Photo courtesy of MickRheault!

But this isn’t about vegetarianism. This is about how to make your bowl of wings that much easier.

Behold. Food Wishes blog shows this video on the correct way to at a chicken wing.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION:

Photos courtesy of Moustache Hunt Appreciation Society

All her friends photos seemed to be variations of the same pose. Then it hit me. Every one of these photos contained somewhere a person with a fabulous, bushy, brushy, crazy moustache.

Yes, the Moustache Hunt Appreciation Society Facebook page boasts image after image of these wonderful bushy things that seem to be some sort of halfway house between clean shaven and a full beard.

I immediately became a Facebook Fan, then contacted Travis Crockett, the creator of those lovely photos that gave me such enjoyment.

Moustaches are weird, says Crockett, it appears they serve no practical purpose. As a fashion statement, their popularity peaked in the 70’s and has been in decline ever since. With the advent of Movember, it seemed that perhaps moustaches were making a comeback, but only for one month a year.

However, when I met Vaughan Grandin – founder of the Moustache Hunt Appreciation Society — in Paris, late 2008, it became apparent that moustaches are still fashionable in some parts of the world all year round. Moustache hunting was born.

Moustache hunting began as a fun group activity, during a tour of central Europe, to keep Crockett amused when moving between different tourist attractions. Now hunters hail from everywhere. Bavaria, Italy and Spain all prove fruitful ground for the hunt, although Turkey tops the list with a “the thicker the better” attitude toward moustache sporting.

Luckily, you don’t have to travel far to be part of the hunt. Pick up a camera and join the club from wherever you live.

Moustache Hunting Rules Are Simple

Spot an exceptional or interesting moustache and approach with caution. Then with the aid of a wingperson photographer, position yourself, as the hunter, as close as possible without alerting said moustache to your presence.

For a “Mo shot” to be accepted by the Moustache Hunt Appreciation Society, the moustache must be in plain view with the hunter clearly visible in the photograph. Most important, the subject must not be aware that it is being photographed for its moustache.

The best hunters are able to further enhance shots by posing, which involves placing the index finger across the top lip or simply pointing to the moustache region of the face. Other qualities that can make a mo shot standout are proximity of the hunter to the prey, when the shot also contains a scenic or famous background or when the subject mo is making eye contact with the camera, usually resulting in an hilarious bewildered expression on the part of the mo owner.

I managed to take my first Mo shot on a bus in Zurich. Do I get extra points for bringing my child into the picture?

COMMUNITY CONNECTION:

What are the best places in the world for moustache hunting?

Feature photo: Pattaya Unlimited / Photo Above: trudymyrrh

Grant Burton wanted to give his parents a special 40th wedding anniversary gift in the form of two Eurail Passes.  Currently unemployed, he came up with the idea that he would tattoo the Eurail logo on his body to see what kind of interest it might stir up.

Burton’s inky imagination caught Eurail’s attention – they’ve given his parents free passes.

In fact, Eurail.com has taken Burton’s idea and come up with a promotion where all of their customers can participate in similar scheming. According to Chantal Sukel, Campaign Manager of Eurail.com B.V., “[To allow] more enthusiastic fans to live their dream, we will launch a campaign around Grant’s idea. From February 15, everybody can post us their story or idea for ‘Biggest fans Travel for Free’ on our website.” The most passionate and creative customers will earn a free Eurail Pass.

Burton hopes to travel with his parents this Fall to show his tattoo at the Dutch Eurail.com office. They’re offering to sponsor Burton’s trip if 5,000 people support him on Facebook.

Which leaves us wildly curious. What would you do for a free pass?

Community Connection

A company logo tattoo might not be your first choice for getting inked. Check out these tattoo conventions to discover some better ideas.

Photo by dingbat2005

We all know the feeling of homesickness. When we’re not at home, we’re often off discovering new places and making new friends. But home becomes such an engrained part of our lives, there are some things we can’t shake off entirely. Friends and family play a major part, but often we miss material items, or knowing everything is clean and in its rightful place.

For some of us, it’s hard to pinpoint our most favorite thing about home. Andy Jarosz, however, has discovered that most people from the western world share the same food passion and miss it while away: cheese. Expats living in Asia seem to feel particularly strong about cheese nostalgia.

Photo by Refracted Moments

Dave Bouskill and Debra Corbeil feel that our associations with home are not so much about materialism, but more of a realization that we take certain things for granted. Hot showers, comfortable beds and clean toilets are just some luxuries we expect to be available all the time.

When I moved away to attend university, I found myself craving my mother’s meals, even food I didn’t particularly enjoy while living at home. I’m sure being forced to cook for myself had something to do with it, but I longed for pea soup and dumplings, or a classic Sunday dinner. After being away for nearly seven years, I visit home and find myself missing the conveniences of my current “home.” The lines have become blurred. But always, as things change, we’ll find something missing.

Community Connection

So what familiar comforts do you appreciate the most from home? Participate in our poll, or if there’s something we missed, share in the comments!

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Feature photo by David Berkowitz

Remember those remote-controlled helicopters? The ones that you could control with a remote, and they’d be all fun until you got distracted and steered your expensive aircraft nose-down into the sidewalk?

Enter the incredibly advanced Parrot A.R. Drone, a quadricopter which can be controlled by WiFi from an iPhone and iPod Touch (and possibly soon from Blackberry and other applications). It’s easy to fly, and uses augmented reality to fight other Drones or to play “search and rescue” and hunting games. In other words, it’s just good fun.

The Drone is equipped with two cameras to give the user a view from above, using streaming video to serve as a sort of “real life” video game. It also comes with other fancy do-dads, like two ultrasonic transmitters for stability, a two-axis gyroscope, a three-axis accelerometer, and another single-axis yaw precision gyroscope to top it all off. I’m not really sure what that all means, but damn, it sounds fancy.

To control the Drone: hit the take-off button so the Drone hovers at three feet, then use the controls to rotate left and right, climb, and then use a button to tilt and fly the quadricopter in any direction.

The Drone can even be used indoors, as it comes equipped with shields around its rotors to allow it to bump against other objects. There’s no word of a release date yet, but expect to pay anywhere from $400 or more.

Community Connection

What would you like your robot to do?

Photo by mikebaird

I love traveling. It’s always been an opportunity for me to discover something new and escape the monotony of every day life at home. Weekend getaways and spontaneous trips with friends were important and necessary for me to recharge and learn to deal with the not so fascinating aspects of regular life.

This, of course, was before I had children. Lots of them. Three to be exact. A world of one, became a world of two and very quickly after, a family of five.

That’s an uneven enough number to make it difficult to sit on one row together on planes. Just enough to have to pay an “extra person” fee at hotels. Just enough to need to rent the more expensive, bigger car for a road trip. Just enough to have to stay home.

It seemed that my life of new discoveries was over, and I would have to settle for the non-nomadic life of a Mom of an uneven five.

Photo by fast eddie 42

True, I live in New York City, one of the most amazing cities in the world, but I’ve been here long enough and seen it all.

At least that’s what I thought until I started walking around my city with kids in tow. I realize that no simple trip is ever really that simple, and it’s never boring.

Now, I see things in a new light when I take the time to listen to them and see through their eyes. I notice the beauty of the diversity in the people I pass every day on the street. So we find local places where we enjoy that diversity further.

When I see my three all excited by the sounds of music in the subway or the streets — sounds I stopped hearing — I am inspired to introduce them to the endless number places where they can enjoy music.

We discover new places together as well. Wonderful places like The New Victory Theater, and the talented musicians that cater to them without torturing me.

And they continue to inspire me, pointing out the things I have taken for granted for so long or never even noticed myself.

My family, my uneven number five, brings balance to my life and a depth to my surroundings in a way I have never before experienced. By forcing me to slow down, to stop, to notice the wonders around me and to enjoy fully the things I see on the street, in the supermarket and everywhere else,

Photo by Chicago’s North Shore Conventions & Visitors Burea

I realize that every day can be an adventure, right here, and that I don’t have to travel too far away places to find it.

We’ve started traveling more and more as they get older. And it still is something I love to do. But when we aren’t on the road or on a plane, our adventures don’t stop.

The slower pace, brought about by our children, has shown us to appreciate even the simplest of things and make the city our playground.

I never know what new thing we will discover on any given day, making this the best trip ever.

Community Connection

What major changes have you faced when welcoming new additions to the family? How did you adjust?

Above photo by tyreseus

Le Trung, artificial intelligence engineer and creator of Project Aiko, brought the work of his lifetime home to meet his parents this past Christmas. Aiko speaks two languages fluently, can recognize 250 faces a second and her silicone skin is touch sensitive.

“If you grab or squeeze her too hard,” Trung tells the Daily Mail, “she will try to slap you.”

Imagine the real life implications of a gynoid robot such as Aiko who can be used for airport security, provide home care for the elderly or be your next uber-office assistant.

Then there’s Roxxxy.

She’s the kind of robot girl you don’t take home to mama.

True Companion, founded by ex-Bell Labs AI engineer, boasts real life dolls intended specifically for sex and like forms of companionship. She can talk and play, but she won’t cook or clean like Aiko.

True Companion’s website tells how Roxxxy was inspired by the loss of a friend in the 2001 World Trade Center destruction.

The initial concept for the current sex robot began with a conversation several years ago. A friend and Douglas Hines were remembering a dear friend who passed away. Douglas thought that it was sad to not be able to ever talk to him again. He said “wouldn’t it be great if I could create a robot with artificial intelligence and have it hold someone’s personality and preferences – this way, we could talk to the robotic version of that person and ask it questions whenever we wanted”? We thought it was a great idea though we both agreed that it would be a very big undertaking.

How they began with the desire to speak to an old friend and ended up with a sex doll is another story I suppose. One not told on the website. In fact, the website seems rather devoid of information or photos in general, so I called their 800 number.

What do you see in the crystal ball?

Douglas Hines happened to answer and we chatted about Roxxy and talked science fiction futures of AI.

Hines sees sex as only one small part of Roxxy’s capabilities. She’s a companion, one who knows you, your desires and can talk in addition to being a simple body with “three inputs.”

Photo by striatic

Thus, Roxxy comes in a variety of flavors, a.k.a. personalities. There’s Frigid Farrah, for those who want a bit of a challenge. Wild Wendy. S&M Susan. Young — a definite eyebrow raiser. And Mature Martha. You customize their personalities to your taste, and can even swap personalities with your friends to use on their own dolls. Partner swapping via software.

All rather tempting options for those who may be too shy, maybe embarrassed to experiment with a human partner or those with sexual dysfunction.

Hines and Trung carry us one small step closer to a future in which we find seamless interaction between humans and robots. My imagination runs wild with questions arriving straight from the pages of sci-fi novels and films.

Suddenly ethics and morals involve themselves. If a robot is so real as to perfectly mimic human interaction, then must we treat it as human? What rules should govern relationships between robotics and robotics? And if software is capable of generating new software is that procreation?

Sounds great, right?

Still, something here feels not quite right. Is it the idea of sex or a romantic interpersonal relationship with what is, in essence, a really smart doll, perhaps allowing people to avoid real human interation? Or perhaps we’re somehow uncomfortable with the idea of humans buying something humanoid to be used only for personal enjoyment?

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

What role do you see robots taking in our future? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Feature and lead photo by simminch

Then this earthquake hits Haiti. It’s horrible. Unimaginable, really. We sit at our computers and by our televisions waiting to hear what’s going on, wondering what we can do.

That is when Matador’s own Julie Shwietert Collazo set out to create her own viral media campaign, capitalizing on the ever growing Matador Network. It began with an e-mail to all of us on the Matador team asking for us to tweet the following message.

@JetBlue: If @MatadorNetwork could fill a plane with volunteers, would you fly them to Santo Domingo to help#quake vics in #Haiti?

So we tweeted and retweeted. Then members of the extended Matador Network picked up the mantle. Then they told a few friends, and they told a few friends and so on. JetBlue heard. The media heard. Better yet, hundreds, no thousands of people all over the internet heard and began to respond in e-mails, comments on Matador, gave donations and with contacts and ideas to help further the campaign.

Then Came the Criticism

@mikebarish If we send people to Haiti “more chaos would ensue.” Looking at you @MatadorNetwork. http://bit.ly/8xDix8

The link leads you to an article stating how it is completely misguided to send all those who want to volunteer into Haiti. Untrained volunteers would not only get in the way and, yes, cause chaos, but would be an additional burden to the already hurting country.

Photo by simminch

And I completely agree.

But no one ever said Matador or Julie ever said anything about sending untrained volunteers to Haiti? If only the author of that article had been privy to the internal Matador team updates or bothered to reach out to Julie to address her and Mike Barish’s concerns.

They would have known the following:

1. Priority will be given to volunteers who have demonstrated one or more of these skill sets: French/Creole language fluency; military experience in Port-au-Prince (mainly b/c they know lay of land and have disaster relief experience in the area); and nurses/medical professionals.

2. We do NOT have proposed dates yet. While I want to capture the good energy while it’s fresh, I also will not put anyone in danger by taking them into a place where we have no reliable contacts or information.

3. In addition, Julie’s husband Francisco had been talking with the Haitian consulate in NYC in order to coordinate efforts in a useful, efficient and timely way.

I’d say they had their basis covered.

What do we learn from this?

Social Media is only the beginning.

Twitter is a wonderful way to disseminate basic information. You can reach huge numbers of people with the goal of bringing them together in one place. In this case, the retweeted message brought people to Matador and to Julie’s article on how to help.

Twitter, however, does not provide the full picture and can in many cases, lead to disinformation.

You Must Do The Legwork For Yourself

It’s easy to take the little tidbit you get on Twitter and take it as truth, particularly if it comes from a trustworthy source, but it is crucial you do your own research. Follow any included links and read carefully. Google to find out more information.

Better yet, reach out to the source of information for clarification and solid fact.

Another thing to keep in mind: When crises are unfolding and, in particular, crisis responses are being developed and deployed rapidly, there are many elements of these plans that are occurring behind the scenes which cannot be disclosed. Early disclosure could lead to rumor, misinterpretation or will compromise other partners.

That said, Julie and Matador are happy to address any questions or comments you might have regarding this campaign. You simply need to ask.

Don’t criticize unless you have a solution.

Did Mike Barish’s critical tweet add anything? Did it further aid to Haiti? Did it even help clear up any confusion surrounding the viral campaign?

Not really.

Photo by Gauravonomics

By contrast, State of Place wrote an article providing five constructive criticisms for how to improve the campaign. They did contact Julie with their concerns and learned that everything they mentioned was already under consideration.

Many others contacted Julie with resources, ideas and other information that augmented the campaign as well. Their foresight and insight are well appreciated.

Know Your Source

I don’t know as much about Mike Barish as I do about Julie, so it wasn’t difficult for me to dismiss his criticism.

Julie is trained in crisis intervention and was an emergency counselor for Project Liberty immediately after 9/11 and for more than a year to follow. In addition to a full time job as the assistant director of a social service agency where she had a caseload of 30+ patients, Julie worked evenings as a bilingual therapist with women whose husbands had either been killed in the WTC or whose husbands had essentially been disappeared by Immigration.

I trust her decision making and process ability implicitly.

As she received responses from the viral campaign, she spent hours sifting through over 1,500 emails, meeting with the Consul, airline representatives and communicating with potential partners. She verified every source directly, leaving nothing to hearsay as is crucial for any viral campaign.

So even before knowing the specific details of her campaign, I was sure whatever was happening would be carefully planned.

Collaboration Leads To Better Campaigning

The Matador Network social media influence extended to reach the countless individuals, organizations and businesses. Julie told us in one of her updates that even she was amazed by the scope and reach of the network and the generosity and forethought of network members. Among them Partners In Health. SODA. Richard Branson. The Bresma orphanage in Port au Prince. And a military service man with GPS coordinates on the ground in Haiti.

Photo by simminch

Create Something Permanent For After the Campaign

Julie saw during 9/11 that so many people wanted to help but there was no organized means for them to do so. In creating Matador’s campaign, Julie wanted everyone who read our articles or who found our tweets on Twitter to feel like they had some degree of agency, input, and ability to make a difference beyond simply donating money . Thus, an integral part of Matador’s plan was to create infrastructure for them to contribute, one that will remain standing beyond the immediate needs of the emergency in Haiti.

Yes, it can be messy, but that is the nature of social media, not to mention natural disasters and emergency relief. This viral campaign may not be perfect in all detail, but in the face of untold destruction, perfection is a luxury. If just one life can be saved, one organization receives money or one household drink unpolluted water, then the campaign has been successful.

That said, I’ll only hint to tell you that as things now stand. The final result of that original tweet is far greater than anyone expected as all these separate elements come together in a plan that will provide some relief in this time of crisis.

We’ll let you know through regular social media channels as details unfold. So stay tuned.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION:

What other elements are important when addressing an emergency through Twitter? Tell us your experiences and thoughts.

Photo by Zitona

Books are some of the few items most people don’t mind buying second-hand. There’s something charming about lifting the cover of a new paperback to find a hastily scrawled inscription on the inside, sometimes even a date.

Here are two ideas for acquiring books you’ve been meaning to read, while getting rid of the ones you never want to read again.

Book exchange websites

A few months ago, I was introduced to Bookmooch, an interactive community of book-lovers that uses a point system to trade books. The only thing you have to pay for is the shipping and handling costs. Basically, you create an inventory of all the books you want to give away, and a wish-list of all the books you would like to receive.

When someone adds a book to their inventory which is already on your wish-list, you are notified by email. The trick is to Mooch the book immediately before anyone else snatches it.

Photo by Lin Pernille’s Photography

The best thing about Bookmooch is that the point system is designed so that you can mooch more books than give away. You earn points for doing everything from adding books to your inventory to acknowledging when you’ve received a book, thus creating a lovely book cycle. You can even donate your points to charities.

Goodreads is another interactive website currently only offered in the USA. Here you can browse other people’s bookshelves, read and write reviews, and rave about literature in the very community-oriented forums.

Remember, however, that if you want to build up a good book swapping reputation, ensure your books are delivered in good condition. For bonus karma points, insert a little note with a “Happy Reading!” wish. The more good reviews you have, the more books you’ll receive.

Find a local book club

If you’re wary of exchanging your home address online with strangers, or skeptical about whether or not some people will actually follow through with the exchange, find a local book club. Generally book clubs are designed for readers to share a common book, but it’s a great way to meet other book-lovers who may lend you some material. Rounding up a diverse group of people will open the door for trying new genres or authors you may not have considered before.

If a local book club is not available, start your own. Network with friends and friends of friends to find a quiet location, bring snacks and indulge in the nerdier side of life.

Community Connection

Add more books to your reading wish-list with some amazing travel literature or spiritual reads.

The argument is split. Some business experts are encouraging car ownership, others are saying beware the market. While helping a friend research cars, however, I came across some incredible commercials — old and new — which serve as a testament to an industry which won’t quit finding innovative ways to bring the buyer.

Theo Jansen’s incredible monsters and fancy science may be attention-grabbing, but ultimately my friend decided the only way to make a good judgement was to test drive a few vehicles and visit dealerships.

It’s more important to find what works best for you. How comfortable do you feel behind the wheel? Does the vehicle have everything you need? And, of course, can you really afford it, or can you live without it?

Community Connection

Any other contributions to add to the list? Share in the comments, or learn about how you can drive a car with your iPhone.