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Archive for the ‘pop culture’ Category
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
 Zhu Zhu Pets. No, no, we didn’t swear at you in some exotic language. Zhu Zhu Pets are the new must-have toys that are all the rage these days. These furry, robotic hamsters have been a darling of millions of toy shoppers.
Marketed as “recession-friendly pets,” Zhu Zhu Pets give would-be pet owners everything that is fun about owning a pet, but without any of the hassles that come with actually keeping real-life hamsters. They are small. They are furry. They are adorable as they move and scurry, especially when set to “Adventure Mode” and they explore the environment. Those who want to do less chasing and more petting can set them to “Nurturing Mode” and they will coo and purr. That’s all they need to know — on top of how they never need to eat, sleep or take a dump.
The theory has been a hit. Zhu Zhu (or “little pig” in Chinese) Pets began selling at $10 per toy clip, but had faced massive shortages, prompting a surprising 400% markup to $40 per toy.
Criticism has hounded these toys, however. Some say that part of why people give pets to children is to teach them responsibility — something an electric hamster doesn’t really impart, aside from regularly replacing batteries. Web cartoonist David Willis recently lampooned the toys in his Web comic, Shortpacked!, citing the point of buying a toy hamster when a real hamster will do.
More damning are allegations that the toys are not safe. Zhu Zhu Pets have been cited by consumer watchdog groups for containing more than the allowed levels of the metal antimony. U.S. federal safety regulators from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, however, announced on December 7 that the toys were safe and cleared them of the antimony level issues. Still, some groups such as GoodGuide insist that their methods for testing are different and thus will yield different results from that of government tests.
As of late, the question that burns is whether or not the immensely popular Zhu Zhu Pets will be the best-selling toy this holiday season. We took the question to the Predicto community, and the debate raged. As of this writing, with nearly 1,100 votes, the community has spoken, with 56% saying yes, it will be the hottest toy in the market.
What do you think? Are you a fan or would you rather go with a real hamster? Speak your mind, and go check out Predicto today!
Tags: 654654, Christmas, Entertainment, Gossip, holidays, hot topic, Predicto, Predicto.com, PredictoMobile, Season's Hottest Toy, Toys, Zhu Zhu Pets
Posted in Entertainment, pop culture | No Comments »
Friday, October 16th, 2009
 Yesterday, America was glued to its collective TV set and computer anxiously awaiting the resolution of the Balloon Boy saga.
For those uninitiated few among you, allow Predicto to get you up to speed.
Richard and Mayumi Heene, former participants of the Petri dish experiment known as Wife Swap, are amateur enthusiasts of everything from UFOs to storm chasing. While entertaining themselves with the former, Richard built a balloon that escaped from their backyard.
Earlier in the day, Richard says he repeatedly told his 6-year-old son Falcon to stay away from the balloon. When it began floating into the air and the boy couldn’t be found, the rest of the family feared the worst: that Falcon was inside the balloon.
The four-hour debacle affected air traffic at Denver’s nearby airport and the airwaves, as the cable networks broadcast the balloon floating some 10,000 feet in the air. When debris fell from the floatation device, everyone feared the worst, but when it finally landed and he wasn’t onboard, fears intensified.
Later, when the family was at home, Falcon appeared out of nowhere. He had apparently been hiding in a box in the attic … that was searched twice … by trained professionals.
The story got sketchier when the family appeared on Larry King Live and the boy made a statement that insinuated this had all been a hoax. (Dad’s drive to be on a number of reality show ventures didn’t help matters.)
Hoax or not, Predicto wanted to know if we can expect to see the Heene family in their highly desired reality show? While the vote is close, 53% of voting members say that it will not happen.
“They won’t because it was a hoax,” says member “skin10806.”
“I hope so. We all could use someone to remind us just how many blessings we have and no matter what struggles we have, there’s always a way to overcome,” says “qbh35526.”
“I think they were just trying to get some attention,” says “cqih5596” of the assumingly undeserving family.
“Why would the kid get his own show? That’s ridiculous. He wasn’t even in the balloon!” says “cibj0886.”
Very passionate opinions on this subject. Do you have your own? Visit Predicto.com to register for the text message-based mobile game that has everyone predicting the outcome of sports, pop culture, news and entertainment events. Along with being able to vote on surveys, including this one, you’ll get updates when the answers are revealed. And most importantly, you can express your thoughts on these surveys. Sign up today — and get more Predicto by becoming a fan on Facebook!
Tags: 654654, Balloon Boy, community, Falcon Heene, game, Gossip, hot topics, Mayumi Heene, Mobile, pop culture, predict, prediction, Predicto, Predicto Mobile, Predicto.com, PredictoTV, Richard Heene, TV, Wife Swap
Posted in News/Politics, pop culture, scandal | No Comments »
Friday, October 9th, 2009
 Have you ever considered correspondence from Miley Cyrus to be the “light in a world or darkness”? Well her fans and her dad, Billy Ray, have achy-breaky hearts because the teen queen also known as Hannah Montana has closed her Twitter account!
Why? All because some boy told her to. Sigh.
So, Miley has been filming this movie with a guy named Liam Hemsworth. The two are apparently an item now. So it appears that Miley will only be telling him what she’s doing instead of sharing the ultra-important info with her more than 2,000,000 ex-followers.
The final Tweet from the 16-year-old? “FYI Liam doesn’t have a twitter and he wants ME to delete mine with good reason.” What reason was this? And how dare he!
After an active text life, we at Predicto are wondering if Miley will return to the screen by re-opening her Twitter account – against Liam’s wishes. (If relationship drama occurs, you can count on Predicto to have a question about it.) 64% of voting Predicto members expect to be receiving sweet Tweets from the Disney superstar by 11/15.
“Everyone wants to know what is going on with Miley. I’m sure she will keep on communicating,” says member “proo3391.”
“If she does, it will be under an alias,” says “pri_t_kitty.”
“I just think she did it so she could get attention,” says “dshg1651.”
If you’re longing for more Miley in your life, visit Predicto.com and register for the text message-based mobile game that has everyone predicting the outcome of sports, pop culture, news and entertainment events. Along with being able to vote on surveys, including this one, you’ll get updates when the answers are revealed. Sign up today!
Tags: 654654, Billy Ray Cyrus, celebrities, Disney, game, Hannah Montana, Liam Hemsworth, Miley Cyrus, prediction, Predicto, Predicto.com, Twitter
Posted in Celeb Gossip, pop culture, scandal | 2 Comments »
Thursday, October 1st, 2009
 General Motors has been in extremely hot political water since the auto industry bailout from late last year. Prior to that, GM had faced a lot of economic, management and political challenges that one wondered how in the world it ever survived and thrived. For years, it has dominated the car industry with the massive demands and production of its line of iconic muscle cars. The entertainment industry has also played a huge role in ensuring the success of the all-American machine.
In the past couple of years, however, we saw how the mighty had fallen. Not that GM fell completely out of the scene, it merely slid down to the No. 2 spot as the world’s largest car maker. And who now holds its former glory? Not some royal European machine, but a once-lowly industrial brand from Japan, now transformed into the industry giant that is now known as Toyota.
Based on the 2008 ranking on the Fortune 500, Toyota is No. 1 in global unit sales. That says a lot about a company that once manufactured utterly unreliable cars, but now leads the way in pushing hybrid cars to the market. They were in fact one of the first brands to mass-produce and sell such cars. Today, with Toyota’s strong worldwide presence, innovative strategies and strong brand recognition, other car manufacturers, including General Motors, are finding it hard to keep up with Toyota’s pace.
So, will General Motors be able to reclaim its title as the “World’s Largest Automaker” this year? (It certainly is not the largest car maker anymore, but it sure still manufactures the largest cars in the world, and they are not that far behind Toyota.)
Our Predicto voters have spoken. 46% say yes, 54% say no so far. “Usertrlb4180” asserts that the government shouldn’t be the one to make GM get back its former glory, the people should. Well, if GM makes more eco-friendly cars and keep up with the way people have grown so accustomed to compact Japanese cars, maybe they will regain their spot soon enough. But as one of the voters aptly put it, “GM had their time. It’s time for another automaker to have theirs.”
With GM’s fresh funds from the government, it could now be up to something that could make everyone’s jaws drop. Before we know it, the company could be rolling out better cars that could give other automakers a run for their money.
Who else says GM will be No. 1 again this year? Who else says no, they won’t? Let us know what you think by visiting Predicto.com and voting (and leaving comments) on this survey.
Tags: 654654, bailout, car, game, GM, prediction, Predicto, Predicto.com, Toyota
Posted in News/Politics, pop culture | No Comments »
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Zhu Zhu Pets. No, no, we didn’t swear at you in some exotic language. Zhu Zhu Pets are the new must-have toys that are all the rage these days. These furry, robotic hamsters have been a darling of millions of toy shoppers.
“Make mine Marvel” or “Die-hard DC”? For the uninitiated among you, we’re not speaking a foreign language. No, we’re talking about one of the biggest rivalries of all time — equal to if not greater than such legendary battles as the Yankees vs. the Red Sox, cats vs. dogs and Tupac vs. Biggie.
Lee is no stranger to film, having made brief appearances in nearly every Marvel motion picture in the last decade. But will he have crossover success by making an appearance in the next, yet-to-be-confirmed adventure of the Caped Crusader? 
The fashion world recently got a taste of something big, literally. At 5’2″ and 220 pounds, 
Underwear as outerwear? The concept isn’t as risqué as when Madonna pioneered it in the early and mid 1980s, but Donna Karan New York is the latest style icon flipping the script on public displays of unmentionables.