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Frigidaire Sweepstakes – Win Free Appliances
Frigidaire is having a draw for free appliances called 90 Years of making Life Easier. Loads of free appliances available to be won. Check it out at their Sweepstakes Home Page.The contest is only open to Canadians and ends March 31st.
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Whirlpool Fridge with a Built-in Computer
Computer manufacturer Data Evolutions Corp announced today that they’ve won a contract to produce computers that are to be installed in Whirlpool refrigerators. Although computer technology has been used in appliances for years, this will be a little different as this computer will be there to assist consumers with their kitchen management.
From Marketwire:
Clio Vu, pre-loaded with Cozi family organizational software, helps clear refrigerators of sticky notes, traditional notepads and calendars, while keeping grocery lists and schedules organized. Equipped with Wi- Fi, the Clio Vu can be removed easily from the centralpark connection digital hub and brought on trips to the corner coffee shop or on other errands and activities. Using touch screen, keypad or handwriting input, consumers are easily able to update their schedules and keep track of their home happenings without the clutter. Clio Vu users also have the freedom to watch movies and look up recipes and other information online while working in the kitchen.
This product should be available later in 2008.
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My Dryer is Squeeling
Whirlpool, KitchenAid and Inglis dryers all have this style of idler pulley. This one was squeeling and was quite worn. I did a close up of the wheel shaft where you can see it has worn the hole oblong.
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Whirlpool out of the ’07 KBIS?
Rumor has it that Whirlpool Corp will NOT be attending the 2007 Kitchen/Bath Industry Show in Vegas. Huh? Why not? Oh yes – they don’t need to be there – they don’t have any competition. Anti-competition laws – yep they work good!
The Appliance Advisor also speculated on some reasons why:
-The Henry Ford Defense: “As the largest appliance maker in the world, you can have any appliance you want as long as its white. The rest of you can suck lint.”
-The Alfred E. Newman Defense: Management …… not terribly bright.
-The Best Offense Defense: “We hate KBIS”
-The Alka Seltzer Defense: “I can’t believe I ate the whole Maytag, we need to cut the budget”.
Perhaps (if true) it’s a combination. -
As bad as the Cable Company?
Hey guys – all you tech’s and service companies out there – is this you?
“After 20 minutes on hold, I was offered two times for a service visit – oops, we are disconnected, redial, get put on hold and 20 minutes later I’m offered Thursday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. (Is Sears owned by the cable company?)”
Check out this blog where a Sears customer talks about her service call. Do companies actually make customers wait all day long?!? This is 2007 – we all have cell phones. Give a two hour time frame the day of the call – then call the customer if you are going to be late. Don’t make us look like the cable company.
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Sub Zero and Wine
Sub Zero has a nice page on the enemies of wine. The four horsemen of the wine apocalypse are Heat, Light, Vibration and Humidity. See the Sub Zero Wine site for a good read and more information. -
Competition: How to kill jobs in North America
The Competition Bureau of Canada gave the following conclusion about the recent Maytag acquisition by Whirlpool.
“Although post-merger market shares were significant in the laundry segment, the Bureau’s analysis revealed that effective competition would remain from a combination of foreign competitors. These remaining competitors have the ability to expand their operations and new entry is occurring. Moreover, the growth of big box retailers and their support of offshore brand name manufacturers will continue to provide consumers with competitive choices.”
I don’t know about you, but what I read here is that it is OK to reduce competition within North America as long that there is competition from foreign companies. In other words, the jobs that used to be in North America are now jobs in foreign companies. Does this make sense – does this protect the North American economy?
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Microwave Drawer
Blogger Karen at I Am Not Left-handed shows off her new Sharp Microwave Drawer. Warning: your Pampered Chef Rice Cooker will NOT fit in this microwave.
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Silicone Bakeware
In an interesting twist (literally) on the old non-stick cookware we now have silicone bakeware. They are a unique blend of what looks and feels like plastic made to be put into the oven. However, cooking temps are limited – most limit the upper range at 428 deg F. which would be a bit low for some types of baking. The pans are flexible which allows you to peel your baked product out of the pan instead of prying it out with a knife. It also claims to eliminate the need for greasing your pan, which always ticks off the low-fat crowd. Kitchen-aid has them available at their website but there are many other lesser known brands as well. I wonder what cooking your food in a silicone tray will do to your body in the future. I mean, I hope it turns out to be safe in the long term. -
Microfridge
I saw an ad for a product called a Microfridge. Saying that it was a 3 in 1 appliance (fridge, freezer and microwave), I thought that I would be looking at something like the old Woods Compactkitchen. But when I went to the Microfridge website that is not what I found. Looks like someone took a cheap bar fridge and screwed a cheap microwave to the top of it. That’s a 3 in 1 appliance? Not very inovative at all and believe me, you can buy a separate bar fridge and microwave for far less than what you will pay for this thing.
