The Onion launches Decider cityguides

by Scott Carmichael on

The Onion has just joined the long lineup of online city guides with their newest publication; Decider. Decider launched in beta mode with a guide for Chicago and covers everything from movie reviews to restaurant guides. If you visit the site expecting the usual amount of Onion humor, you’ll be disappointed. The Decider is actually a serious site, with real reviews.

Of course, starting in Chicago is quite a challenge as they will be up against established sites like Metromix, Yelp and Citysearch. The advantage for the Onion is that they already have a large pool of journalists to use, and thousands of fans of their other work who might be interested in seeing how interesting an Onion publication is without satire.

The site currently lists over 5700 restaurants, but the vast majority have not yet been rated by readers, and I doubt that many people will be willing to sit down and post their reviews on this site if they already feel comfortable posting to Yelp or Metromix.

The site is also missing mobile access which is something they’ll need to get up and running as soon as they can. Yelp already has a GPS enabled version of their site for the iPhone. Then again, the only mobile version on Citysearch is for Mobile,AL. The ability to search for a restaurant or store on the go is something that can make or break a site.

I’m sure that the guide will improve over time, but I can’t help feel that it’s all just a little more of the same. There is nothing really new on the site and it’ll take a lot of user submitted reviews to become a truly useful resource.

Product review – Chargepod multi device charger

by Scott Carmichael on

In this product review, I’m going to introduce you to the Chargepod multi device charger. The Chargepod is a product from Callpod, and it has 7 connectors; one for powering the device itself, and 6 for charging your electronics. Each connector holds an small removable adapter with the appropriate plug for your gadget.

In the version I am reviewing, the package comes with an AC (wall) charger and a car charger cord. There are some people (like myself) who will usually find themselves on the road with far too many gadgets. The hassle of carrying multiple chargers as well as extension cords and power splitters gets greater with each new gadget. It is however not unthinkable that even the most novice gadgeteer will have at least a mobile phone, a Bluetooth headset and and iPod in their luggage.

With the Chargepod, you simply carry the power adapter, the Chargepod itself, and the power adapters you need for your devices. Then, to charge them, you simply connect the Chargepod to an outlet, insert the power adapters and plug your gadgets in. The Chargepod then charges up to 6 devices at the same time.

Callpod, who make the Chargepod, have 48 different power adapters, and since some of these can be used for multiple devices, the product covers close to 500 different phones, PDA’s, smartphones, gaming consoles and more. If you can’t find the correct power adapter for your device, but you do have a USB cable, then you can purchase a female USB plug power adapter and plug the cable into that.

In my personal travel bag, I carry the Chargepod with tips for a Nintendo DS, Garmin GPS unit, Plantronics headset, a Blackberry, Nokia phones, 2 HTC smartphones, an iPod and a female USB tip for recharging my backup battery pack. The Chargepod replaces 7 different chargers, plus I can use it to charge all my devices at the same time, instead of having to play a boring game of outlet bingo.

The Chargepod kit I carry in my luggage weighs 15 ounces which includes the Chargepod itself, the AC and car chargers and 12 different power tips, as well as the carrying pouch.

You can purchase the Chargepod in 2 versions; a basic kit with the AC charger and the Chargepod, or a bundle kit with the Chargepod, AC and car chargers and an assortment of adapters.

If the bundle pack does not contain any of the power adapters you need, then you are better off with the basic version, and configuring your own kit. The basic kit costs $39.95 and the bundle kit costs $79.95. Each additional power adapter is $9.95 (all MSRP). You can purchase the Chargepod through Amazon, where it retails with a substantial discount; ($32.99 for the basic kit or $47.99 for the bundle kit)

I’ve come to depend heavily on my Chargepod, both for its ease of use as well as the convenience of being able to leave a bag full of power bricks at home. The included AC adapter works on 100-240 Volts, so with the appropriate plug converter it can be used anywhere in the world. The only minor annoyances with he product are that the prongs on the AC charger do not fold in, making it quite bulky, and that the carrying pouch is not always spacious enough to hold all the parts. Other than that, I can highly recommend the Chargepod for its ease of use.

Travel Channel to show Season 12 of Amazing Race

by Jamie Rhein on

To tide you over until Amazing Race 13 begins on September 28, tune into The Travel Channel. Starting September 3 at 8 p.m. EST, season 12 will be shown.

Although the winners from season 12 are known– Rachel and T.K., the couple who had smart ideas about how to use the dough (although with the abysmal showing of the current market and housing crisis, I wonder how that went?) there are travel tidbits about each of the countries the contestants visited and host Phil Keoghan’s commentaries.

My favorite episode was the Burkina Faso leg, particularly when most teams didn’t know how to say the capital Ouagadougou when they found out where they were heading. The camel milking made for the best TV. Plus, of all the locations, this was probably the one that was the most obscure to many of the folks who tuned in to watch.

Here’s a review of that episode on TV Squad to refresh your memory or to catch you up to the crazy antics that can happen as teams of two people race around the world on a chase for a million dollars.

Jason Hughes, at TV Squad wonders if The Travel Channel’s airing of the show may mean that CBS is thinking about pulling the plug since it is only picked up season by season. In that case, The Travel Channel could take it over. I hope it will stay on CBS so people can see it without cable.

$2,500 sundae (or less? or more?) in New York City–or go for a cheaper version

by Jamie Rhein on

Yes, there is a sundae that costs $2,500 in New York City–maybe. I think that’s what Kathie Lee Gifford said this morning on the Today Show. I was half-listening, but when she said Serendipity 3, I perked up.

I’m almost sure that’s the dollar amount she quoted. If your wallet is fat enough, you can order one of these whopping treats at the restaurant located on East 60th Street in Manhattan.

Serendipity’s menu says that the Golden Opulence Sundae costs $1,000. At $1,000 it’s still touted as the Guinness World Record holder as the most expensive. Maybe Gifford was eating a version of this and it’s an unpublished secret? Maybe she said it was $25,000. She did say it’s never been ordered. I have searched and searched for this story to no avail. I’ve become obsessed.

I’ve been to Serendipity 3 for ice-cream. No Golden Opulence for us, but I do remember that my husband ordered the Forbidden Broadway Sunday for $13.50.

It was an enormous dessert of chocolate cake, whipped cream, and ice-cream, big enough for a few of us to chow down. For other sundae choices cheaper than that, check out the menu.

My recommendation is to not try going here on a hot summer day on a Sunday. We tried that once and couldn’t wait that long. We were hungry enough to start chewing on furniture. Our sundae success came on a week night after dark–also in the summer–perhaps on a Wednesday.

As Kathie Lee Gifford was eating bites of opulence, letting the flecks of gold slide down her throat, she did mention that it seems frivolous to show off a sundae of such a cost when many folks are having problems putting gas in their cars. Even the $13.50 sundae can buy 3 gallons or more.

The photo, from an article review I came across, is of the $1,000 version. It does not look like the dish Kathie Lee was eating. Oh, well.

Journalist Eats Things That Weren’t Meant to be Eaten

by Josh Lew on

Has the eating of strange foods gone too far?

Sure, Andrew Zimmern might be brave, but does he really know what he’s putting in his mouth? While the Bizarre Foods guru (or his producer) usually provides a bit of background on what he’s eating, you have to wonder, is it considered a normal food in whatever “exotic locale” the show is currently being filmed in?

Phil Lees of The Last Appetite points out that you can’t always believe what people tell you.

A journalist named Sean Thomas found himself in Cambodia. He penned an “eating weird food” article for a U.K. newspaper. Aside from the fact that his article is rife with the gross over-generalizations typical of a parachute journalist, Lees, an old hand in Cambodia, points out that Thomas ate some things that were not meant to be eaten. The poor guy chowed down on a dried frog and compared it to a eating a dead mermaid. The problem: in Cambodia dried frogs are not meant to be eaten as a snack. According to Lees, “Dried frog is for medicinal purposes and occasionally, a rice wine additive. Complaining about the way it tastes is a little like eating a few spoonfuls of straight cloves, then writing them off as useless as a foodstuff.” One has to wonder if this is just an isolated incident or if more of the “I’m eating strange food” shticks are also ill-informed.