And then there were three

Some of you may know this already, but I'm a member of a program that is comprised of a (supposedly) select group of Amazon.com customers. It's called the Amazon Vine program and its members get free stuff from Amazon.com in exchange for writing reviews about the stuff on the Amazon web site. On the third and fourth Thursdays of the month, at 3:00pm eastern time, Amazon's Vine program posts a variety of items on their web site. Vine members are allowed to choose two items to get for free. Not all members are offered the same items. The program supposedly targets its members and offers them stuff based on prior purchases, interests, etc.

Well, someone at Amazon.com must've gotten the impression that I like video cameras, because today I got my third one since I've been in the program. It started with a Flip Mino camcorder in June. Then I got a Flip MinoHD (hi-def) camcorder in November. And today I got a Creative Vado HD camcorder. I've used the first quite a bit and like it a lot. The second one didn't work very well with my older Mac PowerBook, so it's just sitting in the box. As for the third one... I'm curious to see how it will compare to the other two. These are all very small camcorders that record on flash memory and connect to your computer with a flip-out USB connector. So they're very cool. Obviously, I'm thrilled to have gotten them for free.

Some of the other cool stuff I've gotten from the Vine program:

• A George Foreman 360 indoor grill with five interchangeable grilling plates
• A big Tyco radio-controlled wheelie motorcycle
• An Oral-B Pulsonic electric toothbrush
• A Philips Sonicare electric toothbrush
• A 6-pack of some tasty raspberry chipotle BBQ sauce
• Lots of books
• Some video games
• Some CDs

Believe me, when I first got the e-mail from Amazon.com inviting me to this program, I thought for sure it was a scam. But it's not. It's actually pretty damn cool. I love free stuff!