I look for a review on almost any product that is new to me. I have a hard time trusting a lot of reviews, because all the reviews seem positive, and the bloggers are getting free products
I really love reading product reviews, though not all websites have the same quality of reviews submitted by users. Epinions does not have as good a library as amazon.com. I like how amazon lets you sort out reviews by # of stars; I tend to read middle-of-the-road rated reviews, too, though it's worth reading the negative ones as well. It's pretty easy to sort out the spammers by brevity and lack of specific content (and, sadly, grammar/spelling). Also, reviews for electronics and equipment tend to be more reliable than, say, cosmetics review, mostly because with cosmetics or beauty products you need to be using the product for a length of time before you can have a realistic opinion (also, not everyone's skin type/genetic makeup are the same).
You know, I think this has a lot to do with acclimatizing - the winters where I live are very long and very cold (-35C is not unusual) and I keep the temp in my apartment down to about 19 during the day and 16 at night. But we usually get a stretch in summer when the temps are above 35C, and it does hit hard.
And it works both ways. I remember being in Chicago for a conference during January one year and the temperature was just around freezing. The Canadians were running around with their coats unbuttoned and no mittens. The people who came from farther south were miserable.
And the person above who talked about architecture? Exactly.
I do read the reviews, paying particular attentin to the characteristics that are most important to me, and discarding that which I feel is irrelevant to me.
I usually can tell if someone is paid or given a product - bloggers who all of a sudden sound like a press release are a good clue - and on sites like Amazon, I tend to be a little more skeptical of the negative reviews. Sometimes they are just a crazy rant, or, I love it when the person admits to not using the product properly or writing a review of something after using it once.
This needs to be told to businesses as well as individuals. At my last job I would freeze all summer long because they would just blast the air conditioner. Mostly because some people kept it freezing at their home so when they got to work they were hot.
If everyone would just learn to live w/ the heat a little more, their bodies would adapt and not need it so cold all the time.
I always look for product reviews when I am considering purchasing an item I haven't used before. The source must always be considered, but sometimes it is difficult to tell if the "review" is real or just from the P-R department of the company selling it.
I do like the user reviews on sites like Amazon, but even those must be taken with a grain of salt. And I do believe complainers write more reviews than satisfied customers.
I like the way some sites authenticate that the reviewer actually purchased the product being reviewed, but then, that could be faked too I suppose.
A lot of research and common sense on my part usually sways me one way or the other. A good guarantee never hurts either.
Wow, awesome info. I didn't know that buying a diagnostic tool was so cheap. Might make sense if you could have one that extended family would share (as long as one person doesn't take it and not give it up) to defray the costs.
eCampus.com offers rentals and eBooks, along with new and used titles. they also have a marketplace like amazon so you can sell your books to other book lovers or buy some books super cheap.
I have lived without air conditioning in Chicago and NYC, so I know it can be done in big cities. It's true that you need common sense and strategies though; my favorite trick was to go to an old fashioned Italian cafe nearby that kept it's temp at ice box levels - they let you sit there all day with only one iced cappucino. At that time I was living in a 5th floor walk up in a very dangerous neighborhood and there were times I honestly thought I might die from the heat, taking a shower every couple of hours at night to cool down.
I also notice that the more air-conditioning you experience the less heat-tolerant you become.
Right now I have a window air-conditioner in my bedroom window for those times when it is too hot to sleep and I set it to 80 degrees. I much prefer the fan though. And I live on a shady block that doesn't get too hot.
I really think we could all benefit from a bit less air conditioning. There's no need to have your air conditioning set to 65 degrees all summer.
Reviews are important, if they are real-life examples of how the product works. I make sure to read the bad reviews and see if the person is just upset that the product never arrived, or if they really had a bad experience with the specific product. You can usually tell if someone is just making up the review, which I have seen before, and doesn't know anything about the product whatsoever. There have been a few things I have decided against purchasing because of bad reviews and was relieved, and a few things I purchased because of good reviews and regretted. All in all, common sense needs to prevail!
Sorry about the confusion - I'm really, truly sorry. my SO is a wonderful guy who was concerned about the reason for my upset. my dear friend called me up shortly after your post originally went up, and i flipped out in concern for her safety. i'm glad it was a server glitch, and that it wasn't actually a banning...i enjoy reading wisebread, and was really hoping it wasn't a horrible misunderstanding.
I do rely on reviews, although I read them closely to find reviews from who care about the. Same things I do. A long rant about a feature I don't care about won't sway me either way but a review that discusses a featue I consider important will carry a lot of weight in my decision. I usually read a bunch of reviews to get a sense of common comments and complaints. I almost never make a significant purchase withou checking out reviews.
I definitely rely on product reviews when purchasing, especially for major items. Amazon is a fairly trustworthy source, and professional sources such as Consumer Reports/Search, CNET (for electronics). Shills are usually pretty obvious to spot in the customer reviews.
Product reviews have saved us a thousand deaths. Like the health insurance we didn't get and the meat cutter we didn't purchase. If something seems a "great deal" I'm especially diligent about looking at product reviews. If the write up sounds like ad copy I'm immediately suspect. "Prompt service, lovely ambience and the food was absolutely superb". If there's a common thread in the complaint that's a red flag for me, even if the point is only mentioned by two people. If there's nothing to the contrary I take that negative as fact, such as "runs small" or "fabric doesn't wear well". I recently went contrary to my own better judgement and now am stuck with a pair of flat-footed sneakers. Simply because they looked cool, were inexpensive, mine were shot, and these were in leather. Hopefully, I won't do that again.
Won't really matter. It will only go up to the boiling point of alcohol anyways. Might as well crank it and get there right away.
When you do your second run, you will cut it with distilled water. That takes away the guess work of flash point of almost pure alcohol, too.
Slow increase would be more of a concern if you left your sludge in the bottom of the pot. It could scorch before the wash could boil and stir it up. In order to keep off flavours from forming, you would want to pull that off anyways.
if you are looking for more detailed information on USDA plant hardiness zones, there is an interactive USDA plant hardiness zone map at http://www.plantmaps.com/usda_hardiness_zone_map.php which will allow you to locate your USDA zone based on zipcode or city.
For several hours yesterday, everybody (including me) saw "Access Denied" messages when they tried to visit a Wise Bread post. It was just a bug and not directed at any person.
I'll ask the admins to send both of you email assuring you of this. (I don't have direct access to commenters' email addresses, or I'd do it myself.)
I'm writing as a concerned reader of this blog. My girlfriend, who posts here as "falnfenix," has apparently been banned from viewing this blog.
She was sharing her opinions here merely out of concern - there are friends of HERS who read this blog and take everything to heart, ignoring common sense based on their personal situation and the advice of friends and family. Some would call these individuals developmentally challenged, but she merely calls them friends. She was terrified they'd read this blog and start opening all windows and leaving them open due to advice written here, and end up robbed or worse - both are highly likely in our city. Now, it appears her concern and insistence on providing some information for why this isn't feasible here has earned her a ban.
I won't call this ridiculous, but it seems reasoned discourse is impossible if one bans people. It would seem reasonable to either warn the individual, or attempt to contact them off-site. Her email address, as provided in every post she makes, does work. I urge the blog owners to reconsider this ban and actually TALK with her about her comments. She would be more than ready to discuss her reasons for her comments, should someone email her.
I look for a review on almost any product that is new to me. I have a hard time trusting a lot of reviews, because all the reviews seem positive, and the bloggers are getting free products
I really love reading product reviews, though not all websites have the same quality of reviews submitted by users. Epinions does not have as good a library as amazon.com. I like how amazon lets you sort out reviews by # of stars; I tend to read middle-of-the-road rated reviews, too, though it's worth reading the negative ones as well. It's pretty easy to sort out the spammers by brevity and lack of specific content (and, sadly, grammar/spelling). Also, reviews for electronics and equipment tend to be more reliable than, say, cosmetics review, mostly because with cosmetics or beauty products you need to be using the product for a length of time before you can have a realistic opinion (also, not everyone's skin type/genetic makeup are the same).
You know, I think this has a lot to do with acclimatizing - the winters where I live are very long and very cold (-35C is not unusual) and I keep the temp in my apartment down to about 19 during the day and 16 at night. But we usually get a stretch in summer when the temps are above 35C, and it does hit hard.
And it works both ways. I remember being in Chicago for a conference during January one year and the temperature was just around freezing. The Canadians were running around with their coats unbuttoned and no mittens. The people who came from farther south were miserable.
And the person above who talked about architecture? Exactly.
I do read the reviews, paying particular attentin to the characteristics that are most important to me, and discarding that which I feel is irrelevant to me.
I usually can tell if someone is paid or given a product - bloggers who all of a sudden sound like a press release are a good clue - and on sites like Amazon, I tend to be a little more skeptical of the negative reviews. Sometimes they are just a crazy rant, or, I love it when the person admits to not using the product properly or writing a review of something after using it once.
Depends on what I am going to buy, and what was evaluated during the review
I try to check reviews, but as OP said, I am cognizant of the source.
This needs to be told to businesses as well as individuals. At my last job I would freeze all summer long because they would just blast the air conditioner. Mostly because some people kept it freezing at their home so when they got to work they were hot.
If everyone would just learn to live w/ the heat a little more, their bodies would adapt and not need it so cold all the time.
I always look for product reviews when I am considering purchasing an item I haven't used before. The source must always be considered, but sometimes it is difficult to tell if the "review" is real or just from the P-R department of the company selling it.
I do like the user reviews on sites like Amazon, but even those must be taken with a grain of salt. And I do believe complainers write more reviews than satisfied customers.
I like the way some sites authenticate that the reviewer actually purchased the product being reviewed, but then, that could be faked too I suppose.
A lot of research and common sense on my part usually sways me one way or the other. A good guarantee never hurts either.
Wow, awesome info. I didn't know that buying a diagnostic tool was so cheap. Might make sense if you could have one that extended family would share (as long as one person doesn't take it and not give it up) to defray the costs.
eCampus.com offers rentals and eBooks, along with new and used titles. they also have a marketplace like amazon so you can sell your books to other book lovers or buy some books super cheap.
Check them out: http://www.eCampus.com
Try coupon code: GOLDFISH for 5% off of your order total
I was pretty puzzled when I got "Access Denied" myself.
I have lived without air conditioning in Chicago and NYC, so I know it can be done in big cities. It's true that you need common sense and strategies though; my favorite trick was to go to an old fashioned Italian cafe nearby that kept it's temp at ice box levels - they let you sit there all day with only one iced cappucino. At that time I was living in a 5th floor walk up in a very dangerous neighborhood and there were times I honestly thought I might die from the heat, taking a shower every couple of hours at night to cool down.
I also notice that the more air-conditioning you experience the less heat-tolerant you become.
Right now I have a window air-conditioner in my bedroom window for those times when it is too hot to sleep and I set it to 80 degrees. I much prefer the fan though. And I live on a shady block that doesn't get too hot.
I really think we could all benefit from a bit less air conditioning. There's no need to have your air conditioning set to 65 degrees all summer.
Reviews are important, if they are real-life examples of how the product works. I make sure to read the bad reviews and see if the person is just upset that the product never arrived, or if they really had a bad experience with the specific product. You can usually tell if someone is just making up the review, which I have seen before, and doesn't know anything about the product whatsoever. There have been a few things I have decided against purchasing because of bad reviews and was relieved, and a few things I purchased because of good reviews and regretted. All in all, common sense needs to prevail!
I check out reviews for electronics and exercise DVDs. Usually there are complete opposite reviews so I still have to make my own decisions.
I trust them--to a degree.
There could be too many other agendas involved to believe in them lock, stock and barrel.
But I think they can be used at least as a guide.
hi Philip.
Sorry about the confusion - I'm really, truly sorry. my SO is a wonderful guy who was concerned about the reason for my upset. my dear friend called me up shortly after your post originally went up, and i flipped out in concern for her safety. i'm glad it was a server glitch, and that it wasn't actually a banning...i enjoy reading wisebread, and was really hoping it wasn't a horrible misunderstanding.
thanks for helping to clear things up.
I do rely on reviews, although I read them closely to find reviews from who care about the. Same things I do. A long rant about a feature I don't care about won't sway me either way but a review that discusses a featue I consider important will carry a lot of weight in my decision. I usually read a bunch of reviews to get a sense of common comments and complaints. I almost never make a significant purchase withou checking out reviews.
I definitely rely on product reviews when purchasing, especially for major items. Amazon is a fairly trustworthy source, and professional sources such as Consumer Reports/Search, CNET (for electronics). Shills are usually pretty obvious to spot in the customer reviews.
Product reviews have saved us a thousand deaths. Like the health insurance we didn't get and the meat cutter we didn't purchase. If something seems a "great deal" I'm especially diligent about looking at product reviews. If the write up sounds like ad copy I'm immediately suspect. "Prompt service, lovely ambience and the food was absolutely superb". If there's a common thread in the complaint that's a red flag for me, even if the point is only mentioned by two people. If there's nothing to the contrary I take that negative as fact, such as "runs small" or "fabric doesn't wear well". I recently went contrary to my own better judgement and now am stuck with a pair of flat-footed sneakers. Simply because they looked cool, were inexpensive, mine were shot, and these were in leather. Hopefully, I won't do that again.
Won't really matter. It will only go up to the boiling point of alcohol anyways. Might as well crank it and get there right away.
When you do your second run, you will cut it with distilled water. That takes away the guess work of flash point of almost pure alcohol, too.
Slow increase would be more of a concern if you left your sludge in the bottom of the pot. It could scorch before the wash could boil and stir it up. In order to keep off flavours from forming, you would want to pull that off anyways.
if you are looking for more detailed information on USDA plant hardiness zones, there is an interactive USDA plant hardiness zone map at http://www.plantmaps.com/usda_hardiness_zone_map.php which will allow you to locate your USDA zone based on zipcode or city.
@ concerned reader:
For several hours yesterday, everybody (including me) saw "Access Denied" messages when they tried to visit a Wise Bread post. It was just a bug and not directed at any person.
I'll ask the admins to send both of you email assuring you of this. (I don't have direct access to commenters' email addresses, or I'd do it myself.)
I'm in the 'grain of salt' school - but I ALWAYS look for them and often find them extremely helpful
I'm writing as a concerned reader of this blog. My girlfriend, who posts here as "falnfenix," has apparently been banned from viewing this blog.
She was sharing her opinions here merely out of concern - there are friends of HERS who read this blog and take everything to heart, ignoring common sense based on their personal situation and the advice of friends and family. Some would call these individuals developmentally challenged, but she merely calls them friends. She was terrified they'd read this blog and start opening all windows and leaving them open due to advice written here, and end up robbed or worse - both are highly likely in our city. Now, it appears her concern and insistence on providing some information for why this isn't feasible here has earned her a ban.
I won't call this ridiculous, but it seems reasoned discourse is impossible if one bans people. It would seem reasonable to either warn the individual, or attempt to contact them off-site. Her email address, as provided in every post she makes, does work. I urge the blog owners to reconsider this ban and actually TALK with her about her comments. She would be more than ready to discuss her reasons for her comments, should someone email her.
Thank you for your time.