Archive for August, 2006
Fresh direct is an online supermarket that delivers groceries to your door. I’ve been gleefully using them for about a year, and I now consider non-virtual shopping completely barbaric. No more forcing shopping carts through crowded Manhattan grocery stores, no more buying only what I can carry 10 blocks home.
Now, I simply sit on my duff at my computer, and go to Freshdirect.com. I quickly skim through categories like, “organic,” “dairy,” “grocery,” and “frozen,” and click on the items I want. After I have finished virtually shopping, they present me with a list of everything I have in my cart, and show me a price total that will be charged to my credit card. All that’s left is choosing a date and time for delivery.
It might not seem like the most inexpensive way to grocery-shop, but my savings in time and energy is notable. A lot of their prices are actually competitive with Manhattan’s already high prices. It’s mainly their organic fruits and veggies that I’ve found to be a bit steep, but when I receive organic apples which have been packaged in plastic containers that keep them so well protected they don’t have a single scratch or bruise, I feel like I’m getting my money’s worth. Plus, they offer items like bottled water and paper towels in bulk, so there is some savings there.
My only complaint is that they don’t have a very large selection of organic food, and very few organic sundries, so trips to Whole Foods are still necessary for me on occasion. Also, I have never ordered any of their meat, seafood, or poultry, so I can’t personally vouch for any of that.
One of their best features is “quick shop,” which allows you to look back at past orders and re-order with one click. This is great for me, because I buy practically the same staples every two weeks.
If you live in a city, I say give it a try with some of your staple grocery items to begin with; delivery is free. I bet you’ll become a fresh direct addict like me in no time.
- Jen
August 29th, 2006
Launched our video on demand channel on Time Warner this month. NYC launching next month. Also, busy picking those videogame vpinion winners. What an effort went into those! Will be back soon with more stuff.
- Daphne
August 23rd, 2006
Cool off this summer with the Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker]! It’s really easy to use and clean. Just keep the bowl in your freezer and when you are ready to make ice cream, pour in the mixture and let it churn for about half an hour. The longer you let the machine run, the fluffier your ice cream will be. If you want to have an ice cream party or make more than one flavor at once, you can buy extra freezer bowls.
Given the heat wave in NYC this summer, I have been experimenting with lots of recipes. The machine comes with some that don’t require cooking but for those who are a bit more adventurous, these recipes for Ginger Ice Cream and Chocolate Cinnamon Gelato with Toffee have been my favorites so far!
While there are definitely fancier ice cream makers on the market, I recommend this one because it’s simple, sturdy and a good bargain at around $50.
- Thi
August 21st, 2006
Check out this new cell phone from Motorola called The Moto Q: It’s the next big thing next to the Blackberry & Treo; you can go from the office to the party scene and still be Professional and HOT!!! at the same time. Motorola is definitely moving technology forward with their sleek new phones. This superior uncompromising mobile phone is as thin as the Razor and Chic like the Blackberry 8700g.
- Suzanne
August 14th, 2006
So we launched Refer a Friend today. We know a lot of you have been telling each other about creating videopinions. Some more than others (see this intrepid entrepreneur). We think it’s great that you have been telling each other about Expo. Having you spread the word saves us money from having to buy keywords from the Yahoogle Search Engine machines out there, and from buying banner ads on other sites hoping someone clicks on it. When it’s good for us, we try to make it good for you, too….and voila! RAF is launched.
Next month we want to unveil a new payment system that will be geared toward rewarding you for better quality/more helpful vpinions. We’ve been asked a lot to move toward that kind of system by you, and it’s obviously great for Expo as well. Stay tuned for more changes in the days ahead…and keep those great suggestions coming.
- Daphne
August 11th, 2006
Based on Randy and Jen’s suggestion, we splurged and bought a Keurig coffee maker for the office. We’ll do a vpinion on it some day, but for now, let’s just say that it’s getting a good workout here.
The key was that we knew this whole coffee thing would not work if anyone in the office had to clean anything. No pots, no filters, no nothing. The secret of the Keurig are these little cups, called K-cups that you can buy at Amazon. You just pop the cup into the maker. The water comes from this little tank you fill in the sink. Press a button and out comes some coffee in a few seconds. When you’re done, you just pop out the cup and throw it away (or make the next person throw it away). The coffee is decent, they have flavored coffees, teas, etc. You’d have to be really lazy to have this thing at home, but hey, we make no judgments here at Expo.
The only negative? Don’t run out of K-cups or the machine turns into a hunk of plastic that doesn’t do anything.
- Daphne
August 11th, 2006
A year or so ago I was reading about the apparently burgeoning world of men’s grooming products. The article mentioned Brave Soldier, a company that was founded with one product—their Antiseptic Healing Ointment. It’s basically like a high-end Neosporin that, according to their website, “brings high performance healing power to everyday cuts…” Who doesn’t need high performance healing power, I figured, so I ordered it on up. And you know what? It’s been great. The best part is that it’s made from botanicals, so it doesn’t smell medicine-y at all. And it’s called Brave Soldier, so it kind of makes you feel like a warrior just for getting a paper cut.
- Emily
August 9th, 2006
Disney is a completely obsessive service organization. And a cruise is the ultimate opportunity for them to control every last detail down to the minute. They might not be able to control how many people want to ride Space Mountain right before lunch (clearly the smartest time…) in the theme parks, but on a cruise, oh boy!, they can divide dinner seatings down to 15 minute increments and then blow you through a meal in an hour that feels completely relaxed but never lacking a plate of food in front of you with a subtle encouragement to “eat, sailor!” (the food is about as good as mass produced food can be). When you get back to your stateroom, the bunk bed will be folded down and the bath towel will be twisted into some exotic sea creature…guar-an-teed.
There’s more ‘Disney’ per square foot on these boats than any theme park could hope to achieve. Disney has a rule about only one of any character allowed to be on duty in a given park or boat at one time. But there’s a big difference between one Mickey in a 30,500 acre park and one on a 900 foot boat. You will see a lot of characters and get to sing a lot of Disney songs.
From the moment you check your bags in at your departure city, Disney’s reach is apparent. Bags are automatically transferred to the ship while you casually travel by Disney bus to the boat terminus. You are whisked through a check in line and then, you kick back and relax (old Disney cartoons, anyone?) while you wait for them to call your boarding group. As you come on the boat, you are announced as if you have just been married. And from there, the full Disney immersion begins….
- Bill
August 4th, 2006
So, recently we got some feedback that a couple members were ‘gaming’ the gamer contest voting. Well, actually, one member in particular.
We do look at the voting logs, discount multiple votes from the same IP address, blah blah blah. And we were able to discount the duplicate votes. But we all know that there is no fool proof way to blockade those intrepid few who don’t think they’ll get enough votes to win on their own. No, not requiring registration, no, not even that Ticketmaster “type in this made up word in this carnival house mirror text” can stop people who really, really want to vote for themselves a lot.
The community rallied, our process caught the activity, all is well. And while the Top 15 will still get the great $100 gift cards, we will be reviewing all the submissions for the HDTV grand prizes. They are really great submissions (someone used a GREEN SCREEN???) and we thank you for putting so much time into them! Check out the top videopinions here and vote now (only once and from the same IP address!). Good luck!
- Daphne
August 3rd, 2006
