Live Jasmin is a top 50 website?

Don't worry, that's not a porn pop-up above this text. However, I can imagine that most males have come across this pop-up or a very similar pop-up. What you didn't know is how successful these actually are. Regardless of what's in that red box, my first reaction is to immediately close it. If that is the typical mindset, then how is Live Jasmin actually making money? On an average day, Live Jasmin gets more traffic than The New York Times, ESPN, and Netflix. Now, being a sports enthusiast and seeing how popular ESPN is, this astonishes me. Adult actresses have begun the switch to "live sex" and have actually been finding it quite profitable, which blows my mind. It's been reported that a popular model on a fairly large site can bring in as much as $40,000 PER MONTH. Believe it or not, there are users out there who can spend anywhere from $20,000 per month to $100,000 per year.

These "cams" try to lure users to stay on as long as possible, charging up to $15 per minute of interaction. Jenna Jameson recently held a cam show that attracted 10,000 viewers. Even if they only stayed for less than 1 minute each, that's $150,000 for the website! I simply can't fathom how someone could drop that kind of money on something that can be found for free anywhere on the internet with a simple Google search. Hell, there is a market for everyone I guess, and Live Jasmin seems to have found the rich, lonely men who are willing to spend $100,000 a year on some live chatting. I can tell you one thing, they will never be getting my money!

Alternatives to Fantasy Football

We are all aware of the obvious Yahoo! and ESPN fantasy football leagues. But what if that isn't enough for you? Well, ESPN offers a multitude of other games for the fantasy fanatic to partake in. I've searched and found what I believe to be the top 3 alternative games to play to get your fantasy fix.

Build the best streak, win $100,000. Seems easy, right?

My personal favorite is Streak for the Cash. The idea is simple, yet executing it is nearly impossible. The basic idea is to build the longest winning streak by picking a winner of a specific game. Every day over the course of 1 month, the "streak master" will put various games and proposition bets for you to pick a winner of. It can be as simple as who will win a particular football, baseball, or soccer game. But, it can also have bets along the lines of "Which side will record a higher total: Dodger's runs scored in the 4th-6th innings or Padre's hits recorded in the 4th-6th innings." Get a pick right, and watch that line turn green and you are off to a W1 (winning streak of 1). Get it wrong though, and watch that line turn an awful red, and your back to square one. If you are able to link together the longest streak, you automatically win $50,000. If you can do that, AND eclipse the number of 27 in a row, then you get whatever is in the "stash" from previous months, as they carry over. Currently the stash is at $150,000, making a possible $200,000 up for grabs this month! Oh yeah, and its FREE to play! Happy streaking.

Pick the winner of every game, every week

I'm new to this one, but it is something I have been interested in for some time now. Basically, you log on here and are shown a list of every match-up for every week of the NFL season. You can choose to pick who will win with the spread, or who will simply win straight-up. For every pick you get right, you get a point. If you are the overall winner for the week, you are awarded a $50 ESPN Shop gift card. If you are the overall winner for the entire season, you win a $1,500 Best Buy gift card. Again, another free fantasy game with some large prizes. Why not play?

This game involves you picking just 1 winner each week throughout the entire season. Seems pretty easy right? Wrong. You can only pick each team 1 time throughout the entire season. If you pick the Packers to win in week 1, that's the only time you can pick them. This game involves some deep strategy and looking ahead at other team's schedules. You may want to hold off on picking the Packers til later, and focus on when you would pick the Falcons to win instead. If you are able to put together the best entry, you will win the grand prize of a $2,000 Best Buy gift card, with second place being rewarded a $1,000 Best Buy gift card as well. Just like the other 2 games discussed, this is also free.

With these games being free to play, having large prizes, and feeding fantasy addicts.. I don't see why someone interested in fantasy football wouldn't participate in any (or all) of these. Good luck!

How Will Replacement Ref's Affect the Game?

We've learned that replacement referees will start the season with the NFL. Tonight is the opening game, with the Dallas Cowboys visiting the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants. How will the ref's affect the game? We saw in the preseason that the replacement ref's were nervous and clearly new to the faster pro game. Many of them had been removed from high school and college; but not D-1 college like the SEC, Big 10, etc. These refs do not seem to fully know the rules of the pro game, and definitely do not now how to make calls. While we can all admit that football is a tough sport to officiate, these replacements will just not do. One referee mistakenly called a penalty on "Arizona" when he meant "Atlanta." How can he properly call a game when he doesn't even know which side of the country he's on? I have a bad feeling that one or more games will be lost this week (and every week with replacement ref's) due to bad calls. Whether it is a no-call or a blown call, the refs will almost inevitably have an affect on the play this week. Tonight could be telling, as the season opens with a huge rivalry between the Cowboys (not even Texas' team, let alone America's team) and the Giants. Let's get ready for some football.

A.J Green better than Megatron?

This immediately caught my attention and I HAD to say something about this. This might be the boldest statement in the NFL since Rex Ryan guaranteed a super bowl victory. It's not even like Harbaugh is bragging about one of his own receivers. I mean, what could possibly make him come out of no where with this claim?

If we look at last years numbers, Calvin Johnson recorded 1,681 yards with 16 TD's to Green's 1,057 and 7 TD's. Sure Green is still a kid in this league, his numbers are no where near Megatron's. Here's a list of receivers with more TD's last year than Green: Jordy Nelson, Laurent Robinson, Vincent Jackson, Dez Bryant, Victor Cruz, Wes Welker, Greg Jennings, Marques Colston, Roddy White, Santonio Holmes, Larry Fitzgerald, Lance Moore, Plaxico Burress, Eric Decker, Julio Jones, and Mike Wallace.

PLAXICO BURRESS? Dude can shoot himself in the leg, go to jail, get back in the league, and STILL put up more touchdowns than Green did. Lance Moore wasn't even the number 1 receiver on the saints, and was still able to haul in more touchdowns than A.J Green. Both the Giants and the Saints had multiple receivers with more touchdowns than him. If Green is really the number 1 receiver for the Bengals, and according to Harbaugh, the league.. then why are there so many ahead of him on that list? Green may have the athletic ability, but until he is able to put up Megatron-like numbers, I don't even see how he could be compared to him in any way. Anything short of monster numbers from Green this year will make Harbaugh's claim a complete joke.

Dodgers Future

According to ESPN, Los Angeles Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley may be out for the season. Manager Don Mattingly said today that it is likely that the 10-9 starter will not pitch again this season. Is this creating an opening for former Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett? While Billingsley only won 10 games, he was holding opposing batters to a solid .257 average, and posted a decent 1.29 WHIP. Maybe the Dodgers/Sox trade was exactly what the doctor ordered for LA, but only time will tell.

Fantasy Football Sleepers Week 1

Okay everyone, we realize that this is the time of year in which Fantasy Football gets huge. I personally have money in a league, so I'll check every day to see how to optimize my lineup to maximize my point total. Every week, we'll do a few sleeper players for that week. Obviously, week 1 is approaching rapidly (tomorrow!), so let's get to it so we can all make those final roster changes.

1. Ronnie Brown - RB -  San Diego Chargers

With Ryan Mathews almost definitely out for the opener (collarbone), former star Ronnie Brown should take the bulk of the carries from Philip Rivers usually stellar offense. While Brown has lost a step in the last couple seasons, he's still a great back with good vision and elusiveness. Also, you have to think the Raiders won't be great on D this season....I mean, when was the last time they were, right?

2. Brandon Lafell - WR -  Carolina Panthers

Although Lafell is not a household name, he is a solid wideout in an offense ready to erupt this season, a year out of Cam Newton's unprecedented performance. While (the real) Steve Smith is obviously Cam's number one target, Lafell is sure to get some good chances in a great rushing offense. Smith and TE Greg Olsen will both call for double coverage at some point, leaving a great opportunity for Lafell on play-action passes. You might see a few catches for a lot of yards and a TD.

3. Minnesota Vikings DEF

There are a few reasons the Vikings could have a good week defensively....none of which are Vikings players, except for sack-king Jared Allen. Jaguars QB Blaine Gabbert is in his second year, and he's coming off a pretty horrible year as a rookie. Yes, Maurice Jones-Drew is the rushing leader, but he just ended his holdout and is likely not in football condition (let alone condition to get 20 carries and hit 20+ times). The Jags did add WR Justin Blackmon, but he is the only real threat there (Mike Thomas is solid but nothing special). I think the Vikings will get at least 1 or 2 turnovers and possibly a handful of sacks (2, 3, or 4). Even if the score is high, the Vikings could get you more than 10 points here.

Foursquare: Great social network or creeping device?

Okay, so I decided to hop on board the social network known as "Foursquare" finally. Being a devout Facebook and Twitter user, I had seen friends posting from Foursquare to these sites telling me where they were and what they were doing. At first glance, I assumed that Foursquare was just basically a glorified Facebook check-in app. However, after I downloaded and began to use this, I realized that there could be some great advantages and disadvantages to this.

Basically, whenever you go to a bar, restaurant, or any place of interest, you can "check-in" to it and tell people you are there. After the initial check-in, you gain points based on the location, how many times you've gone, and how many of your friends have checked into the same location. If you accumulate the most check-ins at a spot, you become the "mayor" of it. I found a bar where if you became the mayor, you would receive happy hour deals at ANY time you visit. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me, I could eat a massive plate of $5 nachos and a massive $3 margarita any day. It also seems that Foursquare has worked out some deal with American Express, as most places offer a deal through them stating that if you spend $10 through AMEX, you get $5 off. Aside from being the mayor, anyone can leave notes about a location. These can be really handy if you've never been to this place before, as regulars can leave inside information regarding deals or specials. Again, another way that I've found this social network to be helpful, I'm always down to save some money when possible.

What worries me is the fact that when you check-in, everyone knows exactly where you are. If you checked into every place you visited for a week, someone reading your feed could literally follow you around. It's almost like having some creepy friend looking over your shoulder at all times, updating what you are doing to the rest of your friends. If you're trying to avoid seeing certain people, Foursquare is definitely not going to be the social network you want to be using, stick to Twitter and not checking-in.

Basically, I see this as a mixture of savings and stalking, with a side of actual social networking. I haven't been apart of this fad for too long, so I'm curious as to what some heavier users of Foursquare think about it.