dealarmy

dealarmy.com/Travel - Great Travel Deals

2008-06-13T06:49:00.001-07:00

Tom and I added a new category to dealarmy.com - Travel!

It's a great way to see some of the best travel deals on the web. Check it out!

dealarmy.com/Travel - great vacation & travel deals

2008-06-09T12:38:00.001-07:00

We just launched a travel section where we aggregate the best sites for discount travel and vacation deals. check it out at www.dealarmy.com/Travel.

Let us know what you think

-Tom & John

DealArmy.com relaunched

2008-05-31T13:58:00.000-07:00

Hey folks, it's been a while. Tom and I decided to relaunch dealarmy.com. It now focuses on sites that constantly search the internet looking for what you want. You will find great deals and unique finds. It's early stages so please feel free to send us your feedback.

We still offer you the ability to save, share, and rate deals through our service at www.dealtribe.com. It's a great tool to use to research your purchases since you can create a list of products from different retailers.

We'll try to update the blog more frequently and hope to talk again soon.

Cyber Monday Results

2007-11-29T09:34:00.000-08:00

Apparently cyber monday is an industry fabricated event but either way, it was a success for e-retailers.

Valleywag reports sales up over 80% from last year. It will be interesting to see if this trends continues into the last days of holiday shopping.

did you find any great deals this year? share them with us at dealtribe.com

Todays deals

2007-11-27T07:53:00.000-08:00

Head on over to dealtribe and see some of the finds being shared today. Retailers include Amazon, Crate & Barrel, Best Buy, Target and more....

12 days of Christams will cost you ....

2007-11-26T11:14:00.000-08:00

$19,507!

According to the consumerist (a site that you should check out on a regular basis). My question is who in the world sells a partridge in a pear tree. Business must be brisk for them this time of year.

It's Cyber Monday

2007-11-26T10:21:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Well, it's that time of year...the holiday season. Most e-retailers experience a huge increase in traffic today with people heading back to work but with shopper on their minds.

There are a lot of deals out there today, this week and heading into the new year. The key is to look around and not buy the first product you see.

We will be posting deals and unique gift ideas we find at www.dealtribe.com. Feel free to share yours as well.

_john

Do you eat your red smarties last?

2007-07-17T10:07:00.001-07:00

"Smarties" is having a contest to redesign their packaging. Check it out at www.smarties.ca

Rogers Update

2007-06-20T13:34:00.001-07:00

Just to follow up with my horrible Rogers experience, when I went to the local Rogers location to return the modem, they said they didn't accept them at this location. This wasn't a kiosk in a mall but a dedicated location where I saw people replace PVR remotes in the past when paying a bill...Note to retailers....make it easy for us to do business with you.

Rogers Cable & Internet Sucks

2007-05-25T12:43:00.000-07:00

I just had to jump through a half dozen hoops to cancel my Cable & Internet services with Rogers (I'm moving and the place already has a service)

First off, I couldn't cancel my service through their website (something smells fishy there) and I ended up forgetting to cancel the service. A few days ago, I received a call from Rogers asking me to call to move my services to my new address (with no mention to cancel my existing service). Having time today, I called in and went through the following sequence of events:

* go to the website to find the phone number (no mention in the FAQs on how to cancel my service)
*listens to really bad robotic voice IVR (have to answer a series of questions so they can transfer my call which includes entering my phone number
*transferred to customer service rep who asks for my phone number, name, and postal code
*He tries to collect more information but I refuse to give them my email and other phone numbers
* After telling him I want to cancel, he redirects my call again.
* A lady asks for my phone number, name, and postal code again!!
* She informs me that I needed to give 30 days notice so I now have to pay for an extra month
* I explain that I started this process 30 days ago but their website wasn't helpful
* I tell her to send the bill
* She then tells me to return the internet modem at a local Rogers location or I will be charged.

To recap:
I had to interact with 2 people and 1 pseudo person to cancel my account and will eventually interact with 1 or 2 more when I return the modem. I had to provide my personal information 3 times (with the probability to have to provide it again at the store). Add in being charged an extra months service along with an unexpected walk to a Rogers store and it makes me a disgruntled customer.

All of this could have been avoided and I would be a more pleasant Rogers customer if they simply had a Cancel My Account button on their website.

They could even made the journey to the Rogers store acceptable if they had a simple instructions on the website or how about a printable form to attach to the modem for the rogers guy who is in my building every other day to pick up?

Because it was such a hassel, I will strongly consider switching to a competitor in the future. Thanks Rogers! You made my future purchase decisions a lot easier!

-John

Ladies, Are you looking for jeans? Try Zafu.com

2007-04-27T07:48:00.000-07:00

After nine months of operation and one millions users, Zafu provides new insight into the world of women's jeans. Results reveal specific trends in what women want and purchase when it comes to jeans*.

The Top Ten most viewed jeans on Zafu.com are, in order:
1. Baby Phat - Hipster Jean
2. Old Navy - Women's Curvy Boot Cut Jean
3. Polo Ralph Lauren - Stretch Kelly Jean
4. Banana Republic - Contour Classic Boot Cut
5. Victoria Secret - Easy Jean
6. Eddie Bauer - Shaped Fit Boot Cut
7. Newport News - Stretch Low Rise
8. Miss Sixty - Extra Low Ty
9. Gap - Boot Cut Curvy
10. American Rag - Rachel Jean

The top selling jeans:
1. Lucky Brand - Classic Bootleg Jean
2. Lands' End - Curvy Stretch Boot Cut
3. Levi's jeans - 512
4. BKE - Star Jean
5. Baby Phat - Signature Jean

The top leg styles:
61% - Boot Cut
20 % - Flare
11% - Straight
6 % - Narrow
2% - Wide Leg

Women have found Zafu so valuable that they asked for more. In June, Zafu will expand their offering to cover plus-sizes (to size 28). In the summer, Zafu will do for bras what they have already done for jeans.

*Based on over 1 million users' search results on Zafu.com

-Information provided from their press release

Social Shopping in Entrepreneur Magazine

2007-04-19T09:07:00.000-07:00

Entrepreneur magazine pretty much promotes spamming social shopping sites like dealarmy.com. If marketers take up this offer, the effectiveness of social recommendations can be put at risk. When we developed dealarmy, we thought about this scenario and decided to launch a feature specifically for marketers.

Here is the basics of the service:
Dealarmy allows marketers to register and post a deal (now it's free but we may charge a minimal cost latter down the road).

Posts from marketers will be differentiated from the posts of regular community members to clearly mark the distinction between marketer and member.
If you can write a compelling pitch, then this service is for you so there will be no need for deception.

If you are a marketer, then try out dealarmy. We're hoping to create a win-win situation for both our members and the marketing community.

Happy shopping!
-John

Home Depot Canada Auction

2007-04-19T08:33:00.000-07:00

Homedepot.ca started a great little auction site. Today, they have a lawnmower on the site that's regularly priced at $4300 CDN. The current winning bid is $600 (which is sure to change within minutes). It's a great deal if you need a lawnmower and are willing to keep an eye on this auction throughout today.

Dealarmy.com Blog This Feature

2007-01-23T14:45:00.006-08:00

We're working on a feature for you to share your deals and lists on your own blog.

dealarmy.com redesign: making social shopping better for you

2007-01-22T19:28:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of posts but Tom and I have been working on the next version of dealarmy.com. We have some great ideas but are always open to ideas from you.

Take a look around our site (www.dealarmy.com) and let us know what you think.

Til next time,
John and Tom

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2006-12-24T15:39:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to take a minute to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holidays!

Be safe and enjoy,
Tom and John

The Dealarmy.com team

On-line Sales Heating Up

2006-12-19T03:59:00.000-08:00

Marketingvox.com cites a report that "Online shoppers set a single-day spending record last week - and broke it two days later - while holiday season spending is so far up 25 percent from last year."

People are realizing the advantage of buying on-line, especially with retailers finally doing a better job on the fulfilment side of their business. The retailers who realize the "customer experience" extends beyond the Point of Sale will clearly be the leaders in their respective categories.

It will be interesting to see which retailers provide an excellent customer experience during their next busy season... the return season that naturally occurs after the holdiays :)

Happy Holidays!
John & Tom

The Dealarmy.com team

PaidContent.Org Weighs in on Social Shopping Revenue Potential

2006-11-27T20:36:00.000-08:00

Further to the post below on social shopping and the potential revenue that may be derived from it, please check out the post from PaidContent.org speaking to the same Mashable write up.

Take Care!
Tom

Social Shopping Revenue Potential in Billions?

2006-11-27T20:27:00.000-08:00

Check out the cool article from Mashable which speaks to the revenue potential for social shopping sites. Some pretty high numbers thrown around. While Mashable tends to be a little skeptic about this potential I feel it is there. I agree that no one knows just what the right model to harness this potential will be but I like to think that we at dealarmy.com is on the right track. Check out the article as it is pretty interesting.

Honestly, it is a little humbling to think MySpace et al are considering venturing into this realm. With their member base they are like the 800 pound gorilla in the room. They can squash a lot of up and comers if they so choose. Ah well! No one said it would be easy. I take comfort in the knowledge thought that there are many examples out there of the little guy coming out on top. You just have to find your niche and fill it better than anybody else ever could.

Cheers!

Tom

and the winner of the iPod Nano is:

2006-11-27T16:13:00.000-08:00

Hi Folks,

Thanks again for signing up to dealarmy.com, we appreciate it.

If you haven't noticed, we launched a freshly designed www.dealarmy.com this week. Please check it out and let's know what you think.

Before we announce the winner of the iPod Nano, we want to tell you about our newest contest:

Share your gift ideas and win!

* Share the products that you are condsidering to give as gifts this year with the dealarmy.com community
* For every product you share, you will be entered into drawings for $25 gift cards.
* We will be conducting weekly drawings until Boxing Day (December 26,2006).
* Winners can choose the retailer (within reason) or we will make a donation in your name to a charity of your choice.

Best of luck and start sharing those gifts ideas and deals!

...& The Winner of the iPod Nano Is:

RowBish

Congratulations RowBish. We will be contacting you shortly to arrange delivery.

Happy Holidays!

Tom & John

The Dealarmy.com team

It's Cyber Monday: Win Gift Cards with dealarmy.com

2006-11-27T05:11:00.000-08:00

Most people have heard of black friday (the shopping day after Thanks Giving in the US) but are you aware of Cyber Monday?

It's the Monday after the Thanks Giving Weekend where people take advantage of their companys' faster internet connections (and probably more secure systems) to shop on-line.

If you are one of these shoppers and find any deals while you're shopping, please share them with us

For each deal you share, your name will be entered into a weekly draw for a gift card of your choice (or the equivalent donation to a charity of your choice)

Happy shopping and good luck in finding those deals!

-John & Tom

New design at www.dealarmy.com

2006-11-23T19:11:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to let you know that we redesigned dealarmy.com. We're still working through the bugs but would like to get your feedback.

Highlights include:
* a gift finder feature-simply set teh price to the price you want and see the deals shared by users
* a christmas theme for the holidays shopping season
* faster response time (but we're still trying to improve this too)

Please take a look and send us your feedback.

-John

Black Friday shopping deals

2006-11-23T18:56:00.000-08:00

As many people know tomorrow is called Black Friday in the USA. It's a time when merchants start making a profit (their ledger goes from red to black). Many larger stores offer door crashers to encourage shoppers to come early and spend their money.

There are plenty of sites that focus on black friday deals: here are some of them:

Technology deals via cnet.com

The gottadeal.com team also does a nice round up too.

If you know of a deal share it with us

Also, remember a lot of merchants sell really cheap stuff as the door crasher so don't be fooled by the bait and switch.

Happy Shopping!
John

"He's Making A List...."

2006-10-09T12:40:00.000-07:00

Want to get organized for the upcoming holiday season? Tired of last minute purchases that cost you a bundle? Want to wow your loved ones with the best gifts you've ever given them? If so then dealarmy.com can help!

I've mentioned it before in earlier posts but I want to revisit the dealarmy.com feature that was intended to help you be at your shopping best. What feature you ask? Well, our List feature of course. In dealarmy.com you have the ability to create different lists where you can save gift ideas from all over the net. These lists give you the ability to compare prices on the same product offered by different Merchants. More importantly though, lists give you the ability to put extra thought into a gift purchase by storing gift ideas for that special someone now and revisiting at a later date when you have more time to narrow the options down to that perfect present.

Creating Lists are easy. Just go to My Dealarmy and click on My Lists. On the left hand side of the screen click on Create New List and enter the list name in the box that appears. Now decide whether to make the list public or private, click on OK and you are done. Simple! Also, to make populating those lists as easy as tearing the wrapping paper off of a present you just click on the Add to Dealarmy link in your favourites (if using Internet Explorer) or click on the Add to Dealarmy button in your toolbar (if using Mozilla). This brings up our bookmarklet tool that allows you to add items to your list from wherever you happen to be on the net.

Finally, to highlight how these lists can help your shopping cause you can create lists for each person you have to buy for (e.g. Mom, Dad, Uncle Larry, etc...) and anytime you are browsing and see, for example, some golf balls that are Uncle Larry's favourite you just use the bookmarklet tool to add those balls to the Uncle Larry list you have created, keep searching and adding more ideas to your lists, and, when you are ready, go back to your lists and determine which gift will be the one you buy. Easy isn't it!

Hoping you get the best deals this holiday season!
Tom and John
The dealarmy.com team

Dealarmy.com Supports Breast Cancer Awareness Month

2006-10-02T20:51:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Dealarmy.com will help celebrate this by highlighting products where a percentage(%) of the proceeds are donated to finding a cure for breast cancer.

Know of a product? Share it here

Regards,
John and Tom

Make money by helping others find deals

2006-09-25T11:59:00.000-07:00

One of the unique features of www.dealarmy.com is the Request a Deal feature. It's premise is to connect people who are not good at finding deals (or just don't have the time) with those who are.

How it works:
Say you are looking for a gift, or something special.

1. Simply complete the Request a Deal form describing the item.

2. Add a picture from your computer

3. Provide the amount your are hoping to pay for the item

4. Enter the Bounty. (the amount you are willing to give someone for finding the deal).

5. Tell us how long you want the ad displayed (the expiry date)then submit the deal

That's it.

You wait for people to reply, and when you find the deal you want, you award the bounty to the lucky person.

To be fair to our bounty seekers, we require the bounty to be paid via paypal. When you select the winner, we will forward the amount on to the winner.

Currently, there is a Request a Deal for a aeron chair. The user is hoping to spend 450-500 for a new chair and is willing to pay $30 to the person who can find him a new Aeron chair for that price.

Win an iPod Nano with www.dealarmy.com

2006-09-22T13:52:00.000-07:00

Everyone who registers with www.dealarmy.com will be entered into a draw for an Apple iPod Nano. It’s free, so signup today! Ends October 31, 2006

Register Now

Please note: all proceeds of text ads on the www.dealarmy.com site for the period of this promotion will be donated to the Janeway Children's Hospital Foundation.

it's alive!! dealarmy.com, social shopping, web 2.0

2006-09-20T11:52:00.000-07:00

Today Tom and I have asked people to sign up to our project and provide their feedback. No press releases, no huge launch parties...we're just 2 guys with an idea and with the help of some great guys over seas we were able to develop this project.

dealarmy.com is a social shopping site that allows members to find, share, and get deals on all sorts of related items. Our mantra is to help people find great prices and items they want. A deal doesn't necessarily mean rock bottom prices, a deal means value and getting the most for your money.

As Tom has written before, community is at the heart of our website. We want the members to actively participate in the community. How can you participate? Great question! Simply by sharing deals of your own.

We have provided a feature to make sharing a deal as easy as saving a favorite or bookmarking a website. So try it out and let us know what you think!

Regards,
John

PS The site is still considered to be in beta phase which means that there will be errors and glitches along the way. The reason why we wanted to launch now is to gauge feedback and to see if this idea can take root. That's the scary part...who knows?

How To Create a List in dealarmy.com

2006-09-18T11:29:00.000-07:00

Creating a list in dealarmy has a number of advantages. First and foremost, it allows you to organize the deals you have added.

To create a List in dealarmy.com follow these steps:
1. register or signin to dealarmy
2. click My dealarmy in the top navigation
3. in the right-hand column you will see a section called "My lists"
4. click the "Create a New List" link
5. enter the list name in the field
6. choose Public or Private (only you can see your private lists)
7. click the OK button

That's it, you're ready to start adding deals to your lists

How to Add Deals to dealarmy.com??

2006-09-13T12:14:00.000-07:00

There are 2 ways for dealarmy.com members to add, save deals they find on e-commerce sites.

1. Via the Add to dealarmy form on the dealarmy.com site.
Follow these steps:
* In a separate internet browser, Signin or Register with dealarmy.com
* Select the Add to dealarmy link in the top navigation
* Copy and paste the webaddress of your found deal
* Fill in the product details, price, and the list you want to save it to.
* To add a picture, you will have to save the product picture to your desktop (with your mouse over the image, right-click your mouse, and select "Save Picture as") then upload it to dealarmy.
* Add Tags to help others find your product. Tags are descriptive words used to describe your deal, like the product name, the seller, etc.
* Click the Save button.

2. Use the Add Deal Army Bookmarklet
** In a separate internet browser, Signin or Register with dealarmy.com
** Click the "Get the dealarmy button" link in the top navigation
** You will see the Add to dealarmy brown button.
** With your mouse pointer over this brown button, right-click your mouse, and select "Add to Favorites"
** You may get a message saying it may not be safe. Trust us, It is.
** Now on the web page with the deal, select your browse Favorites menu and look for the "Add to dealarmy" favorite then select it.
** A pop-up window will appear and capture the deal information.
** Make sure your pop-up blocker doesn't block it.

In the long run, the bookmarklet will be the easiest way to add your deals, and it will be something we will be working on improving over the coming weeks. Try it and tell us what you think.

-john

Shopping Tips - The Best Time to Buy Everything

2006-09-12T07:29:00.000-07:00

Wanted to share this article I found via reddit.com:

The Best Time to Buy Everything

Some Highlights:

Airplane Tickets
When to buy: On a Wednesday, 21 days (or a couple of days earlier) before your flight.
Why: Airlines make major pricing changes (and run fare sales) every week, typically on Tuesday evenings and Wednesday mornings. About 21 days out from your flight, you'll see plenty of deals out there as airlines scramble to fill seats. Don't wait much longer, she cautions; prices jump significantly from 14 to seven days ahead of departure.

Appliances
When to buy: During a holiday weekend.
Why: You'll find sales on select models all year long, but retailers bring out the big guns for holiday weekends, says Carolyn Forte, homecare director for the Good Housekeeping Institute. But don't worry about spending your Fourth of July and Labor Day weekends shopping for a new fridge — smaller holidays like Columbus Day and President's Day have their share of sales, too.

Clothing
When to buy: Thursday evenings, six to eight weeks after an item arrives in stores.
Why: After an item lingers in stores a month or more, retailers start dropping its price to get it out the door, says Kathryn Finney, author of "How to Be a Budget Fashionista." These season-end clearances tend to be the same month that designers host fashion weeks (February and September) to preview the next fall or spring collections. So smart buyers can check the catwalk to see if any of this season's trends — say, leggings or military-style jackets — will still be hot next year, and then scoop them up on clearance.

Hitting the mall on a weekday ensures you'll get a good selection. "On the weekend, you'll only get picked-over stuff because the stores don't have time to restock," she says. By Thursday, most of the weekend sales have begun, but everything available is on the floor.

Televisions
When to buy: Six to 12 months after a particular model is launched.
Why: A new TV drops in price after a few months on the market, says CNET's Merritt. Although there will be newer models out there, it's unlikely they'll offer any significant improvements to justify that brand new price. "The technology is proceeding at such a pace that the models out there are not going to be obsolete anytime soon," he says

If you know of a deal, please share it with us.

-john

Getting the most from dealarmy.com

2006-08-29T05:41:00.000-07:00

Tom and I will be publishing a series of posts describing the different features dealarmy.com offers. We're hoping that it will help people trying out our service.

What in the world is dealarmy.com? Tom wrote a great introduction about our original idea about helping yourself and in turn helping others. Your active participation in sharing ideas, opinions, and found deals is the key to the site's success.

Upcoming posts include:

Adding deals through a bookmarklet

Creating lists

Requesting a deal
Earning money through bounties
The power of group buying
Many others.

Tom and I hope our service helps you and we would love to hear how we can improve it. Ideas, suggestions or just dropping us a line at dealarmy@gmail.com will be appreciated.

Regards,
John

Road Trip Recap

2006-08-23T19:35:00.000-07:00

Hi All. Sorry for the delay between posts but John and I just recently got back from our motorbike trip a little while ago and I have been playing a little bit of catch up to say the least. Anyway, I thought I would write a little blog entry describing the highlights of our trip and share some of our adventure with you.

July 29th:
-Early start from Calgary. Ride through beautiful western Alberta and British Columbia to Salmon Arm, BC.
-Awe inspiring scenery and lots of twisty roads through Banff and Lake Louise. Beautiful weather to boot.

July 30th:
-Deeper into BC. Hit some rainy weather just past Merritt as we got onto the Coquihalla Highway. This is a fantastic journey down the side of a huge mountain and takes about an hour to get to the bottom. A little windy for my tastes and a challenging day for us new riders.
-Spent the night with family in Langley and had a blast catching up with people we just do not see as often as we'd like.

July 31st:
-Spent some time in beautiful Vancouver. An incredible town.
-Being from a coastal community in Newfoundland I forgot how much I miss being near the ocean. Some thoughts were definitely formed as to the possibility of making Vancouver a permanent residence some day.
-If you get the chance to visit Vancouver be sure to check out Stanley Park and Gas Town on a sunny summer's day... No better place to be.

August 1st:
-Met up with our buddy, Brad, who was joining us for the remainder of our trip.
-Crossed the border into Washington State. A long wait at the border (nearly an hour) so if you are going through on a bike ensure you have plenty to drink especially if the weather is hot... some sunscreen would not be wasted either.
-Caught a ferry from Lynnwood across to Edmonds at the suggestion of some fellow bikers we met at a gas station in Marysville. They said it would be more scenic than simply motoring down the I5 and were they ever right. Backroads are definitely the best roads!
-Put in a long but enjoyable day and crossed the border into Oregon as we crossed what we were told is the longest single span bridge in the USA (did not confirm this though). The bridge exits into Astoria where we spent the night at a decent roadside motel and were able to convince the cook at a local pub to stay a little later and make us some dinner. She was a life saver and has some good karma coming her way.

August 2nd:
-Got on the famous Oregon Coast Highway (the 101) and headed south on our journey. This ride was incredible with coastal views the entire way. A million and one things to see and do along the way so allow yourself plenty of time to stop and enjoy the sites.
-Checked out a seal lion colony that allows you (for a small fee) to view the mammals through binoculars from a cliff overlooking one of their hangouts. You can also take an elevator some 180 feet or so straight down to a cavern where you can view even more of these incredible creatures. A must see!
-Spent the night in Coos Bay.

August 3rd:
-Heading south again on the 101. Crossed border into northern California.
-Now in the Redwood Forest area. Left the coast for awhile to ride some awesome winding roads surrounded on each side by enormously tall redwoods. Cool doesn't even begin to describe this ride.
-Actually rode through a redwood near Klamath. Not very impressive (I was expecting a bigger tree) but had to be done.
-Ended up in Garberville, which is a quaint little tourist town in northern Cal. They were hosting a huge reggae festival so there were lots of people about and great music too.

August 4th:
-arrived in San Francisco! We were hoping we would make it this far south but were not really sure we could get there being new riders and all. So, we were very pleased with ourselves.
-Crossed the Golden Gate. The view was amazing! We had heard stories that the GG was going to be very windy but we lucked out and had smooth riding all the way across.
-Checked into the Westin St. Francis in Union Square. A great hotel smack in the middle of downtown and the perfect place for those new to the City by the Bay to get a feel for the best of what this city has to offer.

August 5th & 6th:
-Spent Saturday and Sunday checking out the sights of San Francisco. Managed to cover riding the trolleys, Fisherman's Wharf, and a boat tour of the Bay. Were out of luck trying to get a tour of Alcatraz as the tickets were sold out well into the middle of the following week. Oh well! Something to see on the next trip to this amazing city.
-Scored awesome tickets to see the Giants play the Rockies on Sunday afternoon at AT&T park. This has got to be one of the nicest MLB parks. If I lived in this town I'd definitely buy season tickets. Giants won!

August 7th:
-Left San Francisco via the Bay Bridge to Oakland. Brad and I left a little early as we wanted to take a detour through Yosemite National Park. John stayed a little later in S.F. as he wanted to spend a little more time with his girlfriend, Andrea, who joined us for the weekend.
-Yosemite was one of the highlights for me on this trip. Incredible scenery with woodland roads, lakes, mountain passes. You name it and it had it.
-Met up with John late in the evening at South Lake Tahoe.

August 8th:
-Short ride for today as we were only going as far as Reno Nevada.
-Took our time and rode around west side of Lake Tahoe. A picturesque ride with cool homes, shops, boats, etc., to check out along the way. A nice ride!
-I was expecting Reno to be a little larger having been to Las Vegas a few times but I was surprised by how small a place it was. Anyway we managed to have a good time despite the fact that I ran into some bad luck at the blackjack tables. Fortunately Brad and John faired better than I.

August 9th:
-John left early as he had to motor east back to Toronto to meet family, who were showing up for a visit on August 16th. He was going to stick to interstates so as to make good time.
-Brad and I left Reno and road to Elko, Nevada. Talk about a hot day! Definitely need to make sure you stop regularly to hydrate or you could be in trouble.
-In Elko we went for what was promised to be the best steak in Nevada... it wasn't.
-Checked in early as we were both tired... a little too much fun in Reno the night before perhaps?

August 10th:
-Headed north out of Elko and road through some cool "desert like" areas in northern Nevada and southern Idaho.
-I was surprised how flat and straight most of the roads were in Idaho. I was even more surprised when I got a speeding ticket from a state trooper. He was pretty good about it though and commuted my ticket down to an easier to take fine. Further proof that speeding does not pay.
-Made it as far as Idaho Falls where we spent the night. Nice little city although we saw very little as we were tired from a long ride in hot weather.

August 11th:
-A short ride to Jackson, Wyoming. We arrived early and this gave us some time to check out this cool town.
-Definitely catering to tourists with its wooden boardwalks and quaint, old fashioned stores. Jackson is a great place to check out. The people are friendly and the overall atmosphere is fantastic.
-Check out the Million Dollar Cowboy Saloon if you are ever in town.
-Spoke to John and he is having some bike trouble. His KTM is not starting and it appears the many elevation changes we have experienced may be the culprit. My bike (Yamaha) is working fine though. Weird.

August 12th:
-Left Jackson and passed through the Grand Teton National Park and then onto Yellowstone.
-Yellowstone was cool though I liked Yosemite better as it made for more exciting bike riding.
-Saw Old Faithful do its thing and have the pics to prove it. It was cool to see so iconic a landmark in person.
-Exited through the north gate of Yellowstone into Montana. Hit some bad weather all the way to Bozeman where we spent the night.
-John seems to have his bike working and is making good time back to Toronto.

August 13th:
-Wanted to get back to Calgary so we motored all the way through Montana. I found the entire state very windy with strong side gusts, which are not favoured by bike riders.
-Made decent time and managed to get back to Calgary by 8pm after an 830 km day... talk about saddle sore! My body needed about two days to recover from that marathon.

August 16th:
-John made it safely back to Toronto in time to see his family. This was a relief as it is always a good idea not to ride alone but it had to be done and he made it back in one piece.
-He plans to ride his bike back to Newfoundland to store it in his father's garage for the winter. I guess it is in his blood now as it is mine.

Summary:
Looking back, the trip was all we expected it to be and more. We saw some great sights, shared some great laughs and became better, more confident riders to boot. I'd recommend it to anyone. A road trip on a bike is different from one in a car. I cannot quite explain it but there is more of an adventure feel about it. It requires more planning and more of a commitment.

Let me sum all this up by saying life itself is an adventure. Do what makes you happy and push your comfort zone from time to time.

Ah well. Back to work and getting dealarmy.com launched. Keep an eye out as we will be releasing the site very soon.

Till next time!
Tom and John

Cool Shopping Facts

2006-07-23T19:29:00.000-07:00

An interesting post on the website for The Centre for Media Research on July 20th. I've copied the best parts below, which explains the length of this blog entry.

As we are about to launch any day now, it is great to hear that so many people make it a habit of researching products on line that they ultimately plan to buy in a brick and mortar store (B&M). I believe that these percentages will only continue to climb as the internet continues to become a more and more useful tool. Even more encouraging is the fact that this article does not even address the number of people who both research and buy products on-line. I for one would like to see the combined numbers from the above two groups of consumers.

I see no surprises in the top five researched items. I would've ranked them in exactly that order. I was as surprised as the author to see Walmart.com ranked in the top five search engines. I would hazard to guess that this fact is related to the other statistic which says that 58% of the respondents make less than $50k per year. Not saying anything derogatory about Walmart or the people who shop there (I am a Walmart shopper. It is a great place for housewares, toiletries, groceries, etc.) but I think Walmart definitely targets specific segments of the consumer population... and it is paying off for them in spades.

With a little luck and a lot of hard work I hope that dealarmy.com makes its way to the top five search engines when the same study is done next year. Fingers Crossed! :)

Please check out the article below.

Till next time.
Tom Hynes

Shoppers Check It Out Online, Then Go To The Store

According to BIGresearch's June Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, when asked how often they research products online before buying them in person or in a store, 87% of nearly 7,500 respondents said they did so occasionally to regularly.

Of those who said they researched products online before buying them in the store:

* 58% made less than $50K per year

* 51% were female

* 59% were between the ages of 25 and 54

The survey also divided these respondents into two income brackets to profile which items were most frequently researched online, but purchased in person, by those making above and below $50K per year.

Joe Pilotta, VP of Research for BIGresearch, said "Those in the higher income bracket researched and then bought electronics most often, followed by home improvement items and appliances. The other group reported electronics, apparel and medicines/vitamins/supplements as their top three products researched online, then purchased in person."

Types Of Products Researched Online In Last 90 Days Before Buying in Person (% of respondents)

Top 5 Products Researched / Adults (18+) / $50K+per yr. / <$50K per yr

Electronics / 39% / 43% / 35%

Apparel / 17% / 18% / 17%

Appliances / 17% / 20% / 15%

Home Improvement Items / 16% / 21% / 14%

Medicines,Vitamins,Supplements / 15% / 14% / 16%

Source: BIGresearch CIA, June 2006

In both income groups, the top search engine used for product research was Google.com by a large margin, but WalMart.com made a surprising appearance in the top 5 websites used first among those who did their comparative shopping online before buying in the store.

Websites Viewed First When Researching Products (% of respondents)

Top 5 Search Engines Used / Adults (18+) / $50K+ per yr. / <$50K per yr

Google.com / 22% / 27% / 20%

Yahoo.com / 8% / 7% / 8%

Amazon.com / 6% / 7% / 5%

Ebay.com / 3% / 2% / 4%

WalMart.com / 2% / 1% / 3%

Source: BIGresearch CIA, June 2006

Pilota concludes, "... Retailers cannot view online as ancillary to the store, rather retailer websites must be viewed as extensions of the bricks and mortar as well as a concentrated shopping experience."

O'Reilly Radar Post

2006-07-17T21:02:00.000-07:00

Just posted the below on O'Reilly Radar blog site as a comment to an interesting article he posted on July 17th entitled "Levels of the Game: The Hierarchy of Web 2.0 Applications". Just to capture a little of the frustration I have about how to stand out in a sea full of blogs, WEB 2.0 companies, etc. Anyway, would appreciate your feedback and discussion.

"Great article and insightful comments. I'd agree with the levels in the parent article. I especially liked the publishing analogy as the comparison to the printing press accurately captures the importance of the internet on modern society.

My actual comment is sort of off topic but I would like to discuss how the sheer number of WEB 2.0 sites out there, with more coming everyday, may actually be "watering down" the collaborative aspects at the very heart of WEB 2.0.

Don't get me wrong. I think WEB 2.0 is great and I expect great things from it. However, with the abundance of similar WEB 2.0 sites out there, how thriving a community can any one site hope to develop? Will not a larger community help drive the quantity of collaboration and, quite possibly, the quality? Sure there are examples of sites that have robust communities (Flickr, MySpace, etc.) but there are many more "cottage" sites out there that are starved for attention.

If you look at the internet from a 10,000 foot level there is a lot of collaboration happening today thanks to WEB 2.0 that wasn't happening just a few years back. However, if you zoom in to the 100 foot level you will see that for the most part this "collaboration" is diluted through many different sites. I think you would be hard pressed to find many sites that could be defined as true communities as opposed to cliques.

I am reminded of that old joke that goes something like, "If you put a million monkeys in a room, give them a million typewriters to bang on, eventually together they will produce a great novel." This won't happen if you spread those million monkeys out over 100,000 rooms or sites.

Not calling anyone a monkey by any means. The comments posted to this article are evidence that there are many sharp minds out there doing there thing. I am simply saying that people ought to give some thought to how better aggregate all this collaborative effort that is happening. The larger the collaborative community the more everyone in said community will benefit.

I don't think simply saying that the cream will rise to the top solves the above. Sometimes cream does rise but with the abundance of WEB 2.0 sites out there I believe it is very easy for the cream to curdle.

Anyway. My two cents. Again, good post. Cheers!"

Your thoughts?
Tom

Release Coming Soon!

2006-07-11T20:53:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. Just writing to let you know that we intend to release dealarmy.com very soon. There are a few issues that will still need to be resolved but we believe that the user feedback we will receive after releasing the site will help us correct these issues more quickly and make dealarmy.com an even more useful tool.

We will post a blog update with the actual go live date very shortly. After that we look forward to providing what we believe to be a valuable service to you... our future members.

Thanks in advance for your support!

The dealarmy team
Tom and John

Welcome TechCrunch Readers!

2006-07-05T20:01:00.000-07:00

If you made your way to here via TechCrunch then howdy to you. Feel free to check out our story below. It is a short story right now but we hope it to grow in leaps and bounds (fingers crossed). If you'd like more detail on our site please email us at dealarmy@gmail.com. We'd be glad to hear from you.

Thanks again for visiting.
Tom Hynes and John Kent
dealarmy.com

Teambuy in China

2006-07-04T21:11:00.000-07:00

Just read a post on TechCrunch that discussed an article from The Economist on an interesting phenomenon happening in China. Masses of people are showing up at stores at predetermined times (with the organization achieved through a blog) to ask for and usually get lower prices on goods.

This is great news because it goes to show that we are on the right track at dealarmy.com (contact us at dealarmy@gmail.com for a sneakpeek). When John and I sat down to discuss what we wanted from dealarmy the underlying theme was that we wanted to add as much benefit to our customers as possible. We were hoping that this "team buy" aspect combined with our other features were a step in the right direction. Having seen the buzz The Economist article is starting to create it gives us hope that we are on the right track. It's funny how a little good news can recharge the creative batteries and help us forge ahead.

Till Next Time
Tom Hynes

It ain't easy

2006-07-04T20:24:00.000-07:00

I guess starting a new business is never easy. Especially when that business is in the uber-competitive world of internet start-ups.

Taking an idea and developing it into a living, breathing website is no small feat. As you map out the basic ideas and functionalities with what you think are clearly defined ideas for your programmers you quickly realize how subjective a term "clearly" can be. I guess the old saying that you can never be too descriptive is worth it's weight in gold. The lesson learned from our exercise to date is that if you leave nothing open to interpretation then you actually get the website you want at the end of the day. This is to take nothing away from our programmers... quite the opposite in fact... this lesson was one that we needed to learn for ourselves.

Now that Phase I of dealarmy.com is ready for limited release to a few of our friends and trusted colleagues (and other seriously interested individuals who would like to participate by emailing us at dealarmy@gmail.com) for beta testing, my attention is turning to the task of marketing our website. How do I get the word out that we've got a site here that people will find beneficial in their day to day lives with the added benefit of offering certain applications that we believe have not been see before? Blogs, viral campaigns, press releases, flyers, etc. all come to mind. I would be interested in any other marketing ideas people may have as applied to their own experience.

Mainly though I would appreciate some feedback on the topic of blogging. With the sea of blogs out there it is hard for even the cream to rise to the top. Any thoughts people are willing to share on how a blog can be seen and heard above the din would be greatly appreciated. Being new to this activity I am on a definitive learning curve but I am a quick learner and willing to put in the time. I look forward to hearing from the experienced bloggers out there.

Till next time.
Tom Hynes

P.S. John and I took our first extended road trip on the motorbikes this weekend with a buddy of ours. Went to Jasper, Alberta and it was an incredible drive! The scenery was awesome. If you ever have the chance to ride highway 93 from Banff to Jasper I hope you take it. A link to some pics below to see that I am telling the truth.

http://flickr.com/photos/johnkent/181162870/

dealarmy.com Phase I Now Online!!!

2006-06-26T19:56:00.000-07:00

Phase I of dealarmy.com is ready for a sneak peak. If you would like to take it for a test drive and help make it better please contact us at dealarmy at gmail.com

What is dealarmy?

2006-06-25T17:12:00.000-07:00

What is dealarmy.com? I am glad you asked.

The website dealarmy.com is designed to create a community where the members of that community share the deals they find both on and off the internet. They can view others deals, rate and comment on others deals, save them to personalized lists (individual and group lists), send a deal to a friend, etc... pretty much anything you can think of. The larger and stronger the community becomes the more powerful a tool dealarmy.com becomes in turn.

This social networking functionality is the cornerstone of Web 2.0 and is also at the heart of dealarmy.com. This united we stand/divided we fall mentality is taking over the new internet revolution from applications as diverse as sharing photos to posting breaking news stories and everything in between.

An obvious benefit of dealarmy.com is the ability to form lists to store like deals for easy comparison. Gone are the days of jotting down notes from various websites on a piece of paper as you hunt for the best value. Ever lose that valuable piece of paper and have to start over? dealarmy.com lists allow you to save all the deals you find and group them for ease of comparison. Even adding deals to the website (and your lists) is near effortless thanks to a powerful bookmarking tool that captures all the relevant data from the site you are visiting and sends it back to dealarmy.com.

While certainly not unique in it's application of Web 2.0 principles to finding better deals, I believe that dealarmy.com will have and edge in offering novel features that leverage on the strength of the community to the maximum benefit of our members. Without giving away too much just yet let me say that at dealarmy.com we take the old adage of "Power to the People" quite seriously.

We hope to have our site released in the next few weeks and are trying to create a little buzz prior to its arrival. If you have any ideas on extra features that a site such as ours should offer we'd love to hear from you.
Till Next Time.
Tom Hynes

The Sky is the Limit

2006-06-19T21:23:00.000-07:00

Hello! My name is Tom Hynes. I am a partner in developing a website that is intended to be the cornerstone for a web shopping community that will allow users to find, bookmark, list, comment on, etc... the best deals on the internet. But more on that later.

Well, it's been awhile since we first posted a teaser line on our blog. Nearly 4 months to be exact. The reason for our absence from our blog site is simple... we have been in a heavy development stage of our website... dealarmy.com.

As anyone who has ever taken an idea for a new web business from the infancy stage to an actual flesh and blood working prototype can attest, IT IS HARD WORK! But I think those same people will also concede that journey is worth every step. My business partner John and I have had so much fun in working on and tweaking our site that I wonder why we didn't do this sooner. The rush from this creative process has also opened my eyes to what true fulfillment in one's career can mean. For the first time in my life I see my work as something I would gladly and thankfully do until I am too old and weak to do it anymore. Oh Happy Days! :)

To set the stage for describing our soon to be launched (fingers crossed) website, I thought it appropriate to talk a little about the people behind dealarmy in this first post and leave the techno talk for future blog entries. So, here goes...

John and I are cousins. We grew up together in the small town of Carbonear, which is in the province of Newfoundland, which happens to be the eastern most province of Canada. We are both young(ish) professionals, I a lowly engineer and he an IT wunderkind (he is making me write this. please send help!). As for interests, well we have both recently purchased motorcycles and are planning a trip to Vancouver, British Columbia and then south to California. I'm still a little (actually, more than a little) nervous but it should be a blast all the same. Does anyone have any suggestions for places to see along the way? FYI, we may go as far south as San Francisco or even San Diego.

Caught me dreaming about motorbikes again. Where was I? Oh yeah, John and I have been working in Canada and the US for several years now with one company or another and have wanted to go into business together for sometime. After floating several web based ideas around for the past few years we believe we have hit on one that has potential. How much potential you ask? Well that remains to be seen but in the words of the Eternal Optimist, "The sky is the limit."

Till next time. Looking forward to getting our blog out there and meeting new folks.

Ride On!
Tom Hynes

Welcome To DealArmy

2006-02-27T20:50:00.000-08:00

We hope to provide a service that helps people find , share, and even brag about deals and shopping experiences.