No, “Zephyr” is not just that lame car that Lincoln produced. Did you know that Zephyr means “a gentle breeze“? I didn’t until I listened to Comic Vocab.

2 good friends of mine, Suraj and Chaitanya, came up with a killer idea on helping people improve their vocabulary through comedy. When I first heard the idea I was skeptical. However, after drilling into the idea with them a bit more, I believe the product definitely has great potential. The question I asked myself was how I would go about improving my vocabulary? Read an SAT book? Read a dictionary? Subscribe to “word of the day” emails?

The premise behind Comic Vocab is that it helps you build your vocabulary better than any other method since it keeps you interested through the use of “clean comedy”, which in turn helps maximize word retention. I’m definitely biased since this product was made by my 2 friends, but I’m never shy to rip on any product someone asks me to review. It’s truly a great product — if you’re at all interested in beefing up your vocabulary in a really easy way, this is the product to buy.

The cool part of their project is that they produced in on the side while working full-time at Microsoft, sourcing all their creative talent from Craig’s list. Talk about a web 2.0 success story!

The easiest way for me to listen to it was in my car on my drives to work since that’s where I feel I waste most of my time during the day. What better way to use 30-40 mins a day? I was able to listen to it in chunks over several days on my back-and-forth commute. Many of their jokes on the CD made me laugh out loud making it for a really easy listen. You can check out some of their work on their samples page.

Imagine being able to bust out the word “prolix” at your next family dinner or at the bar next to your future wife? The product is available directly through their website at http://www.comicvocab.com as well as on Amazon.

Many people, including me, that bought a Samsung Blackjack when they were just released didn’t get the extended battery and cover.  Looks like Cingular/AT&T must have got a lot of complaints because they’re now giving them away for free for those “customers dissatisfied with battery life”!  These are the terms:

• Extended battery is also available as a free option for customers dissatisfied with battery life
• AT&T is not overtly communicating this option. Should be used on a case-by-case basis.
• Customer needs to fill out a web form
• URL is http://www.web-rebates.com/cingular/blackjack
• Needs IMEI, MIN and shipping address
• IMEIs between 352794010030189 - 352794012269959 are eligible for this offer
• Young America will process & fulfill
• Web site will be live Feb 16th 2007. Fulfillment process may take 2 to 4 weeks due to short supply of extended batteries

To get your IMEI # without shutting your phone off, enter *#06#.  Don’t forget to include the trailing number after the “/”, as that is the final digit of your IMEI.

via msmobiles.com

Looks like the T-Mobile and Windows Vista promotion is alive and kicking.  I just stumbled upon this link which takes you straight to the sign-up page after which you can enjoy 3 free months of T-Mobile HotSpot lovin.

So far my successes with RefundPlease.com keep on coming! In the last 2 days, I’ve received $47.34 back on purchases within the last 30 days that have dropped in price.  Price drops have ranged from 1 cent to $17.34!  Sweet!

Refundplease.com is a great little website that will monitor specific Amazon items and email you when the price goes lower than when you originally purchased it.   In their own words:

“There are a number of online retailers that offer to credit buyers back cash on past purchases. For instance, if the product you purchased at Amazon.com within the last 30 days has dropped in price they will credit you back the difference”

Before stumbling upon this site, I never even knew that Amazon had a 30-day price protection policy.  When Refundplease.com notifies you of a price drop, they give you a direct link to the Amazon customer service contact page making things all that much easier.

I entered a bunch of purchases in that I made leading up to the holidays and yesterday I was notified that one of the items was cheaper!  I contacted customer service per the instructions and here was the email I received from Amazon within 24 hours:

“Thank you for writing to Amazon.com.

The discounts we offer for items on our web site do vary from time
to time. I’ve checked your order, and found that we now offer a
greater discount on ” A Photographer’s Life: 1990-2005 (Hardcover) ”
than at the time you placed your order.

Since this item was shipped so recently, I have requested a refund
of $0.01 to your credit card. This amount reflects the difference
between the price you were charged and the discounted price. The
refund should be processed in the next few days and will appear as a
credit on your next billing statement. “

Yes, you got it. I actually requested a refund for 1 cent Frankly, I’m shocked Amazon is processing a refund for such a low amount, but this shows that they live up to their 30 day guarantee