Owning a chocolate fountain is fun as long as the fountain is overflowing with chocolate and people are having a gala time dipping into it. After the last guest has departed and you are with your chocolate fountain all alone, there is nothing more annoying than having to clean things up. But then you are left with no valid option, than to clean up the mess, as well as the fountain as soon as you possibly can. These simple steps will help you clean and maintain your chocolate fountain in the best possible condition.

How to Clean a Chocolate Fountain

Dealing with liquid chocolate is indeed a messy job; forget liquid chocolate, even regular chocolate can be a messy affair. Cleaning up after a party doesn’t seem to offer an interesting prospective; yet you can’t leave it either, for you might wake up to unwanted guests (pests) the next day. It’s best to clean up while the chocolate is still in the liquid form.

Process of Cleaning
Look to your left for the things used to do the cleaning, and once you have everything in hand, you can begin cleaning the chocolate fountain.

Step 1: Begin by draining out all the excess chocolate from the fountain. You can either store the chocolate in a container or dispose off the remainder. Do not run the chocolate fudge down the drain as it may result in clogging of the drain pipe. If you find crumbs and bits of fruits, it is advisable to dispose off the chocolate as it would be unfit for consumption. If you find a few hardened lumps of chocolate, it is advisable to run the fountain for some time, till it melts or you can try your hair dryer to heat things up faster. Either way, ensure all the liquid chocolate is out of the fountain.

Step 2: Once you have got rid of all the excess chocolate, fill the basin with a jug full of warm water and run the fountain for a few minutes. This will ensure the removal of all the chocolate residue. Drain the water from the basin and dismantle the fountain. Your fountain will disassemble into four parts: auger tube, auger, bowl tiers, and the basin/ base. All the parts of the fountain except the basin, are dishwasher-friendly and can be stacked into it for a quick wash. You can do it manually as well, if you have time and energy that is.

Step 3: Using a sponge and some warm soapy solution, get to washing the basin. Take precaution while washing though, as any water percolating to the machine area could lead to a possible short circuit, thus hampering the working of the fountain. Be sure to check for any residue in and around the basin area, and if needed, wipe again with a wet sponge. Allow it to dry completely before you stack it away. It is advisable to leave the basin with some warm water to get rid of all stickiness, before you get to actually washing it.

Step 4: Check the auger tube once it is out of the dishwasher for any residue; if you still find some, soak it in some warm soapy solution for a few hours and rinse off, under running water. Once you are done with the washing, dry and pack it off in a dry and ventilated place. Keep away from moisture as it can damage the fountain.

Time Factor
Many of you must be wondering if this will take you a long time to complete, isn’t it? Trust me, the entire process of washing will hardly take you a couple of minutes. Ensure that the water you use is not just warm but hot; hot water will work faster and leave you with lesser tension as it removes all possible grime and residue in minutes. As mentioned earlier, you can fill the basin with warm water and run it for a few minutes while you get the other stuff cleared up.

Being a chocolate lover, I simply can’t think of wasting precious chocolate. Instead of throwing out the chocolate, store the chocolate in jars and make a variety of dishes your kids will thank you for. Try out the chocolate sandwich or the chocolate toast for breakfast. You can also fill your ice trays with the chocolate and have chocolate cubes. Besides, you can even try out a chocolate milkshake. Only remember to use it as soon as possible and before that, do remove all the fruit bits that might have dropped into the fountain during the party. By the way, do not forget to clean it even though you love chocolate and find it hard to part with it. Cleaning and maintaining the hygiene of your chocolate fountain will ensure the smooth running and optimum use of your chocolate fountain.

The public has always been passionate about buying their favorite movies, music, games and books, as well as finding ways to help benefit their favorite charities. The new social networking website, Huzo, not only allows the world to connect with each, but has stepped above and behind its competitors; not only does it also allow its users to buy their favorite entertainment, but also donates two percent of the profit to charity.

Huzo’s CEO and president, Terrell Samuels, has also made the social networking website unique in the fact that celebrities who join can sign up their favorite charities. When their friends and fans make entertainment purchases on the website, their donations will benefit their charities.

When the public subscribes to Huzo and watch movies, play games and listen to music on the website, they can even generate income for themselves. Users can recoup two percent of the cost in cash, which they can keep for themselves or designate to go to any organization they choose. Huzo subscribers also receive additional cash incentives for referring friends who subscribe.

Samuels generously took the time to speak about Huzo over the phone from Los Angeles. He discussed his motivation in launching the social networking platform, the positive support he’s garnered since starting Huzo in June, and how successful the website has been.

Question: What was your motivation in launching Huzo, and why did you decide to donate some of the profit to charity?

Terrell Samuels (TS): I decided to launch the website because I’m pretty much a Christian. I believe in giving back and being a blessing and doing good for other people. On all these entities, like the iTunes, Amazon and Netflix of the world, people are spending over $ 100 billion every year, just in the U.S., on movies, books, games and music. I said, why not create a platform where we can give some of that money back, because it’s a recession right now.

Even during the recession, the number went from $ 1 billion in 2009, to $ 120 billion. More people want to stay at home, and not take their families out to dinner and things of that sort. What better way than to come up with a platform to give some of those revenues back to school, church or business during the process.

Q: What is the process like in getting celebrities to sign up for Huzo?

TS: Well, let me give you our definition of a celebrity first. Our definition of a celebrity is anyone with a fanbase or database of 5,000 or more people. A celebrity to us can be a school, a church, a charity, a foundation or person. What we found was that some of these Hollywood celebrities, they’ve worked so hard to build up their fanbases on these social media sites, since the start of the whole social networking movement, with Facebook, Twitter and Myspace.

But no one has figured out how to monetize on that fanbase on a consistent basis. Considering that we figured that out with our platform, we wanted to lead by example, and make sure some of that money was going to charity, or using it to give back. The celebrities meet with me and the members of my team, and we emphasize signing up their charity, and the whole philanthropic aspect, keeping that in the forefront.

Q: Tyrese Gibson and Rob Kardashian are just two of the Hollywood celebrities who have joined Huzo. Does having such name recognition draw attention to Huzo’s goal of raising money for charity?

TS: Well, it does, because people want to find out why a lot of these A-listers are signing up on our site. The benefit behind it is that Tyrese Gibson, Jamie Foxx or Rob Kardashian, they have a couple million followers on Twitter. When I sat down with them, I asked them, how are you monetizing that database? The normal answer is when they watch my show or buy my music.

With our platform, we found a way to actually give back to their fans. Some of our athletes, like the Lakers, Matt Barnes. He was excited about signing up his foundation (Athletes Vs. Cancer). He said, Terrell, fans come and see me play every night. I’m signing up with Huzo because I can finally give back to them, and invite them to join a network, and receive a rebate back in cash. Hopefully, if they get enough people to join their Huzo pages, they can come see me for free eventually. In addition to that, I don’t have to go ask my friends, family and other people to raise money for my foundation.

Matt’s foundation benefits cancer, because his mom died of cancer (in 2007). He thought it was a great way to raise money for his foundation without having to ask people. It’s almost like you’re raising money and giving back in the same breath, which has never been done before.

Q: When people subscribe to Huzo to purchase entertainment, they can also recoup two percent of the cost in cash, which they can put towards future purchases. Why did you decide to offer this option as well?

TS: Well, the cash back option, I thought was imperative. With so many people out of work and losing jobs, and so many companies laying people off, I wanted to help find a way to help bring this country out of this recession.

We partnered with Merrick Bank in New York, and they developed the Huzo Visa Debit Card for us. They will also electronically upload cash on everyone’s Visa Debit Card monthly. They can use it at any ATM, restaurant or grocery store.

Most people have about 300-500 friends on Facebook. If you had that many friends on Huzo, you’d be receiving a nice, monthly check, just for having friends in the community and them redirecting their spending from the other competitors, like the iTunes or Amazons or Netflixs of the world.

Q: What has the public reaction to Huzo been like since you launched the website?

TS: In the past three years we’ve been in the development stage, we beta-tested it four times. During that time, I actually flew all over the world, meeting with everybody and anybody, from Russell Simons to Tom Hanks and his entourage to Michael Jordan. Anybody and everybody, from janitors to employees of grocery stores.

I interviewed so many people. I took notes on objects on why they would not, or why they would, sign up for a company similar to this. I made all those changes, overcame all those objects before we launched, in June of last year.

The public response has been overwhelming. Most people are saying, wow, this is too good to be true. Some of the people are saying, wow, why didn’t I think of this? So we’re getting a really, really good response. Since we launched in June, we’ve had at least one person in every state in the U.S. sign up to get a profile page.

We also have a presence in 22 other countries, just by referral alone. We also signed up to have a translator into 14 different languages. That’s been an objection that we’ve been getting a lot of emails about. So the public response has been phenomenal.

Q: Besides donating a portion of users’ purchases to charity, what differentiates Huzo from other social networking websites?

TS: I truly believe empowering the consumer, and allowing them to own their profile page, and by the consumer getting a rebate and a percentage back, as well as the charity, I think that sets us among the rest. To my knowledge, no one is out there doing this.

Q: Huzo users can share their favorite movies, games, e-books and music with their community. Why do you think entertainment creates such discussion and debate among people?

TS: Partly because the entertainment industry keeps our dollar strong in the United States. The average person spends about $ 20 a month on any one of those four vehicles, and it equates to $ 120 billion a year. It’s going to cause a huge impact on conversations. People here in the U.S., and all over the world, they love to be entertained.

That’s probably one of the reasons why people spend a lot of time talking about it and spending money on it. It’s an outlet for people. It gives them a relief of stress, and is a form of release and peace.

Q: You launched Huzo to be an effective fundraising vehicle for organizations, and to provide more value for the money people are already spending on entertainment. Has the website been successful in maintaining this goal?

TS: Yes. I would say to date, we’ve had about 15 to 20 charities sign up. We’ve had a few charities invite their databases to join Huzo. In our beta testing numbers, they have created some revenue for their charities. It hasn’t been substantial, because we’re just now getting out of the gate of allowing people to start inviting others to join.

It was a lot of behind-the-scenes work, to get our servers up-to-speed, and get everything done. As of right now, we definitely have a few charities that have raised money, using our platform. To give an example, the Matt Barnes foundation, or the Bobby Jackson Foundation, or the Leap Foundation with Matt Nordgren, we have a few charities that have signed up, and actually used our platform the way it’s supposed to be used.

They have sent out invites to their databases. The response they’ve been getting has been about 30 percent of their databases. We’re definitely making a difference from day one.

- Joy Pecknold, Passport blog editor

By CATHERINE TSAI

The Associated Press

DENVER — Over the decades, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead, U2 and hundreds of other acts have played the legendary outdoor stage at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, nestled between two 300-foot sandstone monoliths in the Rocky Mountains foothills outside Denver.

On Jan. 27, thanks largely to a seasoned concert producer and a growing Denver-based ski company dreaming big, the hip-hop group Atmosphere and Grammy-winning rapper Common are headlining the venue’s first concert in the middle of winter, coinciding with a snow-sports trade show that will bring an estimated 20,000 attendees to town.

The ski company, Icelantic, has been rallying dozens of volunteers to shovel snow and chip away ice at Red Rocks — originally built by the Civilian Conservation Corps — every Sunday to get ready for Winter on the Rocks.

“I love to do things off the grid, where people say, ‘You’re out of your mind,’” said Chuck Morris, president and chief executive officer of AEG Live’s Rocky Mountain region, which is producing the concert. “I’ve done that my whole career.”

Red Rocks is open all year as a park, but it shuts down as a concert venue for the winter.

Icelantic’s events director Sam Warren, 27, remembers promising at a bar that he’d throw a winter concert at Red Rocks if SnowSports Industries America moved its annual Snow Show from Las Vegas to Denver. In 2007, SIA announced Snow Show would move to the Mile High City in 2010.

Anne Hack of AEG Live had overheard Warren’s pledge in the bar and worked with Icelantic to throw sold-out concerts at the roughly 1,600-person-capacity Ogden Theatre during the SIA Snow Show’s first two years in Denver. Living Legends played the first year, and Big Boi played the next.

“We blew our own socks off,” Warren said.

But Warren was still set on Red Rocks, despite logistical questions. “Jump, and the net will appear,” he said.

Musicians would need heaters to keep instruments in tune. Trucks and concertgoers would have to make steep trips uphill in the cold to the amphitheater, and toilets would have to be brought up to make up for ones shuttered until spring.

Costs for a winter concert are roughly 20 to 25 percent higher than a similar summertime show at Red Rocks, just to remove snow and keep the stage area warm, said Don Strasburg, senior promoter and vice president of AEG Live’s Rocky Mountain region.

Still, Morris noted the thousands of skiers and snowboarders bundling up for outdoor concerts around Vail and Aspen, not to mention Denver Broncos fans watching live games in the cold, and thought there was no reason not to try a winter concert at Red Rocks, which holds about 9,450 people.

“We live in the Wild West. Our job is to keep pushing boundaries,” said Strasburg.

Denver city officials, knowing Snow Show attendees had grown accustomed to partying in Las Vegas during past conventions, were on board early on.

In addition to Atmosphere and Common, Grieves and Budo and Get Cryphy are playing at Winter on the Rocks.

Icelantic co-founder Ben Anderson, 29, said he hopes it snows during the concert. “It would make it different from all the other shows at Red Rocks,” he said.

Morris and Warren said a winter Red Rocks concert to accompany the SIA Snow Show could be annual, if all goes well this year. Already, more than 6,000 tickets have been sold.

___

Online:

http://www.redrocksonline.com/CalendarEventDisplay.aspx?id=158044

___

January 20, 2012 12:18 PM EST

Copyright 2012, The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Based on the information that is currently available, it doesn’t appear as though the hacking incident that occurred at Zappos.com yielded critical pieces of information like passwords or complete credit card numbers. But sensitive information was certainly obtained, including e-mail addresses, names, physical addresses, etc. Certainly more than enough information for would-be scammers to try to solicit further information and action from unsuspecting consumers.

Allegedly, the account passwords that were stolen had been cryptographically scrambled, so the thieves would not be able to see the actual passwords. Of course, one can only wonder how difficult it would be for the hackers to simply unscramble the passwords, if they’ve already gone through all the effort necessary to hack into the system in the first place. Security experts admitted as much, noting that hackers could decipher many of the passwords very quickly and that the technology required to do so was readily available, especially in those circles.

Another alarming component of the Zappos hack is that user phone numbers were also obtained. So scammers could actually call, text or leave voice messages, pretending to be from a legitimate company with whom the consumer has had previous dealings. It’s at that point that even savvy consumers might be duped into believing that the scammers were legitimate.

Zappos has advised anyone who holds an account with the company to avoid clicking on any e-mails from credit card companies or other institutions who may be asking for various forms of identity confirmation.