In the limited subset of stores and restaurants that I visited during the holidays, the Christmas music was anything but subtle. Every year, it seems, the music gets louder, and the selection of songs gets narrower. For whatever reason, the powers that be have decided that customers respond best to loud, repetitive holiday music. This […]

The new grocery store in my neighborhood is rather massive, with two floors and an incredible selection of products. So when I needed wrapping paper for the holidays, I figured I could stop by and find plenty of choices there. However, the only gift wrap I saw was a rather sad collection of wrapping paper […]

I always keep a relatively compact umbrella in my travel bag, though it takes up a fairly significant amount of space for something that I use so infrequently. So, I recently started looking for a smaller, lighter replacement. What I found is that a lot of different umbrellas are marketed with terms like these: – […]

While working through my shopping list at a local store, I spotted a rather strange approach to product sampling. A particular tissue brand was apparently trying to get customers to touch and experience their new design. So, the product display contained a supply of tissues sticking out the front, along with a call to action […]

If you’ve ever looked through a series of pictures that were taken by your friends or family, chances are that some of those photos have the date printed in the corner. In many cases, the date stamp can be helpful, such as figuring out which trip the photo came from. However, it’s not always desirable […]

Over the weekend, my wife and I created a customized photo book as a holiday gift for some of our family members. The process was labor-intensive and frustrating, but we somehow managed to complete the book. There was only one step left: entering our billing and shipping information. After we clicked the button to start […]

A few days ago, I saw a really neat leather jacket on the website of a mainstream clothing retailer. It looked like a great product — except for the price. Despite virtually all of the store’s items being priced at $100 or less, the jacket in question was listed at a jaw-dropping $400+. Even on […]