My Blog
Comcast High Speed Internet is FAST
Today, I upgraded my internet to Comcast High Speed Internet which gets up to 12mbps as opposed to my previous AT&T DSL which gets up to 3mbs. I definitely feel the speed difference and its going to be difficult going back to DSL. Entire web site pages load between 1-2 seconds.
One of the major differences between Comcast and AT&T is that they use different types of modems:
6.25.2009 ::
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Black Friday 2008
Im definitely seeing an increase in deals this week. Stay on top of it by going to my aggregated deals site - fealdeals.comIt looks like the retailers have already posted their Black Friday ads directly on their websites or you can go to bfads.net where they have a compiled list for easy access.
Labels: deals
11.26.2008 ::
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Free WiFi at Starbucks
"Free at last". I've always been jealous of people surfing the Internet at local cofee shops like Starbucks on their laptops. Its not like I dont have free wifi at home or drink coffee. But there's just something about surfing the Internet in a public location and doing it for free which makes it fun. For the longest time, Starbucks had wifi, but you had to pay for it with T-Mobile. But now, they are offering free wifi. The catch? None really. You just have to have an ATT DSL account which Im sure many people do. Just login using your ATT DSL account (ie. joesmith@sbcglobal.net) According to the sfgate article, it starts today. Happy surfing!
SF gate article
Official Starbucks site article
5.01.2008 ::
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AT&T jacks up DSL price $5 per month
Looks like for California, they are raising the prices this month. For me, its Feb 15 (that's tomorrow!) Currently, Im paying $19.99 per month for DSL Express. So tomorrow they are raising it to $24.99.
So there are a couple of things you can do. Since you are going to pay $24.99 for DSL Express, you might as well upgrade now to DSL Pro for $24.99 and lock that price in for a year before they raise the price. Too bad they dont offer DSL Pro in my area :( But I found an even better deal that was mentioned in the forums. Go to the online ATT upgrade tool and it will offer you a yearly renewal of your current rate.
You can also try calling the retention department and see what they can offer you (1-877-722-3755). They offered me a credit for $10 per month for the next 6 months which was weak. But YMMV (Your mileage may vary). I just purchased the renewal using the online ATT upgrade tool and it looks like it worked. Good Luck!
2.14.2008 ::
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American Express MyWishlist 2007
American Express Wishlist started today. They offer items that are like 75% off. The items change every couple of hours and some are really cool. You must have an American Express card in order to get any of the items. Its really fun trying to get stuff. I actually won the Restoration Hardware item today just to try it out. If you get through, you have to enter your American Express Card info within 2 minutes as there is a timer ticking down in real time on top of the page. Then you get another 2 minutes to fill out your billing address. Boy that was fun! So you better have your amex card in hand. Good Luck and let me know if you win anything.
UPDATE: 1/16/08
So I tried getting the 42 inch Panasonic HDTV 3 times that day. I clicked on the get it button about 1-2 seconds right before the available time and got a message saying that its already in other people's cart and that I can keep trying. So I kept clicking on that button for about 30 minutes before it finally said that it was all sold out. So in my experience, its really hard to get the good stuff on the AMEX wishlist. I guess because Im competing with thousands of other people who click on that same button all within the same second. At least AMEX handles it gracefully using Flash technology. I remember trying to get SF Giants playoff tickets online. I would get error messages or page time outs. Horrible user experience.
Labels: deals
11.27.2007 ::
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Black Friday 2007
Ready...set...shop!
1. Check out the Black Friday ad scans. Download the pdfs by right clicking and saving directly to your computer. I had problems opening up the pdf directly in my browser.
2. Some hardcore dude made this incredible excel sheet which all the Black Friday ads listed. Its awesome especially the use of the filters. Check out the forum for more info and the download link.
UPDATE:
11/22/07 Some Black Friday deals are already showing up online. You can use my site to track them. Good Luck!
www.fealdeals.com
11.19.2007 ::
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Fealdeals.com launches!
I just launched my new deals web page called fealdeals.com!
Why is the site named "fealdeals"? I wanted something catchy and that rhymed with "deal". I went through the entire alphabet to find a letter to precede 'eal' excluding the ones that weren't in the dictionary and not already registered as a domain name. (ie. realdeal, zealdeal, etc.) All that was left was "feal". According to dictionary.com, feal means Faithful; loyal. Usually bargain hunters like myself are very faithful and loyal to certain bargain sites because the sites (and the deals) have to be trustworthy, credible, and accurate. And the sites that I have chosen are exactly that. Check out the faq page for more information about the site.
Besides the new domain name, I added a new auto refresh feature. Since I've been using my deals page quite frequently, I would either refresh the page if I had it already opened or I would visit the page over and over again to see the latest deals. This is somewhat inefficient so I've added an auto refresh to the page. Therefore, I set the page to automatically refresh in 30 minutes. That way, you can just leave the deals page open all day and every time you look at it, you'll know thats its up to date. If you visit it more than once every 30 minutes, then get a life! J/K There's even a countdown counter on the bottom left of the browser telling you when the next refresh is.
In my pursuit for extreme efficiency, I took it even a step further. So now with the auto refresh feature in place, I would keep my browser window open all day long and view it whenever I have the chance. But did you know that you can set your desktop wallpaper to a live web page? So now I have my deals page as my desktop wallpaper background. So now I really dont have to do anything but view my desktop. Look ma...no hands! And the autorefresh still works!
Here are the instructions:
- Right click on your desktop and select properties.
- Select the "Desktop" tab.
- Click on "Customize Desktop..."
- Select the "Web" tab.
- Click on "New..."
- Add "http://www.fealdeals.com/"
- Click OK
- Make sure "Deals" is now checked and highlighted then press "Synchronize".
- Then close all of the windows by clicking OK.
Click image to see full screenshot of my desktop:
In any case, enjoy the new site and more importantly let me know what you think!
UPDATE:
9-21-07 Hey guys! Since I launched the site a couple of days ago, I received 25 Google Ads clicks. In otherwords, some of you have been clicking on the Google Ads. That's great news! For those of you who haven't read the faq page, let me explain. Every time someone clicks on a Google Ad, I get paid. How much? The payment formula is very complex and I havent looked into much. But keep clicking on the Google ads and I will let you know. That way I can get more data to really see whats going on. Thank you for supporting the site!
9.18.2007 ::
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All the Deals You Ever Wanted on One Page
- Single Page - I visited these multiple bargain sites not daily, but hourly because I was afraid of missing a good deal. These sites are updated quite frequently. So I thought to myself, wouldnt it be cool if I could just view all the deals on one single page?
- Layout - Since I was trying to fit as many deals as possible on the page and to try to minimize scrolling, I felt that a 3 column layout would be perfect. 2 columns would result in a lot of downward scrolling and 4 columns would be too squishy.
- Content - Again, to save space I only included the title of the deal. A lot of the bargain sites may include pictures and descriptions, but that just meant a lot more scrolling and page navigation. I just want to see the headline which is descriptive enough. If I want more details, then I would click on it.
- Readability - This is probably the most important aspect of the site. Scanning through a page with just text is efficient but it has to be easy on the eyes. I compared all the web friendly Font families and just picked the one that seemed easiest to read. I chose the smallest font size I could get away with which was 11. I chose dark text over a light background which was the overall consensus that this combination was the best for readability. Someone even did a study whereby they found that green text over a yellow background was the overall best combination to use in terms of readability. But I didnt choose those colors because it looks ugly.
- Date - Since these sites get updated frequently, I would visit this page multiple times per day. Therefore, I needed a way to let me know which deals are today's deals. I needed to have a cutoff point where I could distinguish between today's deals vs. past deals, so that when the next day comes, I can just scan today's deals since I already scanned yesterday's deals. Confusing? Dont worry, you'll know exactly what Im talking about once I get you hooked on this page. Anyways, instead of adding a date next to each item, I just bolded the deals that have today's date. Although currently, stealdeals does not have this feature because it does not have date in their current feed. I emailed them and they said they will put that on their to do list. Also, stealdeals feeds are not automatically generated. therefore, the feed might not be as up to date as their website.
Ever since I created the page, I never visit the actual sites anymore. I love it because its so efficient. So what are you waiting for? Check out the deals! *Warning...can cause severe addiction.
8.02.2007 ::
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Buy one Jamba, get one free
Click on the image above to print it out.
Labels: deals
6.19.2007 ::
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Free Honda Inspection
- A thorough examination of your Honda's engine, brakes, drivetrain, suspension and steering components.
- A detailed report of your vehicle's condition.
- Inspection completed by Honda-trained technicians.
- Open Saturdays.
- Full line of replacement tires.
At participating Honda dealers nationwide. There arent any in San Francisco, but there are some in nearby cities.
Labels: deals
4.02.2007 ::
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Sony DVD+/-RW+/-R DVD-RAM CD-RW Drive
Need a DVD burner? Dont think. Just get it now.
$24.99 + tax after mail in rebate. Free shipping.
3.19.2007 ::
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Godaddy.com
Labels: deals, favorites, internet
3.18.2007 ::
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Tivo Series 3 HD
I recently upgraded my Tivo Series 1 to Tivo Series 3 HD. Nope I dont have HD programming. So why did I get it you might ask? Well, because Tivo made me do it.
Here was the deal (expired).
For a limited time, transfer your product lifetime service from a Series1™ orMy current Tivo Series 1 w/ lifetime subscription works perfectly fine. I've been using it for over 5 years now and I love it. But what caught my attention in this deal was the opportunity to transfer my lifetime subscription. Tivo recently retired their lifetime subs on all Tivos. You can no longer get a lifetime sub on a new Tivo. Also, you cannot transfer a lifetime sub to another Tivo box. So this would be my only opportunity to upgrade my Tivo box as well as transfer my lifetime sub in one shot. I dont think Tivo will ever offer the opportunity to transfer a lifetime sub again. In otherwords, this will be the only way to get a Tivo Series 3 with lifetime. But that $199 lifetime transfer fee hurts, especially when I originally already paid $299 for my original lifetime sub. Ouch. So that's how Tivo trapped me.
Series2™ box to the new Series3™ HD for only $199. As an added bonus, we'll
keep TiVo service activated on your old box for another 12 months for no
additional charge.
Why do you LOVE Tivo? - No one can beat the functionality and the user experience that the Tivo has to offer. It is smart, sexy, and simple. You've probably heard of the cable companies offering their DVR's, but everyone who has experienced them says that they cannot compare to Tivo. Tivo is truly one of my favorite tech gadget. Tivo really did an outstanding job when it comes to user interface. Its hard to think of anything to improve it even on my standards ;)
What are the main differences between Tivo series 1, 2, and 3? - A lot. Let's talk about the Series 2 first.
- Series 2 has the networking functionality which allows you to network your tivo to your home computer which is connect to the internet. You will need a Tivo wireless adapter to wireless connect your tivo to your wireless router.
- Once you have this connection, you can do several things.You can use TivoToGo which is the ability to transfer your Tivo recordings onto your computer. Once the videos are transfered to your computer, then you can do whatever you want with the video. ie. burn them on dvd.
- Stream your mp3s and pictures to your TV and home theater system.
- Update Tivo without using a phone line.
- Use Tivo online scheduling. In otherwords, you can go to Tivo's website and schedule your recordings there. This is cool if you are not home and you forgot to record something. However, you must schedule the recording at least 1 hour prior to the show starting since the Tivo does the online update about once per hour.
- Real time Traffic and Weather
- Many of the series 2 are dual tuner which is one of my favorite features. It can record 2 shows at the same time. Therefore, you can also record a show and watch another show at the same time.
Onto to Series 3
- Series 3 has all of the features above except for TivoToGo. This is very sad, but hopefully they will allow it in a future software update. I think Tivo ran into a lot of copyright issues so until they get those settled, no TivoToGo.
- Can record in HD.
- THX
- More than enough space. 300 hours standard record time. 32 hours in HD.
So basically, Series 3 is much like the Series 2, but has all of the high quality sound and video capabilities.
So what happens to your Tivo Series 1 box? - So this box no longer has the lifetime sub. Tivo gives me a free year's subscription. But in order to use the box after a year, I would have to start paying the monthly fee :(
Labels: deals, electronics, favorites, tivo
2.20.2007 ::
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"Get out of Verizon Wireless Contract" for Free
Verizon Wireless is increasing the text messages to 15 cents for receiving and sending on March 1st. Therefore, that allows us to cancel our contract without having to pay the normal cancellation fee. This is bad timing for Verizon since the new Cingular Apple iPhone is coming out in June. Verizon could potentially lose a lot of customer. I think Im on a 2 year contract, but I love Verizon because I never have any problems with them whatsoever. Read more about this here.
1.12.2007 ::
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Black Friday Deal - 1GB Sandisk Micro USB Flash Drive
Lots of deals this past Black Friday. Nothing I wanted except for a USB flash drive. The 42 inch Panasonic Plasma for $999 at Best Buy was a good deal though. Anyways, I got the Sandisk 1GB Micro USB Flash drive for cheap. Too bad I had to wake up at 6am to buy it online at Staples. Staples Easy Rebates are the best. No need to submit the receipt and the upc code. Everything is done online. This is how all rebates should be done.$39.98 - $25 (instant coupon) - $7 (easy rebate) + tax = $9.
Labels: deals
11.30.2006 ::
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Free AMC/Loews Movie Tickets
If you try on American Eagle (AE) jeans at participating store, they will give you 1 free AMC/Loews movie ticket. The movie tickets will work at any AMC and even the Loews Metreon. The tickets dont have any restrictions and even work for special engagements. Just try on the jeans and bring the jeans to the cashier. But make sure you have some feedback on why you did or why you did not like the jeans. 1 per person.Click on the image to find out more info.
Labels: deals
7.17.2006 ::
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Dell Super 600m Notebook Deal
I just got a REALLY good deal from Dell. I heard from a Dell Rep that they getting rid of their non-widescreen laptops. All of the Dell laptop you see now are widescreen (rectangular vs square) and silver. The only laptop that Dell was stilling selling but wasnt widescreen was the 600m. The 600m is a very solid laptop. Its surprisingly only 5.3lbs which is pretty light. My 700m is 5lbs because of my extended battery. So I got the laptop below for $506 TOTAL including tax and shipping. Did I mention the 1GB RAM and dvd burner?! The cheapest laptop on Dell.com is the B120 which is $449 PLUS tax. This deal is currently expired and lasted only about a day.Dell 600m
# Celeron M Processor 360(1.40 GHz/400MHz FSB) 14.1-in XGA 32MB Video
# 1GB DDR SDRAM 2 Dimms
# 40GB 5400rpm Hard Drive
# Integrated Modem and NIC Internal 56K Modem and Integrated Network Card
# Combo/DVD+RW Drives FREE 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW)
# Wireless Networking Cards Dell 1370 Internal Wireless (802.11b/g, 54Mbps)
# Primary Battery 6-Cell Lithium Ion Battery (53Whr)
3.05.2006 ::
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SBC Yahoo! DSL $12.99
Price drop! SBC Yahoo! DSL Express regular prices are now $12.99/month for new ONLINE subscribers at 384Kbps-1.5Mbps/128Kbps with 12 month term. Free activation. Pro $17.99 Whoa! Now there really is no excuse to get off dial up and go to dsl.
Labels: computer, deals, internet
2.03.2006 ::
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Black Friday Ads
Click here for a listing of black friday deals.Click here for actual ad scans.
Happy Shopping!
Labels: deals
11.23.2005 ::
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Best Black Friday Deal Ever - $200 laptop
Black Friday is the nickname for the Friday sales and deals after Thanksgiving.This is the best deal I've ever seen for a laptop.
$200 for:
Toshiba laptop
Intel Celeron M processor 370
DVD/CD-RW
512MB
15' screen
60GB hard drive
Internal Wireless G
Instant $600 discount - no rebates
PLUS
Free Wireless G router
Free All-in-one printer
**UPDATE - I zoomed into the ad scan and it looks like its only that price with signing up with AOL for a year (which will cost like $180). WEAK! AOL stinks.
Labels: deals
11.21.2005 ::
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$1.50/0.99 DVD rentals
I just rented Jet Li's "Unleashed" movie DVD at the Safeway at the 16th and Portrero Center using a DVDPlay kiosk. I just selected the movie I wanted and swiped my credit card and the movie came out of the machine. Pretty slick. The rental fee is $1.50 and you have to return it the next day otherwise, its another 99 cents. On Monday's the rental fee is only 99 cents. They had all the new releases and they come out with new releases every Tuesday. Also, the first rental is free :)Not too many locations in SF, but check out there website for more info.
Labels: deals
11.10.2005 ::
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100 free prints
Dotphoto has 100 free prints for joining and $4.99 shipping and handling. So its about 5 cents per pic. This is the most that I've seen a photo site give out for free. Dont know when it expires.Labels: deals
9.14.2005 ::
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SBC Yahoo DSL $14.95
They just lowered their prices to $14.95 for DSL! This is only for new customers...but for existing customers, you can get them to rerate you to $14.95. I just did it. Follow the instructions in this thread.Labels: deals
6.03.2005 ::
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"Son of the Mask" Free Advance Screening
Free passes for Friday, Feb 18.
Labels: deals
2.04.2005 ::
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Blockbuster Online DVD Rentals $14.99!
The online dvd rental companies are really going at it. But it seems that Blockbuster is leading the pack with the lowest price. They just lowered it!
- $14.99 a month for 3 movies out at a time
- 2 coupons per month for in-store rentals.
- Free 2 week trial
- No late fees. Over 25,000 titles available.
Labels: deals
12.22.2004 ::
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Free Online Credit Report
"Under the terms of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act passed last year, amid growing concerns over privacy and disclosure of sensitive financial data, the three leading credit reporting agencies must provide consumers with a free summary once a year of all credit information on file for that person."
News.com article
Get your free credit report at www.annualcreditreport.com starting Dec. 1.
Labels: deals
11.30.2004 ::
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Black Friday
This site has a list of possible sales valid Friday 11/26 only, aka Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. Some cheap laptops for $499.
Labels: deals
11.19.2004 ::
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SBC Yahoo DSL $26.95 forever!?
My yearly promotion DSL rate of $26.95 exired this month :( So I called SBC to try to get a better rate or else I was going to switch to Comcast. But before I threatened, the SBC representative said that I can be "rerated" at the current promotion of $26.95 if I commit to another year. But he also told me that in order to get that rate, I would have to add some phone calling features to my current plan, otherwise it would be $30/month. So I decided not to add any features and accept the $30/month. The next day, it occured to me that it didnt make sense that I was not given the $26.95 rate. So I made another call to SBC. I told her what the other representative told me and she just went ahead and changed it back to $26.95. She told me that after 12 months the price will go back to the regular rate of $49.99, unless I call back again. So I guess Ill be calling them every year so I can always get the promotional rate. Weird eh?
Labels: deals
11.09.2004 ::
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Free Movie Tickets to Bourne Supremacy Advanced Screening
Thursday, July 22nd, 2004
Time: 7:30 PM
AMC Kabuki 8
1881 Post Street
San Francisco, CA
Get tickets!
Labels: deals
7.20.2004 ::
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To my 2 fans
This post is dedicated to my 2 fans who visit my site (You know who you are). Havent tried it yet, but good luck!
Free Ben&Jerry's Ice Cream Scoop (expires 8/31/04)
5.30.2004 ::
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Buy one get one free Boudin's bread bowl soup at Stonestown
I tried it yesterday and it works. Expires 12/31/03. Enjoy! Print CouponLabels: deals
12.06.2003 ::
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