SciFi

Check out the ball on SciFi.com!

Amazon!!!

Amazon.com has placed the regular ball on the front page of their site! We are getting a burst of orders as a result. It's also in the upper right corner of the Sports and Outdoors page.

Candle lantern comparison

The folks at Go Fast and Light (gofastandlight.com) carry both the UCO Mini and Coughlans Candle Lantern, two direct competitors. They've provided a short comparison on their lighting page.

The Couglan is lighter and cheaper.

The UCO is better made (thicker metal, glass, hooked hanger). The UCO has a larger glass surface area to let out more light. The UCO is more stable on a table top (weighted base with candle lock). We trust the locking mechanism on the UCO better (does not self open). The UCO can be handled by the base during use (Coughlan gets too hot). The UCO has a catch basin to prevent wax spills. The UCO locks the candle in place, Coghlan's moves freely inside the case. UCO has more options (reflectors, cases). The UCO has a better guarantee.

So ... it depends what you are looking for - light and sufficient, or a longer lasting, better designed, more livable alternative in the UCO. Both have their place.

Feedback Follies

Check out these two feedback emails we received via our website. They were sent three minutes apart. I've removed the incriminating contact information.

City: Manassas
State: VA

Comments/Questions: The ice cream ball sucks! This has to be the worse designed product ever. First, you say to clean the rock/salt container off after 10 minutes.. but a wooden spoon, etc. certainly doe not do the trick. Second, there is no way to actually get the ice cream out because of the poor design. I ended up, after 40 minutes of shaking, telling my 5 year old daughter that she was going to have to settle for a milkshake. What a shame that I wasted $19.99 on this stupid thing to take camping. There is no way in hell I taking this anywhere but back to the store I bought it at.

This message was sent from the Ice Cream Revolution contact us page

And then the second message, sent moments later:

City: Manassas
State: VA

Comments/Questions: If you would please disregard my other email. I am a boob! After reading over the outside of the box I realized that I had put the ingredients in the ball ass backwards. Very sorry. Please accept my apologies for my stupidity.

This message was sent from the Ice Cream Revolution contact us page

Ouch!

Funny spork review

Survival geek reviews the spork.

USA Today today

Check out the left side of the front page of section D (Life) but not section E (Life) of USA Today today. There's a picture of the grilliput and a flattering blurb including a quote from yours truly!

Spork review

We're starting to see more reviews of the Light My Fire line. Here's a look at the spork.

Raleigh Mega review

We're starting to get regular coverage of the MEGA ball. Here's one from the News and Observer in Raleigh, NC.

Mega Play & Freeze Ice Cream Maker

The scoop: The brand-new "mega" version of Industrial Revolution's novelty ice cream maker makes double the dessert. Fill one end with ice and rock salt, and the other end with your ice cream mix (we used hot cocoa powder, whipping cream, vanilla extract and sugar) -- and shake it, baby. After 30 minutes of moving and grooving, you've got a frozen treat (think Wendy's Frosty).

Chill factor: After adding the ingredients, this thing is heavy. Rolling it back and forth was about all our weak arms could handle.

Tip: Originally designed for campers, this maker's ice cream is meant to be finished in one sitting. Refreezing is not a good option.

Details: $29-$39.95, online at www.amazon.com. In orange, blue, purple, pink, red, clear and green.