Toss your Thermos

USB powered beverage warmer and coolers are on the market! You no longer have to worry about reheating your coffee in the morning or stealing all the ice from the break room. It’s pretty simple how it works; the device comes with a USB cord and all you have to do is plug it into any USB port. I’ve definitely run into the problem of my cold getting cold while I’m at work. I either get tied up into my work or step away from my desk longer than expected. I would have loved to have this device instead of running to break room to warm up my coffee.

I ran across a few designs, colors and manufacturers for products of this kind. Here’s a few of them:

Brand: Imagestore

PC Fridge Beverage Mini USB Drink Cans Cooler & Warmer

Products from Vat19.com:

photo:Imagestore

USB Café Pad

photo:vat19.com

USB Beverage Cup Cooler and Warmer

photo:vat19.com

Would you use this product? It wouldn’t be a bad idea for your next Secret Santa event at the office! J

Access Grinded

If I could imagine James Bond making his coffee in the morning, he’d definitely be using this machine. Philps Saeco, manufactures espresso machines and their Xelsis Digital ID puts Kuerig to shame. This is not your ordinary espresso machine, it reads fingerprints! The machine allows up to six fingerprints in its database and uses the prints to distinguish between setting preferences.

Coffee beans can be stored in this stainless steel machine and are kept safe in the anti UV and air bean hopper. The machine also includes an attachable carafe for milk that can easily be transferred from the fridge to the machine. It promises to dispense the perfect froth and steam from your milk. Clean up of course has to be a breeze, so the Italian manufacturer included an automatic rinse cycle.

Feeling fancy and Starbucks just isn’t cutting it? The Saeco Xelsis may be right for you, just know that it’ll set you back at least $3,000. No harm in making an investment, right?

Here's a little video from SeattleCoffeeGear's channel on Youtube:

Goodbye to the Junk Drawer of Menus

Popular online savings website LivingSocial now offers their customers the ability to order take out or delivery from featured restaurants.

HOW CONVENIENT and it’s FREE!

Anyone can access it by signing up for a free LivingSocial account. Having an account makes it easier for locating local restaurants and payment. Your primary location and credit card information will already be saved to your account.

The site provides basic information about each restaurant such location, operation hours, phone number and a brief description of the restaurant. Well course, the most important thing is the menu and it includes the prices. All you have to do is click on the menu item and you can make specifications on size, taste and any other special requests. LivingSocial also provides reviews from Yelp, a user review and local search website.

It’s also a great option for fellow traveling foodies. Once you have an account you can log in and change your location. Your favorite types of food, prices and reviews all in one spot!

Sounds like hefty competition for competing online saver Groupon?

What’s the Deal with GMOs?

Well let’s first start with what a GMO is. GMO stands for genetically modified organism. The modification occurs when certain strands of DNA from one organism are transferred into another organism. The technology dates back to the 1980s and the first edible crop, tomatoes, were sold in 1994.

Well why would anyone want to do that?

There are actually great benefits to this technology. In terms of food, some of the benefits are healthier crops, better nutrients and increased crop growth.  These benefits encourage the implementation of them in underdeveloped countries. Given that these countries are generally known to have malnutrition; GMOs would be ideal to sustain their populations. The modification can allow the crops to be resistant to pest and have a longer shelf life.

There haven’t been any findings that have found GMOs to be harmful to humans. However, the FDA has made it a requirement to label foods if they have been genetically modified. Despite the said safety of these crops, there’s a list of countries around that world that have banned them. Surprisingly enough right here in the US there are specific crops that have been banned by various states; such as Maryland who banned GMO fish.

Grind your gears! Do you think it’s safe and to your knowledge have you ever tried a GMO product?

Also check out the “Top 10 Genetically Engineered Crops” by Discovery News!

Sources:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002432.htm

http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/workspace/sect008/s8g5/history.htm

http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/grocery_shopping/fruit_vegetables/15.genetically_modified_tomatoes.html

http://www.purezing.com/living/toxins/living_toxins_gmofoods.html

Table for Two Please? 

 Online Reservations

Isn’t it a pain making reservations for your wedding anniversary, Valentine’s Day or any special occasion for that matter. Online reservation websites for restaurants have made this process much easier by allowing customers to make reservations online! Opentable.com is the most popular website for online reservations and they feature over 25,000 restaurants worldwide from small town to top city restaurants.

“It's a fast, easy (and) reliable way to make your table reservations without having to be put on hold or talk to multiple people...”; a statement from one of my colleagues, Courteney Bush, who is a frequent user of OpenTable.

It took a few years to get the service up and running but surprisingly it was founded back in 1998, by Chuck Templeton of San Francisco. He created the service after his wife spent 3 ½ hours on the phone trying to make reservations for her parents that were coming to town to visit. The service has grown substantially and provides a great service to customers and restaurateurs. It’s free for customers and the website receives funding from the restaurants and their partner (Google, Bing and Zagat) websites.

The restaurants can pay monthly or as an on-going service. They are equipped with software that allows them to manage reservations, guests, tables and marketing. Another awesome features it that the restaurant can track regular customers with the guest management feature.

“We like to remember the clients' birthdays, their favorite tables, their likes and dislikes. With OpenTable you don't have to keep it in your head, it's all there in front of you.” Yuta Tsonada of Chaya Brasserie restaurant from BBC World News

Even though this is an awesome service, its probably best for restaurants that receive a high frequency and volume of business. The service can be expensive and because of this, the ROI would be higher for popular restaurants.

SeatMe.com and UrbanSpoon.com are also online restaurant reservation sites. The next time you decide to go to your favorite restaurant or even if you don’t know where to go, check out some of these services to make your reservation!

OpenTable.com

Chicago Tribue – “New website helps neighbors share stuff, be green

OpenTable founder Chuck Templeton starts new website, OhSoWe.com” 2011

The New York Times – “Restaurant Reservations Go Online” 2007

Photo by New York Times