While surfing around, I found a site that sells light fixtures online. I didn’t realize the variety of home lighting fixtures that are online – such as pendants, chandeliers, and wall scounces etc.

Probably I can get a chandelier for my future home?

They have a few categories for various kinds of lightings out there – Though it seemed to be pretty much the same, you might want to check out their kitchen light fixtures , ceiling light fixtures or probably some bathroom light fixtures ?

How about getting a candle holder? Hmm..

Wize.com

Wize is committed to facilitating consumer research by delivering unbiased consumer and expert product reviews. © 2008 Wize, Inc.

So how will you use Wize? In this example, let’s say you are looking for a crock pot or a slow cooker. (Word of the day: A crock pot is an electric cooking pot). So you check out the recommendations made by other consumers. It’s a pretty cool concept.

You can check out a range of product categories there – Including Electronics, Baby products, home appliances, and video games. I think they should include the travel industry and hotels also. Till now, I have yet to see a hotel review site that is as uncluttered as Wize. So that’s one possible area they can go into.

I think one ironic thing is – In today’s world where have so many choices to make – We need the reviews and comments of others to help us make our decision. Are we really better off?

My next sponsored blog post is on a specific hotel chain in Australia – Cheaperthanhotels.com.au. Their website allows you to search for hotel booking prices on accommodation in Australia, including Sydney and Melbourne. Apparently, they guarantee the lowest available instant booking rates on the Internet. That might interest travelers who need to make an urgent last minute hotel booking.

A little about their background:

Cheaperthanhotels is operated for Flairview Travel Pty Ltd , Gullivers Travel Associates and their various brands. They are wholly owned subsidiaries of Travelport [formerly Cendant Travel Distribution Services ] , who have been providing online reservation services since 1996 for more than 30,000 hotels in 130 countries worldwide. Travelport processes more than 100 million travel transactions per year.

Apparently they have offices in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdoms and of course, United States. (There’s no office in Singapore and Hong Kong!!?)

If you happen to visit Australia, you might want to check out their services and hotel bookings available in the different Australian cities such as Sydney Airport , Melbourne Airport , Brisbane Airport .

They also operate in New Zealand. Check out their hotels available at Auckland Airport to see if you are interested in using their service.

Disclaimer: I have not tried the service of this hotel chain myself, but I think it’s worth a try if you are operating on zero knowledge on any good hotel chains you can check out.

My next sponsored post is to write about some travel sites that you might want to check out for your next holiday destination. The first travel site I’m introducing is Spain, where you can run with the bulls or visit the moorish fortified palace, Alhambra in Granada. You can also check out the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao by Frank Gehry. Check out the hotels of my sponsor in Spain.

The Guggenheim Bilbao Museum by msanfei

Alhambra in Granada by Joaomaximo

Or take a romantic walk with your loved ones by taking a stroll through Retiro park in Madrid among other activities.

Retiro Park by Madrid Uno . Hotels in Madrid .

You can check out Barcelona and the hotels available there. Another place to check out is Paris , the classic tourist attraction with the Eiffel Towel, Notre Dame, and the Seine River. Hotels in Paris.

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Crush or Flush – Anonymous mobile text-chat with those you have a crush on.

The site roughly works like this: Every member (including yours truly) post their picture and profile page. If you like them, you “Crush” them, otherwise you “flush” them. (Similar to the Hot or not Concept) If they have “crushed” you (after viewing your profile) – Then you can do a text chat with them. The site requires you to verify your identity with a mobile phone number rather than your email address (email addresses are the weakest form of proving your identity since one can create multiple accounts), so it serves as one mean to protect your identity.

Check their FAQ for more information, or give it a test shot. However, I have yet to find any of the members there appealing personally. But overall it’s still a startup idea, and I would never have thought of this idea personally (or the name for that matter).

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But the designs of the card were pretty interesting also. Check this out:

And this

The designs in the site ranged from Bold and Modern , classic and traditional or simply Casual .

The store ships the cards internationally, but they are not cheap. You might want to consider an alternate way of sending wedding invitation. A friend of mine is in the business of setting up wedding websites for couples about to get married. You can check out some of the samples here and here . Let me know if you are interested in setting up a website with your beloved!

It just so happened that I chanced across this insurance service where they provide you with a premium calculator online. It’s only valid in California though, so I’m not eligible to sign up for it. But on a side note, I was pretty interested to know what they thought how you should difference whether you need a whole life insurance or term insurance .

Now that I’ve chanced across this kind of service – I realized that it also requires me a fundamental shift in my mindset and comfort level before I can be comfortable with purchasing insurance premiums online. Even I can’t handle the lack of the human touch of that a physical insurance agent can give me? Are you personally comfortable with eliminating the middle-man?

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