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Ed Stafford Becomes First Man to Walk Amazon River

A British Man has Walked the Length of the Amazon River

Aug 9 2010 Posted in Featured News, Odd + Funny by Dan Evon with View Comments

ed stafford walks amazon river

It took Ed Stafford 859 days and 50,000 mosquito bites to become the first man to walk the length of the Amazon River. The Amazon River is the second longest river in the world, at just over 4000 miles.

Stafford, a 34 year old British man, started his 2 1/2 year journey at the peak of Mount Mismi in Peru in April 2008. He collapsed this morning on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, 90 miles Northeast of the city of Belem, just 60 miles short of his goal.

“I feel slightly humbled that my system just decided to shut down so close to the finish,” he wrote on his blog at www.walkingtheamazon.com.

Stafford thought the journey would take a year, but flooding added an extra 2,000 miles, and another year and a half to his journey, according to the Associated Press.

Stafford’s journey was not an easy one. A statement from Stafford’s media team said that he had endured “50,000″ mosquito bites, lived off of piranha, rice, and beans, had to avoid snakes eels, scorpions, and ants, contracted a skin disfiguring disease.

Stafford may have missed his goal by 60 miles, but it isn’t likely that anyone duplicates the feat anytime soon.

Here is a video about Stafford’s journey along the Amazon River.


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Amazon Acquires Woot…Says The Rapping Woot Monkey [Video]

Jun 30 2010 Posted in Featured News, Internet by James Johnson with View Comments

Screaming Monkey Amazon

Woot helped revolutionize the deal a day model and today they announced that Amazon had bought the site. Of course Woot CEO Matt Rutledge couldn’t just let a press release tell the world about the buyout, instead he had to do what Woot does best and perform the absurd, letting a rapping monkey tell the companies story.

Here’s the video:

Woot has always added absurd humor to their product descriptions and it’s nice to see that their humor continues.

In case you’re curious the puppet featured in the video is Woot’s Screaming Monkey, a popular Woot staple that the sites shoppers will love to see as the company rides off into the sunset or at least to Amazon headquarters.

So what do you think about the Acquisition? As long as the deals of the day continue I’m happy.


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Nook and Kindle Slash Prices (Yawn)

Jun 22 2010 Posted in Featured News, Technology by Rudi Stettner with View Comments

Kindle and Nook

Both Nook and Kindle, creations of Barnes and Noble and Amazon, respectively, have slashed their prices, Mobile Business Briefing noted today.  The move is widely seen as a  bid to remain relevant in a market that has been rocked by the debut of iPad.  The price of theKindle has been slashed by $70.00 to $189.00, fast on the heels of a Nook price reduction of $60.00 to $189.00. The arrival of  the Kobo e reader, a creation of Borders bookstores is expected to heat up the competition even more.

There are millions of people who are attracted to e-books and are willing to adjust to their difference from old fashioned books made of paper. Their greatest advantage is the fact that they bring down the cost of publishing. Even more important is the obsolescence of the dreaded phrase to book lovers everywhere. “I’m sorry, but that book is out of print”

You would think that e book readers would take the reading public by storm, but there is one major problem, that of competing formats.  There are a lot of e book formats out there. Kindle has its own format, as does Nook. When you buy one e book reader, you learn the hard way what formats it won’t read. I bought a BeBook, which boasts of a multitude of formats that it can read. My first e book purchase was from Barnes and Noble. The  Book was “Son of Hamas” by Mossab Hassan Yousef.  It was incompatible with BeBook. And there was nothing I could do about it.  Customer service would not state in plain English what formats worked on a BeBook and what would not.

Each e book reader has its own issues of lack of compatibility with competing formats. By contrast, a laptop, notebook  iPad or iPhone has the option of downloading software so you can open whatever e book format suits your fancy.  I don’t really care what format an e book is in. And I don’t want to have a stack of devices to read them all. As long as e book readers exclude  formats, and as long as they lack the capacity to download competing apps, they will remain irrelevant. When I can’t open a document on my computer, I seek out software that will open it. Gradually my computer ends up becoming my own customized e reader. The iPad is rapidly assuming this same set of benefits. Like a laptop, it can be customized.

The battle to watch is the battle between iPad and iPad knockoffs. It will rest on the relative advantages of their respective operating systems. Anyone who has ever bought an e book and found that it would not open on the e reader they spent over $200.00 on will feel cheated. Who wants to confine themselves to obsolete technology?

An e reader is just an e reader. A laptop, notebook or iPad is whatever you want them to be. How are Nook and Kindle going to compete with that?


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Amazon To Reveal New Kindle

May 29 2010 Posted in Featured News, Gadgets by Ted Webb with View Comments

Kindle

A new version of the Amazon Kindle electronic book reading device may be rolled out this August, Bloomberg reports.

The new Kindle will be thinner and the screen will respond better, according to Bloomberg. However, it probably won’t have color or a touch screen.

Although popular, Kindle is coming under increased pressure from the recent success of Apple’s new iPad, tablet-like device.

Amazon and Apple appear to be direct competitors on several fronts, including digital music. The U.S. Justice Department has been looking into whether or not Apple’s online business discouraged an Amazon digital music promotion (check out the recent Indyposted post on this issue.)


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Amazon Kindle Coming To Target Stores, Now We Just Need A Price Drop

Apr 8 2010 Posted in Gadgets by James Johnson with View Comments

Target and Amazon Partnership

Amazon Kindle sales may soon be getting a boost, according to Engadget the popular eReader is set to find a brick and mortar partner via the Target Stores.

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T-Mobile HD2 Goes On Sale One Week In, Now Available For $100 From Amazon

Mar 25 2010 Posted in Gadgets by James Johnson with View Comments

T-Mobile HD2 Amazon

The T-Mobile HD2, manufactured by cell phone giant HTC has just hit a new low price barrier, $100.  Not bad for a device that just began selling at T-Mobile nearly one week ago.

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Amazon Gets iPad Friendly With New Kindle App

Mar 22 2010 Posted in Technology by Mark Kosur with View Comments

Amazon Kindle iPad App

Amazon on their website today announced their newest Kindle application, this time for the iPad and other tablet PC based devices. The Amazon Kindle iPad App features a new look and some features Kindle device users will enjoy when using either the iPad or their Kindle.

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Top 10 Websites For Online Shopping Deals

Mar 14 2010 Posted in Internet by Susan Anderson with View Comments

We live in the age of online shopping. Some people rarely ever enter a mall anymore because it’s so easy to click a mouse and have clothing, accessories, and home goods delivered right to your door. If you ask me, there’s nothing better than a good online sale- there’s no fighting the crowds and you don’t have to take your slippers off. Here are the top 10 websites for online shopping deals.

10. Rue La La. Invitation only shopping sample sales! But it’s easy to get an invite. Rue La La features different designers every day with clothing, accessories, and more for up to 70% off. And it’s not last season’s stuff either. You’ll be amazed at the deals on Rue La La, but you have to be ready. Sales start every day at 11 a.m. EST. and stuff can sell out pretty quickly. Once it’s gone, it’s gone and you’ll have to wait for the next day’s special boutiques.

9. Gilt. Another invite only sample sale site, Gilt has lots of extensions to it. For instance, there’s a site for men’s sales, less expensive hipper stuff, and even a travel site (think hotels at huge discounts!). Gilt has also had wedding sales before, with discounts on designer wedding gowns, bridesmaid dresses, and more. Gilt sales start at 12:00 p.m. EST, so you can head there after checking out Rue La La.

8. Shop It To Me. It’s not exactly an online shopping site because you can’t purchase from it; but Shop It To Me will help you find all the best online sales. You tell the site your favorite designers and items, as well as your sizes. And every morning, they’ll send you an email with sales you will be interested in. You click on the product’s you love and you’ll be directed to the site you can buy them from. Easy sale shopping!

7. Overstock. This has long been an online shopping favorite. When retailers want to liquidate their inventory, they sell to Overstock, who in turn sells the merchandise to us at discounted prices. They have a little bit (or a lot bit) of everything on Overstock and it’s always smart to check the site out, no matter what you want to buy.

6. Zappos. You probably know Zappos for their shoes. But they actually carry nearly everything in terms of apparel and accessories. The awesome thing about Zappos is that they have just about the best customer service in the world, so you’ll never have any problems purchasing from their website. My favorite of their site features is the sizing guide for shoes. Previous buyers tell you how true to size each type of shoe is, so you don’t have to worry as much about buying a pair of shoes without trying them on first.

5. BeautyTicket. This is like an online sample sale, but for beauty products. They offer tons of premium beauty products and awesome brands at up to 85% off. BeautyTicket will make you never want to buy products from a pharmacy or department store again.

4. One King’s Lane. Another online sample store, but this time for home goods. Redecorating? Head to One King’s Lane and find everything from pillows to rugs to towels to candles, depending on the day. Sales start at 12:00 p.m. every day and make sure you hurry over so you can get the good before everyone else.

3. HauteLook. One more sample sale site, I promise. HauteLook has a little bit of everything from designer clothing to home goods to beauty products to kids’ clothes. The sales start at 11:00 a.m. so add the site to your daily schedule and start purchasing designer goods at great prices.

2. RedTagCrazy. This site is definitely something to go crazy over. RedTagCrazy offers one deal at a time all day long. Designer clothes are featured for specific periods of time, until another item shows up. This can get addicting since you never know when the new deals are going to pop up. Luckily, there’s a web browser alert you can set up, so you can go about your business and still see that the latest sale is!

1. Amazon. Of course, Amazon.com is the #1 best site for online shopping. It just does not get any better or easier. Once upon a time you could only order books from the site, but now they have absolutely everything. Not to mention, nearly every product has been reviewed by users, so you know exactly what to expect. Shipping is often free if you spend $25 and if you become an Amazon Prime Member, 2-day shipping is always free. Almost like instant gratification!


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Microsoft and Amazon Sign Deal To Share Patents

Feb 23 2010 Posted in Business by James Johnson with View Comments

Microsoft and Amazon Enter Into Patent Sharing Deal

Amazon and Microsoft today announced a newly inked deal which will allow both companies to share their large portfolio of patents.

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Amazon Black Friday Ad 2009 Now Available With Great Deals

Nov 23 2009 Posted in Internet by James Johnson with View Comments

amazon_logo

Amazon has released their Black Friday specials and with over 100 items to choose from it’s one of the most comprehensive Black Friday Ads 2009 we’ve seen to date. The deals are about 99% Electronics based in nature, including some great deals on movies, televisions, GPS units and various other options.

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