MetaFilter posts tagged with commerce

Fundable.com is closed permanently

clockworkjoe — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:51:23 -0800

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. (as a personal note, I've run 2 fundraisers/ransoms for my podcast through fundable and have no complaints. My third ransom was still underway and I have no idea if the money will show up or be refunded to the donors.)

More Web Magazines

netbros — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:35:28 -0800

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.

The Northwest Passage

Glibpaxman — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:14:23 -0800

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.

Better World Books

divabat — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 02:50:44 -0800

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.

Train Runs Through Market

phrontist — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 05:43:26 -0800

Train runs through bangkok market. (via)

Peddling toward Utopia

Toekneesan — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 10:49:26 -0800

“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?

Whole Planet

chuckdarwin — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 03:06:19 -0800

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.

Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200

ThePinkSuperhero — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 08:47:20 -0800

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.

Dana Gioia says, "I don't think that Americans were smarter then, but American culture was."

cgc373 — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 10:38:59 -0800

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.

Your favourite film sucks

chuckdarwin — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 03:13:41 -0800

'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?

I wanna be Snow White, and my bf will be Prince Charming, and we'll be married by the Evil Queen!

amberglow — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 10:59:01 -0800

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.

"One side has power, and one side does not"

Artw — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 14:51:34 -0800

A Mall Divided (youtube) - a musical tale of commerce, employment and electrical distribution for our times.

Human being = monster

Tarn — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 03:10:21 -0800

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)

Bad medicine

daksya — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 17:43:56 -0800

The problem of fake pharmaceutical drugs

"Come on baby, buy my SUV"

PenguinBukkake — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 10:35:30 -0800

" 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.' "

Citizen PhotoJournalism?

mmahaffie — Fri, 12 Aug 2005 18:56:46 -0800

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.

Currency Events

alms — Thu, 18 Nov 2004 12:32:10 -0800

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.

Economies of scale come to pop art!

geoff. — Sun, 07 Nov 2004 08:28:01 -0800

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.

U.S.Businesses File Four Times More Lawsuits Than Private Citizens

Postroad — Sun, 10 Oct 2004 19:07:44 -0800

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

WARNING: This is not a porn site

cbrody — Fri, 02 Jul 2004 13:26:40 -0800

You whores!

Penguin Warehouse

hama7 — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 18:38:07 -0800

Penguin Warehouse.

The Father of the Shopping Mall

jamsterdam — Wed, 24 Dec 2003 09:09:59 -0800

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.' "

beagle — Wed, 21 Aug 2002 13:46:03 -0800

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."

johnjreeve — Thu, 13 Jun 2002 09:51:07 -0800

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."

kirkaracha — Sun, 07 Apr 2002 19:17:07 -0800

eDesign is a new magazine/web site dedicated to "interactive design and commerce." Nice design; bummer about the frames.