Compare.

FruCall
This is way cool. Want to be sure you're getting a good deal when you're shopping? Stop by and register at FruCall. When you spot an item you like, call 1-888-363-7822 (you have a cell phone, right?) . Type the UPC of the product you're interested in and Frucall will tell you the best online prices for that item. If you like the online price better, you can buy it directly from the online merchant while you're on the phone. Or buy it later, if you'd rather. Your info is stored so you can check it at home later - and you can even leave yourself "voicenotes."

Pronto
This is a very comprehensive product search - Pronto has a terrific product selection on the web so you can find the lowest prices every time you shop online.

ShopLocal
Find the best deals to buy Online and at your Local stores.

Dealcatcher
Coupons, compare prices, deals.

Manly men.

Manly Men, Oil Platforms, and Breaking Stereotypes from Harvard Business Review piqued my interest. And not just because Andrew used to work offshore on rigs!

"You're a Neanderthal" has new meaning.

I heard about this on NPR the other day. Call me a geek (everyone else does)... but I thought it was simply fascinating!

Humans, Neanderthals closer on family tree: But it's the differences in DNA that excite scientists most

Zamzar

Prepare to be amazed. Zamzar is so cool!

This is a free online conversion tool for four categories of file formats - Document, Image, Music and Video Formats. You can see the exact conversion types on offer here, but this is more extensive than anything we've found.

And did we mention it's free?

Hola, Mi Amigo

Hola, Mi Amigo is a great demographic article in ClickZ today by Peter Lerma. Read it for additional insight into the Hispanic market online...

Stump the researcher. Part 1.

A loyal reader asks:

Who buys gift cards and why? Have we just become gift-giving slackers and this is the easy way out? Do we buy them even for our closest friends (those people we are supposed to know well enough to select something personal) or do we use them for the obligation gift to the nephew we haven’t seen in 4 years and have no idea what he’s into or what size he might be? Do people really like getting them (freedom to pick out what I really want) or hate them (now I have to go shopping AGAIN). How do we feel about knowing how much someone spent on us? Didn’t we used to be psycho about making sure the price tag was removed before we wrapped? Does it feel like holidays and birthdays are just financial transactions where we exchange cash?

Tough one, loyal reader.

We are shocked to report that the research shows that the primary reason people buy gift cards is that the recipients WANT gift cards. Frankly, I'm shocked. If I didn't read it myself, I'd say that the true motivation for buying gift cards is plain old laziness. (Sorry to any gift card clients we may have!)

Now some of the research:

Excerpted from: BigResearch

“The popularity of gift cards is soaring among consumers of all ages,” said Phil Rist, Vice President of Strategy for BIGresearch. “Once seen as a quick solution to a last minute present, gift cards have moved to the forefront as a holiday favorite to both give and receive.”

From Deloitte Consumer Holiday Survey

While gift cards are especially popular among shoppers over age 65 and those with incomes of more than $100,000, on average, respondents reported they planned to buy 4.7 cards each. These same respondents reported holding 2.3 cards unused from last year.

From Radio Advertising Bureau, Gift Cards Climb to the Top of the List

Once upon a time, gift cards were a last resort for people who didn't know what to buy. According to a new survey conducted by Stored Value Systems, a national leader in electronic gift card programs, that is no longer the case. The results of a national web survey of adults conducted at the end of February revealed that eight in 10 said they would rather receive a gift card to their favorite retailer than any other kind of gift."We've been doing surveys and watching gift cards grow in popularity for years," said Bob Skiba, SVS executive vice president and general manager. "Cards are so appreciated that many people specifically ask for gift cards to their favorite store or restaurant." Survey highlights include: -

• 76 percent of adults purchased gift cards in the 2005 holiday season.
• 91 percent of adults who had received holiday gift cards had redeemed them before the end of February 2006.
• Three-quarters of recipients made sure they used up the card completely.
• Eight in 10 people would rather get a gift card to a favorite retailer than any other kind of gift.
• More than one-half of respondents say that they always or often add their own money when making a purchase with a gift card.
• Of those purchasing holiday gift cards, two-thirds bought them in early December.
• 68 percent of adults prefer or bought gift cards with an appropriate holiday design.
• Eight respondents in 10 say that they spend more (33 percent) or the same amount (47 percent) on a gift card than they would on an alternate gift.
• Those who received gift cards during the 2005 holiday season were given an average of 2.6 cards, with an average value of $42.32.

"There were some fascinating insights that emerged in the survey," Skiba said. "Most people -- 91 percent -- had redeemed their gift cards before the end of February, which shows how quickly cards are used. "We were interested in some of the new distribution channels for people receiving cards, such as their availability at gift card malls, at the retailer's website, or as incentives and gifts from employers. We are also seeing that gift card usage is expanding into other areas beyond the traditional winter holiday gift for friends and family. Special events and holidays like Valentine's Day, weddings, birthdays, and anniversaries are times when our culture exchanges gifts, so it is only natural that consumers use those occasions to offer a loved one a gift card."

H2O

Great article about bottled water from AlterNet: The Bottled Water Lie. Between this and the articles I've read about the huge costs associated with all those bottles - recycled and thrown away, I wonder if rethinking our water makes sense....

Stop bleeding.

Researchers at MIT have created a liquid that stops bleeding in any tissue in a matter of seconds, according to Chemistry World. The discovery has the potential to revolutionize surgery and emergency medicine.

Pour-on nanotechnology stops bleeding in seconds

Spam + Blogs = Trouble

From the September 2006 Wired Magaine comes a fascinating article about Spam + Blogs = Trouble

Another great use for email.

RadioShack Uses E-Mail to Fire Employees -- How'd you like to get this email? "The work force reduction notification is currently in progress. Unfortunately your position is one that has been eliminated."

Way to go, Radio Shack.

Be mindful.

I found a new blog that I like. A lot. Creating Passionate Users. My favorite post so far is:

Your Brain on Multitasking. Kathy Sierra writes:

If you want to get more done, be mindful.
If you want to have more time, be mindful.
Mindful means one thing at a time.

The post is great. The blog? Okay, a little geeky and tech, but I like it. Check it out.

Top places to live.

Check out Money Magazine's just-released list of top places in the country to live - Columbia/Ellicott City is #4. We knew we liked it here.

Thanks to Buffy for the pointer!

Verticals.

Guide to Vertical Marketing is quite the find. For each industry spotlighted, they offer a case study of how one marketer succeeded in reaching that vertical market as well as an overview of trends, projections and challenges facing the industry. And to help you better reach your target audience, each Vertical Insight also includes tables that list the top publications, websites trade shows and events. It's pretty groovy. Check it out!

Waiting for Your Cat to Bark?

Waiting for Your Cat to Bark?, a brand new book by Jeffrey and Bryan Eisenberg (along with Lisa Davis) just went on sale. I plan to get a copy this week - and Michele Miller's Wonderbranding says (and she's always right!) that this is a must read.

Michele writes:

"Plain and simple, it's all about persuading customers to do business with you when they ignore marketing. And this team of authors does a heck of a job. Read an excerpt from the book here.
In the book, you'll learn:

• How the customer's buying process works in a cross-channel, new media-driven marketplace
• Why customers respond differently today than they used to
• How to use the Web to generate persuasive momentum across multiple channels
• How the various touch-points within a business affect each other
• How to guide prospects through the buying process at every customer touch-points
• How personality traits influence customer behavior online and offline
• How to anticipate the different angles from which customers approach your business
• How to identify and provide meaningful answers to your customers' questions at each stage of their buying process
• How to begin implementing Persuasion Architecture™ techniques for your business

...You can also read reviews from folks like Seth Godin, Jeffrey Gitomer and Roy H. Williams..."

So I'm all over it!

straight from Knowledge@Wharton

Companies That Use Combative Advertising May End Up with a Black Eye

John Zhang has a message for Cingular Wireless and Verizon Wireless or, for that matter, any company that uses its ads to attack a competitor. Instead of luring away your competitor's customers, you may just be hurting yourself. Zhang, a Wharton marketing professor, has found that combative ads -- the sort of comparative spots that beer makers, particularly Anheuser-Busch and Miller, are famed for -- may backfire. Instead of pulling consumers to an advertiser, they may just make people indifferent to all offerings in a product category. "Combative advertising, a characteristic of mature markets, is defined as advertising that shifts consumer preferences toward the advertising firm but does not expand the category demand," Zhang says in his research paper titled, "A Theory of Combative Advertising."

Invisibility cloak.

Remember Harry Potter had a cloak that made him invisible? Impossible. Or not? Listen to this NPR story...

Hello?

From the Wireless Report: JD Power and Associates recently surveyed over 18,000 cellphone users. The results? Most users just want to be able to make a phonecall rather than taking pictures, playing games, or text messaging. Less than 20 percent play games or take pictures.

Email Overload

Imagine an entire blog dedicated to email overload. Sound boring and repetitive to me. But it's not! Itzy Sabo writes useful and practical information on the subject. My favorite post of late is:

How to turn a smart person into an idiot, in one easy
step

I've talked about the effects of overload on the quality of work, and
here are some great quotes that seem to agree:

Idiotic Workload
"You can turn a smart person into an idiot just by
overworking him"

Prof. Peter Capelli, The Wharton School, University of
Pennsylvania [via Fortune]

And there's more.

Read more here.

Need an IP address?

According to a new Frost & Sullivan report, as discussed in We're Running Out of IP Addresses, we have about four to seven years before there are no more IP addresses left.

By the glass.

Evidently, the trend in dining is to purchase wine by the glass. Read Paying the price to avoid the bottle...