Cats and Coupons

Do you receive a lot of catalogs at home that you no longer need, no longer want or never requested in the first place? I always get a little mad about the ones I didn’t request or buy from, because that’s how I know someone bought a mailing list. Catalog Choice is a free service designed to help people cut down on the amount of catalogs that they receive that they don’t want. It’s very good for your garbage and recycling piles and it’s great for the ecology. Users can create a free account. There’s a list of catalogs that work with Catalog Choice, so you mark in your profile which you want to receive and which you don’t. Not all catalogs are on the list, so it might not stop all of the unwanted catalogs you receive but it could help make a dent. Why do we even need catalogs anymore since we have the internet? Everyone knows that by the time a catalog arrives it’s out of date. I can find a better deal online for everything from CAT5e cables to zippers. Are there any catalogs you absolutely can’t do without?

Today I learned aobut a site called Ztail. I’m thinking it’s a play on the word retail, but I’m not quite sure what the z would stand for if that is the case. Anyway. Ztail is a site where users can find out what the going selling price for an item is. The site is free to join. The site checks similar items selling on ebay for price comparison. Members can find out what something is worth and also give their opinion of the value of something. My post title? The mascot is a monkey and you can change the color of the site.

As cameras and other gadgets improve and get upgraded it isn’t unusual for the type of removable media that they take to change. AS time goes by families also have different gadgets and each of those might use different media. Instead of buying a card reader for one specific type of media, be sure you check out the multi slot card readers that read many types of media. These readers used to be more expensive but they’ve come way down in price. You can get a decent one now for as little as $10. Overstock has a DNJ USB 2.0 All-in-one Card Reader/ Writer on sale for half off right now at $9.99 that reads 25 different types of cards including SM, SD, MMC, MS, MS Pro, CF, MD and XD picture cards. Something like this is an affordable solution for any family.

PURRsonals is a social networking website designed to help cat lovers meet other cat lovers, whether it be for the purpose of networking, making friends or dating. It’s free to join.Upon joining members complete a profile survey summarizing their interests and preferences. Member profiles contain member information, as well as photos and videos of their cats. The site allows members to post messages, videos and pictures, chat using audio and video, create a blog, read cat news and join member forums.

Everyone knows how expensive Microsoft software is. In recent years we’ve watched as online office software grew to be a real option whose user base is rising rapidly. Currently the players in this “market” space are Google, Zoho.com and OpenOffice.org, all of whose products output Microsoft compatible documents. The only one I’ve tried is Google Docs, which has free online file storage. I believe I recall reading that Zoho will be offering free online file storage in the near future. Free is always nice, and it means you don’t have to carry a flash drive with you all of the time too.

The CouponCabin website offers what a person might expect when they hear the name - coupons. Users can search for coupons by name and by category, results will show all of the coupons associated with the site searched for. There are at least twenty categories that coupons fall under. There’s even a category just for Vegas. (No Orlando vacations though.) They have special categories containing printable coupons, mall stores, free shipping offers and clearance sales. The site is free to use and does not require registration. The folks at CouponCabin monitor more than 950 stores for new coupons and offer a newsletter containing the hottest coupons.

There are lots of people interested in selling things online, including people that sell regularly and people that are just looking to get rid of some stuff or make a little money. Ebay fees for selling can really mount up. Sell.com is a website that offers online classifieds as an alternative to online auction sites.Users can search using keywords or browse categories, and specify the minimum and maximum amount they want to spend. Results can be narrowed down to a geographical area. Sell.com is free to join. Buyers never pay any fees on their purchases. Sellers do not pay transaction fees and it costs between $1-$6 to list an item for sale. I found all sorts of items on the site, from antiques to watches (no Sector watches that I could find though). Have you ever used Sell.com? Were you pleased?

Have you ever heard of the television show Dog Whisperer? It’s a show where Cesar Milan, a dog trainer, tries to help solve dog problems, or problem dogs depending on how you look at it. Today I learned he’s now got a site called Sessions with Cesar. Cesar is offering people a six month membership to his online training courses for $129.95. I myself think that’s too much money. Many people enjoy training their dog their own way. For dogs with behavioral problems I don’t feel an online course that anyone can take is of value. You could learn most of the same material from watching his show, reading books or going online. The site is attractive and easy to navigate. The one thing I thought was of value on the site is the online community people can join for free. If you check out Sessions With Cesar, stop back here and let me know what you think. By the way, this is not a paid post.

I noticed when I went online this morning that my grocery store is now offering the ability to shop online. After shopping you can have your order delivered (in some areas) or you can pick it up at the store and have your car loaded. I am one of those people that goes down almost every aisle when shopping, because every once in a while I see something that didn’t make it onto our grocery list or something that there’s an unadvertised special on. If I were buying online I think I might end up spending less, because I wouldn’t be buying things that I hadn’t planned on buying. But then, who can resist a good unadvertised special on things like shampoo or the best acne treatments? These are the kinds of things I stock up on. What do you think of online grocery shopping?

Over the past several years digital cameras have become less expensive and more accessible to consumers, even ones with a tight budget. When I first learned of Picasa and tried it years ago I wasn’t terribly impressed. At that time it didn’t do much more than find pictures on a user’s computer and allow them to be organized. Now, Picasa allows users to organize photos on their computer as well as edit them, print them and create movies, collages, slideshows and screensavers. Picasa has improved over the years and now that they’ve added Picasa Web Albums I think we’ll all be seeing a lot more of Picasa. Picasa Web Albums allows users to create online photo albums such as Flickr and is free to use. Currently users have a minimum of 1gb of storage available. Users can upload images to their own albums, download friend’s albums, caption and comment photos and share them with others. (I wonder how many people are sharing before and after acne cream photos and stuff like that.)

Don’t you love going to a good zoo? If you’ve never been to one I encourage you to take a day and do so. It doesn’t matter if you have children or not, you’ll have a blast. It’s amazing to see animals that you otherwise might not see live. The National Zoo in Washington DC is one of the well known zoos here in the US. They’ve put many live animal cams up, which means that no matter where you are you can get a glimpse of some of the National Zoo animals. Currently the cams they have up and running include an Amazon River Fish Cam, an Asian Small-clawed Otter Cam, a Black-footed Ferret Cam, Cheetah Cams, a Clouded Leopard Cam, a Fishing Cat Cam, a Flamingo Cam, a Gharial Cam, a Golden Lion Tamarin Cam, a Gorilla Cam, a Kiwi Cam, a Lion Cam, Micronesian Kingfisher Cam, a MicroTheatre Cam, a Naked Mole-Rat Cam, an Octopus Cam, an Orangutan Cam, Panda Cams, a Sloth Bear Cam and a Tiger Cam. Go check them out, they’re really neat. Happy viewing!

I am a great believer in adopting animals. There are so many unwanted animals out there that need homes and would make terrific pets. Adopting has numerous advantages over buying from a breeder. Petfinder is a website that offers a searchable database of animals that need homes and shelters, rescues and adoption groups within the United States, Canada and Mexico. The database is updated daily. If you’re looking for a pet, Petfinder should be the first place you look. Petfinder is free to use. I’ve added their search widget to one of my sidebars.

Petcentric is a social community by Purina especially for pet lovers. It offers listings of events, news, products, reviews and promotions. Members can share pictures of their own pets while making friends. Users can search for other users by dog, cat or person. Search parameters include zip code, state, breed, gender and age. My favorite part is the pet activities and interests. I bet this grows into a really fun site.

Jessica sent me a link to a Pet Celebrity Look Alike page over on the Petside website. If you haven’t seen these you ought to check them out, they’re fun. First you’re shown a picture of an animal and you’re supposed to guess what celebrity it looks like. Then you’re shown side by side pictures of the pet and the celebrity. Users that already have or create a My Petside account are even able to upload their own celebrity look alike pet pics. Thanks for sending me this link Jessica!