Paprika Chips!

Stanley Approves of Paprika Chips 


Mmm mmm MMMM! Those hungarians sure have funny, but quite tasty foods. They have not one, but two kinds of paprika chips! Of course, that is not so odd when you know that "paprika" is just hungarian for "pepper". But these are not chips made of pepper, like you would find at a health food store. No, they are potato chips covered in pepper powder - paprika! So, they have sweet pepper and spicy pepper chips. They are both very good, but they are even better when you mix them together. I think that all you need for a good hungarian party, or buli, is a bunch of Turo Rudis, some Tetra Paks full of juice, and a bowl of mixed paprika chips. Mmmm.

Stanley Approves!

Turo Rudi

Stanley Approves of Turo Rudi 

Some people think it is very strange when I tell them about this sweet treat. It is made of cheese and chocolate. "Ick!" some people say. But then I remind them that they eat chocolate cheesecake. But they still say "ick!"

One of my people fell in love with this funny little dessert while working in Hungary. Her supervisor made her eat it and she was very glad afterward. Sadly, that plan did not work on my other person. He is one of those people who says, "ick!" And it is a little, well... odd. The cheese is more tangy than cheesecake, and has a more grainy texture. But, really, it is quite yummy in my tummy.

Stanley Approves!

Fizzy Vitamins

Stanley Approves of Fizzy Vitamins 


Here's another wonderful product I found when my people brought me to Budapest. It's fizzy vitamins! Now, my people say you can get vitamin powder at health food stores in America and it is kind of fizzy, but they also say it is kind of expensive. These ones are quite cheap and very tasty. They come in different flavors for different vitamins - multi, C, Iron, and some others I forget - and they look like colorful alka-seltzer. You just drop them in your morning cup of water and ta da! you have a tasty, fizzy vitamin drink. I think it is very excellent.

Stanley Approves!

Tetra Paks

Stanley Approves of Tetra Paks 

Boy, it sure has been a long time since I had something to approve of! Good thing my people took me to Budapest, Hungary where I founds lots of nifty things to approve. They are all so strange and wonderful, but let me start with... Tetra Paks.

Tetra Paks are quite ingenious little juice boxes. They are better than milk cartons and juice bottles and even better than those OJ cartons with the spout! They each have a slightly different magic opening. Some are so smart that as you unscrew the cap, it pokes a hole in the safety wrapper! Plus, they are just the right size for my little paws to get around. And the juices that come in them aren't bad, either! Peach, apricot, cherry, even blueberry! Now that's just getting crazy.

Stanley Approves!

Stanley Approves of Tetra Paks 

Hertz NeverLost

Hertz NeverLost 

When we took our last big trip to New Jersey, our rental car had something unexpected in it. It was this funny little Navigator system that even talked to you. Sometimes the talking was annoying, but it was still neat that it could talk. And it ever talked in Italian if you wanted it! The nice lady in the computer kept track of where we were and told us how to get where we were going. It even rang a little bell every time we made the correct turn or got on the correct exit. It seemed to get a little confused when we stopped at rest areas - it made it look like we were driving in the middle of nowhere - but it was still pretty neat.


Stanley Approves!



Hmmm 

Hello Picture Messenger

Where would I be without Hello? Well, I certainly would not be able to post so many pictures on this blog so easily, that is for sure. We first got Hello just for the sake of putting pictures of me up on Blogger! And it has been wonderful. As you can see from the screenshot, the design is quite pretty and the interface very friendly. I had to poke around a bit to get the hang of some of the features, but I was able to post my first picture to this blog almost immediately.


Unfortunately, there is no one else I know who uses Hello, so I cannot report on its features in that regard. The people I live with and I still use the plain old Send File function on Yahoo or MSN Messenger to share photos with each other and our friends, since that's where they all are and we hate to ask people to sign up to another messenger service. For this reason, I do not know if Hello will ever become the main messenger client for anyone. After all, the other ones integrate with your email and addressbook so easily. Plus, many people use all-in-one clients like Gaim or Trillian, which would defeat the whole point of the happy, bubbly interface and special features. But we will see, now that Google owns Picasa (makers of Hello) and people have noticed code for IM support in GDS, Hello might just take over the world! Ah ha ha! cough, cough. Don't worry, part of Google's corporate philosophy is "Don't Be Evil," so Hello will be a benign dictator.

Stanley Approves!


Hello Screenshot 

Cookie Dough

Mmmm mmm. I am a little bear with a sweet tooth. And I like to have just a little bit of something every now and then. If my owner were to get out her supersonic mixer and moosh together a batch of cookies, licking the bowl is acceptable. But I can't very well ask her to save the whole batter just in case I feel like snacking later on. That is where the fine folks at Nestle come in. They had the ingenious idea that some people don't want to bother with all that mixing to get their cookies baked and some people don't even want to bother with that silly baking part at all. I do not even want to consider the kinds of artificial substances they must use to keep that little tube fresh and salmonella-free for me, but eating cookie dough right out of the fridge is so indulgent and extravagant anyway, so Wheee! Mmmmm.

Stanley Approves!

The Nokia 6800 Phone

Stanley displays the Nokia 6800's fold-out keyboard 

The Nokia 6800 is quite a clever little gadget. It looks like a normal phone, but then you can fold it open to get to a tiny little keyboard. The keys are too small for my big paws, but just right for human thumbs. Why would you need a keyboard on your phone, you ask? Well, the people I live with like to send SMS messages to their friends. It is also handy when typing appointments or reminders in the built-in calendar or notepad. The people I live with also use it for a radio and to play games on. And, as you can see, the screen is big enough to set your own wallpaper, in this case, a picture of my friend Monkey! It is like a tiny entertainment center in your pocket. Oh yeah, and it works as a GSM digital phone, too.

Stanley Approves!


Stanley has a call, gotta go! 

Sleepytime Tea

I highly recommend Sleepytime tea. It is a delightful blend of chamomile and peppermint herbal tea that you can drink before bedtime without worrying about getting the jitters– - it's caffeine free! And chamomile is known to be soothing so it might even help you sleep. Another benefit of the tea is that both peppermint and chamomile are said to be very calming on your tummy. But don't take my word for it, other bears agree. Just look at the happy bear family on the package – the tea was so soothing that Papa Bear fell asleep in his easy chair.



Stanley Approves!


Snooze 

FireFox Web Browser

I just love that new browser FireFox! Not only does it have a little panda that looks like a fox for a mascot, but it's a very excellent web browser. It has tabs! Tabs! Most people do not see the value of tabbed browsing until they have tried it themselves, but rest assured that you will love them, too. It is highly customizable - you can move, add and remove toolbars and buttons and even give it a whole new look with themes. For the casual user, it will fulfill all your browsing needs plus it is less likely to secretly or accidentally infect your computer than IE. For nerdy types, like the people I live with, there are tons and tons of settings that can be tweaked to your heart's content.

Stanley Approves!

Hello!