TheFind Blog

Yet Another Way to Wake Up in the Morning

If you liked "Clocky," the cute little alarm clock that jumps off the nightstand and runs away then you'll LOVE this alarm clock too!

Ladies and gentlemen, check out the Flying Alarm Clock...it wakes you up with a loud, annoying shrieking alarm. But that's not all, it has a cute little propeller that launches off the clock and flies into the air. You can't smack this alarm clock's snooze button to turn it off, instead you have to drag your butt out of bed and catch the propeller. Once you retrieve the propeller you must plug it back into the alarm clock before the shrieking alarm will turn off. And voila! You're awake!!! If you can go back to sleep after all that chaos then you clearly win the sleeping award of the year. :o)

Happy Snoozing/Searching/Shopping,
Payton

Make Waking Up Fun for Kids

School's back in full swing and for many kids the honeymoon period's over. The excitement of jumping out of bed to meet new teachers and new friends has grown old and many kids are back to their old tricks of attempting to sleep in as long as possible. If this sounds like your child, your morning woes are over...just purchase this cute little alarm clock called "Clocky" and you can focus on getting yourself ready for the day instead.

It's a pretty awesome concept: set the alarm; the alarm goes off at the specified time; when the user hits the snooze button the alarm clock jumps off the night stand and rolls around the room to hide. The snoozer then has to go find the alarm to turn it off. Clocky will continue to beep until turned off or until the 4 AA batteries die (which won't happen anytime soon). :o) The alarm beeps in various patterns so it's really hard to ignore. This is the annoying pet your child's been waiting for folks! It comes in a variety of colors: almond, aqua, mint, or mustard. Or if you really want to get into the spirit of the pet theme, choose a shag Clocky instead: various colors available.

Note: You can set Clocky to jump off the nightstand immediately if you don't want to rely on your child to hit the snooze button. This alarm clock is an effective way to force adults out of bed as well.

Happy Snoozing/Searching/Shopping,
Payton

The Beastie Boys' Parents on Fashion

Looking around at the fads for guys today it looks like really bad 70s hair meets skater clothes from the 80s. To top it off, the boys who opt for the skater look tend to wear girls skinny jeans to maximize tightness. I guess they don't have any good skinny jean options for guys. There's a business opportunity there folks!

At the opposite end of the spectrum, boys are still sportin' the super low rider baggy jeans -- belt under the bum and the pants crotch at the knees. How hot is that?!? Ugh! To make matters worse, they wear t-shirts that are reminiscent of 80s t-shirt dresses. I don't know where they find these shirts, but they're LONG and skinny. The shirts tend to fall all the way at the knees (hence the 80s dress reference). I'm sorry guys, but when was the last time you found a girl wearing the equivalent of a potato sack (or rather 20 lbs of clothes that bunch, gather and cover every inch of her) and thought she was hot. If you can identify with this statement, then I'm assuming that you only thought her face was hot because the rest of her was missing. Which is exactly how we feel when we see guys running around in mounds of clothes. Blech! It's not flattering or cute, it's just lame.

Really, I think the Beastie Boys said it best when singing about the perils of living with parents (at least that's my take on the song)...

"Get outta this house if thats the clothes you're gonna wear!!!!
I'll kick you outta my home if you dont CUT THAT HAIR!!"

I can just imagine how many households go through that same routine on a daily/weekly basis based on what their boys are sportin'. I don't want to come off as a fuddy duddy, but in my opinion, find something cute or flattering to wear guys. Who/what are you trying to attract?!? I'm confused, but then again, I'm not in the target market. (Thank goodness!) However, I am rest assured that the Beastie Boys parents would agree with me on all this.

Happy Searching/Shopping,
Payton

What Back to School Really Means

Going back to school marks the official end of Summer, even if the calendar tells you differently. Kids are both sad and excited during this time of year. Some experience both feelings: pangs of regret that their carefree days of sleeping in and having fun in the sun are no longer; thrills of excitement in starting a new school year and not knowing what to expect. While others are either happy that their boring Summer has ended and now they can return to the routine they know and love or they're forelorn over the schedule and expectations that are forced upon them. Regardless of how any one individual feels about this time of year, the end result is that it's time for change. As we know, for some people change is good and for others it's not.

Even for those who don't like the end of summer/start of school-time, I imagine that the thrill of buying new clothes, a new backpack, new school supplies and a new lunch box is enough to get anyone excited. I know I always enjoyed it. Now that I'm on the other side of the credit card, it's not as thrilling for me, but the shopping part is still fun.

The real bummer about everyone going back to school is the fact that traffic is back in full force! Everyone's back from vacation, the kids' schedules are back in place and everyone's driving to work again. BUMMER! This change affects everyone regardless if you have kids or not. I suppose it doesn't phase the retired folks as much unless they're hitting the freeway during peak traffic times, but something tells me that they're wise enough not to do that.

On the flipside, everyone's schedule's are back to "normal." The previously regularly scheduled dinner time is back, kids are playing organized sports again, and homework is back with a vengeance. Ahhhh, life is chaotic, but organized once again. The days of getting up at noon and eating dinner at 9:00pm are no longer, but that's probably better for everyone anyway.

What does back to school mean to you? Do you have any specific routines that were abandoned over the Summer? What will you miss now that Summer's over?

Happy Schooling/Searching/Shopping,
Payton

Fashion Funk

I personally am not in a fashion funk, but I get to feeling a little funktified when I see certain fashions and fads that I don't like. I don't know what it is, but some fashions just put me in a funk. Am I alone on this?

Funktified trends (IMO)...

high-waisted pants/jeans
skinny jeans with anything but boots
plastic jewelry
sandals with socks
shoulder pads
turtlenecks
clashing prints & patterns
bubble skirts & dresses
pajamas in public
Terrycloth clothing
ankle high boots worn with skirts/dresses
super low waisted jeans that expose more than you want to see
acid washed jeans (let's leave these in the 80s)

So, there you have it...my random list of 13 trends. They don't call 13 an unlucky number for nothing, right?!? Are there any trends that put you in a funk? Chime in and let us know!

Happy Searching/Shopping,
Payton

Back-To-School Shopping is a Cinch with TheFind.com’s Innovative Shopping Tools

Discovery Shopping Engine Offers Four Simple Tools for Finding Falls Hottest Trends

Mountain View, Calif. – August 9, 2007 – TheFind, Inc., a comprehensive, discovery shopping engine that has become a leading destination for finding lifestyle goods, today unveiled its convenient Back-To-School shopping tools to simplify the fall retail rush for consumers. Shoppers will be able to quickly access information on the latest trends in Back-To-School gear to easily make purchasing decisions. Consumers can now effortlessly tap into a vast range of popular Back-To-School items including backpacks, clothing, supplies, and more from TheFind.com’s wide-ranging product index of more than 190 million products from over half a million online stores.

TheFind.com’s Back-To-School shopping tools offer:

• TREND DATA: A single destination, built by TheFind to track the latest Back-To-School shopping trends, identifies the most popular items from its database of over 190 million products from 500,000 stores. Updated trend data can be found at: http://www.thefind.com/main/trends.fhtml

• EASY SEARCHING:  Simple-to-use search that can be quickly filtered by favorite stores and brands, saving parents both time and money when searching for the right products.

• INFORMATIONAL CONTENT: A consumer styleguide created by the leading social network for mothers, ConnectingMoms.com, that includes relevant information on twenty of the most popular back to school products and categories. Styleguide is located at: http://www.thefind.com/main/StyleGuide.fhtml?guide=BackToSchool

• PEER FEEDBACK: Daily updates of the most popular Back-To-School searches directly on the homepage of TheFind.com provides parents with immediate insight into the hottest trends, as determined by fellow parents and students.

“We are relentlessly focused on offering a simple shopping search solution that saves shoppers time and offers immediate information on the latest shopping trends as indicated by their peers,” said Siva Kumar, CEO of TheFind.com. “With the shopping tools offered in our Back-To-School program, we are eliminating a lot of the stress and time constraints that busy parents encounter when faced with the long list of must-have products for the new school year. We are a one-stop destination that offers insight into hot products by searching all of the stores on the web, which makes purchasing extremely convenient.”

TheFind.com’s Back-To-School homepage can be found at www.TheFind.com.

About TheFind.com
TheFind.com debuted in October 2006 as a discovery shopping engine that delivers a comprehensive, unbiased and visually compelling shopping search experience optimized for lifestyle goods. From the most popular e-commerce sites to the most unique brands, TheFind.com crawls the entire Web to find over 190 million products from over 500,000 stores.  By using its patent-pending “product ranking” technology, TheFind.com displays the best-selling products, styles, brands and stores for any shopping search right on the first page of results – saving you time and money.  TheFind.com, headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., is backed by the leading investors Bain Capital Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, and Lightspeed Venture Partners. For more information, visit www.thefind.com.
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For more information contact:
Jamie Walker, Sparkpr for TheFind.com
415-321-1887
Jamie@sparkpr.com

TheFind.com Powers Search Results for PayPal's Back to School Campaign

It's August and families everywhere are using what's left of the Summer to take vacations and start school shopping. Whether children are fashion-conscious or not, there are always things that kids need before starting school. More often than not, the younger set have grown out of last year's school clothes over the summer. For the older set, shopping for school is usually about the new trends for Fall. In addition, there's no shortage of school bags and a plethora of supplies that are required for a successful year in school.

If you have children, you know that the Summer is coming to a close soon and that the first day of school is right around the corner. So, where do you go for help? We really like what PayPal's done with their Back to School site. They've covered it all from elementary to college in an easy to navigate guide that's powered by TheFind.com.

Are you shopping for Elementary School kids?

Maybe, you're shopping for Middle School kids?

Or, perhaps you're shopping for High School kids?

Do you have a student who's off to College now?

Despite your child's age and grade, they're going to have needs for school. Show them how "in the know" you are by getting a leg up on the current trends before they come begging for the latest and greatest.

Happy Searching/Shopping,
Payton