Archive for January, 2007
If you’re on this website, you probably own a computer. You also probably use it pretty often, as doing product research online is a good deal beyond the email-and-weather PC basics for which modern day rigs are so overqualified. Even if these things were true, there’s still probably no way you use it enough to justify the kind of learning curve required for the DataHand. Not that I know first hand, but I have an idea.
I use the Kinesis Advantage Pro USB now and type DVORAK style, and when I switched over (both of these things at the same time) it took me about a month to get back up to how fast I was typing before. But my keyboard is still at least a keyboard - you can look at it and be taken aback by it’s unconventional design, yet still know what purpose it serves in life.
But let’s talk about Return On Investment. You spend a month relearning how to type. After that, you will type an average of 16% faster (from DataHand’s research, conducted at the University of Arizona, which does not seem to be published online). You would only need to type for another 187.5 days before you’re recouped your losses. Hopefully you’ll live longer than that, and computers don’t appear to be going anywhere. Of course, there are other disadvantages, like forgetting how to use a normal keyboard, so you are crippled in the using-computers department outside of your own home, or spending $675 on a keyboard.It’s actually less about speed, to be honest, and more about safety. I used to think ergonomic keyboards were for the weak, until my college roommate got Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and had a metal rod through his wrist for a while. But I think much less radical designs are sufficient for relieving typing pain, namely the one I use now, less than half the price. In closing, you probably don’t want to buy this, but it’s really cool.
- Kip
January 31st, 2007
My pick is Butch ’s travel review of White Sands National Monument. White Sands is located in New Mexico, an hour away from the city of Los Cruces. The park is the site of the world’s largest gypsum dune field – which basically means it’s a gorgeous white-sanded desert. I had no idea this natural wonder existed! This member’s travel reviews have great pictures of the places he visits, and gives useful detailed information about visiting these places. So while you are stuck in the winter cold (almost wherever you live), check out more of Butch’s travel reviews to get excited for warmer weather.
-Jessica
January 30th, 2007
As most of you know, we had a Travel Videopinion promotion back in November. We received a handful of great reviews -some with live footage, some with pictures that were taken previously. On Videopinion review that I found particularly interesting was hobogirl923 's review of Watts Tower . Not only did I learn about a cool place in LA but I got a small history lesson while I was watching. Great review hobogirl923!
- Jess
January 26th, 2007
After eating tons of junk over the holidays, including all the chocolates, cookies and other sweets that were sent to our office, it was very refreshing when a friend sent us a box of citrus from Cushman’s as a post-holiday gift.The box contained a bunch of juicy and sweet ruby red grapefruits, oranges and their signature honeybell tangerines, along with some jams and dates.
They are reasonably priced and it’s nice to receive something healthy as a gift, especially since we live in New York City where fresh fruit is expensive and hard to find. In fact, we enjoyed the gift box so much, that I may end up sending out some citrus to family members next year for the holidays!
- Thi
January 26th, 2007
Two New Branded Channels to Deliver Independent Film and TV content from Sundance and Consumer-Generated Product Reviews from ExpoTV
SUNNYVALE, Calif. – January 25, 2007 – Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), a leading global Internet company, today announced that Yahoo! Video, will feature content from two new partners, Sundance Channel and ExpoTV. The two new channels will showcase a range of compelling new content for Yahoo! Video users from Sundance Channel’s exclusive behind-the-scenes footage at the Sundance Film Festival to ExpoTV’s consumer-generated video product reviews and buying guides for everything from beauty to cars. The addition of these two channels enhances existing content on Yahoo! Video giving users access to new popular and relevant videos on the Internet in an all-in-one comprehensive resource. Click here to read more.
January 25th, 2007
When I was a little kid, I had a toy that was a series of ramps and wood blocks that marbles could run down. As I remember it, there was only about 20 pieces and the marbles were constantly falling off the track. Still, it was up there with Lincoln Logs as one of my favorite toys because it so invoked creativity. Until this past December, I probably hadn’t thought about it in 25 years.
Enter Quadrilla. My mother got a Quadrilla set for my son for Christmas and so I saw it for the first time on Christmas day. Both my four year and I were immediately sucked in. Like my earlier toy, Quadrilla is a series of wood blocks and ramps that marbles run down, but it’s a bit like comparing a biplane to the space shuttle. Quadrilla has at least seven different kinds of blocks, each with a different function. There are also at least five different kinds of ramps, including one that acts like a funnel. There are also several ancillary pieces, all of which play different supporting or enhancing roles.
Building and playing with the Quadrilla is, to say the least, addictive. Once you get past a certain critical mass of pieces, the world opens up and you are limited only by your imagination. Because of the heterogeneity of the pieces, there is something very puzzle-like about the building process and, unless you work off one of the plans, each construction is likely to be unique. The only downside is the cost. The basic set is around $50 and the bigger sets are $100 and up. There are also many smaller expansion sets to fill in a piece here or a piece there that typically run $10 or so. As for age range, my four old totally gets it and has no problem putting sets together by himself. Enjoy!
- Bill
January 22nd, 2007
The ultimate mobile tool for gadget lovers…
This kit comes with a 120-watt AC/DC power adaptor with tips, retractable cable, AC wall socket input plug, auto/air connector cable, user manual and it all comes in a nice ballistic nylon carrying case.
I’d recommend getting this nifty gadget set for anyone business-person on your holiday shopping list — unless that is you want him/her to STOP working while on family vacations!
- Jess
January 16th, 2007
Oh, man. Has my world changed. No more forgetting to bring my mapquest directions, no more ratty car atlas that never had enough local detail, no more spinning off on a highway in the wrong direction with no exit for 5 miles. We now have the beautiful, compact, social being named the Garmin Nuvi in our car. And I am in love. I’m in love with the American male voice, the English woman’s voice, the Australian guy’s accent. They are my new family. Turn it on, tell it where you’re going, and turn by turn it’ll read you directions as you drive, walk or ride your bike. Here are some features that I especially love:
1) It’s super duper small. It’s small because they want you to take it when you travel. Put it on the rental car, walk with it to visit new towns. It’s a tad bigger than a cigarette pack, and probably slimmer. Has a battery pack if you’re not in the car.
2) It literally took 3 seconds to set up in my car. Suction cup on window, plug into the lighter, done.
3) Touch screen only. Only the buttons you need are on the screen. “View Map” and “Back” is pretty simple, right?
4) Fun personalization, like picking an Australian accent to read the directions to you, changing the start up screen to a family picture, plugging in your address as “home” so you’re only 2 steps from asking how you can get home. (Then when you get there she says “Turn left for home.” How comforting is that?)
5) Lots and lots of pre-seeded locations in the database. When you’re traveling with kids, just type in McDonald’s to find the nearest Happy Meal stop.
6) The voice reads not just “turn left” but also the NAME of the street. You can make fun of it when it pronounces words like Jericho Ave as “jeri-cho”.
7) If you think you know a shortcut, or otherwise deviate from your path, it automatically recalculates from your new position and maps out a new path to your destination.
On the fly, you can add a second or third location, and it will plot it as an additional itinerary stop on your trip. That way, you can add unplanned stops without having to reprogram the whole itinerary.
One time, I had my 2 year old daughter in a rental car that had a navigational unit. Since I had the car for the whole day, I just looked up “nearby attractions” and found a local aquarium where we spent the rest of the day together. It’s a great memory that would never have happened if I didn’t have ‘someone’ along with me who knew where to go. Garmin Nuvi, my new local friend.
- Daphne
January 10th, 2007
Here’s the perfect musical gift for every generation! Neil Young resonates with rock fans’ coming of age in the ‘60’s all the way to post grunge/indie rock fans of today. Recently released as the first of many titles from Neil Young’s private archives, this, brief, but awesome live show is guitar heaven and perfection—recorded with the original Crazy Horse (his best band ever.)
Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere was Young’s first solo album after he left Buffalo Springfield and before he joined Crosby Stills Nash & Young. The album features two of his classic 15 minute guitar raves—“Down by the River” and “Cowgirl in the Sand”—performed live. To hear “Cowgirl in the Sand” live in crystal clear stereo is to hear this classic song for the first time—guitar notes ringing and raging like all your nerve endings are open and tingling. I don’t know what that means—but you should give this album as a gift to any music lover and to yourself and find out.
- Peter
January 3rd, 2007
After opening up our forums , we’ve been getting a lot of great ideas from you all. One question that came up is on our payment structure. Why have we been changing the payments, what we’re shooting for with the payments, etc. Here’s a bit of insight into what we’re doing. We feel like we are all (vpinion creators, employees, users) working to create an authentic community of consumers helping each other. The overwhelming majority of the Videopinion reviews are thoughtful, helpful and of great value. We have always thought that you should be rewarded for all the hard work you do to build this great library of knowledge. Believe me, there are a lot of sites (and a lot of people behind those sites) who argue that we shouldn’t be paying you anything. But the video creators at Expo are working hard — using video, getting personal , not hiding behind an anonymous user name, and sharing great advice with others.
Some of you have asked what we’re going for with our changes in the promotions… quality or quantity. The (not so) surprising answer: we need both! A small catalog of quality videos means that too many consumers wouldn’t be able to find anything relevant to their research and therefore dramatically limits the usefulness of the content to users and to our partners. On the other hand, a low quality library that’s really big…well, it’s probably obvious why low quality videos are a problem. So, we’re trying to give you the tools and the incentive to enable Expo (and you are part of Expo) to become a large, high quality catalog of reviews and show the world how powerful personal consumer advice can be. We’ve structured promotions that we’ve found help us achieve this goal, and are tweaking as we go.
But never fear… we’re going to be unveiling new promotions and features that will cater toward the best creators and videos over the next 3 months. We’re going to be giving bonuses to especially great reviews. We’re going to be inviting members to participate in certain promotions. We’re going to be adding a ‘how to’ section to help make better vpinions. We’re going to be inviting some creators to help us with focus groups, etc.
So keep the ideas and suggestions coming into our forums. All of our staff reads them, and we talk about them internally all the time. Thanks for your enthusiasm, support and those great vpinions!
- Daphne
January 2nd, 2007
