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Insanely Great launches made-in-USA iPhone accessories with Cyber Monday deal
Whether your iPhone has been with you for years or you just picked one up this weekend during the holiday shopping rush, you're facing the same problem either way: getting it to stay where you put it, in the car or on your desk. Scores of companies offer lots of different "stick it and forget it" solutions to this challenge, but one newcomer is putting together some innovative and attractive products for iPhone car/counter mounting -- and doing it entirely in the USA, from design to hands-on manufacturing. Insanely Great Products' launch line includes six different mounting/stand solutions, all but one involving a powerful suction cup to attach the iPhone (or other flat-back device) to the mount. The Jack (image, right) and the Scooter are designed for desktop use, while the Willy (top image) and the Traveler can serve either in the car or in stationary settings. The light and flexible Clip-n-Go combines the suction cup with a customized binder clip for easy air vent attachment of a cased or naked phone, while the anodized aluminum Norm uses the same binder clip with side arms to hold a case-free phone to the dashboard vent. While the products are affordable (most of the line costs between US$10 and $20, with the aluminium Norm coming in at $35) they're set apart from most of the accessory market by their made-in-the-USA pedigree. IGP was founded with the intention of doing all manufacturing domestically; currently, all the products are assembled by hand (from US-sourced materials) in the company's Menlo Park facility. In fact, every IGP employee spends at least part of every day filling customer orders by making products themselves. This agile/all-hands manufacturing process is intended to help keep the entire team connected to the products; IG is also able to create customized or branded versions of all the items in the line, on request. It might seem a bit presumptuous for any new enterprise to call itself Insanely Great, but in this case the company at least comes by it honestly. IGP's marketing lead/co-founder Richard Ford spent several years at Apple in leadership roles on the product teams that built most of the Internet underpinnings in Mac OS 9. The other co-founder, company president Jeff Osborn, was formerly a VP at mega-ISP UUnet. For today, Cyber Monday, the company is offering 50% off three of its products -- the Jack, the Scooter and the Willy -- as long as you buy them in blue (the Monday blues, so clever) rather than the full line of colors shown above.
FigurePets: A Croc, an Egg and a Willy?
Back in June I brought you the news that FigurePrints were bringing out a new range in their 3D printed collectable WoW models named FigurePets. The original line up featured a limited run of three non-combat pets: The Clockwork Rocket Bot, Stinker the Skunk, and Speedy the Turtle -- who was by far my favorite!For the readers out there who were fortunate enough to get their hands on a set of the original FigurePets then you can attest to how awesome they really are -- these little guys rock! I've got mine standing in formation around my Kungen FigurePrint letting everyone who comes near my computer know that I am a WoW player (or should that be "playa?" It does sound far more "gangsta" that way). So it gives me great pleasure to inform you that FigurePets are back with a brand new limited series of three new non-combat pets. The line up this time is as follows:
Breakfast Topic: Where have you taken your orphan?
Ok, admit it. Dornaa and Salandria are pretty cute. They say the darndest things and they are so tiny and they are like little bundles of irrepressible energy and now I want kids of my own, damn it. But seriously, If you're like me, you've probably kept your orphan whistle a little longer than you had to and took your orphan around a few extra places. Auchindoun? The Dark Portal? Pff, c'mon kid. I'll show you some real fun. How about Karazhan? That was actually a lot of fun, although fighting Prince Malchezaar was sort of creepy, since Dornaa was staring at me through the whole fight as I stood with my back against the wall, tanking him. She looked sort of accusing. You don't suppose Mal was her dear uncle before the whole Eredar corruption thing, maybe? Unfortunately, I don't think you're allowed to take your orphan into the arenas, but I may have to take her for a tour of scenic Alterac Valley before the whistle disappears. Seriously, I don't care how awesome Willy is, I just want to adopt Dornaa and keep her forever. She can keep Archmage Vargoth company on all my boss kills. I know I'm not the only one who's done this. Orphan tours are probably some of the most random fun you can have in World of Warcraft with an annual event, I think. Where have you taken your orphan?
Breakfast Topic: Noncombat companions
What noncombat pet do you use on your characters?Each of my characters has their own noncombat pets, something that I decided early on fit them. My Human Shadow Priest has a cute black cat, my Undead Rogue brings a Snowshoe Rabbit along with him to the BGs (just because I love stealthing and thinking of a little rabbit hopping around on its own), and while my Orc Shaman used to rock a snake, he recently got One-Eyed Willy (no comment) from Children's Week, and every chance I get I pull it out (still no comment), and wait for Willy to do his eyebeam thing. Unfortunately, I haven't seen it happen yet.Of all the noncombat pets in the game, do you call just one your own or do you have a bunch that you rotate around? Which one do you use most often?
New WoW site for non-combat pets
With the release of the latest WoW TCG expansion, a new in-game pet has arrived, Bananas the Monkey. Looking into this has led me to a wonderful site dedicated to collecting all the non-combat pets in Warcraft. And when I say "dedicated", I mean "look no further than this site."World of Warcraft Small Pet has checklists, FAQs, guides to getting pets exclusive to the opposing faction, screenshots, extensive information for each pet, you name it. Now, I have a fair collection of non-combat pets, mostly from seasonal events like the mechanical yeti from Winterveil and Willy from Children's Week. I also quested for the Sprite Darter Hatchling out of Feralas back when the zone was in my level range. But this site is for the serious collector.Check it out and then tell me: frightening obssession or one more kind of pleasant activity to pass the time in-game?
Children's Week + Outland = new pets!
The word on the Test Realm forums is that Children's Week has finally hit... in Outland! Apparently, much like the refugee children we've been escorting around from Stormwind and Orgrimarr, there are refugee children in Shattrath who also want to tag along with the heroes of their war. Thus far, there's been no report on any potential reputation gains as yet (which is what I'm screaming for) but screen shots of the cute new pets available from the quests have been posted. Apparently, you have your choice of "Sleepy" Willy, a baby Elekk, or Ethburt, as seen from left to right at the top of this post. I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm going to have a really hard time picking one. They're all so cute! [via the WoW LJ community]
