Fundable.com is closed permanently. According to the site's current index, there is bad blood between the two founders of the site, Louis Helm and John Pratt. The recent story of Mary Robinette Kowal being ripped off was apparently the final straw. [more inside]
posted by clockworkjoe on Oct 1, 2009 - 116 comments

The New York Review of Ideas is a web magazine reporting about New York commerce, literature and politics. The Manzine is actually £2 for the print version, but some of the its best is also online.
posted by netbros on Sep 25, 2009 - 4 comments

Scientists are now revising earlier projections about the speed at which global warming will impact the arctic ice sheet. By 2013 it could very well disappear in the summer months, opening up new sea lanes for commerce and, potentially, "a quarter of the earths oil and natural gas resources". Several arctic countries are thinking ahead, while it appears others have been for quite some time.
posted by Glibpaxman on Nov 23, 2008 - 47 comments

Better World Books - Recently recognized by Fast Company as one of the best for-profit social enterprises of 2008, they offer a wide selection of new and used books with free shipping in the US and less than $3 shipping elsewhere. A portion of the profits go to fund literacy organizations such as Room to Read and WorldFund, and their shipping is carbon-neutral. The only thing missing is the ability to import Amazon wishlists.
posted by divabat on Jan 16, 2008 - 18 comments

Train runs through bangkok market. (via)
posted by phrontist on Dec 1, 2007 - 35 comments

“Our intentions are to be as sustainable a city as possible,” said Mr. Adams, Portland's city commissioner in charge of transportation. “That means socially, that means environmentally and that means economically. The bike is great on all three of those factors. You just can’t get a better transportation return on your investment than you get with promoting bicycling.” Many city planners agree that bikes make sense, but after two riders recently lost their lives in Portland one must wonder, is there a better way?
posted by Toekneesan on Nov 5, 2007 - 69 comments

Whole Foods takes London. This South Kensington flagship store is the "quasi-messianic" company's biggest ever, comprising 80,000 square feet spread out over three floors offering 10,000 grocery items. In true American style, shoppers can choose from 1,000 different wines, 425 cheeses, 40 types of sausage, 55 in-store chefs, a pub called The Bramley, a sushi bar, a champagne and oyster bar and a DJ-booth to play music for late-night shoppers. The locals seem overwhelmed by it all.
posted by chuckdarwin on Jun 29, 2007 - 86 comments

Busted! In one of the biggest counterfeit busts in years, a 19-month investigation reached its climax on Tuesday as federal officials conducted early-morning raids throughout the NY metropolitan area, arresting 29 people, seizing more than $230 million in merchandise and ultimately dismantling three operations believed to have imported more than $700 million in fake products over the last 24 months.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero on Jun 27, 2007 - 147 comments

Fifty years ago, I suspect that along with Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, and Sandy Koufax, most Americans could have named, at the very least, Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, Arthur Miller, Thornton Wilder, Georgia O'Keeffe, Leonard Bernstein, Leontyne Price, and Frank Lloyd Wright. Not to mention scientists and thinkers like Linus Pauling, Jonas Salk, Rachel Carson, Margaret Mead, and especially Dr. Alfred Kinsey.

The prepared text of the speech delivered by Dana Gioia at Stanford University Commencement on June 17, 2007.
posted by cgc373 on Jun 26, 2007 - 153 comments

'In defense of film critics' posits that 'Film critics [unlike food critics, etc] are expected to be cheerleaders.' I guess we're not supposed to think it's odd that the piece was written by paper's resident film critic. He does ask at least one good question, though: why have so many truly awful [and poorly reviewed ] films done so well at the the box office this year?
posted by chuckdarwin on Apr 27, 2007 - 36 comments

Fairy Tale Weddings for all -- Disney, under fire for discriminating at its parks, opens up its popular (and expensive!) Fairy Tale Weddings and Honeymoons to same-sex couples.
posted by amberglow on Apr 8, 2007 - 35 comments

A Mall Divided (youtube) - a musical tale of commerce, employment and electrical distribution for our times.
posted by Artw on Dec 18, 2006 - 9 comments

You are the stock of the corporation known as the U.S.A. Following the recent discussion of a Jordan Maxwell video, colourfully dismissed as "new age sewage", I thought Mefites would like (and/or rather, I would like Mefites) to apply their knowledge and insight to a far more topical example of Mr. Maxwell's work. A jumping off point: The law administered in the courts is maritime law. (Google video @ 1 Hr)
posted by Tarn on Aug 12, 2006 - 15 comments

The problem of fake pharmaceutical drugs
posted by daksya on Dec 22, 2005 - 21 comments

" Jim's ghost was in my ear, and I felt terrible". Like all top classic-rock franchises, The Doors can exploit a lucrative afterlife in television commercials. Offers keep coming in, such as the $15 million dangled by Cadillac last year to lease the song "Break On Through (to the Other Side)" to hawk its luxury SUVs. To the surprise of the corporation and the chagrin of his former bandmates, drummer John Densmore vetoed the idea. He said he did the same when Apple Computer called with a $4-million offer, and every time "some deodorant company wants to use 'Light My Fire.' "
posted by PenguinBukkake on Oct 5, 2005 - 119 comments

Could any of us really score a photo scoop? Scoopt is an on-line photo agency that purports to help us amateur photographers sell photos to news outlets. You join for free, but they take a 50% cut of the profit. Is it worth that to have an on-call agent? Just in case I happen across a major news event some day? On the other hand, I like being a part of the Creative Commons world of Flickr, where my "artsy" shots are available for further artistic use.
posted by mmahaffie on Aug 12, 2005 - 5 comments

Will Currency Wars Effect You? Oldman gives a quick run-through of the geopolitics of America's budget deficit, with some likely scenarios for the next 2-5 years.
posted by alms on Nov 18, 2004 - 26 comments

All Pop Art. Do you like Andy Warhol pop art? Did you want your face to be on it? Is your narcissism overwhelming? I always viewed pop art as having a sense of irony, poking fun of mass culture. When mass culture then embraces and produces pop art based on themselves, is this a reflection of the apocolypse? I think this is similar to going back in time and meeting yourself.
posted by geoff. on Nov 7, 2004 - 12 comments

U.S.Businesses File Four Times More Lawsuits Than Private Citizens [...]The report also found that businesses and their attorneys were 69 percent more likely than individual tort plaintiffs and their attorneys to be sanctioned by federal judges for filing frivolous claims or defenses. The report, Frequent Filers: Corporate Hypocrisy in Accessing the Courts, is available by clicking here. “Corporations think America is too litigious only when they are on the receiving end of a lawsuit,” said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen. “But when they feel aggrieved, businesses are far more likely to take their beef to court than are consumers.”[...] more
posted by Postroad on Oct 10, 2004 - 19 comments

You whores!
posted by cbrody on Jul 2, 2004 - 15 comments

Penguin Warehouse.
posted by hama7 on Dec 30, 2003 - 15 comments

The Father of the Shopping Mall "His most remarkable innovation--unveiled in Edina, Minn., in 1956--was the first enclosed shopping mall, a climate-controlled community of retailing under a single vast canopy. But it was intended to be more than just a place to shop. It was to provide a center to otherwise centerless developments, offering community, entertainment and even enlightenment. Gruen lamented that Americans, at the time, were living 'detached lives in detached houses.' With his shopping-center designs, Mr. Hardwick writes, 'Gruen hoped to offer a corrective to this grim and soulless American environment.' "
posted by jamsterdam on Dec 24, 2003 - 30 comments

How to make money off terrorism. This outfit will e-mail you "near real-time notices about terrorism related news and events as a free public service" and expects 50,000 to 100,000 subscribers. According to their news-release page, "when subscribership reaches significant levels the email alerts will be an effective advertising medium for in-house efforts as well as outside advertisers." As in, for example, "Alert: there has been a biological warfare attack. This message sponsored by Clearasil Anti-Bacterial Soap."
posted by beagle on Aug 21, 2002 - 13 comments

This saturday is the 2002 National Day of Action
Online communities have done a good job of covering stories about big corporations abusing their powers online to squelch the efforts of programmers, researchers, designers, music enthusiasts, etc. But what about their offline agenda? Masquerading beneath the guise of the Adventure Pass program is an attempt to extend corporate control to our public lands.

From the press release: "Among others, primary sponsors of the fee demo and Adventure Pass are Walt Disney Corp., KOA Campgrounds, and Coleman Co. If the fee demo becomes law, the legislation will allow these companies and other to develop commercial enterprises on public forest lands in partnerships with the Forest Service."
posted by johnjreeve on Jun 13, 2002 - 1 comment

eDesign is a new magazine/web site dedicated to "interactive design and commerce." Nice design; bummer about the frames.
posted by kirkaracha on Apr 7, 2002 - 13 comments

CNN to start charging for web video.
Is this the beginning of the end for the "free" web, or will this just kill off all of the greedheads whilst letting the web develop at a more natural, evolutionary pace?
posted by jpburns on Mar 20, 2002 - 12 comments

Click and pay? Imagine if one company held the right to collect a fee each time an Internet user clicked on a Web site link...
posted by Spoon on Feb 11, 2002 - 16 comments

Culture Jamming hits again. What are the effects of such campaigns, and is it just vandalism or a valid way to fight what some call the corporate enemy.
posted by plemeljr on Nov 14, 2001 - 37 comments

Are the rights of states unfairly impacting commerce? It isn't just Ford selling used cars that is being curtailed, kafkaesque laws regarding the direct shipment of alcohol across state lines also result in less consumer choice. Where is the middle ground?
posted by machaus on Aug 30, 2001 - 12 comments

Don't tax my Amazon Purchase! Legislation is in process to permanently prohibit taxes on Internet purchases. Whatever will Massachusetts and California do for revenue? Tax a satellite or two, I'd guess.
posted by dwivian on Aug 3, 2001 - 9 comments

Nordstrom, J.C. Penney, and FTD take some advice from Yahoo's porn advocates and drop Christian on-line store because of its connections to the American Family Association. Just Surreal. Or The Power of Porn?
posted by skallas on Jun 3, 2001 - 8 comments

This story about the penny seemed to me to be strangely beautiful, for reasons I can't quite define. Money is so interesting. Maybe I should become a numismastist.
posted by jammer on May 16, 2001 - 12 comments

Half.com expands to list used electronics. The site (owned by EBay) now allows sellers to list used electronics, computers, sporting goods, and trading cards, but receiving a defective or damaged computer will prove to be much harder to rectify with Customer Service than receiving a scratched CD or DVD. Not to mention the postage cost...
posted by nyukid on Apr 25, 2001 - 4 comments

I think they got a bargain. A company which was in financial trouble let a kid come in for two weeks as an intern. He took a look at their business, immediately set up a web site for them to sell their product, and they promptly received an order for 70,000 pounds through that web site. It appears it will save their company.
posted by Steven Den Beste on Dec 28, 2000 - 5 comments

Buy Jesus at Wallyworld! [via /usr/bin/girl]
posted by plinth on Dec 21, 2000 - 1 comment

"They appear to have been skilled workers capable of stupendous productivity under harsh circumstances. When they failed, it was not from lack of inventiveness, but because of poor leadership, bad luck or the inherent instability of all-male commercial ventures."

It sounds like the writer is describing the typical failed dot-com. Actually, he's writing about 17th Century commercial colonization of North America. The similarities are quite amusing. Read on...
posted by ratbastard on Nov 23, 2000 - 1 comment

Urban Fetch Stops Selling to Consumers They're strictly B-to-B from now on. They're also laying off around 160 people. They are having a pretty good sale, though.
posted by Doug on Oct 13, 2000 - 4 comments

Western Union's site is down, as hackers have accessed their "secure" database. Western Union's only suggestion so far is to tell all customers to cancel their credit card accounts. Is anything really secure on the internet? Do you trust amazon to hold your credit card numbers, Wells Fargo to keep your checking account private, and Kozmo employees not to pilfer your credit card numbers for fun?
posted by mathowie on Sep 10, 2000 - 8 comments

(close-up on my face, quickly zooming out to an overhead shot as I yell) Noooooooooo!!!!! TicketWeb, one of the last places you could buy a ticket to a concert that wasn't Ticketmaster, just got bought out by Ticketmaster. TicketWeb's slogan is "The Online Ticketing Alternative." Not anymore....hello, monopoly anyone?
posted by mathowie on May 30, 2000 - 7 comments

can states have a foreign policy? the Supreme Court today will review whether state and local governments can protest human rights in other nations by restricting purchases from companies that operate in those countries. the court will decide whether states, by restricting purchases, are making foreign trade policy, which, under the Constitution, is the duty of the federal government.
posted by palegirl on Mar 22, 2000 - 0 comments

Scientific American has an interesting article on brand loyalty on the web. Researchers at MIT are concluding that people stick with familiar commerce sites. Even though the web is supposed to enable shoppers to choose from any site, they instead stay with their favorite, even paying more for the security and familiarity. The researchers also concluded that $20 off coupons and bargain deals aren't going to bankrupt top sites, because it's a considerable investment (from a user's prospective) to shop at a new commerce site, and the offers offset that cost accordingly.
posted by mathowie on Feb 21, 2000 - 0 comments

I buy a lot of stuff online: books, music, stereo stuff, clothes, camping equipment, watches, and computers, but I can never find shoes online. Yeah, I know it's pretty hard to try on shoes over the web, but I have big feet (size 13 or 14 depending on shoe manufacturer) and finding shoes in a store is usually a problem. So I found some skate shoes at Fogdog the night before last, and I noticed the package is going to be here tomorrow. They only charged me $2.99 for shipping, but they sent it 2nd day air. Does Amazon share their records with anyone? Does Fogdog have access to my VISA records? I'm happy to get my stuff quicker and cheaper than I thought, but it seems a bit weird. I keep thinking I'm flagged somewhere in a database as the gullible impluse buying type...
posted by mathowie on Nov 5, 1999 - 0 comments

Gomez.com looks like they're doing the same thing that Bizrate is doing: rating the dotcommerce companies. It seems like a lot of companies have been copying the Amazon interface, now I see why. In the 'Ease of Use' category, Amazon is number one in books, toys, and music (they would have swept all their categories but Borders won for Video).
posted by mathowie on Oct 29, 1999 - 0 comments

Wow, never pay more than necessary for anything! This is a nutty little app, it automatically queries dozens of ecommerce sites while you surf. The downside is someone might be convinced to buy a book after reading several reviews at Amazon, but their RUSure app would tell them that it's 2 bucks cheaper at Buy.com, so they'd get it there. Before a shopper had to do this deliberately, now it's done automatically. This app could be as big as ICQ, since the founders of both companies are family.
posted by mathowie on Oct 19, 1999 - 0 comments

I really don't see the point in beenz, the so-called Web currency. It seems like a banal attempt to make sites sticky through the same old crap.
posted by tdecius on Sep 26, 1999 - 0 comments

If you thought Microsoft's Amazon.com Purchase Circle was amusing, check out the ecletic cocktail of the members of the United States Senate, with their Federalist papers, sugar diets, and Geisha memories. And, of course, there's their George Stephanopoulos fetish.
posted by tdecius on Aug 27, 1999 - 1 comment