Monday, February 02, 2009

GoDaddy.com finally broke through

TiVo Inc. the creator and a leader of advertising solutions and television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), announced this year's top ten Super Bowl commercial moments.

This information was prepared using aggregated, anonymous, second-by-second audience measurement data about how TiVo subscribers watched the game, primarily which spots were rewound and watched again.

GoDaddy.com
finally broke through this year, snatching the coveted crown from the E-Trade talking baby, which couldn't repeat this year despite similarly themed follow-up spots.

This is the first top ten finish for GoDaddy, infamous for a too-hot-for-TV campaign it has utilized the past couple Super Bowls. The Internet domain company apparently benefited from the game's dramatic finish, as their fourth quarter spot had far more viewership than the ad the company ran in the first quarter. And Bud Light does it again, this year another clear winner holding two of the top ten spots.

With unemployment rates rising from coast to coast, two job Websites cashed in on grabbing viewers' attention, with Careerbuilder.com claiming the number three slot and competitor Monster.com landing at number six. Doritos continues to ride a user-generated strategy to strong success, with this year's entrant earning a number four ranking.

Annual list occupants Bud Light, Pepsi and Coke held their own, with each brand occupying a piece of the top ten. First time Super Bowl advertiser Denny's cracked the top ten thanks to the last five seconds of the ad, in which the chain unveiled a free Grand Slam breakfast offer. Also, the movie preview for the upcoming Transformers sequel marks the first time a movie trailer landed on the TiVo top ten list since 2003 when both Universal Pictures Bruce Almighty and Sony Pictures - Charlie's Angels Full Throttle made the list.

Prior to the game much was made about 3-D advertisements, but consumers apparently didn't grab their 3-D glasses in time, as spots such as a preview for Monsters vs. Aliens fell well short of the pace, barely cracking the top fifty.

"This year TiVo viewers were in control of one of the greatest NFL games ever played, a perfect example of the power of pressing pause or rewind during a live-action event," said Todd Juenger, Vice President & General Manager, TiVo Audience Research and Measurement.

"Topping the drama and excitement of last year's big game probably seemed impossible for many advertisers, but this game truly delivered, especially for those who chose time slots towards the end of the game. TiVo is the only service that can release ratings based on actual viewer behavior, rather than surveys or after the fact polling," Juenger said.

"It is an insight that is unique to TiVo, one we can take advantage of not only for the Super Bowl, but throughout the year, benefiting ad agencies, TV networks, and brand customers alike," he said.

In the first half of the game action on the field was overshadowed by commercials, with four of the most rewound moments involving advertisements. The most viewed moment of the first half was the Doritos Crystal Ball spot, impressive considering it beat out James Harrison's record breaking interception return at the end of the half.

In the second half action intensified on the field, with the top-replayed moments all happening inside the hash marks. The most viewed moment was Santonio Holmes' tip-toe touchdown grab that gave the Steelers the lead in the final minute.

Despite more replays of game action, viewership increased in the fourth quarter enough that GoDaddy's spot earned more eyeballs than the Doritos ad of the first half.

Sunday, February 01, 2009

"I love this Guy!"

Armisen nails it again!


This man makes SNL complete. He also has a site of his own at Thunderant.com. He is so funny. He does a lot of the SNL Backstage Blog--which is pretty good. It shows how they apply the makeup and costumes for skits and some of the process it takes to make the show every week. Go to the NBC SNL site. I found it this way in a Google Seach.

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Acobox

Blog Pictures | acobox.com
Look at these very coolblog images!

Eight babies

I keep hearing comments about the woman who gave birth to eight babies. She already had six, used artificial insemination and now people are trippin.
She has a grand total of 14 kids and folk have lost their minds.
Did she ask you to babysit? Nope. Is she staying at your house? Nope.
That is why I am happy for her. If at 33 she wants to devote herself to her family, that is great. Not many women want to do that and if they do, they may not commit to 14 babies.
Her dad said that they have a huge house and I am thinking lots of money. He works in Iraq or Iran as a contractor.
I'm thinking that they are loaded! And guess what? I bet she gets pregnant again.
Leave her be. Someone has to be the momma!

Paintball Fun

The last time I played paintball, I got hit in the arm by apaintball sniper. I never saw it coming. I was ready to sit down anyway! I didn't realize how strenuous playing paintball could be.
I must admit, it was very fun. However, I think that I will upgrade my paintball gun for my next visit to the paintball arena. Everyone had really nice equipment that worked. They said they ordered it from Ultimate Paintball. No more used paintball equipment for me. Next time I will be the sniper with my Tippmann A-5, Tippmann 98 Custom, Smart Parts Ion, Spyder Pilot!

Friday, January 30, 2009

White House Task Force on Middle Class Working Families

There are many people who think change comes easy and that it was only a campaign slogan. There are those who focus on ideas other than those that will move us forward as a nation--like Rush Limbaugh and the like.

However, creating a the middle class task force for is a major initiative targeted at raising the living standards of middle-class, working families in America. It is comprised of top-level administration policy makers, and in addition to regular meetings, it will conduct outreach sessions with representatives of labor, business, and the advocacy communities.

Rush can't and won't do anything like that for his listeners--ever.

It seems the Obama Administration is moving away from "trickle down economics" where the lower classes may or may not get the help they need.

The Task Force will be chaired by Vice President Joe Biden. The Vice President and members of the task force will work with a wide array of federal agencies that have responsibility for key issues facing the middle class and expedite administrative reforms, propose Executive orders, and develop legislative and policy proposals that can be of special importance to working families.

Members of the Middle Class Task Force include: Vice President Biden, Chair; the Secretaries of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Commerce, as well as the Directors of the National Economic Council, the Office of Management and Budget, the Domestic Policy Council, and the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors.

Goals of the task force:

Expanding education and lifelong training opportunities
Improving work and family balance
Restoring labor standards, including workplace safety
Helping to protect middle-class and working-family incomes
Protecting retirement security
We’d like to hear from you. Over the upcoming months, we will focus on answering those concerns that matter most to families. What can we do to make retirement more secure? How can we make child and elder care more affordable? How do we improve workplace safety? How are we going to get the cost of college within reach? What can we do to help weary parents juggle work and family? What are the jobs of the future that we can begin to create? Please share your story with us and give us ideas for how to get the middle class going again.

Transparency: The Task Force will operate in a transparent fashion, in an open, two-way dialogue directly with the American people. Any materials from meetings or reports produced will be made available to the public at www.AStrongMiddleClass.gov.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Lap-Band Weight loss surgery

Dr. Richard Collier is a Lap-Band surgical specialist, who provides the premier, comprehensive Lap-Band®, weight loss surgery program as the alternative to more invasive procedures such as Gastric Bypass Surgery in The Woodlands, Conroe, Houston, Kingwood, and Spring, Texas areas.

His acclaimed weight loss program combines his well respected 31 year level of surgical experience with a highly-praised aftercare team program approach for patients following their surgery. Please use the medical center that is most convienient to you like the Weight loss woodlands at St. Luke's Community Medical Center.

Approved by the FDA in June 2001, the LAP-BAND® System procedure is an adjustable and completely reversible surgical treatment for morbid obesity in the United States. The new Allergan Advanced Platform System® was introduced in 2007. It induces weight-loss by reducing hunger and by restricting the amount of food that can be consumed during each meal. Since its clinical introduction in 1993, more than 400,000LAP-BAND® System procedures have been performed around the world.

With that being said, I have a friend who has had the procedure and she looks fabulous! I am now thinking about it myself.

There is a tab on the site where those interested can test their body mass index and find a payment plan that suits them.

Illinois can forgetaboutit when it comes to money

The state of Illinois can forgetaboutit when it comes to money from the government. There is a paragraph in the $819 billion stimulus package which passed the House Wednesday--without the aid of Republicans--which excludes the state of Illinois from receiving any stimulus package funds while Rod Blagojevich is governor. Good thing the impeachment hearings are on going.
1 SEC. 1112. ADDITIONAL ASSURANCE OF APPROPRIATE USE
2 OF FUNDS.
3 None of the funds provided by this Act may be made
4 available to the State of Illinois, or any agency of the
5 State, unless (1) the use of such funds by the State is
6 approved in legislation enacted by the State after the date
7 of the enactment of this Act, or (2) Rod R. Blagojevich
8 no longer holds the office of Governor of the State of Illi
9 nois. The preceding sentence shall not apply to any funds
10 provided directly to a unit of local government (1) by a
11 Federal department or agency, or (2) by an established
12 formula from the State.
This action lets you know where the President stands in this whole situation. So for you people who feel sorry for Mr. Blagojevich, understand where your loyalties lie because they are not with the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama. (or the state of Illinois, apparently.)
Editor's Note: Yes, Mr. President holds all the trump cards and he is running a Boston.Here is the link. You can read it for yourselves.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Turbochargerpros.com

I intend to purchase a Volkswagen turbo and fix it up a bit--to my taste--but I found I didn't know as much as I thought about engines and turbochargers. I didn't want to be taken advantage of so set about surfing the web and found a site called turbochargerpros.com. After viewing the site, I learned the difference between a turbocharger and a supercharger.

The key difference between a turbocharger and a supercharger is its power supply. Something has to supply the power to run the air compressor. In a supercharger, there is a belt that connects directly to the engine. It gets its power the same way that the water pump or alternator does. A turbocharger, on the other hand, gets its power from the exhaust stream. The exhaust runs through a turbine , which in turn spins the compressor

There are trade offs in both systems. In theory, a turbocharger is more efficient because it is using the "wasted" energy in the exhaust stream for its power source. On the other hand, a turbocharger causes some amount of back pressure in the exhaust system and tends to provide less boost until the engine is running at higher RPMs. Superchargers are easier to install but tend to be more expensive.
I recommend anyone looking for this stuff go to the site first, then make a decision.