Shopping Blog - Pocket Change from Become.com » Just for fun

Get Personal With The Avery Greeting Card Stock

runa — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:34:33 +0000

I recently realized that everyone loves to feel special. And giving personalized cards is a super way to show that you care enough about a person to make an extra effort. That was when I bought myself Avery Greeting Card Stock and started designing cards for different occasions.

The incident that triggered this realization was a visit to my childhood friend’s home. We were meeting after nearly 15 years! While we talking about the days gone by, she suddenly got up and said, “Wait here. I have something to show you”. She went into one of the rooms, came out with a folder and opened it to reveal numerous handmade cards that I had given her when we were children!

By the time I returned home, I had decided that henceforth I would resume giving cards that I had designed. The first step was to get the stationery required. After doing a bit of research, I ordered the Avery Personal Creations Textured Heavyweight 1/2-Fold Cards. This sheet of 30 cards is accompanied by matching envelopes. These cards are white in color, textured and have microperforation and premium scoring so that they can easily and neatly be separated from the sheet and folded in half. The Avery Greeting Card Stock is perfect for printing birthday cards, anniversary cards or holiday cards. The cards are 5.5″ x 8.5″ in dimension and the card sheets feed automatically from the paper tray. They are made of good quality, heavyweight paper so they feel like the regular cards that you would buy from a store.

The next step was to select a design, print it on the card and see how it turned out. So I downloaded a software program that had Avery templates, created and printed the card with my ink jet color printer. I was quite pleased with the output. The card seemed to look perfect- professionally designed and at the same time conveying my feelings, the way I would express it. I can’t wait for Christmas time as I am going to send out personalized Christmas cards printed on the Avery Greeting Card Stock this time!

-Runa (Guest Blogger)

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The Durian Fruit Challenge at Become.com

Desiree — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:11:36 +0000

If you’re tired of the same old food for lunch, try making your lunch hour a little more exciting. Take a tip from Become.com and bring in some exotic fruits one day. Then invite your brave co-workers to discover these fresh and new fruits. Many of the fruits we had were purchased from the local Asian and Mexican market’s.

The last fruit on our exotic fruit menu was the durian fruit. Many people know the durian fruit as a very stinky fruit with a very distinct taste and was actually the inspiration for this event. So without further ado, here is the marketing team’s reaction to the many wonders that make the durian fruit great!

Video taken with a Canon PowerShot SD1200 IS

To coordinate your own lunch time exotic fruit challenge here are the things you will need.
Here was our exotic fruit menu:

jujube fruit
papaya
longan fruit
guava
pomegranate
dates with coconut
prickly pear
durian fruit (the coup de grace)

Make sure you have these handy so everyone gets a chance to experience these exotic fruits:

plates
napkins
large sharp knife
cutting board
camcorder or a still camera – I used a compact Canon PowerShot SD1200 IS to shoot this wonderful footage.
large airy space – Many people will not like the lingering durian smell in the office.

I hope you enjoy your exotic fruit tasting. And let me know what you thought of the durian fruit. Have fun!

- Desiree

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Back To College Tips

Takeshi — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 00:56:34 +0000

Well, it’s that time of year again. College is starting up again, which means it’s time to put my shopping blogging aside, and return to hitting the books and get ready for some serious studying. It seems like the summer’s flown by so quickly, and I’m scrambling to figure out what I’ll need for the new semester.

I’m sure that many of you may be in the same boat, so here are a couple of “back-to-school” items that might help smooth your transition back into academic life:

Striped Polo Shirt – First impressions are often lasting impressions, so back to school time is a good chance to reassess your wardrobe and splurge on some new clothes. In terms of tops, it’s hard to go wrong with the classic striped polo shirt. With the cooler months fast approaching, a long sleeve polo will serve the double duty of keeping you warm and making sure you look good.
Casio Solar Atomic G-Shock Watch – Keeping track of the time is the key to success in school, especially during the first chaotic weeks when you’re stumbling trying to find all your classes. The Solar Atomic G-Shock Watch from Casio is a cool watch that will let you know when your classes are, and it’s solar powered so it’s friendly for the environment, and never requires you to change your battery.

HP Desktop Computer – It’s not quite a Mac, but an HP Desktop Computer is an affordable and reliable computer for all of your computing needs, especially if you’re a software engineering student like me, and need access to software programs that are only available on Windows. Just make sure you have a Mac laptop as well, that you can take to all your classes.
Proform Crosswalk Treadmill – After an entire summer of sitting in front of a computer eating free food at Become, I’m not at all in as good of shape as I once was. Hitting the treadmill is something I’ll definitely be doing over the next few months, and the Proform Crosswalk Treadmill is one of the better treadmills, with a wide array of settings and different challenge exercises to keep you entertained while you’re burning away the pounds.

If you are looking for great tips on college fashion, make sure to also check out Clothed Much, a fashion blog for budget-conscious college students.

Those are just a few of the items that will help get you prepared for the school year. It’s been fun sharing my shopping tips with all of my loyal readers over the past few months, and I’ll miss the fun and challenge of blogging. So long everyone!

-Takeshi, ex-shopping blogger and returning college student

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Three Wolf Moon T-Shirt at SES San Jose 2009

Desiree — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 23:49:38 +0000

I just came back from the Opening Keynote at Search Engine Strategies in San Jose where Clay Shirky shared with us the theories from his new book “Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations.” Among some of his examples, was an actual product that I have seen online many times before. Shirky actually unbuttoned his collared business shirt to reveal the online meme three wolf moon shirt underneath!

This three wolf moon shirt has a long history of consumer interaction when it comes to the reviews, sales and more interestingly, the photos and videos of people wearing this shirt. Shirky explained, to the hundred or so attendees, about the absolute power that each individual review has on the sale of this three wolf moon shirt. Over 150 hilarious and purely satirical reviews were written on Amazon.com (recently taken down) proclaiming that the wearer of this shirt will magically have increased strength, attraction and wealth within their less than mentionable lives.

Many online followers buy the three wolf moon shirt as a joke and take funny pictures to prove their strength, attraction and wealth on Reddit and YouTube. This shirt has such a large online following that people even alter celebrity photos and draw cartoon characters wearing the viral three wolf moon shirt to further the satire.

Luckily, Clay Shirky was doing a book singing at SES after his keynote, so I took that opportunity to take a picture with him (and get a signed copy of his updated epilogue). Looking around at the people waiting in line, there were many confused faces. But I hope someone out there will understand my excitement.

Mr. Clay Shirky and infamous three wolf moon shirt, it was an honor!

- Desiree

If you would like to add the masculine and powerful Three Wolf Moon shirt to your wardrobe, I found a great deal on Become.com.

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Happy Birthday, Paddington

Dani — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 21:10:16 +0000

If everyone has their own special branch of geeky to them–tech and gadgets, designer handbags, reality TV, music, Martha Stewart– books happen to be mine. Be it a really cool new book like Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard or Flannery O’Connor, books are my geeky pleasure.

So imagine my delight when the Google browser for today lets everyone know that today’s the 50th anniversary of Paddington Bear. It’s a story as cute as Corduroy’s, though somehow less well known, about a teddy bear found in Paddington station with a note: “Please Look After This Bear. Thank you.” Being a children’s lit fan, I’ve passed on both my Paddington Bear and my Paddington books to my little sister, but I still remember them both very fondly. Take a moment today to remember your childhood, and maybe even pass these books and bears along to the next generation.

Happy Birthday, Paddington, and thank you to Michael Bond (author)!

Paddington Website (Bio): http://www.paddingtonbear.com/en/1/fachispad.mxs

Dani

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Apple Set to Take Over Movie Rental Industry

Brent — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 18:24:06 +0000

Fresh off their recent release of the ever popular iPhone, Apple laid the smack down on the movie rental business. Apple is set to dominate the movie rental business much like they did with the digital music industry. Apple’s iPod made CD’s virtually non existent, and CEO Steve Jobs plans to do the same to DVD’s by introducing Apple’s new online movie rental service. They aren’t the first firm to enter the digital movie rental industry, but they seem to have a distinct advantage by leveraging their popular video-capable devices like the iPod and iPhone. I would also say it’s safe to assume a dramatic increase in sales with the not-so-popular Apple TV. Apple already has more than 500 movies in their database for purchase, but they see online rentals as the next emerging industry. Major movie labels such as 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal, Sony, MGM, Lionsgate, and New Line Cinema have all joined in, so it would seem as if iTunes will have a very impressive collection. As of now, the details their service is as follows:

New releases will be available 30 days after they are released on DVD and can be viewed on your computer, iPod, iPhone, or on a television with the Apple TV device. The charge for new releases will be $3.99 while older films are $2.99. Once you purchase the rental, you will have 30 days to begin watching your movie. Once you begin to view the movie, you will have 24 hours to view the movie as much as you’d like. After 24 hours the movie will erase from your iTunes. As of now about 1,000 films are available. They will also be featuring movies in HD with a starting price of $4.99.

I really like the idea of this service and think it will be very useful to many people. Being able to rent a movie instantaneously is obviously the best feature of their service. However, I feel that their might be a few flaws with Apple’s service. First of all, the price for renting movies wasn’t too appealing for me. I guess $2.99 for a standard quality movie isn’t bad, but I didn’t like the price for the HD movies. At 5 bucks a pop, renting movies could become a little pricey. If you look at netflix, you can rent an unlimited amount of movies per month for only $4.99. Depending on how avid of a movie fan you are, this might be a problem. Secondly, having only 24 hours to watch the movie is a terrible idea. Many times people will pause a movie and not be able to get back to it until the next day. This is something I believe Apple will need to change immediately. If they give you 30 days to hold onto the movie, why not a longer time to view it? So those are my thoughts on this. I believe this will be a very popular service and will continue to grow, but Apple needs to tweak some of the minor details. Looks like Apple is on their way to conquering the world.

Brent

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Useful Linkage – Great Resource for fans of Woot.

kris — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 15:49:50 +0000

Woot is an interesting animal. In reality they are merely a blog, just the same as any other blog out on the interwebs. However, the deals that tend to show up on the site can quite often be jaw dropping. However, as any veteran wooter knows, these deals tend to be fleeting and can often be out of stock by the time you get to them. The depression of missing a great deal is a serious problem in America. Millions suffer from this crippling disease every day.

In comes useful linkage. Sure, this is just your standard blogspot blog, but one must look deeper young padwan. They have figured out that there are other places out on the internets to find those site products at equally good deals. So, say you miss that awesome price over a Woot, you can go check out useful linkage to find other places to get that deal. They check all the CSE’s, Amazon, and even hook you up with some related stuff to keep things interesting. It doesn’t change the foundations of modern physics or anything, but is just a useful site (and I think that’s all they’re trying to be).

Kris

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Beautifully Flawed

jill — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 18:12:05 +0000

What do you get when you combine black and white images of debonair gentlemen and Victorian ladies, organisms from the plant and animal kingdom, and huge amounts of imagination?

You get the creative works of San Francisco based artist Alexis Anne MacKenzie. Carefully combining hand-cut pieces from books collected over the years, Alexis conveys “the world as a flawed thing of beauty—a place that shines brightly, but has a dark side to match”.

So much more than a simple collage, Alexis Anne’s creations are never digitally altered, making it a real testament and addition to traditional forms of art. Intricately pieced together by hand, each work portrays a unique story that is simultaneously strange, tragic, comical, and appealing.

From mermaid women with shell hats to business/armor-clad heroines impaling clawed creatures from the deep, the pieces will incite your curiosity, leaving you a bit dumbfounded and markedly affected.

Jill

UPDATE: Those of you interested in seeing Alexis Anne’s work in person, check out the dates and location of her most recent exhibition.

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“STELLA!!” —Elaine

jill — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 19:29:42 +0000

I am always a little torn when something I really like whether it be a hole in the wall restaurant, some unknown designer, a yet-to-be discovered artist, or some street musician strikes it big. Part of me is ecstatic that these budding artists or businesses are finally getting some well-deserved recognition, yet there is always a small part of me that feels a slight tinge of sadness and fear that these people will become so big, that what was once so special about them becomes an adulterated or worse, watered down imitation of the original.

Despite the looming threat of mass popularity, some things are just too good not to share. With that in mind I introduce you to, Stella im Hultberg. According to her online bio, Stella is a painter and drawer living in New York City with a background in industrial and toy design and a penchant for hunting down the perfect cupcake.

I actually discovered Stella a while back and always had the intention of purchasing one of her beautifully feminine prints, but it looks like I was not alone in recognizing her talents because most of her prints are now SOLD OUT. Fear not. New limited edition prints will be available at Art Star and through some galleries like thinkspace gallery.

If prints aren’t really your thing, she also has shirts, mirrors, and iPod and laptop skins available. The laptop skins are so lovely that I’m tempted to end my lasting relationship with PCs and pick up a MacBook.

Jill

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Thank You Come Again: 7-11 become Kwik-E-Mart – We’re there, and we have pictures.

kris — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 19:34:21 +0000

You may not remember this, but there was once a time when The Simpsons were actually funny. Yes, that’s right. Back before the time of South Park and Family Guy there was actually a few pretty good laughs to be had in the classic animated show. Well, thanks to the release of their new movie, The Simpsons have gone on a campaign to remind the world, “hey, we’re here too!”

The first step on their journey involved partnering with the fine providers of week old hot dogs and liquid crack (aka The Slurpee) 7-11. It seems that a select few 7-11’s around the country (including the one down the street from this very office) have converted themselves to Kwik-E-Marts, the fictional convenience store of Springfield. Along with this change comes some food that until recently only existed in the show. We’re sure that the decision to put a Kwik-E-Mart down the street from us was solely based on Become.com’s presence and had nothing to do with Google, so we took it as a personal responsibility to cover the event, and talk about what they have to offer.

The stores are completely converted, down to the paint job and signage, into a Kwik-E-Mart. Since today was the grand opening of the event, the store had people dressed as characters from the show walking around the store pretending to buy things, and standing out in front greeting people who arrive. The store was also decorated with various images from Springfield, and clever sayings that went a long way in reminding me that the show was once very funny. One example is the sign on the Buzz Cola display that reads “3 for the price of 3.” I have attached some pictures after the jump to show what it was like (I apologize for the quality, my camera phone skills fail).

The new product offerings were probably the best part of the entire event. They included such gems as Buzz Cola, Krusty-Os, and Slurpees have been renamed Squishees and given names that are themed to the show. The whole thing did have a very Disneyland/fake feel to it and the food is just repackaged versions of standard cereal and cola, but the humor is there. If you’re anywhere near the 11 locations of converted 7-11’s go check it out: New York City; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Burbank, Calif.; Los Angeles; Henderson, Nev.; Orlando, Fla.; Mountain View, Calif.; Seattle; and Bladensburg, Md.

If you’re not: just live vicariously through my pictures!
Kris

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