June 27th, 2008 | Funsies

Sooo tempting, you just might have to try it!

Something Store : Consumers looking to add some excitement to their lives for a very low premium will likely get a kick out of this website that dabbles in the art of surprises. In what’s probably one of the easiest e-commerce transactions ever, visitors to the site simply log on and for $10 (including shipping), opt in to purchasesomething. And that’s where the fun begins: a randomly selected item (could be a cool tech device, handmade jewelry, a travel clock, video game, gift card to a major retailer, a magazine subscription, coffee mug, wallet, a box of chocolates, or any one of over hundreds of random items) will ultimately show up in the buyer’s mailbox seven days later. Of course, for every high premium item that’s “randomly selected” for one of the luckier consumers (e.g., iPods, designer jeans, high end beauty products), the Long Island based e-tailer selects and sends out 10 or more less pricey items (e.g., a coffee mug, a board game, a garden tool).  trendcentral June 2008

June 27th, 2008 | Funsies, Green

Free idea exchange


ecopop: Conceived to “instigate positive change in an accessible, entertaining way,” ecopop offers a forum for “free idea exchange,” wherein visitors to the site are invited to join a conversation on how to solve some of the world’s biggest problems. Users are encouraged to peruse the vast, pre-existing collection of “ideas too good to waste” (all of which are organized by category, including Advertising & Branding, Arts & Culture, Health & Beauty, Media, and Music, among many others) and subsequently weigh in on a conversation or two and/or add an original idea.

June 27th, 2008 | Funsies, Helpful Hints

Every ‘How-to’ need to know at your fingertips


Quamut: Loosely derived from the Latin word for how-to and pronounced “kwa-mut,” Quamut provides users with free, online access to professionally written and edited “how-to” guides covering a diverse range of topics, from “how to make a perfect martini” to “how to produce a podcast.” The site, which is powered by Barnes & Noble, features a collection of over 1,000 “how-to” guides, across five different categories: House & Home, Hobbies & Leisure, Money & Business, Computers & Technology, and Mind & Body. All of the guides include step-by-step instructions, complete with brief historical tutorials and “what you’ll need to get started” lists where applicable, and due to a recent partnership with Videojug.com, a growing number of “how-to” video tutorials are also available.

June 27th, 2008 | Funsies

MobileMe - manual syncing a thing of the past

MobileMe:  Recently announced at the 2008 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference and hitting the consumer market next month, this new web-based service will allow Apple users to wirelessly sync and access content across multiple Apple devices. Email, calendars and contacts are stored on an online server, known as a “cloud”, that automatically sends all information to the user’s iPhone, iPod touch, Mac, and PC; when an update is made on one device, it is made automatically on all other devices. Manual syncing will soon be a thing of the past.