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This week's retrospectical episode is all about bacon. We start all the way back to the beginning and talk about how bacon was first 'discovered' and used before it became a widespread global phenomenon. We also go in-depth about the different kinds of bacon out there, and how asking for some 'bacon' may net you different results depending on where you are in the world! Check out the full article here: http://www.drinkfive.com/general/item/221-the-history-passion-pursuit-of-bacon

(Retrospectical Podcast Episode 06: The History, Passion & Pursuit of Bacon)

Seth Zurer, co-founder of Baconfest Chicago joins us for a quick interview about the festivities at Baconfest this year - if you're in the Chicago area be sure not to miss it! We're crazy for bacon but everyone we introduce to Baconfest falls in love at first bite.

Update: Badass Candied Bacon. You're welcome.

It's chaos out there in the NFL this off-season. Each new year brings with it updated rosters and surprise acquisitions, but so far this year seems to be up there with the craziest that I've seen. Below you'll find some of the major gains and losses from each NFL team, but since the Patriots took home the title this year I thought I'd start with them and go a little more in-depth with the teams in the AFC East.

AFC East

• New England Patriots (12-4)

The 2014 Patriots obtained the highest honor in the NFL by winning the Super Bowl last year. Starting off slowly, they gained momentum throughout the season and carried it right through to a victory in Arizona against the Seahawks. The team looks very similar offensively with the exception of losing Shane Vereen to the Giants and gaining Scott Chandler from the Bills.

Vereen’s loss will hurt, as he was often called upon to play the hurry-up offense and was a great pass-catching back with speed and agility. Stevan Ridley will also not be coming back in 2015 after suffering a torn ACL & MCL early in the 2014 season. Belichick should not have many issues, however, making do with LeGarrette Blount as the power back and James White picking up where Vereen left off as a pass blocker and picking up some short passing routes in the backfield (The Patriots also just acquired Travaris Cadet from the Saints who will be involved in the competition for Vereen's touches).

(Check out our NFL catch-up Podcast from 3/17) 

Brandon Bolden and Jonas Gray may also be joining the party in smaller roles, as usual obfuscating the fantasy relevance of the running back position on the Patriots. The acquisition of Scott Chandler provides depth at the tight end position and another redzone threat, but he will likely not see much work unless Gronkowski suffers an injury. Julian Edelman, Brandon LaFell and Danny Amendola will all return as the receiving core in New England.

Surprisingly, Amendola was given a new, 3-year contract this year which may spell out a larger role for him in 2015 if he can remain healthy. Tom Brady remains his usual, snarky self with Jimmy Garoppolo waiting in the wings. May still be a few years, Jimmy. On the defensive side of the ball, The Pats lost key players Vince Wilfork and Darrelle Revis, who will both be nearly impossible to replace. The Patriots still have a strong, young defense that they have been building for a few years now but the absence of those specific players will definitely hurt.

• Buffalo Bills (9-7)

Kyle Orton is retiring again, this time likely for good. The battle for the starting QB spot in Buffalo will rage in 2015 between Matt Cassel (from the Vikings) and E.J. Manuel and I’m honestly not sure who deserves it more but most analysts are penciling in Cassel. One of the biggest offseason acquisitions so far this year was LeSean McCoy (from the Eagles) going to the Bills – he should provide a jumpstart to the offense and will likely pair well with Fred Jackson, both of which are multi-faceted (although Jackson just turned 34.. he doesn’t have much tread remaining on the tires).

Regardless of who is throwing the football this year, they have some good targets in Sammy Watkins and Percy Harvin (from the Jets), not to mention Robert Woods who had a couple of great games his rookie year. This could be the youngest receiving core in football with an average age of 23. After tight end Scott Chandler left for the Patriots, the Bills landed former Dolphins’ tight end Charles Clay (they acquired Jordan Cameron from the Browns). The defense in Buffalo was good last year and looks to keep rolling in 2015. Success for this team depends on the maturity of the receiving core and the ability of the signal caller.

• Miami Dolphins (8-8)

Ryan Tannehill is an obvious choice for a quarterback that will be chucking the football around for a long time in this league. So far in his 3-year career in the NFL he has improved his stats each year and in 2014 enjoyed a top 5 completion percentage, at 66.4%. He found success last year with rookie Jarvis Landry and was able to use deep threat Mike Wallace to a good degree but Wallace clashed with Dolphins’ staff and was handed off to the Vikings this off-season.

A young team on offense, the Dolphins have gambled on another hotshot receiver in Kenny Stills (from the Saints) moving into Mike Wallace’s former position as well as Jordan Cameron (from the Browns) to start at tight end. I mentioned earlier that the Bills may have the youngest receiving core in the NFL, well the Dolphins actually average out to 23 as well so they are both gambling on their young talent.

The only controversy on the Dolphins offense could have been the running back position (with either Lamar Miller or Knowshon Moreno heading up a committee), but the word on the street is that the Dolphins will not be resigning Moreno to a new contract which means that Lamar Miller could be in for a very productive 2015. On defense, the Dolphins signed Ndamukong Suh (from the Lions) to a massive contract (six-years, $114 million) which should give the squad’s rushing defense a kick in the ass. Look for the Dolphins to surprise this year.

• New York Jets (4-12)

The Jets have been busy this off-season, and their new GM Mike Maccagnan and coach Todd Bowles have acquired a great deal of talent, possible transforming the Jets from one of the worst teams in the league to an immediate contender in what will more than likely be a tough AFC East division. They picked up both Darrelle Revis (from the Patriots) and Antonio Cromartie (from the Cardinals) to bolster their secondary (along with a few others) and secured Brandon Marshall (from the Bears) to head up the receiving core.

Although losing Percy Harvin to the Bills recently, that seems to have been in the plan all along for this new regime and the combination of Marshall and Decker should prove more than formidable. The only big issue left was at quarterback, as the Jets had to choose between two less than stellar options in either a Michael Vick past his prime or the inconsistent Geno Smith.

The Jets smartly traded for Ryan Fitzpatrick from Houston to reunite him with his former coach Chan Gailey (who is now the OC in in New York) and Fitzpatrick will have to win the gig but easily projects to have a good fantasy year, if so. The Patriots are going to have more trouble than normal in the East this year. Should be fun to watch!

There have been quite a few moves in the 2015 NFL off-season!AFC North

Pittsburgh Steelers (11-5)

+DeAngelo Williams

-Lance Moore, James Harrison, Brett Keisel, *Troy Polamalu

Cincinnati Bengals (10-5-1)

+Michael Johnson

Baltimore Ravens (10-6)

+Kendrick Lewis

-Torrey Smith

Cleveland Browns (7-9)

+Josh McCown, Brian Hartline, Tramon Williams

-Brian Hoyer, Josh Gordon, Jordan Cameron

AFC South

Indianapolis Colts (11-5)

+Frank Gore, Andre Johnson

-Trent Richardson, Reggie Wayne

Houston Texans (9-7)

+Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett, Cecil Shorts, Vince Wilfork, Rahim Moore

-Ryan Fitzpatrick, Andre Johnson

Jacksonville Jaguars (3-13)

+Julius Thomas, Jared Odrick, Davon House, Dan Skuta

-Cecil Shorts

Tennessee Titans (2-14)

+Harry Douglas, Brian Orakpo, Perrish Cox

-Jake Locker

AFC West

Denver Broncos (12-4)

+Owen Daniels

-Julius Thomas

Kansas City Chiefs (9-7)

+Jeremy Maclin

-Dwayne Bowe

San Diego Chargers (9-7)

+Stevie Johnson, Jacoby Jones

-Ryan Mathews

Oakland Raiders (3-13)

+Trent Richardson, Roy Helu, Christian Ponder, Nate Allen, Rodney Hudson

-Darren McFadden, Maurice Jones-Drew

NFC East

Dallas Cowboys (12-4)

+Darren McFadden

-DeMarco Murray

Philadelphia Eagles (10-6)

+Sam Bradford, DeMarco Murray, Ryan Mathews

-Nick Foles, Jeremy Maclin, LeSean McCoy

New York Giants (6-10)

+Shane Vereen

Washington Redskins (4-12)

+Chris Culliver

-Roy Helu

NFC North

Green Bay Packers (12-4)

+Bryan Bulaga

-Tramon Williams, AJ Hawk, Brad Jones

Detroit Lions (11-5)

+Haloti Ngata

-Reggie Bush, Ndamukong Suh

Minnesota Vikings (7-9)

+Shaun Hill, Mike Wallace

-Greg Jennings

Chicago Bears (5-11)

+Eddie Royal, Pernell McPhee, Antrel Rolle

-Brandon Marshall

NFC South

Carolina Panthers (7-8)

+Ted Ginn

-DeAngelo Williams, Michael Oher

New Orleans Saints (7-9)

+CJ Spiller, Brandon Browner, Max Unger

-Kenny Stills, Jimmy Graham, Pierre Thomas

Atlanta Falcons (6-10)

+Leonard Hankerson, Brooks Reed

-Steven Jackson, Harry Douglas

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-14)

+Chris Conte, Henry Melton

-Josh McCown

NFC West

Seattle Seahawks (12-4)

+Jimmy Graham

-Max Unger

Arizona Cardinals (11-5)

+Mike Iupati, Lamarr Woodley

San Francisco 49ers (8-8)

+Reggie Bush, Torrey Smith

-Frank Gore, Michael Crabtree, Mike Iupati, Chris Borland

St. Louis Rams (6-10)

+Nick Foles

-Sam Bradford

Update: The Dolphins were clearly fed up with Wallace's antics even though the latest reports were saying that he was making good with Tannehill and the coaching staff in Miami. He was traded to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for a 2015 5th round pick. The Dolphins may still try to pick up another receiver to pair with Stills and Landry like Cecil Shorts. Wallace will be used heavily on the Vikings, but his value does dip a little bit as Teddy Bridgewater is not yet playing to the level of Tannehill.

NFL Free Agency this year has been a fireworks show. I know, I know.. every year has its blockbuster trades and unforeseeable acquisitions along with players facing unexpected injuries and trouble with the law - but this off-season just seems a little more impactful already. 

And it's only March 13th!

So.. is Friday the 13th of March, 2015 the day that Mike Wallace's dynasty outlook on the Dolphins hits a new low? Yes. With the signing of former Saint Kenny Stills, the Dolphins have just shown us where their future lies. And it's looking pretty good, folks. 

Let's take a quick look at Kenny Stills: he's a 3rd year player (breakout, anyone?) who, along with a 78.8% catch rate, grabbed 63 balls for a combined 931 yards and 3 touchdowns. He had success in 2014 running multiple routes and was among the very best (4th, in fact) in the NFL at bringing in the football.

Granted, Stills' quarterback was Drew Brees, but Tannehill has been no slouch in his first few years as an NFL signal caller and is generally expected to continue to improve - especially with new offensive targets like Kenny Stills and a recent acquisition from the Browns, Tight End Jordan Cameron. 

Back to Mike Wallace.

His numbers have been hovering around 1000 yards for his whole career and while his yardage total in 2014 (862) was disappointing compared to his previous seasons, he was able to match his career high in touchdowns (10) from back in Pittsburgh in 2010. Still, issues on the field and with coaches specifically have made the Dolphins' management rethink Wallace as their go-to receiver. Earlier in the year there were rumors swirling about Wallace being traded or facing a pay cut to stay on the team and although nothing of that sort has happened yet, he's definitely on the hot seat there.

Personally, I think the Dolphins will have Wallace and Stills both lined up on a lot of plays this year and although Stills is the future there, Wallace could keep a place on the team if he is able to take Stills under his wing and teach him how to be a play-maker. That said, Wallace will lose some down-field targets to Stills and some red-zone looks to Cameron. This is not to mention Jarvis Landry, who broke out in 2014 as a rookie with 84 receptions for 758 yards and 5 touchdowns. 

What does all of this mean? Well, the Dolphins offensive outlook just shot up for the 2015 season but we'll likely see Wallace's stock plummet slightly as he becomes more a part of the team rather than a lone wolf making plays by himself out there.

So.. what are drones, anyway?

Let's start with a basic definition: a drone is a remotely controlled unmanned aircraft that can perform any number of tasks automatically or with remote prompting. As of now, the definition doesn't get a whole lot more specific than that, which means that even more generic RC airplanes and helicopters could be given the same label as more sophisticated drone technology that costs several thousand dollars.

We assume that as the technology matures and different tiers of these unmanned aircraft are naturally formed, we'll also adopt more terminology to better organize the mess of products available.

When someone mentions drones in a conversation, most people immediately think of models that are being used in the military (like the MQ-1 Predator or MQ-9 Reaper) or the recently emerged plans of Amazon to use drones for super-quick package delivery. Surely this is because when we see drones in the media that is just how they are currently represented. I think it's important to shine a spotlight on the other uses for drones though, such as monitoring crops and cattle or conducting search and rescue. 

Tune into the Retrospectical Podcast (Drones - What are they, who uses them and what does the future hold?)
Download the mp3

Dividing up the drones..

When talking about all of the different types of drones out there and being used right now, public awareness about many of these is lower than it should be. Likely this is because (with the exception of the military) there simply aren't very many out there just yet. Here is a quick breakdown of industries that drones are being utilized in:

• Military (reconnaissance/surveillance and weaponized).
• Weather Systems (NASA and Northrop Grumman are engaged in an experiment with drones to learn more about the formation and heartbeat of hurricanes.
• Agricultural uses include monitoring fields and cattle and even spraying and seeding remotely.
• Automated drones can be used to create 3-D maps from multiple images and don't even need to be manually controlled with the maturity of GPS technologies.
• Search and rescue gets a huge boost with this sort of technology - allowing for remotely controlled drones to get into areas otherwise impossible for human teams and utilizing night vision and heat sensing.
• Police departments and Fire departments across the world have also been making the push to secure room in their budgets for drones - there has been some push-back as far as the police uses are concerned but there are many applications that come to mind for both.
• Other industries include film-making (documentary, entertainment, sports) and, in fact, drones were used extensively just recently in the 2014 Sochi Olympics for skiing and snowboarding events.

New FAA Regulations

In 2012, Congress told the FAA to create rules for the emerging drone marketplace and after some time with no news, they finally complied earlier this year (January 12, 2015). Two categories of drones were broken out in these new regulations: 55 pounds or less, and less than 4.4 pounds. These categories were labeled "Small unmanned aerial system (UAS)" and "micro-UAS" respectively.

Download the FAA's proposed drone regulations here.

It's important to keep in mind that at this stage these are only proposed regulations rather than laws that have been passed, but most people in the industry agree that these rules were much needed. Some of the proposed regulations include: daylight-only operations, maximum speed of 100 MPH and maximum altitude of 500 feet, operators must be 17-years-old and pass a series of tests and certifications - some of which are to be readmitted after a set amount of time.

Those rules may seem understandable - even necessary - but one that a lot of drone operators are already up-in-arms about is that you may not be allowed to operate a drone out of line-of-sight. This means that the aforementioned Amazon business plan of sending out drones to deliver packages would not be allowed under these rules. Also those wanting to use drones for the agriculture industry over large amounts of land would not be able to. A debate and controversy looms here, and we'll certainly be seeing and hearing more about this in the next few years.

Where do I start as a hobbyist?

Quad-copters and other multi-rotor drones may be the best start for someone looking to get one for themselves and explore the industry as a hobbyist. They are more stable and powerful than traditional airplanes or helicopters and are generally also easier and more simplistic to repair, based on their designs.

You can buy quad-copters relatively cheaply now (the Syma X1 is only $40, for example) but those with more features like built-in cameras or video cameras, GPS, larger batteries, the ability to carry items in flight and other advanced options will cost significantly more, even up to $10,000 for the top-of-the-line models for enthusiasts.

The DJI Phantom is one of the more popular starter drones - it comes with a high-definition camera, a high altitude range and GPS functions. It's around $500 so there is definitely an initial investment but not one as insurmountable as it used to be. 

Looking to the sky..

We all want taco-copters and pizza-copters (don't we? C'mon guys, get with the program!), but in order for there not to be complete chaos in the skies, the FAA regulations we talked about earlier may prevent this from happening - at least in the short term. I'm not giving up hope just yet, though, and as with any other industry there will be new developments and regulation changes in the coming years which may open up new business models for companies that are currently exploring the use of drones. 

When Amazon initially brought out its now famous video introducing the possibility of drones delivering packages with only a very small (30-minute) wait after the initial order, people were skeptical (and rightly so!). But now they've already gotten to advanced drone prototypes and have applies to the FAA to begin real-world testing.

Google has numerous projects in the works.. some for delivering items (small and large) bought from the internet, but others for self-powering drones that could hover almost indefinitely in the stratosphere (Project Titan) and deliver internet access to places that either don't have it currently, or have been affected by a disaster that may have disabled it. 

Increasingly, there has been a focus on the development of drones that can fly autonomously. Interesting that this development coincides with all of the projects that are currently going on with automobiles - looks like the Jetsons may actually be a reality at some point in the next 20 or 30 years. Regardless of how you feel about this industry, it will grow and mature in the coming years and bring with it innovations and ideas that were previously thought impossible. I'm just happy that I get to experience all of this as it happens.