Continuing our theme of honoring The Tour de Georgia pro cycling race that took place last week, our fourth free iPhone wallpaper is "Mavic Helmet":

I took this photo of a Mavic neutral support motorcyclists' helmet at the 2005 Tour de Georgia.

This image is part of the Operation Gadget iPhone Wallpapers Collection. I'm planning to release one iPhone wallpaper per week for a while during this Spring and Summer.

I've only ridden in one event where Mavic provided support. It was the 2004 Tour of Hope Fundraising Ride in Washington, DC. I needed support that day. I broke a pedal on my old Marin Bear Valley SE mountain bike, the only bike I owned at the time. The Mavic guys offered me a bike, but I didn't have real biking shoes at that point (to fit into clipless pedals), so I had to find someone to help me.

The incredible story of how I met Dr. Steven Sharpe at a rest area along the course, and how he took me to his home nearby and repaired my bike is one that you should read if you ever want to know what constitutes a Good Samaritan in this day and age. Dr. Sharpe and his friend Greg Millet turned an unlucky break into a miraculous finish to truly special event that did a lot of good for cancer research.

The entire story of my involvement in the 2004 Tour of Hope DC Fundraising Ride can be found at:

http://www.operationgadget.com/2004_tour_of_hope/

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The Associated Press is reporting that the Lance Armstrong Foundation will extend the LiveStrong brand to a for-profit fitness-related website. The website will be called LiveStrong.com. The press release announcing LiveStrong.com says that the site will be launched in conjunction with Demand Media, a company that runs vertical market social networking websites. Lance Armstrong and Capital Sports and Entertainment, the sports management and marketing firm partly owned by Lance Armstrong, will also play significant roles.

LiveStrong.com com is scheduled to launch in the second quarter of 2008.

According to the press release:

As a strategic advisor and ongoing content contributor, Lance will work exclusively with Demand Media to build and promote LIVESTRONG.com for the next four years. Demand Media will have an exclusive and perpetual license to the LiveStrong.com domain and work with the foundation to develop LIVESTRONG.com into the leading health, wellness, and fitness destination. Demand Media will provide a perpetual license of its proprietary social media tools to support the LAF army of volunteers on LIVESTRONG.org. Donors, supporters and survivors will be able to interact on the non-profit site via profiles, messaging, photos and blogs. Members of the LAF army will be invited to preview LIVESTRONG.com before its public launch in Q2.

It will be really interesting to see if LiveStrong.com can be launched as a fitness-oriented social networking site without confusing some members of the public about the main Lance Armstrong Foundation website at LiveStrong.org. I am a big supporter of the entire LiveStrong program, and I hope for the best.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Nike Amp+ Sport Remote Control has finally made it to the market, and iLounge has done a comprehensive review of it. Jeremy Horowitz writes:

It would be an understatement to call Nike’s Amp+ iPod nano Remote ($79) the coolest and most misunderstood iPod accessory introduced in the past year. The bracelet, which is sold in four colors—blue, green with orange, black with red, or black with graphite—is a watch, an iPod remote control, and a fashion statement. Give it a quick glance from a distance and you’d think it’s just an extra-wide Lance Armstrong LiveStrong wristband, but get up close and you begin to realize that Nike has crafted an understated and underpromoted work of design genius....

I think the Amp+ looks incredible. It's the kind of watch that I could see wearing once or twice a week, the same way I tend to wear my Polar S625x to work on days when I'm officiating hockey. I'd like to see the reaction from people in my office when they saw this watch on my wrist.

I wish that Apple and Nike would expand the availability of the Nike+ product stack to iPods other than the nano. How hard could it be to make that happen?

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I saw some ads for Dick's Sporting Goods that star Lance Armstrong on New Year's Day when I watched the NHL Winter Classic on NBC. The two 30-second ads both emphasized the fact that the Livestrong clothing collection is on sale at Dick's Sporting Goods.

I thought the ads had a hard edge to them that's uncharacteristic of how Lance has been portrayed in previous TV advertising. In spite of that I thought they were memorable.

When I visited Dick's Sporting Goods E-commerce Site, I expected to find the Livestrong clothing on sale there. I didn't see much at all, although the TV ads are available on that site.

I guess we are expected to visit a Dick's Sporting Goods store to buy these products, or buy them on-line at http://www.store-laf.org/.

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I just found out that Giro is planning to produce an authorized Livestrong Special Edition Atmos Cycling Helmet again for its 2007 model year. I love my Rudy Project Ayron Helmet, but the Livestrong Special Edition Atmos Helmet is one I'd wear in its place.

Giro will donate 5 percent of its proceeds from sale of these helmets to the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

I already added this to my Wishlist at Amazon.com, so many people in my family will see it even if they don't buy it for me. The Giro ® Atmos Livestrong Edition Helmet is also available at the Discovery Channel Store and all sizes are in stock at this writing.

Technorati Tags: Livestrong, Giro Atmos, bike gear, Christmas gifts, Hanukkah gifts

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The LiveStrong Challenge Philadelphia took place on Sunday, September 10 without me. It sounds like it was a big success. The weather was nearly perfect that day, with rain coming in that night, well after all of the riders and runners crossed the finish line.

Many articles appeared in the media before the event. A good example is Birdsboro mother, stepson ride for a cure from the Pottstown Mercury:

Valerie Rowe and her stepson Steven will set out on a 40-mile bike ride to benefit cancer research Sunday as part of the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s Livestrong Challenge Philadelphia... The Penn State Berks professor she began cycling because he husband, Bob, is an avid rider... Her reason for accepting this particular challenge, she said, is because her sister and sister-in-law are both cancer survivors. "Plus, I have a lot of respect for Lance Armstrong," she said.

Here are a couple of the better articles that were published after the LiveStrong Challenge took place. Passion for cycling spurs cancer drive from the Morristown Daily Record:

Two years ago, Morristown resident Steve Jablon helped found a group of bicycling enthusiasts within his Bridgewater pharmaceutical company. Members of the PharmaFliers, as the group was dubbed by the employees of Sanofi-Aventis, found a kindred spirit in each other for the sport they love...

Earlier this year, the PharmaFliers discovered the... LiveStrong Challenge, a 100-mile charity bike ride through various cities across America. Sixteen members of the group who have been directly and indirectly affected by cancer began training for the Philadelphia Live Strong Challenge, which was held on Sept. 10...

Of the $2.6 million total raised for the Foundation in Philadelphia, the PharmaFliers contributed $19,400, nearly doubling its original goal, Jablon said.

LiveStrong Challenge Philly Report by Will Swetnam of The Paceline.com [ registration required to read ]:

Like many supporters of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, I was curious as to how the shift to the five city LIVESTRONG Challenge would play out. Having attended the last 6 Ride for the Roses events in Austin, I was curious how the "feel" would compare to this one. When making my choice, Austin would have been the easy one - just drive on down from where I live outside of Dallas - but I wanted to try one of the other rides. I've ridden in several of the LSC event cities, but never in Philadelphia, and so my decision was made for me...

{The early part of the course consisted of} rolling hills through neighborhoods, farm areas, past old buildings, and amazing houses. The course was well marked and I never once felt the need for a cue sheet. My riding partner for the day, Christine, who is training for a few centuries later in the year, and I had agreed to a steady pace to help build endurance, and so we were able to enjoy the scenery. We passed the first two rest stops, and stopped in at the third...

Continue reading "LiveStrong Challenge in Philadelphia Was a Success" »

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Wednesday, May 17 is LiveStrong Day. To show my support for Lance Armstrong and his efforts to lobby Congress for increased cancer research funding, I'll be wearing one of my yellow t-shirts while I mow the lawn.

I hope you will do your part as well by wearing something yellow or putting on another LiveStrong wristband.

For more information, visit the Lance Armstrong Foundation at http://www.livestrong.org/.

Technorati Tags: LiveStrong Day, Lance Armstrong.

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Congratulations to the folks at the Lance Armstrong Foundation for winning a high-profile domain squatting case involving the LiveStrong trademark. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) ruled that CSA Marketing of California had registered and used three LiveStrong-related domain names for the purpose of selling LiveStrong wristbands at a profit. Reuters reports that the arbitrators said:

There is nothing, in short, to persuade the panel that the registration and use of the domain names was anything other than opportunistic and abusive conduct...

Technorati Tags: Lance Armstrong, LiveStrong

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On Sunday, The Boston Globe reported that the Food and Drug Administration is holding two days of hearings beginning today on Direct-to-Consumer advertising. Among the issues expected to come up at these hearings are the roles of Lance Armstrong, Dorothy Hamill, and other celebrities who are featured in advertisements for prescription drugs or pharmaceutical manufacturers.

The Globe article points out that Bristol-Myers Squibb is very concerned that the role Lance Armstrong plays in its advertising be differentiated from the involvement of many other celebrities in pharmaceutical industry advertising. It says:

Bristol-Myers Squibb hopes the FDA distinguishes between questionable past practices and current advertisements that harness celebrity star power to raise awareness of health conditions affecting millions.

"Lance has been used in corporate advertising relative to the BMS brand, not in product advertising," said Tony Plohoros, a company spokesman. "We believe there is a significant difference in advertising that focuses on corporate brand building, or disease awareness, versus individual product advertising."

Participants in the Tour of Hope should pay close attention to these hearings. I think that sponsorship of disease awareness events like the Tour of Hope are the aspect of pharmaceutical company marketing that is least likely to be changed by the Food and Drug Administration, but we have to watch carefully and react quickly if the FDA acts too aggressively.

Technorati Tags: Tour of Hope, Lance Armstrong

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On Thursday, Julie Howson (my sister) pointed out an article in The New York Times that discusses the growing tendency of non-athletes to participate in endurance sporting events while raising money for charity. Julie wrote:

{Here's an} interesting article that cites the "Lance effect" as one of the motivating factors behind doing this.

The article suggests that the success of the LiveStrong Yellow Wristband Program has caused a lot of people to consider making a larger commitment to a charity to which they feel personally connected. These endurance training programs certainly are popular channels for people to demonstrate that commitment. The article goes on to make a number of statistical and philosophical points that I hadn't seen elsewhere:

• "...not everyone thinks charity endurance events are the best way for out-of-shape do-gooders to give back..." {i.e., some people may develop chronic injuries by doing the minimum recommended training in a few of these programs}
• Team in Training, a program of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society "raised $85 million last year, or 32 percent of revenue for the society, which supports blood cancer research, education and patient services. The figure was up from $3.7 million raised a decade earlier."
• Charities require fundraisers to raise as much as $4,000 each to participate in events with the charity's endorsement, and many of the events that the fundraisers participate in are neither financed nor organized by the charities themselves.

A couple of the things that I particularly like about the Bristol-Myers Squibb Tour of Hope Washington DC Fundraising Ride that I participated in last year were that the minimum amount raised by each participant was only $500 and that the Lance Armstrong Foundation had a significant role in organizing it. If what this article says is true, participation in the DC Fundraising Ride is a lot less onerous on the participants than many other fundraising programs.

Technorati Tags: Tour of Hope, Lance Armstrong

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Josh Hallett of hyku.com asked:

Did you notice that {Al Trautwig} had a LiveSTRONG laptop on the desk during the OLN pre-show?

I missed that the first time I watched the Pre-race Show, but I was able to go back and look carefully at the lid of Trautwig's laptop, at the extreme left of camera shots of him. That definitely is an H-P Special Edition LiveStrong Notebook PC he's using.

I'm glad to see they thought enough of the AMD-HP effort to support the LiveStrong initiative to put one of these laptops on the set. What surprised me about seeing the notebook on the screen is how small the words "LiveStrong" appeared on screen if the camera wasn't focused on them. Although the letters are yellow on a black background, I didn't see them unless I looked very carefully.

If I were AMD, I'd have a special notebook made for OLN's on-air use that had larger, bolder letters on the lid. This way it would be clear to even a casual viewer that the notebook said "LiveStrong" on it.

Technorati Tags: Tour de France, LiveStrong

Posted by Dave Aiello at 7:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My friend Bruce from AMDprocycling.com pointed out that the LiveStrong Special Edition Notebook PC is now available from authorized e-commerce resellers and will be available shortly at electronics retailers across the country. The e-commerce reseller that we recommend most at this time is Amazon.com because they've offered the original version of the LiveStrong Notebook PC as well as this upgraded version:

• Order the LiveStrong Special Edition Notebook PC from Amazon.com

Hewlett-Packard and AMD are making a $50 donation to the Lance Armstrong Foundation for each LiveStrong Special Edition Notebook PCs sold. AMD expects its contribution to this initiative to be $4 million over the next two years, so you can imagine how many of these they expect to sell. As I said at the announcement of the LiveStrong Special Edition Notebook PC about a month ago, this is a great way for a LiveStrong supporter to show his or her commitment to the cause.

More information about the LiveStrong Special Edition Notebook PC is available at AMDlivestrong.com.

Technorati Tags: Lance Armstrong

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My wife Kathleen was laughing at me this morning when I told her that I was about to finish the new book Lance Armstrong's War by Daniel Coyle, a contributing editor for Outside Magazine.

Kathleen said, "Wow, you finished a long book! This is going to open new horizons for you," as if I'd never read a book that didn't come out of the junior reader section of the public library before. Since she reads as regularly as I eat, she has earned a certain right to chide me.

Lance Armstrong's War provides a lot of details about the successful attempt to win the 2004 Tour de France that even the most interested outsider couldn't have known. If you watched The Lance Chronicles on the Outdoor Life Network last year, you probably came away from that show with a few unanswered questions-- I know I did. This book fills in a lot of those details.

It also tells some of the inside story of the 2004 Tour de France, including the public relations threat posed by the book L.A. Confidentiel: Les Secrets de Lance Armstrong and the death threat against Armstrong that was made before the Alpe d'Huez Time Trial. I agreed with Lance's comments after that time trial that the time trial to Alpe d'Huez was too dangerous, but he didn't say and we didn't know that a threat had been made against his life at the time.

The book also discusses the degree to which Dr. Michele Ferrari was involved in Lance's 2004 Tour preparation. This will probably be a revelation for many American fans who have been given the impression that Ferrari played a small role relative to that of Chris Carmichael. Coyle explained that Ferrari was present for some of key parts of Lance's training in Europe and in other parts of the world last year. There's no doubt that both Carmichael and Ferrari played important roles in Lance's training.

There are a ton of small insights in this book that I haven't seen in any other place. For instance, many of the leading riders in the pro peleton were advised in the 2004 season by either Dr. Ferrari or Luigi Cecchini. It seems that riders align themselves with these advisors based partly on their abilities to help them reach training goals and partly because of their relationship or lack of relationship with a teammate or rival.

I also had not realized the degree to which Watts per kilogram of body weight was considered a benchmark of success in professional cycling. We often read about the statistics VO2max and lactate threshold as being important indicators of fitness and they certainly are, but they are apparently not the supreme indicators of pro cycling race potential.

Operation Gadget has talked about fitness gadgets like Polar Heart Rate Monitors and the Lactate Pro electronic lactate threshold meter, but we haven't discussed devices like the CycleOps PowerTap power meter as much. I saw Floyd Landis using a PowerTap at the Dodge Tour de Georgia, but many fewer riders use tools like PowerTaps due to the expense associated: $1,200 to 1,300 for the electronics alone.

Lance Armstrong's War provides more insight into how Armstrong thinks about threats to his goals and weapons in his arsenal. The attitude that he has developed over the years pervades his relationships and defines the organizations that he has put together. There are reasons that everyone in Armstrong's inner circle uses a Blackberry, and you'll learn some of them by reading this book. One of the key insights into how the team motivates itself is that Armstrong's perception of the advantage gained by his use of technology is more important than the actual advantage. This helps explain some of the enthusiasm that the Discovery Channel team had for their AMD-powered personal media players which were demonstrated to me at the Tour de Georgia.

There's also more focus on Lance Armstrong's Tour de France rivals than I would have expected from reading about this book. It's primarily about Lance Armstrong, his advisors, and his teammates, but there are very detailed discussions of Tyler Hamilton's 2004 season and his perceptions of what took place, as well as Iban Mayo's many problems during the race and Floyd Landis' decision to leave the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team after the 2004 Tour.

I think I could go on about Lance Armstrong's War and reveal all of the interesting information that it contains. Instead I'll say that I thoroughly enjoyed and wholeheartedly recommend the book. I think it's very balanced and doesn't shy away from discussing issues that are of continuing concern within Lance's inner circle.

Whether you are a big fan of Armstrong or not, you will find information in the book that you will appreciate. It's written in a style that makes it a brisk read. Everytime I picked it up, I read at least one chapter. I've been recommending it to friends who follow cycling before I even started reading it, and my recommendation is even stronger now that I've finished it.

Technorati Tags: Tour de France, Lance Armstrong

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Sammarye Lewis published a great article on Velogal's Race Blog today about the fifth anniversary of Cameron Stewart's remission from ALL leukemia. Cam is eight years old now. Here's a part of the story:

Today's blog is gonna be all about a different cycling champion - he's now putting in his miles on the road on his Dad's old Trek. His determination, perseverance and courage are just like Lance's. And yesterday, he celebrated his "Birthday" (just like Lance does) for his Five Years in Remission. This little guy is eight years old and his name is Cameron Stewart....

Over the years, Paul {Cam's father} has sent me photo updates on Cam's progress, and I got invited to Cam's birthday party a couple of years ago. I drove up to the hills outside of Sacramento and met the nicest group of people you'd ever want to meet. All great folks and supporters of Cam. I've seen the Stewarts at the Ride for the Roses, and Paul has just become a Regional Mentor for the LAF.

So when the Discovery Channel folks contacted me, wanting to know if I knew anyone who had been inspired by Lance, it took me all of two seconds to recommend Cameron. Now Cam is being followed around and videotaped by the DC camera crew, and may end up going to the Tour, courtesy of Discovery Channel. Cam was filmed during his visit to Capitol Hill for Live Strong Day, and with his sign, "I am a Survivor" at the Today Show in NYC.

Cam and his father, Paul, are great spokespersons for cancer research and funding. Cam is growing strong and healthy, and he is determined to ride all the steepest hills, just like his hero, Lance Armstrong....

If any of you ever wonder why we're wearing LiveStrong yellow wristbands, it's not just for the people we know personally who have cancer or who have died of it. It's for kids like Cam Stewart. Thanks, Sammarye, for a great story.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 1:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

H-P L2000 Special Edition Notebook PC
will let PC users LiveStrong. See the
high-resolution image for a better
idea of what the notebook will
look like. [ Photo: Business Wire ].

Advanced Micro Devices and Hewlett-Packard today announced a joint initiative to support the Lance Amrstrong Foundation through a series of special LiveStrong Notebook PCs.

The H-P Special Edition L2000 Notebook PC will include the LiveStrong message and a reproduction of Lance Armstrong's autograph. They will be powered by an AMD Turion 64 mobile processor. A $50 donation to the LAF will be made for each one of these notebook PCs sold. Sales are expected to begin on-line in June, with in-store sales beginning in July. Each notebook purchaser will receive a LiveStrong Yellow Wristband and yellow stereo earbuds. Sources within AMD say that the notebooks are expected to be priced between $999 and $1,399, depending on configuration.

AMD is backing this effort by making a two-year commitment to help generate a minimum of $4 million for the LAF from this initiative.

"In my battle with cancer, I learned that knowledge is power and attitude is everything," said Lance Armstrong, cancer survivor, champion cyclist and founder of the LAF. "Empowerment plays an important role in dealing with a cancer diagnosis, and technology provides a way for patients and their loved ones to take control by arming themselves with information."

I've seen a couple of articles about this announcement already suggesting that this is some sort of Lance Armstrong brand extension. I don't think so. This is really about AMD and H-P supporting the LiveStrong program in a major way. These notebooks are hitting the stores in time for the Tour de France, and I can't think of a better way for a LiveStrong supporter to demonstrate his or her commitment than to use one. This would mean more than putting a "Join Lance!" sticker from the Lance Armstrong Foundation on the notebook case, as I've done in the past.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Congratulations to the Lance Armstrong Foundation on the first anniversary of the LiveStrong Yellow Wristband cancer awareness program. In an article that appeared last week in USA Today, Nike executives estimated that 50 million wristbands have been sold. The original estimate of the number of wristbands that would be sold was only five million. I bet that seemed like a lot to the people who sat around the table when they first came up with the campaign.

Operation Gadget owes much of its success to the LiveStrong Program, the Bristol-Myers Squibb Tour of Hope, and the Target Pink Breast Cancer Awareness Wristband Campaign. I began talking about these programs because I thought they were unique and had a chance to make a difference in many people's lives. The programs have done that, but they've also made a difference in my life and that of my family. We've made many friends through our support of these programs and done some good for people who needed help. Many of Operation Gadget's regular readers found the site through our coverage of one of these programs, and stayed because they like the other content they found here.

The LiveStrong Program is about helping the survivors of cancer to improve their lives. When you wear a yellow wristband you are saying I'm willing to help cancer survivors to live a better life. If you know a cancer survivor, today would be a great day to get in touch with them and see how they are doing.

Update: I forgot to point out Josh Hallett's excellent LiveStrong Band Sales Timeline. The article illustrates that Josh has been on the LiveStrong bandwagon since May 6, 2004. That's the earliest I've seen that any blogger picked up on the LiveStrong program.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 3:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I was contacted today by a representative of a law enforcement agency regarding the complaint I made in November 2004 about counterfeit LiveStrong wristbands that were on sale in Central New Jersey. He told me that he is investigating the complaints that the State of New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs received in the past four months of counterfeit wristbands in his jurisdiction. I provided additional information to aid in the identification of counterfeits that may still be on sale.

I don't feel that I can be more specific about who and what is happening, because the investigation is still active. I wanted to publish this much information because I think Operation Gadget readers will appreciate the fact that complaints about these abuses in New Jersey are being investigated.

In addition, I'm happy to report that New York State has aggressively pursued counterfeit wristband sellers, resulting in payments of restitution to the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

All of this activity clearly demonstrates that the selling of counterfeit LiveStrong wristbands doesn't pay. If you see counterfeit LiveStrong wristbands on sale, report it to your local authorities so the circumstances can be investigated.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 5:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Oprah got her fans to buy 1.2 million
LiveStrong Yellow Wristbands
last Friday and Saturday. Order yours now
from the Discovery Channel On-Line Store.

On February 11, Oprah Winfrey interviewed Lance Armstrong, touted the LiveStrong Program, and urged her viewers to buy a LiveStrong wristband. She openly stated that her goal was to break the one-day record for wristband sales.

The numbers are in and Oprah succeeded. Her viewers purchased 900,000 wristbands on Friday, and an additional 300,000 on Saturday. The sales on Friday broke the daily sales record by well over 200 percent.

My calculations indicate that Oprah was responsible for selling 3.75 percent of all LiveStrong wristbands sold to date. That's incredible. [ via TDFblog.com ]

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

LiveStrong Yellow Wristband orders are
being shipped by the Discovery Channel
On-Line Store in as little as six days.
Place your LiveStrong Wristband order
now.

I have good news to report on the availability of LiveStrong Yellow Wristbands from the Discovery Channel On-Line Store. I ordered two 10-packs of LiveStrong Wristbands from them on January 27, 2005. I received the order on February 2 via UPS Ground which is their standard shipping option. That means I received my LiveStrong Wristband order in six days!

The Discovery Channel On-Line Store ships to the USA, Canada, and the United Kingdom. I would strongly recommend that people in those countries who are placing orders for LiveStrong Wristbands today use the Discovery Channel On-Line Store. They run a first rate e-commerce system and order status communication is excellent.

I think Discovery is positioning itself to provide some relief to the Lance Armstrong Foundation staff by offering LiveStrong Wristbands through its on-line store. The LAF has done an incredible job in the face of an avalanche of orders that hasn't let up for 7 months.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A source at Discovery Communications told us that Lance Armstrong and Sheryl Crow will appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show on Friday, February 11, 2005. This show was taped some time ago, since a brief article on LanceArmstrong.com indicates that Oprah spoke in detail about the LiveStrong program.

Check your local listings for time and channel for Friday's Oprah Winfrey show, or check the Where and When is Oprah On page on Oprah.com.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

LiveStrong wristbands orders to the UK
from the Lance Armstrong Foundation
On-line Store are arriving eight weeks
from the time the order is placed.

Last night I received the following email from Michael Rhodes:

Im new to your site but i have noticed that alot of people seem to have questions about delays in their orders for LiveStrong bands. I appreciate the fact that you must find these constant emails very tedious. I thought it might be of some help to you to say that i ordered some of the bands from www.laf.org and had them shipped to me here in the UK, it took 8 weeks for them to arrive. 3-4 weeks until they despatched and a further 4 weeks shipping and clearing through customs. Alot of people over look the fact that international shipping may take longer than it does to the US. I hope this can help you answer some of those emails from those ordering internationally who are getting very impatient.

Its a great site, hope i helped in some way. [ Emphasis added. ]

I responded to Michael personally, but I want to take this opportunity to thank him for providing this valuable information. There's clearly tremendous demand for LiveStrong yellow wristbands in the United Kingdom and little information about how quickly the Lance Armstrong Foundation is fulfilling orders. Hopefully this information will help readers from the UK who are looking for the best way to order LiveStrong wristbands for themselves and their families.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 1:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Lance Armstrong Wins SantaCross:
Nice photos at CyclingNews.com.
Good article at VeloNews.com.
[ Photo: Dorothy Wong,
CyclingNews.com ]

VeloNews.com covered the reports that Lance Armstrong won the "A" Mens Race at the SantaCross cyclocross event over the weekend in Woodland Hills, California. CyclingNews.com has an excellent photo spread with plenty of shots of Lance, Tony Cruz, and fellow riders in seasonal costumes.

For some reason, CyclingNews.com mixed the name of this race up with Scary Fast 'Cross a cyclocross event that was organized by the same people and took place a few weeks earlier. Why would an event named "Scary Fast 'Cross" take place at the beginning of December? It's OK-- their photos are good.

It looks like they had great weather for this event. I bet the riders in Santa suits had hydration problems that day. According to the VeloNews report:

With the bell lap Armstrong had a 30 second lead on the now furious Santa #1 who had trained all summer with several T-Mobile riders in South Africa for this event. Lance rolled in for the win to a thunderous crowd. As Santa #1 crossed the line for 2nd he shook his fist at the crowd threatening to put them on the Naughty List too for not cheering louder for him.

Note the LiveStrong cycling jersey worn by Armstrong in this race. Has anyone seen a jersey like this available for sale? How much money would we have to raise for the LiveStrong program to receive one?

Posted by Dave Aiello at 1:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

LiveStrong Packaging (Front): Here is
a photo comparing the appearance of
the front of point-of-sale packaging for a
counterfeit (fake) LiveStrong Wristband with
the packaging for a genuine LiveStrong
Wristband. Click on the photo for a
much larger image. [ Photo: Dave Aiello ]

About a month ago, I pointed out the report that WCBS-TV in New York broadcast on the increasing availability of counterfeit LiveStrong Yellow Wristbands at convenience stores, dollar stores, and kiosks at shopping malls in the New York Metropolitan Area. At the time, I received a number of requests for photos illustrating the difference between the packaging used on counterfeit and legitimate LiveStrong wristbands. I'm happy to report that I finally have those photos.

In the photos shown at the right, a fake and real LiveStrong wristband are shown side-by-side. Clicking on either of the photos will display a much larger image. The larger photos will be a great deal more helpful for identification purposes.

• The price tag. I purchased this Fake LiveStrong Wristband for $3.00 in order to show you what a counterfeit product looked like. Retailers who are authorized to sell LiveStrong wristbands will only sell genuine wristbands and will not charge more than $1.00 in the United States.
• The slogan "COURAGE, STRENGTH, VICTORY" on the Fake wristband package. This slogan has never been used by the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
• The term "LIVESTRONG" does not have the trademark symbol next to it. The trademark symbol is the letters "TM" next to the "G" on the front of the Real package.
• The Nike logo is not present on the Fake package, but it is on some of the Real packages. Some genuine LiveStrong packaging shipped by the LAF does not have the Nike logo on it, but has other unique ways that it be identified.

LiveStrong Packaging (Back): Here is
a photo comparing the appearance of
the back of point-of-sale packaging for a
counterfeit (fake) LiveStrong Wristband and
the packaging for a genuine LiveStrong
Wristband. Click on the photo for a
much larger image. [ Photo: Dave Aiello ]

Moving on to the back of the packages, there are a number of obvious differences here that can be used to identify genuine LiveStrong Yellow Wristbands:

• Description of the LiveStrong Program on the Real wristband package. The description reads:

  The Lance Armstrong Foundation provides information and support to young cancer survivors and their families. Join Lance by wearing a "LIVE STRONG" yellow wristband. All proceeds benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation. www.laf.org

• $1 price on the Real wristband package. The $1 price is printed on the package at the factory.
• The UPC Code on some Real wristband packages. The Nike branded version of the LiveStrong wristband package has a UPC code that's scannable by a cash register. Some genuine LiveStrong wristband packages shipped by the LAF did not have the Nike logo and also did not have the UPC code or the reference to www.wearYELLOW.com shown here.
• The Lance Armstrong Foundation Logo on some Real wristband packages. Some genuine LiveStrong wristband packages have the Lance Armstrong Foundation logo printed on the back. The packages I've seen that have the LAF logo on the back do not have the Nike logo on the front or the www.wearYELLOW.com URL on the back.

I hope these photos help you pick out the counterfeit LiveStrong wristbands that are out there, so you can avoid buying them. If anyone has any photos of LiveStrong Wristband packaging that differs from these photos and you know are legitimate, send them to us at tips [at] operationgadget.com.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 1:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I answer about 100 questions a week from Operation Gadget readers about the LiveStrong Program of the Lance Armstrong Foundation. I don't normally post the questions and my answers because of the huge amount of text they would add to the bottom of the articles where readers leave their comments. However, I feel like it would help to publish a few of the exchanges periodically, so here is the first of what may become a series:

Wayne writes:

Hey u all,
Please tell me where i can get it in MUMBAI,INDIA. I love LANCE and wanna support this charity so much.

Please let me know.... thanks a million....'

Wayne

Dave Aiello's answer:

Wayne:
The best bet for you and most other people living outside the United States is to order a 10-pack of LiveStrong Yellow Wristbands from the Lance Armstrong Foundation On-Line Store at http://www.laf-store.org/.

Many people are looking for authentic LiveStrong wristbands at local shops overseas, but no one has reported that they are consistantly available in recent months. Quite a few people gripe about the shipping charges, the length of time it takes for the wristbands to arrive, and the fact that you have to take at least 10.

My response is that this is the most reliable way to get what you are looking for, and remember that the purpose of the LiveStrong Wristband is to promote awareness of the difficulties that cancer survivors face in their daily lives. With that in mind, buying 10 and giving eight or nine away to friends and family is exactly the kind of thing that supporters of the cause should be doing.

Continue reading "Answers to Common Questions about LiveStrong Yellow Wristband Orders and Shipments" »

Posted by Dave Aiello at 1:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Last week I reported that the Lance Armstrong Foundation contacted me to say that shipment of a 10-pack of LiveStrong yellow wristbands I ordered on October 1 would be slightly delayed. I received the shipment this morning.

The total time from order to delivery was just about five weeks, about a week more than the original 3 to 4 week delivery estimate, and quite acceptable considering the fact that I was notified that this particular shipment would be delayed. The Lance Armstrong Foundation continues to deliver on its promises.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Last night, Arnold Diaz presented a Shame on You report on WCBS, Channel 2 in New York, exposing distributors and retailers selling counterfeit LiveStrong Yellow Wristbands. Diaz reported that these wristbands are becoming widely available in the New York City metropolitan area.

He and a segment producer visited a Dollar Plus Store that he said was in Metuchen, NJ (apparently Dollar Plus on Amboy Avenue in Edison), a kiosk at the Staten Island Mall, and a wholesale importer at Broadway and 29th Street in Manhattan where they were able to purchase counterfeit LiveStrong wristbands. They captured the transactions each time with a hidden camera. They came back later with a regular TV camera and a large microphone, interviewed the people who sold the counterfeit wristbands, and challenged the wristbands' authenticity.

The Shame on You segment was on CBS 2 News at 6:00 and 11:00pm. I set my TiVo to record it. Subsequently, WCBS made the video available on their website [ Windows Media Player required ].

While I was out last evening, I went into a Krauszer's Convenience Store on Georges Road in North Brunswick to buy a Diet Coke. I unexpectedly found and purchased a counterfeit LiveStrong wristband for $3.00. It looks exactly like the counterfeit depicted in the Shame on You report. When I get a chance, I will post a photo of the counterfeit next to a real LiveStrong wristband, so Operation Gadget readers can see the difference.

WCBS deserves praise for an extremely informative report. I think they collected enough evidence to warrant some sort of investigation by the Attorneys General of New Jersey and New York. Since I bought a counterfeit wristband in a convenience store last night, I am going to call the New Jersey Attorney General's Office to ask how I can file a complaint.

Update: I filed a complaint with the Division of Consumer Affairs, alleging misconduct related to a legitimate charity.

Continue reading "LiveStrong Counterfeiters Exposed on CBS' Local News in New York City" »

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)