Web Surfing

  www.cyberave.com

Comedy Ave.
www.comedyave.com

After taking one trip down comedyave.com, Web users will most
likely never visit again. Though comedyave.com claims to drive
humor to the edge, what it really proves to do is simply provide
interesting, and sometimes funny, entertainment industry news
briefs. The site’s attempts at creating its own comedy, which
is its focal point, falls short of producing any laughs. Releasing
a new issue every Monday, comedyave.com touts a different humorous
theme each week. These don’t seem to be too successful,
however. This week, for instance, features a mockery of President
Bush and the movie “Josie and the Pussycats.” Changing
the name to “George and the Pussycats” and morphing
Bush’s face over Rachel Leigh Cook’s face on the
film’s soundtrack cover is semi-amusing, but the site kills
this bit of humor by overdoing it with a script containing some
exchanges between Bush and the Pussycats. What is revealed
isn’t the stupidity that the site’s creators believe
Bush possesses but that of the Web site’s writers themselves.
The site, however, isn’t a complete failure. Its “News
Flash” section features amusing news clips from the world of
the famous. Though some are obviously made-up ““ such as one
involving Britney Spears that claims Glad cling wrap signed her to
a lifetime spokesmodel contract ““ others sarcastically
illuminate the fouls of the entertainment industry. Another story
claims that Fox’s reality show “Boot Camp” is
being sued by CBS’s “Survivor,” the latter
claiming that Fox stole its premise. Comedyave.com doesn’t
hesitate to add its own input, stating that the boot campers could
kick the survivors’ butts. Though mildly funny, comedyave.com
really doesn’t make a weekly visit desirable. Monthly maybe,
yearly more likely.

Barbara McGuire Rating: 3

Cyber Rebate
www.cyberrebate.com

The Internet is full of sites claiming free giveaways. Of
course, there’s always a catch, even if it’s subtle.
Cyberrebate.com offers yet another variation on this free product
ideal. The site claims it will refund users for the products they
purchase via the site with a rebate later ““ 10 to 14 weeks
later. Since 1998 the site has been selling items, or giving them
away, depending on how you look at it. At the top of the page, it
proudly boasts that more than $85 million in rebates have already
been paid out. Perusing the product lists, site-goers can find
toys, collectibles, computer hardware and software, electronics,
housewares and even magazine subscriptions up for sale. About 30
percent of its products have full rebates; the rest, however, only
have partial returns. The process of getting a rebate seems simple
““ users get free stuff by purchasing an item then going
online to a virtual account and printing out the accompanying
rebates. After mailing the rebate printouts to the Web site,
cyberrebate.com will eventually mail a refund check within 10 to 14
weeks. One drawback to normal rebates that cyberrebate.com
eliminates is that buyers usually pay tax on their purchases and
the rebates don’t compensate for the tax. Thus, a $100 item
with a $100 rebate still costs money because of the 8 percent sales
tax in Los Angeles county. On cyberrebate.com, however, the sales
tax is only applied to New York and Ohio, so Californians actually
can get certain items for free. Other pluses to the site include
free shipping through the end of April, toll-free customer service
and a 30-day money back guarantee. The range of full-rebate
products is fairly large ““ though some of the prices seem to
have been upped to quite a hefty cost ““ but it doesn’t
really matter since shoppers should get all their money back
anyway. Take for instance the very handy ““ or maybe just
ubiquitous in Los Angeles ““ “Club,” the car
anti-theft steering wheel device. Priced normally at about $40,
this item goes for $89.99 on the Web site. Additionally, a
stainless steel floor lamp, perfect for an apartment, is perfectly
out of the average college student’s budget at $199.99. The
Web site says it can afford to give products away for free for two
reasons. First, when a person returns the rebate form they are
asked to fill out a survey. The site says this information is
valuable for marketing research on Internet commerce. Second, the
site assumes that after a consumer buys some products with full
rebates they’ll start buying products with lower rebates as
well, which will then turn into profit. On the downside, however,
according to a Wall Street Journal article, the Better Business
Bureau gave Cyberrebate.com an “unsatisfactory” rating,
mostly from complaints that the company failed to fulfill orders or
give refunds. So, while many deals can be had at cyberrebate.com,
buyers should be wary ““ 10 to 14 weeks waiting for a rebate
check is a lot longer than a four-week credit card pay period.

Chris Young Rating: 6