As mentioned in my earlier post about air-soft tips, I thought I would post a few more air-soft guns I ran into…

Crosman Tactical Soft Air Rifle
Price: $134.49
Features: Electric fullsemi-auto. Battery powered. Military-style. High-quality gear box. Pivoting collapsible stock. Tri-rail accessory mount. Adjustable hop-up system. Rapid feel ammo dial. Solid black finish. Smooth bore aluminum barrel. Capacity: 350. Velocity: up to 375fps. Includes: shoulder sling, UL-certified rechargeable battery & charger, 500 heavy soft air BBs in easy-pour dispenser.

Crosman Pulse R72 Electronic Fully-Auto Soft Air Rifle, Black
Price: $72.49
Features: Power source: Electronic. Caliber: 6mm Plastic BBs. Length: 26.75″ (67.96 cm). Barrel: Smooth metal. Front site: Post. Rear site: Adjustable peep/notch. Velocity: Up to 275 fps 83.82 m/s. Magazine: 375.

Soft Air AK47 Tactical Metal AEG Airsoft Rifle
Price: $199.99
The Soft Air AK47 tactical metal AEG airsoft rifle features fully automatic operation up to 380 fps. This officially licensed Kalashnikov is an exact replica of the most famous weapon of the 20th century.

Thompson M1A1 Metal Frame Full Auto AEG Style Airsoft Rifle
Price: $199.99
The officially licensed Thompson M1A1 AEG style airsoft rifle boasts electric, full auto operation and crafted around a metal frame with a 1:1 scale. It utilizes a BAXS shoot system for greater accuracy an comes with a battery and charger.

Popularity: 63% [?]

Due to a class-action lawsuit, some of the expensive top brand name cosmetics will be offered to consumers at least for a little while. Starting tomorrow at Dillard’s, Boston Store, Macy’s and at other stores nationwide. The goods will be given away on a first-come, first-served basis and consumers will be able to choose one item per person until supplies last. Here are some of the brands being given away, according to the Birmingham Business Journal: Estée Lauder, Clinique, Lancome, Clarins, Guerlain, Givenchy, Chanel, Boucheron, Cody, Calvin Klein, L’Oréal and Christian Dior.

 

The settlement is from a class action suit filed on behalf of people who bought cosmetics between May 1994 and July 2003. The suit accused the stores of conspiring to fix prices. The retailers did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement, which requires them to give away $175 million in cosmetics. The cosmetics are full-sized products that vary from mascara to body lotion. Stores are scheduled to have this up and offered through Jan. 27, however, the supplies will be as they last — one per customer as supplies last.

 

Now the cosmetic item not mentioned in cosmetics settlement, is nail polish. However, maybe the customers will buy some cosmetics while they are in the store.  This may make for a good deal for retailers. The retail sector is reeling with what’s being called the worst holiday season in 40 years. The deal gets shoppers in their stores, and managers said they see it as an opportunity. The current hot nail polish that has shown up in searches and currently is a best seller on major online retailers is OPI Nail Polish.  OPI has been in business for more than 25 years and the company’s polishes are popular with catchy memorable names. OPI makes one of the most popular nail polish colors, I’m Not Really A Waitress, which is a pretty shade of red. The marketing for OPI Nail Polish is clever, and sales and searches are basically votes that OPI Nail Polish is the consumer’s choice for manicures and pedicures. OPI brushes are wider than normal polishes. OPI polishes come in 0.5 fluid ounce bottles.

 

The order was as follows:

 

1. OPI nail polish
2. Essie nail polish
3. Chanel nail polish
4. China Glaze nail polish
5. Zoya nail polish
6. Orly nail polish
7. Cover Girl nail polish
8. Revlon nail polish
9. NARS nail polish
10. Lippman nail polish

 

What are the most popular nail polish colors? The current best selling shade is pink. Could this be due to the upcoming Valentines Day Holiday? Below are some tips when handling the new bottle of OPI.

 

Nail Polish 101: Reviews, Tips, and Brands for complementing the free makeup.

 

The real question when selecting the nail polish is to think about the reason you are painting your nails. If it is a black-tie event, then consider the color of your dress. Red polish looks great on toenails or fingernails. To match your skin tone, hold up many different shades of red to see what looks best with your skin tone. If you can’t tell, then paint each nail a different shade.

 

For a fun look in the summer, try a pastel blue, pink, purple or green on your toes. This is something that is exposed in flip flops, but hidden in the office. That said, avoid this look on your fingers, it is too informal on the hands and may look juvenile.

 

For a cool look in the winter, try out a shade of very dark (almost black) red. Again, try different shades on your nails to see what looks best with your skin tone. Usually dark colors with a purple-blue base look better on darker skin and colors with a reddish-orange base look best on lighter skin.

 

Step4

To make your sheer colors show on your nails, start with one coat of a frost color. Then do a coat or two of your sheer. This will give you a lighter base to work with and will allow you to use less coats to get it to show up

 

If your nail polish is starting to peal, don’t peel or chip it by hand that will also peal away layers from the nail weakening and damaging it. Don’t overuse any kind of nail-polish remover. Use a minimal amount on the nail and avoid getting too much on the cuticle and skin. Nail polish protects the nail from stains, physical trauma, and acts as a barrier to chemicals. Use it but don`t overuse it or it may stain and dry nails. Don’t change your nail polish more than about once a week. Nail polish remover is made of harsh chemicals, and can dry out your nails.

Popularity: 31% [?]

Just as the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers finish their games and move on to the final game of the NFL season, the Superbowl, another favorite sport of mine is kicking off the Grandslam season down under. I am speaking of tennis. The early round coverage is found on ESPN and the Tennis Channel. Multiple matches are televised, and I am currently watching the Carlos Moya match against a 20 year old russian. Andy Roddick breezed through his match. Another two players I will be watching closely is No. 4 seed Andy Murray and No. 5/last year’s runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. I watched the Tsonga vs Nadal match from last year and Tsonga was very impressive. Andy Murray finished strong last year. The thing to watch is if they can keep up the performance and maybe upset the higher seeds. Last year Tsonga defeated Murray in the first round en route to the final and the two could meet in the quarter-finals (tied 1-1 lifetime). They both have favorable draws. Murray has a 13-3 career record against the seeds in his section before the semi-finals and Tsonga has No. 9 James Blake (Tsonga leads 1-0), No. 18 Igor Andreev and No. 30 Rainer Schuettler (both never played) in his section to the quarter-finals. Andreev is a strong player. James Blake is unpredictable.

In terms of tennis equipment. Nadal, Moya, and Roddick play with Babolat racquets. Carlos Moya uses the Babolat Pure Drive. The Pure Drive has a 100 square inch head size and is lightweight. Nadal hits with the Aeropro Drive. It also has a 100 square inch head size and is 100% modulus Graphite. Most reviews indicate that the Babolat Aeropro Drive Cortex delivered excellent control and a large sweetspot for hitting baseline shots. Reviewers also mentioned that spin was easy to come by, although I wonder if they were influenced to try given Nadal’s game. Finally, given the amount of Babolat racquets I see at the junior tournaments, I think this brand will be a strong seller for years to come.

Babolat AeroPro Drive Plus Cortex Tennis Racquet

Popularity: 36% [?]

                                                     While Fox News was hyping the Australian shark attacks today, one interviewee was making a case that shark attacks are related to the fact that we have more people on the water. There is a growth in eco-tourism and no better way to see ocean wildlife than on a sea kayak.  Sea Kayak Reviews are designed to help fit the kayak to the user. A buyer must consider how they plan to use the item.  Some of the key Sea kayak characteristics are listed here:

 

 

Sea Kayak Basics 101

• Length equals speed
• Wider base equals stability
• Rocker is related to how far the ends of the boat rise out of the water
• More rocker means more turning power
• A flat hull with a longer water line will track straighter.

 Another key fact is that no matter the length of the sea kayak, the buyer may go out alone, thus the need for a light kayak. The use of lightweight yet strong material can be a factor in the price. Another new product design details that can play a role in your selection criteria is the rudder system. Sea kayaks that have spring loaded rudders may be helpful since a broken rudder can ruin a day on the water. Spring loaded rudder systems can be found in Kayak Pro and Epic Systems. Experts in the sport have awarded the Wilderness Zephyr as their choice for people looking to buy a sea kayak (Lead Image). Generally, most Sea Kayaks, like the Wilderness Zephyr, are manufactured with polyethylene construction which offers performance, rugged durability and affordability. An adjustable seat, thigh and hip support, and ratcheting Butterfly backband are key to the ability to paddle comfortably all day.

Sea Kayaking may develop a smaller set of users who adopt the new concepts of stand up paddling, similar to the stand up paddle surfing. Werner is coming out with the stand up paddle (SUP) called Carve, which has a longer more slender blade (66-84 inches) The blade area is 19 by 7.5 inches. These blades are designed for more control on the surf.  

 

Finally, there seems to be a large sea Kayaking contingent in the Vancouver Canada region. Here is a recent link about Kayaking Vancouver Island. Next up: Whitewater Kayaking

Popularity: 35% [?]

I love my Blackberry Storm.  But one thing that is an annoyance is when there are just not many free, yes free, games out there that use the accelerometer and take advantage of the touch screen. 

Well, today as I was surfing around a few of my favorite blackberry info sites I ran into this TOTALLY free and works with the Storm game.  Tiltris.  Kinda like tetris but just modified a bit. 

 

To get it, go to this web site -> http://wap.getjar.com/ on your Blackberry browser and use the  access code 40256. There ya go, give it a try, I have it and its fun… whatta you have to lose?

Popularity: 30% [?]

Even with all the smart phones like Blackberry, IPhone Palm is now getting into the game.  One of the big surprise at CES this year was when Palm unveiled their new smart phone. It’s called the Palm Pre and it runs Palm’s new Web-OS.

There are a few things of interest about the Pre to us iPhone users:

1. It appears not to suck, which means that the iPhone might have some good competition. Competition will keep Apple on their toes, and theoretically will result in an even better iPhone, so iPhone users win.

2. The Pre’s web browser is based on Web Kit, which is the HTML-rendering engine that powers all versions of Safari (on the iPhone, Mac, and PC). More people using Web Kit means that now companies will have even more reason to make sure their Web sites work with Web Kit.

Hopefully even with all the hype at the CES, it will live up to what some expect.  Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Popularity: 30% [?]