Crowdtap - Zicam® Rapid Melts® Review
Santana


The Zicam® Rapid Melts® are a nickel sized tablet taken by mouth which can drastically reduce a cold. The Zicam® Rapid Melts® are non-drowsy, non-habit forming, no known drug interactions, and dissolve quickly without water.



Zicam® Rapid Melts®  are Homeopathic - Homeopathy is a system of medicine which involves treating the individual with highly diluted substances, given mainly in tablet form, with the aim of triggering the body’s natural system of healing.



You take these tablets by mouth at the first sign of a cold, and continue to use them for around 48 hours after the symptoms subside. For adults, take one tablet (do NOT chew – trust me…) and take about every three hours until symptoms are gone. To be honest, I think every three hours is excessive; you will go through a box in no time like that. I would recommend every six hours, but if you are feeling terrible then it might be worth it to do as the directions say. Do not take these on an empty stomach if you can avoid it; and do not eat or drink for 15 minutes after use. It will not taste good. For anybody under the age of 12, consult your doctor first.

The taste was surprisingly not medicine like, reminding me of the old Flintstones vitamins I took as a kid. The melt time took almost exactly two minutes; the texture when you put it in your mouth is odd, but not too terrible. They have a similar texture and taste to Tums, only you do not chew these. In flavor, the Zicam® Rapid Melts® are not nearly as bad as other drugs like Benadryl or Nyquil – at least, not the one I was given to sample (Cherry flavor.)

I was given six boxes to sample and give to friends, and they were all really glad to get these. Thankfully only a couple really badly needed them, and they were more than happy to have these on hand, saying they really did seem to help their cold symptoms become shorter and less of a pain.

There is two forms of the Rapid Melts; original (unmarked) and Ultra. The original form comes in Citrus, Cherry, and Lemon-Lime with Echinacea. The Ultra form comes in Cherry and Orange Cream. The Original form comes in boxes of 25 for $10.99-12.29, and the Ultra ones come in boxes of 18 for the same price.

So, would I recommend it? Yes, I would! The Zicam® Rapid Melts® provide a non-drowsy way of eliminating your cold without having to take disgusting syrup. The only downsides I see is that the Zicam® Rapid Melts® are about two to three times as much as a regular bottle of cold syrup; and the recommended dose of one tablet every three hours seems excessive. If you are going to take these every three hours, they will only last you a few days. Then again, maybe that’s all you’ll need!

Notes:
Prices based off Walgreens.com.
Definition of Homeopathy found on Homeopathy-soh.org.
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Crowdtap: Healthy Choice Baked Entrées Sample and Share Review
Santana


This past December Crowdtap put out a Sample and Share involving Healthy Choice Baked Entrées, giving participants a $1.00 off coupon, which was roughly half off the retail price. To be honest, this was extremely disappointing. I am also involved in the Zycam Sample and Share and in this I recieved SIX entire boxes to share! This felt extremely cheap of (I assume) Healthy Choice; I can get a $1.00 off coupon anywhere, this is hardly considerable of being called a sample and share.

Nonetheless, I downloaded my $1.00 off coupon, sent out a bunch of coupons to friends, and went to the stores to buy some different kinds of the Healthy Choice Baked Entrées. I originally planned to do a video review, however, because of unforeseen circumstances, I was unable to... The Zycam review WILL be a full-fledged video review. Below are the five Entrées that I selected.


Chicken and Rice Cheddar Bake
Rating: 4/5
Main ingredients: Chicken, Cheeses, and Rice.
Thoughts: This is definitely the bread winner of the pack, maybe I should have saved this for last. The cheese and chicken were cooked very well, although the amount of chicken was disappointing. The cheeses were “okay,” but take this with a grain of salt as I don’t like cheese, typically. Speaking of salt, this entrée has 600mg of sodium, which is between the realm of “that’s not bad” and “damn!” Had there been more chicken this would have gotten a perfect score.

Roasted Chicken and Potatoes
Rating: 4/5
Main ingredients: Chicken, and Potatoes. Although the website doesn’t seem to boast that it features potatoes in a “Chicken and Potatoes” dish.
Thoughts: Not much to say about this, actually. It tastes good, which is about it. The potatoes have saved themselves from turning into that terrible jelly consistency these type of potatoes typically get to, and the chicken is pretty yummy too. Sodium is at 560mg, less than the previous entrée.

Lasagna with Meat Sauce
Rating: 2/5
Main ingredients: Beef, Cheese, and Pasta. And “meat sauce,” presumably.
Thoughts: I really disliked this one. The “meat sauce” was watery, the pasta tasteless, and entire thing had that “jelly”-ness to it with a Hot Pocket “how long do I cook this without setting my tongue on fire?” appeal. How disappointing. On the plus side, only 380mg of sodium.

Fettuccini Alfredo Bake
Rating: What on earth is that in my Alfredo? (IE 2/5)
Main ingredients: Cheese and Pasta. And some weird bread things semi crushed up.
Thoughts: I had high hopes for this entrée, and was fairly let down. This type of cuisine is always my favorite, so maybe I’m a little prejudiced here. The pasta was semi tasteless; maybe they are like that with all of their pasta. The sauce certainly redeems the pasta, but could use more seasoning. The broccoli is not too bad, still maintaining most (most…) of its “snap.”

Four Cheese Ziti Marinara
Rating: 4/5
Main ingredients: Cheese, and Pasta.
Thoughts: Ah, ending on a good note! This tasted a lot better than most ziti’s, the pasta seemed well flavorful and the sauces pretty good. The tomato sauce still seemed a little watery, but not nearly as bad as before. There was a good amount of seasoning in it, but could have used some more.

In the end, Healthy Choice Baked Entrées are pretty good. These are definitely not for somebody trying to save money, definitely not for somebody expecting a five star cuisine dish, but certainly good enough for a quick “healthy” meal that you can make in a couple minutes. Things like this should definitely not be used in place of actually cooking food, because, if you can, the food you would cook yourself would be far healthier than these items.

Comments from friends… not really any, unfortunately. I think most were put off that I gave them coupons for a dollar off, instead of coupons that would have eliminated the cost. Some had already tried them before, liked them, and I assume that they will buy their favorite kind and stick with that. Maybe if Healthy Choice had given away a higher dollar off coupon they would try more variety of these meals. Thanks again to Crowdtap and Healthy Choice for the ability to try out a few different kinds of healthy frozen meals. If you would like to read more about the different types of meals, go to www.healthychoice.com or here for the baked entrées including all nutrition information and reviews from other people.
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Windows Game Troubleshooting for Windows 7 & Vista
Santana
I recently had an elderly neighbor call me over to put games on his brand new computer, which for whatever reason did not have the games anywhere in plain sight. No folder in the start menu, and not even a folder in the program files. Enabling the games was easy enough, but once the games were started they were met with an unfortunate "Executable for -this- Windows games has stopped." I couldn't find any explanation for why this was happening on the internet, so here I will explain what I had to do to get the games working.

First off, to get the games to even appear, follow the instructions here.
Hit the start button, go to the control panel, and type "Windows Features" in the text box.

A new window will appear and from this find a "Games" folder and either check the box next to it or the specific games you want to enable.
It will then take a moment to load as it applies your settings, go make a sandwich or walk the dog.
From there the games will appear under the "Games" folder on your start menu or under Program Files/Microsoft Games.
Restart your computer. Or don't, if you're a rebel.

Once I attempted to start the game, however, it instantly locked up and the game refused to load. I figured "I'll just put the game into compatibility mode!" but soon realized that because these default games were part of the Windows 7 installation, they were not able to be put into compatibility mode.

Fortunately enough, this was a fairly quick solve. All that had to be done on my part was to copy the entire Microsoft Games folder (or the game of choice) and paste it somewhere else - preferably the same location. If you are running a 64-bit or 86-bit OS then put the folder in your (64) or (86) program files folder.

What this did was because the copy was not a tied down installation but rather a simple copy, I could then force the game into compatibility mode. I put the games in question to run as if on a Vista OS, but if you are experiencing this problem on Vista you can likely choose any OS you want such as XP. The games then ran without a hitch.

I hope this is able to help anyone having trouble! Zicam® Rapid Melts® and Healthy Choice® Baked Entrées reviews (both including a video!) will be up in the next few weeks. I have just recently purchased a really nice looking Merona Watch from Target, so expect a review of that too very soon.
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The Secret World - A Major Thanks to Funcom & Crowdtap!
Santana
From my review of The Secret World, I was graciously given a prize from the Funcom team!

Congratulations! We’re excited to inform you that you’ve been selected as a prizewinner for your The Secret World party report. Since your party report was so well done, you’ll be receiving a The Secret World dog tag representing the secret society of your choice! Both Crowdtap and The Secret World appreciate your participation in the party, and we hope you enjoy this thank you gift.

I decided to pick the blue Illuminati dog tag! But that's not all... a couple days later I received another email.

Congratulations! We are thrilled to inform you that you’ve been selected as the Brand Award Winner for your The Secret World party report! It sounds like you had an awesome party, and both The Secret World and Crowdtap love the blog post you did re-capping the event.

It is thanks to Crowdtappers like you that make games like The Secret World such a success, so the brand wants to say thanks by awarding you a free one-year subscription to The Secret World, along with 2,400 Funcom points! We hope you’ll enjoy the subscription and that it makes for many more The Secret World gatherings with friends in the coming year.

Once again, a major thanks to Crowdtap and Funcom for the opportunity to play and review The Secret World!
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