur Christmas,” $6.6 million ($14.3 million international).

6. “Hugo,” $6.1 million.

7. “The Descendants,” $4.4 million.

8. “Happy Feet Two,” $3.8 million.

9. “Jack and Jill,” $3.2 million.

10. “Immortals,” $2.4 million.

—

Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:

1. “Puss in Boots,” $45.6 million.

2. “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1,” $19.8 million.

3. “Arthur Christmas,” $14.3 million.

4. “New Year’s Eve,” $12.9 million.

5. “Happy Feet Two,” $10.1 million.

6. “The Adventures of Tintin,” $8.1 million.

7 (tie). “Real Steel,” $6.6 million.

7 (tie). “Vysotsky: Thank God I’m Alive,” $6.6 million.

9. “In Time,” $5.9 million.

10. “Tower Heist,” $2.9 million.