gerrymoth’s Neighborhood

I've a fondness for get rich quick schemes and the people that believe in them.  They're adorable.  And, as there's one born every minute, there's a whole load of 'em out there.  The one's involved in this particular scheme are all over the interwebs and the YouTubes - a very vocal bunch indeed.  What it is they're selling is anyone's guess - it would appear that that isn't important, they're selling selling.  This chap fails somewhat at that task.

Enjoy...

Yet another unbelievable invention that's caught my attention today.  Heels for babies.  What more can be said?

P Diddy aka Puff Daddy aka Sean John has been pimping his wares on America's Home Shopping Networks - and it's friggin' hilarious.  You really have to watch it all to really appreciate it.  So - grab yourself a cuppa, put your feet up and enjoy...

I'm late to the world of Snuggies - having just seen an ad for them on UK TV earlier tonight.  It seems like I'm the last person on the planet to have heard of them.  If that's not the case, then let me briefly sum them up...

A Snuggie is a wearable blanket - it has sleeves!  It's the bastard lovechild of a hospital gown and, well, a blanket.  But the best bit isn't the product, it's the ad/infomercial for it.  It's pure cheese and, as such, it's been parodied and lampooned to death.  Those purveyors of fine quality items on satellite shopping channels and Wilkos, JML, are selling it in the UK and have an English guy doing the voice over (it can be seen and heard here)

Here's Ellen's take on it:

Snuggie

The wearer ends up looking like a monk or, as Ellen puts it, a wizard.  Rather bizarrely, the blanket comes with a puzzling free gift - watch until the end to find out what it is (I won't ruin the surprise).

And Snuggies aren't just for humans, it would seem. Oh no, pets too...

Snuggie for pets!

Looks like Best Direct are trying to muscle in on the lucrative wearable blanket market too.  They've got the Kosy Wrap and the exact same free gift.  Oh and check out the fella cooking outside in one.  Priceless!

I've seen some really bizarre products in the last few days.  The weirdest and unwonderfulest* stuff shows up just in time for interweb Christmas shopping - or at least that's when I seem to see it.  With some items you really have to question the thought processes involved.  Take the following examples...

Product break-on-throughs?

These, I guess, are meant to appeal to Nintendo Wii owners who happen to really like Robert De Niro's portrayal of one seriously fudged up New York cabbie or are huge Doors fans.  I mean who wouldn't want these gracing their Wiis?

To be fair, these were two of the strangest - there's quite a varied bunch available.  Oh, and they cost between £6 and £12 (at Amazon).  Personally, I'd prefer to put that money towards a game or Wii Points or something - but each to their own.

*I'm aware of how unwordy that word is, but I believe it deserves to be a word nonetheless - especially as nonetheless is a word.

In other O2 related news...

An old Scottish word has been chosen for a brand spanking new mobile network in the UK. giffgaff is the name of O2's spinoff network that's been dubbed as the peoples' network.  Here's their video explaining why...

To me the highlight is that they don't have call centres.  My biggest gripe with most companies is usually their appalling customer service.  The worst I've ever experienced is 3 Mobile's.  It ruined any goodwill I had towards the company - especially as they've made no attempt to reform it.  I had to call Vodafone recently after they overcharged me.  They dealt with the problem quickly but were arrogant, making it seem like I should be grateful for their generosity in correcting it.

Giffgaff: Plain and simple?

Enough of my moaning, back to giffgaff...

How does the company compare to other networks, what's so different about it?  Well, other than zero call centres (joy of joys!) they don't provide handsets - just SIMs.  There's no silly bundles, hidden charges or tricky tariffs either.  And the company claim that because they don't spend money on advertising (as a customer you're encouraged to make ads for them, if you want!) they make substantial savings their too.

The video explains it in a nice, straightforward way - addressing what they mean by 'people powered'.  This includes customers helping other customers with questions they have or advice they require.  Funnily enough this is already happening with every other mobile network in existence, albeit unofficially.  If one's got a question, needs some troubleshooting or whatever, the quickest route for (usually more) accurate advice is the interweb, rarely the company's customer service department!

Hive talking

I've already got two mobile contracts so it's not practical for me to try out the service for myself but if I were looking around I'd certainly consider it - especially now I've two unlocked handsets.

giffgaff's launch announcement on their blog

Pricing

8p per minute to mobiles and landlines (including 36 countries abroad).  This is any time of the day or night.  Calling foreign mobiles (same 36 countries) costs 16p per min.  Cross network calls and 0800 numbers are free - time to ditch that landline?

Text messages are a bit steep for my liking though, 4p per text.  Knowing the true cost of SMS, I felt they should've made it a penny per text.  Sounds catchier, and it's more headline grabbing.  Internet is free for the time being - until they get the charging mechanisms in place. 

   
After seven year's absence, TiVo will be making a UK comeback in 2010 thanks to a deal announced today between the company and cable operator Virgin Media.  All new DVRs (digital video recorders) from Virgin will run TiVo's software, carrying the company's distinctive user interface and branding.

Second time lucky for this plucky little fella?  Who knows?  Last time around Sky, Virgin Media's main rival, partnered with TiVo and that didn't work out so well, despite this overly ambitious spiel.

I guess only time will tell.  By the way, Virgin Media - if you're reading this - I'd love to try one of these out sometime next year.  Would you mind running a few metres of coax, fibre optics, string or whatever you use from the street outside to my home?  I'd love to have your service if only you'd let me!  Sky can only provide a lousy 2 meg, no video-on-demand and, well, Sky+ instead of TiVo.