Archive for November, 2006

Say It Ain’t So

According to this article on Yahoo! News today, lead singer for The Wiggles, Greg Page (aka “The Yellow Wiggle”), may call it quits. Greg. Don’t do it, man. My son will be devastated, and I won’t get to listen to your songs over and over again and inadvertently memorize your songs.

On a serious note…get better, Greg. I hope its nothing serious. And if it isn’t, I expect you back on stage within a few days…and so does Shaq!

Popularity: 3% [?]

Amazon.com Top 10 Electronics List Has iPod Written All Over It

Curious to know what hot items sold during “Cyber Monday”, I went to Amazon.com to get an idea (I wish I knew what was hot at Best Buy, Circuit City, etc). I was surprised to see that one new item was not included on the list: the Microsoft Zune. Shares of Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) started down today on a related article issued by the Associated Press, which also refers to Amazon.com’s Top 10 List. As of this morning, the Top 10 List included the following items:

1. Apple 30 GB iPod video Black (5.5 Generation)
2. Apple 2 GB iPod Nano Silver (2nd Generation)
3. Canon PowerShot SD600 6MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom
4. Apple 1 GB Shuffle Metal (2nd Generation)
5. Apple 80 GB iPod video Black (5.5 Generation)
6. Apple 4 GB iPod Nano Pink (2nd Generation)
7. SanDisk Sansa M240 1 GB MP3 Player (Silver)
8. Sennheiser HD201 Headphones
9. Philips 6.5-Inch Digital Picture Frame (Clear) w/3 Additional Colored Frames
10. Digital Spectrum MemoryFrame MF-575 5.6-Inch Digital Picture Frame

According to comScore Networks, the first 24 days of November this year, total online retail spending reached $8.31 billion, marking a 23-percent increase versus the corresponding days in 2005. Black Friday, known for being one of the busier offline consumer shopping days of the year, saw particularly high online sales with $434 million spent, up 42 percent versus last year. While the busiest offline shopping day is probably the Saturday before Christmas (that’s when I’ll probably go), the busiest online day will likely be the Saturday before that (12/16)…or possibly Monday (12/18)…depending on when online retailers issue a cutoff date on orders placed for pre-Christmas delivery.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Is Wal-Mart The Benchmark for Holiday Shopping?

Sorry. I know you guys must be tired of hearing about Wal-Mart. According to the Associated Press, the Company just reported that same-store sales suffered a 0.1 percent drop in stores open at least a year. “There is now significant concern that the holiday retail season is going to underperform,” said Gregory Miller, chief economist at SunTrust Banks. “Traffic doesn’t necessarily translate into profits,” he said, referring to reports of crowded stores over the weekend. Well, Mr. Miller. Yes, Wal-Mart is the world’s largest retailer…and sure, I only experienced the crowds in one city (San Antonio) this weekend. But Wal-Mart [seemingly] didn’t have the turnout that Best Buy did during Black Friday. I visited 4 Best Buys and 5 Wal-Mart’s between 11:00pm and 2:30am. Best Buy had lines around the building, which could explain why the stock is up today. Wal-Mart had what seemed to be regular traffic (since most are open 24 hrs, lines probably aren’t a good comparison). And given that Black Friday is generally an electronics blowout event, Best Buy should be expected to do well versus a “general items” Wal-Mart. All this news has probably done is throw the market into a tailspin since retailers’ recent increases in stock price. The paranoid are probably just more worried about the overall state of the economy. Don’t worry, folks. The busiest shopping day is still the weekend before Christmas. And given that Christmas is on a Monday this year, I’d venture to guess that malls and big box centers will be slammed all that weekend.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Serialized RSS Feeds Provided by FeedCycle

I ran across this service while searching for a variety of ways to promote my blog. FeedCycle is a serialised RSS web feed that enables a subscriber to receive sequential posts from within a series of related posts. The subscriber always starts at the beginning regardless when they start their subscription. So, while many blogs won’t benefit from this service, it is perfect for those “How To” bloggers and other similar blogs. One example is Andy’s tracking of his domain buying experiences on ThoughtfulConsideration.com. I’ve written a similar story (and will likely continue sharing my experiences), but Andy has taken it to another level; he’s already in his 3rd post of this series.

Now is a good time as any to get started using FeedCycle on your blog. They are having a Christmas RSS Competition based on the Christmas carol, The Twelve Days of Christmas. It falls naturally into 12 parts you can use the capabilities of FeedCycle to distribute, on a daily basis, a new verse from the carol. Cash prizes are being offered for 1st and 2nd place. Visit FeedCycle for more information about the contest…and visit TechCrunch for its in depth analysis of FeedCycle.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Texas-Sized Leap of…Football

Sam McGuffie of Cypress Fairbanks High School (10-1) leaps over a [almost upright] cornerback en route to a touchdown. According to an article on Dave Campbell’s Texas Football [dot] com, the 5-10, 170-pound McGuffie has rushed for over 2,000 yards in nine games and has scored 28 touchdowns, but none was more impressive than this leap caught on tape versus the Cypress Creek Cougars. In this game, he rushed for over 370 yards and scored eight touchdowns. And, yes…it is Texas High School 5A football, so they are probably better than the best team in your state.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Retailers Prepare For Black Friday

I was going to wait to talk about it until the end of this, but David Blaine suspended five stories above Times Square is certainly the most talked about event today. Congratulations, Target! You’ve succeeded; we’re all talking about you. While I sound a little cynical, I’ve gotta admit I love shopping at Target…particularly the Super Target stores. Back to Blaine…not only is Target involved but so is the Salvation Army. Blaine’s stunt isn’t merely for publicity, but 100 children will benefit. If successful, Blaine will escort these 100 children on a truly amazing shopping excursion at Target. Identified by The Salvation Army, the children will receive Target GiftCards worth $500 each to kick-off the holidays…and Target’s 2-Day Sale. They must not have read my post about gift cards. I’m sure those kids will use them. By the way, you can watch David Blaine on Target.com.

So what are other retailers doing? Well, Wal-Mart is opening at 5:00am on Friday morning and having some sort of blow-out sale until 11:00am. And, of course, what would marketing be without drawing shoppers to your website before the sale to “check back on Thanksgiving to discover Friday’s secret items”. One of these secret items is the RCA 52″ Widescreen Projection HDTV w/ Built-In Digital Tuner, R52WH74 according to GottaDeal.com. Then there’s a Saturday/Sunday Sale where toys and electronics will receive the price guillotine. And then Huge Cyber Monday Savings at Walmart.com. Watch for falling prices!

Popularity: 3% [?]

Ben Underwood Has Mastered Echolocation…And Can Beat You At Video Games

Ben Underwood was diagnosed with retinal cancer at the age of 2 when his eyes were removed. Now 14, Ben has a developed ability to do almost anything by using echolocation to accomplish what most would deem impossible.

Popularity: 3% [?]

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• Milk Was A Bad Choice
• CrackBerry.com
• Stock Trading 101
• For The Love Of Sports
• Project Spurs
• Busted Coverage
• WallStreetFighter

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