Findthebest's Blog

Want classy AND fun? Let FindTheBest help you throw your next party!

findthebest — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 23:29:31 +0000

You’re throwing a party, and so far, things are looking promising. Your pad is clean. Your guest-list is beginning to swell. You’ve got beers in the fridge and a hodgepodge of party snacks on the table. But that little voice–that competitive instinct–is telling you that things could be just a little bit better. How can you take this party from good to great? From acceptable to phenomenal?

The answer is the FindTheBest Drink Recipes App. With a list of almost any drink you can imagine, and simple, helpful instruction for mixing and serving, you’ll set the new standard for party bartending. While the App speaks for itself, here’s a breakdown of a couple of its more notable features.

1) Drink Name, Keyword, and Ingredient Search Bars: Maybe you remember one word of a drink you tried 3 years ago, but can’t remember anything else about it. Just type what you know, and let FindTheBest do the rest. Or better yet, suppose the party’s starting in 20 minutes, you’ve just checked your liquor cabinet, and all you’ve got is a bit of rum and a dash of limeade. Not a problem! Just filter your search by the ingredients you already have.

2) Virgin Drinks, Girly Drinks and martinis fit for James Bond: When it comes down to it, drink preferences are like music tastes, political affiliations, and religious convictions. People take them personally, and often refuse to wander from familiar ground. With the FindTheBest Drink Recipe App, these entrenchments aren’t a problem. If a girl wants a bright pink Woo Woo, why deny her that satisfaction? If your loud neighbor demands nothing but tequila shots, won’t it be nice to have the proper implements to serve it in the classiest way you know?

So next time you’re planning to live it up for the night, take a few seconds to earn your bartending keep with the FindTheBest Drink Recipes Application.

Get A Headstart on Summer Planning

findthebest — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 17:52:13 +0000

With summer quickly approaching, people are starting to make plans from month-long adventure travel vacations abroad to day trips to amusement parks for more short term thrills. If you’re just beginning to plan out your summer, FindTheBest is a great place to start.

The site has Apps perfect for summer planning including Summer Camps, Libraries, Museums, Amusement Parks, Zoos, Sky Diving and Adventure Travel. Each App has tons of filterable information that allow you to find and compare different products, services and places based on factors like location and price.

Looking to go abroad for the summer? Check out FTB’s Adventure Travel App that allows you to find and compare exciting travel tours and destinations from Antarctica and Belize to Germany and Egypt. The App helps you tailor your search by allowing you to use filters like Trip Length and Level of Difficulty to Starting Price and Tour Operator.

Don’t have time to travel abroad this summer? Not to worry, FTB has great resources to help you plan fun and stimulating things to do around your city. Looking for thrills that only the fastest roller coasters and tallest drops can give? Check out FTB’s Amusement Parks App for listings from Disneyland to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor. The App will help you find the amusement park perfect for you based on Price, Location, and Ride Type.

For those of you whose thrill seeking far surpasses what amusement parks have to offer, FTB’s Sky Diving App can help get you suited up and ready to jump—out of a plane that is. FTB’s Sky Diving App allows you to find and compare hundreds of sky diving locations across the world, from Belgium and Italy to Canada and the United States. FTB can help you choose the best drop zone based on factors from location to price.

We realize that not everyone is up for these types of heart pumping thrills, so for those of you who prefer to keep your feet on the ground, FTB has Apps from Zoos and Museums to Libraries across the United States. Vacationing in southern California this summer? Check out the San Diego Zoo, which is home to more than 4,000 animals, or look into the Los Angeles Public Library, which attracts more than 16 million visitors a year. Traveling to the opposite coast? Check out the New York Public Library, which welcomes more than 16 million visitors annually or stop by the Bronx Zoo, which houses 600 different types of species. Not interested in libraries or zoos? No problem. Check out FTB’s Museums App to help you locate museums like San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art or New York’s Guggenheim Museum.

Looking for some quiet time away from the kids? FTB’s Summer Camps App has info on more than 1,500 summer camps based on Location, Camp Format, Category, Camp Type, Cost and Camp Length. You can sort through soccer, surf, football art and music camps.

If you’re looking to get a head start on your summer planning, FindTheBest is the best place to turn to for help.

Stellar Comedy Clubs in Your City

findthebest — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 18:18:25 +0000

Looking for a good laugh this April Fools? FindTheBest’s Comedy Clubs App allows you to find and compare dozens of fabulous comedy clubs in your city based on admission type, cover charges, venue style, dinner options and famous celebrities that frequent the club.

If you’re low on cash but are in need of a good laugh, sort through comedy clubs in your area based on cover charge. You’ll find tons of clubs that have low cover charges like New York’s Upright Citizens Brigade Theater or the San Francisco Comedy Club in San Fran.

Looking for a comedy club where you may spot a celeb? Use the regulars filter to see which hot celebrities frequent clubs in your town. If you swing by Rooster T Feathers in Sunnyvale, there’s a good chance you might spot celebrities like Jerry Seinfeld, Robin Williams, Ellen DeGeneres, and Drew Carey. If you’re on the opposite coast and need your celebrity fix, check out New York’s Comedy Cellar where celebrities like Chris Rock, Kevin James, Colin Quinn and Jim Narto are often spotted.

If you want to be able to enjoy a nice meal with your comedic entertainment, use the dinner options filter to locate comedy clubs that offer dinner—like Backdoor Comedy in Texas or The Denver Improv in Colorado.

Visit FindTheBest’s Comedy Clubs for all your comedy-club related questions.

Malnutrition, Over-nutrition and Eating Disorders

findthebest — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 16:37:41 +0000

Nutrition Tips and Advice

Nutrition is defined as: “The process of nourishing or being nourished, especially the process by which a living organism assimilates food and uses it for growth and for replacement of tissues.” Providing your body with a healthy balance of protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals is essential to both mental and physical development and sustainable growth. Yet millions of Americans suffer from nutrition-related illnesses including: Obesity, Anorexia, Bulimia and Binge Eating.
Poor nutrition as related to obesity or malnourishment is caused by several factors including:

Not eating right—Maintaining an unbalanced diet.

Lack of exercise—Not getting enough physical activity.

Environment—What people around you are doing, weather, accessibility of exercising options, societal and or peer pressures.

Genetics—The role genes have in making a person more or less prone to obesity.

Illness—Many disorders like Anorexia, Bulimia and depression result in malnutrition.

Symptoms of malnutrition and over-nutrition include:

Fatigue and low energy

Irritability

Dizziness

Poor immune function

Dry or flakey skin

Swollen and bleeding gums

Decaying or weak teeth

Underweight

Overweight

Poor growth

Muscle weakness

Osteoporosis

Problems with organ function

Cardiovascular problems

Gynecological problems

Heart disease

Sleep apnea

Respiratory problems

According to a UC Berkeley report, the key to a well-balanced diet is one that includes:

Plenty of high-fiber foods found in fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains. These types of foods should supply the 20 to 30 grams of dietary fiber you need each day. These types of foods also provide important vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals (plant chemicals essential to good health).

Green, orange, and yellow fruits and vegetables like broccoli, carrots, cantaloupe, and citrus fruits. These fruits and vegetables are high in antioxidants and other nutrients that may protect against developing certain types of cancer and other diseases. A healthy diet includes at least five servings a day.

A limit on sugary foods, refined-grain products such as white bread, processed foods, salty foods, foods high in additives and foods high in animal fat and trans fats.

A healthy amount of fish and nuts that contain healthy unsaturated fats.

Moderately portioned meals that are varied.

Maintain adequate levels of calcium needed for strong bones and teeth. High calcium foods include yogurt, milk and cheese.

If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation. (Approximately 1 drink a day for women and 2 a day for men.)

Despite all the studies and literature out there stressing the importance of a well-balanced diet, millions of Americans suffer from eating disorders including: obesity, anorexia, bulimia and binge-eating.

Obesity

Currently, an estimated two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. The issue is so prevalent that First Lady Michelle Obama has made tackling childhood obesity her top priority. In an interview with Good Morning America, Michelle Obama expressed her deep concern about the rising numbers of childhood obesity in the U.S., citing that 1 in 3 children are overweight or obese in the U.S., and that the U.S. spends $150 billion annually treating obesity-related illnesses.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) measures overweight and obesity ranges by calculating the “Body Mass Index” (BMI), which typically correlate to levels of body fat in a person. BMI is measured by calculating weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared, rounded to the nearest tenth. According to the CDC, “overweight” is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 25.0 to 29.9, while “obesity” is defined as a BMI of 30.0 and above.

A recent CDC report found that between 2007 and 2008, the prevalence of obesity in adults was 32.2% among men and 35.5% among women.

To calculate your BMI click here
CDC research found that obesity in the United States exceeds 30% in most age and sex groups with the exception of men between the ages of 20 and 39. Obesity ranges also fluctuate based on racial and ethnic groups, with particularly high rates among black women.

Adult Obesity Rates and Obese and Overweight Children Rates

The health risks associated with obesity are many and can be fatal. Obesity can lead to major health consequences, including:

Coronary heart disease

Type 2 diabetes

Cancer

Stroke

Liver and gallbladder disease

Sleep apnea

Respiratory problems

Osteoarthritis

Gynecological problems (abnormal menstrual cycles or infertility)

Hypertension (high blood pressure

Losing weight takes a continued commitment to eating healthy, nutritional foods and getting enough exercise. FindTheBest has a Nutrition Facts App that breaks down nutritional information in thousands of foods, making it easy to track how much protein, fats, carbs and overall calories you have consumed in a given day.
To maintain your weight, the CDC recommends 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity (activities which cause your heart rate and breathing to moderately increase) or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity (activities which make your heart rate and breathing increase significantly) per week. FindTheBest’s Calories Burned App breaks down routine and physical activities based on the number of calories burned. To lose weight and maintain weight loss, there must be a balance between a high level of physical activity and a balanced diet high in protein and fiber and low in transfats.
While obesity is a serious illness plaguing millions of Americans, it is not the only nutrition-related disorder.

Anorexia

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), an estimated 0.5 to 3.7 percent of females suffer from anorexia in their lifetime.
Symptoms of anorexia include:

Resistance or fear of maintaining body weight at or above a minimally normal weight

Deep fear of gaining weight even though underweight

Extraordinary influence of body weight on self-evaluation and self-esteem

Infrequent or absent menstrual periods

Obsessed with body appearance and body weight

Avoidance of food or eating food in very small quantities

Distorted self-body image

Results of anorexia fluctuate across individuals but include:

Recovery—some fully recover after a single shocking episode

Fluctuating pattern of weight gain and relapse

Chronically deteriorating course of Anorexia over a lifetime

Death

According to NIMH, the mortality rate among people suffering from anorexia is approximately 0.56 percent per year, or approximately 5.6 percent per decade, which is reportedly 12 times higher than the annual death rate due to all causes of death among females ages 15-24 in the general population. Some of the most fatal causes of death associated with the disorder include: cardiac arrest, electrolyte imbalance, suicide and infection.
One such example was 21-year-old Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston, who weighted just 88-pounds. The 5-foot-8-inch model died after suffering a generalized infection linked to her Anorexia. At the time of her death in November 2006, CBS reported that Reston had a BMI of 13.4 (18.5-24.9 is a normal BMI). In addition to Anorexia, Reston was also battling Bulimia.

Bulimia

People who are overly-obsessed with weight and body image deal with their unhealthy fixation in different ways. Bulimia is one such way people deal with fears of weight gain. An estimated 1.1 percent to 4.2 percent of females in the U.S. suffer from Bulimia in their lifetime.

Symptoms of bulimia nervosa include:

Recurrent episodes of binge eating

Lack of control and excessive eating followed by self-induced vomiting or misuse of laxatives, diuretics, enemas to eject the food from their bodies

Fasting

Excessive exercise

Self-evaluation based on body weight and appearance

People suffering from Bulimia oftentimes go under the radar because oftentimes they weigh within the normal range for their age and height.

Binge Eating

According to the NIMH, community surveys estimate that between 2 percent and 5 percent of Americans experience binge-eating disorder in a 6-month period.
Symptoms of binge-eating disorder include:

Recurrent episodes of binge eating/eating an excessive amount of food

Lack of control over eating during the episode

Eating much more rapidly than normal

Eating until feeling uncomfortably full

Consuming large amounts of food when not feeling physically hungry

Eating alone because of being embarrassed by how much one is eating

Depression and feelings of guilt after a binge eating episode

Binge eaters and people suffering from Bulimia experience many of the same symptoms but binge eaters tend to be overweight because they do not expel their food after an episode.

Nutrition Facts

As outlined above, nutrition plays a pivotal role in our lives and affects the way we look, feel, think and act. There are many resources on the Internet laying out healthy diets and low calorie recipes.
The following is a list of sites where you can find information on eating disorders, nutrition facts, healthy recipes and various ways to burn calories.

Helpful Links:

National Institute of Mental Health Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
US Department of Health & Human Services FindTheBest
WebMD UC Berkeley Wellness

A Sushi Lover’s Dream

findthebest — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 00:57:25 +0000

Are you a sushi lover who lives in fear of getting Mercury poisoning like Jeremy Piven?

If so, you’ll be happy to know that FindTheBest has a Fish Mercury App that allows you to find and compare the Mercury concentration levels in more than a thousand fish species.

The Fish Mercury App will allow you to continue eating delectable sushi platters, while at the same time being aware of each fish’s Mercury levels—allowing you to choose fish with lower Mercury levels that are just as scrumptious.

So next time you feel bad about accepting that sushi date, just visit FindTheBest’s Fish Mercury App to find fish with low levels of Mercury.

All you need to know about tsunamis

findthebest — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:25:07 +0000

Looking for information on tsunamis that have struck across the world? FindTheBest’s Tsunamis App allows you to search through hundreds of tsunamis based on their name, country, year, maximum water height, earthquake magnitude, the number of deaths and injuries as well as the damage in terms of cost. Below is an example of FTB’s Tsunami App.

Find and compare major tsunamis throughout history. Here’s an example of a comparison chart of the top 10 most intense tsunamis.Here’s the comparison chart we made of the top 10 most intense tsunamis.

Find and Compare Cell Phone Plans

findthebest — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:15:40 +0000

Are you like millions of other cell phone users who have been dropped from important phone calls? Are you wondering if any other cell carriers have better reception, or cost less?

FindTheBest’s Cell Plans App allows you to compare all the different cell phone carriers (like AT&T, TMobile, Verison and Sprint ) and plans, comparing activation fees, text messaging costs, monthly costs, minutes and various packages.

FindTheBest’s Cell Plans App allows you to compare all the different factors without having to search each individual site or call each of the various companies. It also allows you to choose a few plans and compare them side-by-side, so you have all the information you need to choose the best option.

St. Patrick’s Day Drink Recipes

findthebest — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:51:54 +0000

Are you looking for some great drink recipes for St. Patrick’s Day?
FindTheBest has tons of drinks from stiff, Dirty Martinis that will put some hair on your chest, to fruity cocktails perfect for the ladies.

FindTheBest’s Drink Recipes range from AMFs and Mojitos to Screwdrivers and Bloody Mary’s

Some favorites from the drinks recipes include:

1)The Creamy Screwdriver
2 oz vodka
6 oz orange juice
1 tsp sugar
1 egg yolk

2)The 100 Miles Per Hour
1/2 oz Wild Turkey bourbon whiskey
1/2 oz Bacardi 151 rum
1/2 oz Southern Comfort peach liqueur
1/2 oz Yukon Jack Canadian whiskey
1/2 oz grenadine syrup
2 oz Blue Curacao liqueur

3)18 Till You Die
1/3 oz vodka
1/3 oz Passoa liqueur
1/3 oz silver tequila
1 dash orange juice
1 dash lime juice

The Drink Recipes App has tons of great drink recipes like these. Check it out at: http://drink-recipes.findthebest.com/

Find Which Cities Pay the Most for your Career

findthebest — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:42:19 +0000

Are you wondering which cities pay most for your career and industry? Are you tied down to a city and want to know which careers pay the highest in your city? Are you looking to narrow your job search to cities that demand your skills during these troubled economic times?

FindTheBest’s Salary Range for Career and Industry and Salary Range for Career and City Apps can help you narrow down your job search either by city or by career.

If you’re a journalist and you love your profession, are you interested in learning which cities are in need of your skills? Are you happy with the city you live in, but want to know which careers pay the highest salaries there?

The Salary Range for Career and Industry App and the Salary Range for Career and City App will help you focus and narrow your job by city or by profession, taking you a step closer to finding your dream job.

Lose Weight for the Summer!

findthebest — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:14:29 +0000

If you’re like tons of other women out there, you’re getting anxious that summer is approaching and your summer body hasn’t been around since, well, last summer. You bring down your summer wardrobe suitcase from the attic and find your little red bikini that you haven’t put on since last August! Needless to say, you don’t want to try it on because you know I won’t love what you’ll see.

Instead of wasting time stressing over how you’re possibly going to fit into that bathing suit, check two great Apps on the FindTheBest website.

The first App, which is called Nutrition Facts, allows you to search and sort through thousands of foods based on their nutritional value. You can easily find foods that are high in protein and low in fat, as a start to your summer beach body diet.

The second App, which is called Calories Burned allows you to search and compare through hundreds of activities–from regular household chores to hardcore exercise activities–and lays out the details of the calories each activity burns.

FindTheBest’s Nutrition Facts and Calories Burned Apps will help you shape up for summer in no time, but hurry, summer’s just around the corner!