If you’ve ever bought anything, ever, you’ve probably experienced Wrap Rage. Wrap Rage occurs when you are reduced to a profanity-sputtering lunatic by the seemingly simple act of opening a packaged product. Parents know this rage well, and during the holiday season are more susceptible to it due to toy buying. The zip ties, the wire twisties, the sealed clamshells, the cardboard…all will lead you to the spiked eggnog fairly quickly. Amazon must have taken note of their customer complaints. Last week, they pledged to change packaging forever with what they’re calling “frustration-free packaging” thus ending the need for box cutters, Band-aids and Christmas morning sobbing. While it’s unclear still what products will eventually move towards this kind of improved packaging, what is evident is that toys are probably one of the biggest offenders. Buzzillions has a number of toys that are not only pleasantly free of the traditional packaging, but are also made of eco-friendly materials, like reclaimed woods and milk jug plastic. Not only are they excellent toys in sensible packaging, but they’re all highly rated. My personal favorite (something I got just the other day for my twins) tops the list below. I was able to open it in about nine seconds.

Ten green toys that won’t make you cry…

1. Recycled Plastic Tea Set: Durable and adorable tea sets, made of recycled milk jugs. And gloriously…no wire twisties in the packaging.
2. 27 Piece Cookware Dining Set: Play cookware for the little chef in your life. Also from Green Toys and also made of recycled milk jugs.
3. Wonderworld Washing Sink: Play washing sink made of eco friendly woods.
4. Imaginarium Chunky Wood Train: Natural wood and again, no batteries!
5. Plan Toys Logging Truck: And the irony prize goes to…the logging truck made of sustainable wood.
6. Plan Toys Sports Car: Earth friendly rubber wood. no gas required.
7. Wooden Parking Garage: Once there were parking lots, now it’s a peaceful oasis…made of rubber wood.
8. Kettler Fold n Go Frog Bike: Figuratively and literally a green toy, with recycled resins making up 98% of the plastic.
9. Imaginarium Natural Wood Blocks: Certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and much more attractive than the plastic alphabet blocks.
10. Discover Rig: Crafted of an eco friendly bio composite called sprigwood. Lights and sound effects generated by pushing, not batteries!

I like metaphors.  I use them too much, to the point I should probably go into some kind of program.  But since I’m still firmly in denial, there’s no sense in stopping now.  I’ll begin by saying I have several iPods, the iPhone and a MacBook.  To use the worst and most disturbing metaphor I’ve heard bantered around the corporate world these days…I’ve drunk the Kool-Aid.  And I’m not alone.  Apple iPods are nearly as pervasive as cell phones where I live.  When they came out in 2001, they changed portable music forever and became the best selling digital audio player in history.   My two year old can actually slot my iPod into the home stereo and, using the track wheel, find Lupe Fiasco (his current favorite) by the album cover art.  I’d say you can’t beat that for usability.  I knew there were similar players out there, but sort of assumed they would go the way of betamax tapes and HD DVD…sorry, you lose, thanks for playing.  There was no need for me to pay attention to the other guys because, well, I was already dating the rock star.  But the other day, someone called my attention to some data we’re seeing on Buzzillions right now with regards to the Zune and audiophiles’ opinions of them.  We know this because when someone writes a review we ask people how they describe themselves. In this case the choices are: “Casual Listener”, “Avid Listener” and “Audiophile”.  Turns out the Zune is not only liked by those who select “Audiophile”, but liked enough to be number one in this group of people.  Which means of course that the revered iPod is in second place.

Why is this?  Do these audiophiles know something I don’t, or is the New York Times onto something when they hypothesize that some people are simply buying the Zune because it is NOT the iPhone?  While there do seem to be anti-Apple zealots out there (though they hardly outweigh the rampant Microsoft-is-the-devil’s-spawn sentiment) surely there are people buying them for more than the satisfaction of knowing there’s one less iPod on the planet.  So I took a look at the reviews and specifically what the audiophiles liked about the Zune. Reviewers point to a few features as being stand outs.  Among these are the included headphones, which they say are higher quality than the standard issue iPod headphones.  In addition, users point to the integrated FM radio, the durability, the excellent sound quality, the large screen and larger font sizes making the display easier to read, especially when using in a car.  CNET’s Zune vs. iPod Prizefight gives the face off between the two a tie, which they themselves seem genuinely surprised by given iPod’s overwhelming popularity.  Most intriguing to me, it sounds from the reviews like my kids would find it equally as easy to use as the iPod. All this has me thinking (brace yourself for another metaphor) that the rock star I’m dating…maybe he’s not so great after all.  Maybe, like those tedious and formulaic teen movies, I should take a closer look at the less popular outcast - the one who could really win me over, if only I’d give him the chance.

Months of planning and talking big have paid off: the Buzzillions Burrito Bomber is ready to take San Francisco by storm in this weekend’s Red Bull Soapbox Derby.

“Big Taco” Mark and Terra the “Mean Sombrero” are our fearless driving/breaking team. They will be flanked by a crew of Yury the “Big Chill,” Angela “Boogie” Burrito, and a “Very Hungry” Eraj.

The bomber will be flying down the Dolores Street (starting line is at 21^st street and the route goes down along the park). I know this hill well from my morning runs – it’s a three block chore to run up it and I can only imagine what it’ll be like to roll down in a cardboard taco truck. In fact, I ran by early this morning and it was already a scene. I got to chat with a few other teams and check out the course. I’m telling you – this is not to be missed.

Check out the sketches of our craft and read about our team and stay tuned for photos and video of the race!

What’s next in the food challenge series? We’ve had several Wendy’s challenges. I would go so far as to say we’ve pretty much exhausted the Wendy’s possibilities (that said, I’m sure someone will read this as a challenge and come up with something even worse than the fries and milkshake challenge).

Thank goodness for Taco Bell.

Gautam (aka The Unsung Hero) had come up with the idea of eating 20 Taco Bell original tacos (those are the hardshell crunchy ones - 89¢ each) in an hour during one of our many reminisces over previous food challenges. Unfortunately, he came up with this idea on his last day of work before taking a couple of weeks vacation. Everyone thought this was a great idea but understandingly, did not want to proceed without Gautam (even though he said he would come back from his vacation just to witness this challenge we didn’t really think this would be fair).

So now that Gautam is back and all caught up with work, it’s time to get the ball rolling.

20 Taco Bell tacos don’t sound like a lot. I mean, I order 3 of those suckers every time I eat at Taco Bell (because they taste great at 2 AM and we all know they aren’t that filling). So what’s the big deal? 20? No problem.

But think about it…..

20 tacos in an hour means you have to finish a taco every 3 minutes. For an hour. When was the last time you ate food steadily for an entire hour? We’re not talking a normal dinner with conversation and wine.

Steady eating.

For a whole hour.

20 tacos.

The talk is this is going down this week. So I hear… I’ll keep you posted.

Note: as an aside, I was going through the office working up enthusiasm for the new Taco Bell challenge. Of course that dredged up stories about previous challenges, who had participated, how they went. The one that brought up the mose fries and milkshake in a blender challenge. Mark B was describing how he tested out this challenge ahead of time and how the coldness of the milkshake made all the fat from the fries congeal so that the resulting goop was the consistency of cement. It was so thick it had to be eaten from a spoon. In fact, if you scooped some out then held the spoon upside down, none of it would fall. You would think such a colorful description would deter anyone from trying this challenge again, but nope, instead this long store only stoked the passions of some of our eaters. So there may be rematch… stay tuned.

We sat at our desk pounding away at our keyboards and managing the online content for Buzzillions. Somehow the Content Team ended up talking about Axe. Yes, Axe shower gels, the deodorants, the body shots. While comparing the smells of these Axe products, my colleague Pete revealed his dismay for Old Spice, because it gives him rashes.

Perplexed, we hopped on to Buzzillions and we researched the product to see if anyone else has that issue. Pete found the product and we read the reviews. Someone else actually had the same issue. Bingo Neat-o! Buzzillions really does empower[s] consumers by providing the purchasers’ experience with legitimate data.

This experience led me to think, “What does empowering the consumer mean?” Empower, (in street terms), means to give an edge to. Empowering consumers, from a sociological perspective, means providing legitimate data for consumers to make educated purchases. Data needs to be managed to ensure quality. Buzzillions now has over 2.3 million reviews. These reviews are managed by the 30+ member Moderation Team led by our fearless leader Lily. They scan the reviews to ensure that the data is coming from legitimate sources, and they follow strict guidelines that ensure useful comments.

In the end process, consumers can draw data from the reviews and make their own conclusion on whether the product is worth their hard earned money. The clean data can help answer many questions that a common consumer has. What type of person is this product made fore? What are some of the cool features? Are there common issues with the product? Should I get a warranty for the item? How good is the quality of the material? Is there a possibility that Old Spice might cause a rash on me? (It did for Pete.)

So Buzzillions is in some way a database for people to research and buy their product in a streamlined process. It offers a way for a community to get useful data to buy products that they will be satisfied with. Since I’ve been informed of the possibility of Old Spice causing rashes, I think I will stick with Axe. It smells really good. Trust me, check it out here.

Bert

So, last time, I choose Peet’s coffee because I knew it was a safe bet from my pre-PowerReviews days of shoveling beans for hours on end. But now that we’ve finished off our fresh coffee supply, it’s time to try something new.

One of our partners, Café Britt sent out a promotional email to their customers last week and generated over 300 reviews in just 4 days. While doing some moderation (i.e. personal research), I noticed that they were getting rave reviews across the board. Now we will be the judges.

Currently in the kitchen:  Costa Rica Dark Roast (currently “Top Rated” on Buzzillions.com with a product rating of 4.9 stars and 381 reviews), Costa Rica Decaffeinated (currently “Top Rated” with 4.9 stars and 104 reviews), and Tres Rios Valdivia (was “Top Rated” last week when I placed the order - 4.9 stars and 381 reviews).

This will be a three way experiment:

1. How effective is Buzzillions for a customer taking a risk on a product she has no prior experience buying online?
2. How well is our “Top Rated” system working?
3. Will Café Britt’s blends be delicious enough to overcome the plastic k-cup’s ease?

Here at PowerReviews, located in the heart of SOMA (South [O]f [MA]rket for the out of towners), we are fortunate to be in the center of some of the best restaurants in SF. Primo on Townsend and 3rd is known for it’s delicious jerk chicken. Rated 5 stars by the Content Team, we hit up this well-known hole-in-the wall joint at least once a week. Can I, a Content Analyst, who does not have the lovely looks of Giada De Laurentiis, who does not have the flair of Bobby Flay, who hasn’t traveled over a million culinary places like Anthony Bourdain replicate this juicy, slightly charred grilled, mouth watering, heavenly-high tasty jerk chicken? I, a follower of high-end fast food cuisine, shall try…

Day 1

As always, having sharpest and ergonomic knives makes your cooking experience much more satisfying. (Checkout Buzzillions’ reviews for the TopRated cutlery sets.) I start off by de-boning 4 chicken thighs (¾ to 1 pound total). Then I tenderize it, aiming to extend an even cooking surface on the chicken.

Mix the following ingredients up in a tight seal zip lock bag…

1) 2 garlic cloves minced;

2) 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves;

3) 1 teaspoon curry powder;

4) ½ teaspoon ground cumin ;

5) ½ teaspoon salt;

6) ½ teaspoon powder ginger;

7) ½ teaspoon paprika;

½ teaspoon ground black pepper;

9) ½ teaspoon ground cayenne;

10) And ¼ cup of honey.

Toss in the chicken into the zip lock bag with the marinade. Shake it up! Let it sit overnight. In the morning, flip the bag over before you leave for work to evenly coat the chicken for the evening.

Yum-malicious!

Day 2

Ready for the Grill!

You can cook the chicken on the outdoor grill or in an indoor cooktop or range. Regardless, aim for medium heat. Pull out the chicken from the bag and toss out the rest of the marinade. On the outdoor grill, watch out for the hot spot flair ups. Toss it on the grill/grill pan, cook thoroughly! Make sure the thickest part of the chicken is running clear juice. (Anyway, all of the chicken should be similar in thickness after the good pounding you’ve given it!)

Let the chicken sit for 10 minutes before serving. The chicken should go well with a bottle of Matanzas Creek, 2006, Sonoma Valley, Chardonnay and a salad niçoise. Enjoy the yummy in your tummy!

Let me know how the jerk chicken tastes!

Bert

I just finished reading Everything is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder by David Weinberger.  It’s quite a hot book around the office here.  No surprise given our unique selling point is being able to tag products as part of the review process.

Basically the author argues that tagging will be the new way of organizing information.  No more categories. While I agree with his basic idea, I’m not willing to write off the idea of categories just yet.  Why not? Well, here’s a telling quote from Amazon:

“Finally, he shows how by “going miscellaneous,” anyone can reap rewards from the deluge of information in modern work and life.” (italics added by me)

The author posits that the power now lies in with the masses in that they decide how information is organized and they decide what information is important to them.  However, I immediately thought of the deluge of information and the time necessary to find and parse all of it.  While I enjoy exploring the internet, I readily admit this kind of activity takes a lot of time.  Most of the time  I don’t have the luxury to take all the raw data and organize it in a way that’s meaningful for me.  I want information and I want it fast.  I don’t have time to read 20 news articles and decide what’s most important.  I like having The New York Times decide what’s the most important news story for me by putting it on the front page.

What are your thoughts on this book/theory?

Shawn Collins of AffiliateTip wrote a great post today highlighting our success metrics which helped us win the Innovative Publisher of the Year Award.

Take a read to see some interesting stats about our best performing affiliate partners including OneStepAhead, BiggerBras, REI, and Overstock (in that order), our conversion rate, and our performance rank in affiliate networks.

Factoids from Innovative Affiliate Buzzillions.com

Ours is Dutch.

Dutch is a corgi. He’s been hanging out with us at the office all week while his owner, Gautam, our VP of engineering, is out for a wedding and honeymoon in India.

We really like having Dutch hang out with us. He’s a real active participant in the goings ons at the company.

Here he is hanging out with IT and watching over our servers.

Here he is hanging out with the moderators, checking over the reviews to make sure they aren’t offensive.

He’s such a trooper!