What A Slacker!

The Litter Box Wars: Littermaid vs SmartScoop

Add comment May 28th, 2008

Littermaid vs SmartScoop - it is the self-scooping litter box wars I’m talking about not a review of the expensive cat boxes. (But if you want my opinion the SmartScoop wins the review hands down so lets hope they win the legal battle too.)

For a quick run down OurPets, a company that makes great pet products introduced a self-scooping litter box, the SmartScoop last year and the makers of the Littermaid box, Salton, Inc. felt the need to squash any competition before word got out that they don’t really care about pets they just want your money over and over again.

OurPet’s was founded in 1995 by Dr. Steve Tsengas with the goal of promoting pet health, well-being and owner & pet interaction. [taken from OurPets.com]

While Salton, Inc. and its subsidiaries are leading marketers and distributors of a broad range of branded small household appliances. Salton markets and distributes small kitchen and home appliances, pet and pest products, and personal care products. [take from Salton’s website]

Which of these companies do you think has your cat’s best interests in mind and which one do you think is only out to make a quick buck? If the company’s mission statements alone don’t convince you maybe you need to take a look at the products themselves.

The SmartScoop as a large litter area it is two inches longer than the Littermaid’s usable area, which is rather important if you have a huge cat like mine. The SmartScoop is also a little higher, which can reduce the litter scattering from your cat’s digging.

The SmartScoop has a much less expensive waste bag to replace over the Littermaids plastic containers. Which raises the whole environmental issue. SmartScoops bags are biodegradable Littermaids are not (nor are they recyclable, but who would want to clean them out to recycle them any way?).

The most noticeable differences lie in the motor and the fact that it is outside of the box and removable on the SmartScoop not on the Littermaid. Which one do you think is easier to clean? I’ll tell you from experience, the SmartScoop! Since the motor is removable it is also replaceable too. That’s right if the motor goes bad you can replace just that part not the entire box.

OurPets stands behind their products, does Salton? I don’t think so. A friend of mine had gone through 2 Littermaid boxes in two years yet she could not get them repaired or replaced through the company. She finally gave up on self-scooping boxes as her experience with the Littermaid has soured her to any automatic box even one of superior quality like the SmartScoop.

This brings me to the costs. These boxes are not cheap, especially when you have to replace the entire box a $200 a pop. The SmartScoop retails for around $150 and the replacement costs are much less than that. Supplies for the SmartScoop are much more cost effective too.

As you can see the SmartScoop wins that battle but can it win the war? Maybe with our help the little guy can come out on top. Spread the word, let your congressman know how you feel about the waste of money and resources this type of litigation can be, above all else express your opinion to Salton and ask them why they are so afraid of a little market place competition. If they are as good as they think they are they should welcome some competition.

Besides I thought a person or company could improve on a current invention or patent and then claim the patent on the new and improved item (at least that’s what the infomercials tell me). So how can they really claim an infringement unless the product is exactly the same? Personally, I think they are over reacting and should go sell George Foreman Grills and forget the lawsuit, which will cost them more then if they simply welcomed the competition. Perhaps someone in their corporate offices did not do the math right or maybe they can simply throw away 1.5 million in the hopes of saving a half million dollars from a little healthy competition. Heck, if they have that much money why not throw some my way? Or better yet replace my friend’s boxes!

Boris says: What’s All The Fuss Over A Place to Poop any way?

Big Fat Stupid Heads

Add comment May 28th, 2008

I have been informed that my sponsored post will not be paid because the yutzes over at PPP think my little tirade about big corporations like those behind the Littermaid litter box trying to kill the little guy like the fine folks over at OurPet’s is a sponsored post.

I link to both parties so which one is doing the sponsoring? I have no affiliate links in the post so how am I being paid? Perhaps they need to open their eyes and look at the links in a post before saying that you don’t get paid for your hard work today because we see links in your posts. Did you read the post? Did you follow the links? I doubt it or you would have realized it is what it is, a valid original content, non-sponsored post. This little police action of theirs has actually tick me off.

If I had been sponsored I would have said “oh well they caught me” and just remove the unpaid post from my blog but this is war now. So now I stick this rant about them in between my sponsored post with them and my non-sponsored post that they cannot see is not a paid post.

I Want It Wednesday: Cool Police Shorts

Add comment May 28th, 2008

I thought Dickies had cool shorts, but compared to the 511 Tactical Shorts I am not so sure any more. These puppies are pretty sweet. They are stylish, built to last, and designed to carry bulky stuff. (You know, like your PDA, cell phone, iPod, etc. Gotta love those pockets.) Besides that you get to look like a cop instead of UPS man. Which is better? I’ll let you decide on your own as for me I like the stuff at LA Police Gear’s website just as good if not better.

The Almighty NoFollow Tag

Add comment May 28th, 2008

As bloggers we all become relatively aware of the nofollow tag. We might not know what it means or why we use it but we know about it. For most of us the nofollow attribute is automatically added to the links people post in our comments. This is to help us stop comment spamming. (I know you know what that is. What blogger hasn’t opened their admin to see a ton of nonsense and links to gambling, insurance or porn sites.)

Well, the rel=”nofollow” added to the html of a standard link tells a search engine not to follow that link. By not following the link they will not count that link towards that sites link popularity. Has this knowledge stopped the spammers? No. Does it hurt you or your blog? No. It does, however, hurt the people you would like to be linking to. Therefore I do not recommend using the nofollow tag in your posts if you wish to give that person some internet props and help out their link popularity and ultimately their page ranks.

It seems all the major search engines (Google, Yahoo and MSN) have agreed to honor this new tag. Although it appears that is not the case and it is largely ignored.

My advice to you is to make sure all your hard work in getting reciprocal links is not destroyed by those two little words. Be sure you request a link back to you that is does not contain that particular little snippet of coding. Why anyone seeking links or articles to drive traffic or exposure would choose to use that tag is beyond me.

Check out the Search Engine Journal’s article 13 Reasons Why NoFollow Tags Suck for a better explanation why you don’t want or need this tag clogging up your html code. But as a blogger the best defense against comment spamming is to moderate your comments carefully to keep that junk from even hitting your site. Your readers will appreciate being able to actually read the comments instead of all the ping backs and scrolling nonsense text.

Summertime Fun, Summertime Safety

Add comment May 28th, 2008

When the weather gets warmer and school’s out American’s head out to the waterways. Each year there are numerous accidents and even deaths caused by inexperienced boaters and in appropriate behavior on our nations waterways. Fortunately fatal boating accidents were down last year, but incidents of accidents, injuries and property damage were all up in 2007. It is not surprising to learn that this increase was due to operators not paying attention, careless and reckless behavior, speeding and alcohol use. One third of the accidents nationwide with a death involved were due to alcohol use. In Arizona alone 50% of the fatal boating accidents were alcohol related, unbelievable.

To reduce those numbers all it would take is a little common sense and some basic boating knowledge. Use your head when hitting the water. Why not check out someboating education online before heading to the dock? Above all avoid operating a boat under the influence you’ll be glad you played it safe. Boating while under the influence is just as illegal as it is while driving so why even chance it?

Arizona boating can offer lots of summertime fun if you simply follow the rules.