There's no such thing as a free lunch—unless, of course, you happen to be a food blogger. Food manufacturers tend to be liberal with their samples when it comes to gaining exposure through influential voices, and one New Orleans-based blogger has turned that into a defining feature of his site.

On BlakeMakes.com, Blake Killian has developed SOOPZ, a network of 200 or so readers who are also food bloggers—"Sooper Heroes," as he calls them. Manufacturers send multiple samples of a particular item to Blake, who announces that they will be given away through his site. Registered Sooper Heroes can then sign up to receive some in exchange for at least the possibility that they'll write about them on their own blogs. Most recently, for instance, TCHO—the chocolatier we featured not long ago on our own pages—donated a bunch of its chocolate bars for giveaway to the SOOPZ network. Before that it was Sucre chocolate. Since the site's founding last May, Blake has even started developing a line of his own products, starting with Peanut Butter Dulce de Leche—of which he's given away more than a hundred jars through the site. Future plans include videos and a cookbook as well, Blake says.

Whereas food brands have increasingly begun seeking out blog exposure, traditionally that's happened just one blog at a time, and on the brands' own initiative. By acting as an intermediary, BlakeMakes.com is turning that model on its head and giving companies quick access to many bloggers in one shot. Bloggers get free food, companies get free publicity, and everyone gets happy. If you're in food, better start lining up now...!

Website: www.blakemakes.com/soopz
Contact: blakekillian@yahoo.com

Tarzan fans have long yearned for the ability to swing from the trees like the Lord of the Jungle, and in recent years new opportunities to do just that have arisen around the world. Most recently one of our spotters came across Go Ape, a UK-based park that first launched in 2002 and has since expanded to 16 locations throughout Britain. Each of Go Ape's award-winning high forest adventure parks is essentially a network of rope bridges, trapezes and zip slides that stretches for roughly a mile through the tree canopy. Visitors can climb trees, slide across high wires, crawl through tunnels, cross rope bridges, swing on Tarzan swings and walk over planks before zipping down to the ground again. All users are fitted with a climbing harness and given instruction before undertaking the course, which takes approximately 2.5 to 3 hours to complete. Entry is GBP 25 for adults and GBP for children 17 and under; the minimum age is 10.

In Lyon, France, City Aventure operates two parks that also offer a variety of high-forest adventures. Attractions include rope bridges and Tarzan swings, along with the Tyro X-speed at Ste. Foy, a giant Tyrolean traverse 110 metres long that visitors can use to zip throughout the 4-hectare park. The courses take between 1 and 2 hours to complete. Both parks are built with environmental preservation in mind, including fastening systems that do not interfere with the trees' normal growth.

Adrenalin Forest in Christchurch, New Zealand, spans more than 1km with 4 pathways between 1.5 and 17 meters off the ground. Visitors to the park, which launched last year, negotiate a series of rope bridges, Tarzan swings and flying foxes from platforms constructed in the tree canopy. Last but not least, Thailand's Tree Top Adventure Park, set in the forest of Koh Chang, also offers an assortment of rope bridges, Tarzan swings and giant zip lines.

In this age of eco-awareness and experience-seeking, high-forest adventure parks like these offer consumers a way to satisfy both and gain some status skills to boot. One to bring to your neck of the woods?

Website: www.goape.co.uk — www.cityaventure.com — www.adrenalin-forest.co.nz — www.ekohchang.com
Contacts: businessdevelopment@goape.co.uk — info@cityaventure.com — contact@adrenalin-forest.co.nz — info@ekohchang.com

Spotted by: Junaid Kazi

For many foodies, it's not a question of which restaurant is good—it's a question of where to get the chile rellenos they're craving, masterfully prepared to perfection. Therein lies the raison d'etre of Dishola, a user-driven website devoted to the best dishes in gastronomic destinations around the world.

Launched in January 2007, Austin, Texas-based Dishola eschews general restaurant reviews in favour of dish-specific advice and information. Passionate eaters can post a "Dish Wanted" query, for example, to find out where to get those rellenos—or whatever they happen to crave—in their neck of the woods. They can read smart reviews by Dishola editors, industry professionals and other members, as well as posting reviews and photos of their own favourite dishes. "Food safaris" on the site help users discover new dishes, while those not sure what they're craving can take a spin on its "Dish Roulette" for inspiration. Dishola currently includes reviews of dishes in almost 300 cities around the world—albeit most of them in the United States—by more than 1,000 users representing more than 100 cities.

In much the same way that consumers tend to seek out product reviews rather than general reviews of stores or even manufacturers, Dishola's dish-focused approach promises to make it more practical and useful for taste-driven eaters than traditional restaurant guides. And given how big the world of food is, this one cries out for localized versions—how about bringing it to the food-loving community near you?

Website: www.dishola.com
Contact: www.dishola.com/features/contact

Spotted by: Laura Bond Williams

We wrote recently about the interactive wine bar at Adour in New York City's St. Regis Hotel, and since then we've spotted several mentions of iBar, a related innovation by UK-based Mindstorm.

Unveiled in 2006, the iBar is a customisable surface technology that turns any bar into a giant version of an interactive, touch-sensitive screen. Integrated video projectors can display any content on the bar's milky surface, while built-in intelligent tracking software continually maps the position of every object touching its surface. That input is then used to let the projected content interact dynamically with the movements on the counter, allowing coloured lights, for example, to illuminate, link and follow every movement of hands, bottles and glasses. Multiple people can interact with the iBar at once, and virtual objects can be "touched" with the fingers, enabling a game of pinball where players shoot with their thumbs, for example. Content that can be displayed on the iBar includes internet content, interactive games and advertising; bars can also be fitted with Bluetooth technology to allow consumers to download their own content. The iBar is a stand-alone system comprising modules 2m long, and it can be networked wirelessly to allow interaction between two or more separate units.

The iBar has already been used in events, exhibitions, product launches and top night spots all over the world, Mindstorm says, including BMW's head office in Munich, Geneva's Pimp Club and a gala dinner at Google. Such technologies certainly have the potential to transform the consumer experience at bars, restaurants and other venues, as well as providing a wealth of new advertising and point-of-sale opportunities. One to try out early!

Website: www.mindstorm.eu.com/solutions?category=ibar
Contact: ibar@mindstorm.eu.com

Spotted by: Donnie Lam

Just when Photoshop’s photo-editing software has become a household word, along comes a free online application that offers many of the same editing tools. By signing on to Picnik, the brainchild of a group of internet veterans based in Seattle, users can upload photos from their desktop and alter their colour, brightness and other characteristics. When done, they can post them on popular photo-sharing or social-networking sites. The tool is entirely accessible from a user's browser—no need to download or install software.

The free version of Picnik is ad-supported. But dedicated users can spend around US 25 for a one-year subscription to a more feature-rich, ad-free version.

Picnik is the latest in a lengthy list of web applications that exemplify the concept of free love, which our sister site trendwatching.com examines in depth this month. In all likelihood, many more free-love applications will appear online. Two relatively new websites, overlay.tv and SmashMash.tv, for example, let users edit videos online. Short of creating an application yourself, one way to build a business around this trend is to aggregate the free applications others have built (provided their terms of use permit this, of course). A free suite of photo-editing tools, for instance, could be combined with free publishing programs to distribute the edited works when they’re complete.

Website: www.picnik.com
Contact: feedback@picnik.com

Spotted by: Bill McMahon