From Amazon's press release:

These tell-it-like-it-is consumer advocates will provide fellow Amazon customers with top gift picks for the season as well as helpful tips on cutting costs over the holidays. They have also been given exclusive, early access to some of Amazon’s top Black Friday deals so they can share their favorites with fellow shoppers beginning today.

They haven't been paid, says the NYT, but they have been flown to Seattle to do interviews on behalf of the company — and were given free products to review and keep.

From the NYT:

The freebies are part of the Amazon Vine program the company started last year. Top reviewers get free products if they promise to write about them.

Despite the potential for conflicts of interest, the program seems to be run the way customers would want it to. Amazon says it does not weed out negative comments...

What do you think of this? Can these people really be called "consumer advocates?"

Amazon.com Tries User-Generated Public Relations [NYT]
Amazon.com Announces First-Ever Holiday Customer Review Team (Press Release) [Business Wire]

SmartHippo
SmartHippo says the mortgage process is too complicated for consumers, with too much data hidden from plain view. Their service focuses on transparency in the home lending process. Imagine everyone in your company trading info on their salaries before the next employee review—HR wouldn't like it, but it would arm you with info you didn't previously have, to better negotiate for yourself. SmartHippo lets users build lending profiles and share information on their mortgage rates and lenders, so that you can compare notes before you settle on a rate of your own. Lenders also have a presence on the site and can share their rates directly.

The service claims to be truly transparent in collecting and sharing data among users—no bait and switch with interest rates. This month, they're rolling out a revamped rate search engine that pulls data from over 200 lenders. They claim that since lenders don't purchase position in their database, it's a great way to see what are frequently better rates from small banks and credit unions that you wouldn't otherwise see, since they don't have large advertising budgets to get the word out to consumers. If you try it out, let us know what you think.

Credit Karma
We’ve previously recommended Credit Karma, which offers a near-FICO estimate of your credit score for free. Their new tool is a Credit Simulator, where you can play out various scenarios—applying for a new credit card, taking out a personal loan, making six months of on-time payments, declaring bankruptcy—to see how they affect your score.

MoneyAisle
This is an online auction site where banks compete for your CD and high yield savings account business. The banks participate in a true reverse auction in real time, using bots to increase rates until a winner emerges. The founder emphasizes that this is not comparison shopping or sponsored bids—it's basically eBay in reverse, where participating banks compete for you.

The site is four months old and has around 100 participating banks and credit unions, so they admit that they don't always have the very best rate, but the number of institutions are increasing. On the other hand, they also don't allow low-rated rated banks to participate, so bids will only come from "healthy" institutions.

Yodlee
Yodlee's new offering is called PayToday through their BillPay partnership with Western Union. Through Yodlee you can pay immediately-due bills (as in, it's due today) with over 1,000 billers. It's not cheap at $15 per use, but it "solves the problem of last-minute payments."

One interesting note if you're into finding weird little ways to save money: Yodlee says if you're paying $5-10k a month on a mortgage payment, making last-minute payments can actually work out cheaper than regular payments, because it buys you a couple days more float time on your funds each month.

Mint
Mint's big news is that it officially left beta today, and that it now offers lots of investment tracking tools.

Thrive from Loudwater Labs
Thrive—which looks a little like a citrus-flavored version of Mint—attempts to combine the data reporting that every personal finance site offers with some level of advice and financial planning. We're not sure how Thrive makes money, though, and when we checked out the question on their FAQ, they didn't provide much info on that either, although they announced yesterday that they've partnered with Credit.com.

Fun features: a numerical "Financial Health" score calculated based on your data, and interesting factoids like "You can survive without a job for n days," "You can afford a home priced at n dollars," and "You can retire on n per month."

BillShrink
We've discussed BillShrink before—the site finds the most valuable credit card offers for you, and lets you adjust your criteria quickly (and anonymously) to search for specific types of offers.

They've launched a third service called My Account, which lets you register with the site so that it can keep tabs on your criteria and keep updating the best offers for you.

Boulevard R
This is a web version of meeting with a financial planner to develop an investing and saving strategy—they describe their offering as a "3-step process that puts the interests of consumers first and lays out a clear, actionable path to financial security." You start off by dragging-and-dropping your life goals onto a timeline of when you hope to accomplish them, then you prioritize some other goals, then input your monthly savings and liabilities. The site then comes up with an animated chart showing what you'll need to do in the coming years to meet those initial goals.

Once the fun interactive part is over, you have two choices: for free, you can receive a financial plan on one of your goals; for $80, you get a comprehensive plan, access to lots of professional advice, and assorted online tools. As you can imagine from the $80 fee, Boulevard is targeting people making approximately $100k a year with roughly $200k in savings. But hey, even if you're not in that customer demographic, you can still play with the initial goal planning widget.

Inner8
A social site that matches people to people, stocks to stocks, your perception of market conditions to stocks, and and people to stocks. (That's how they described it.) They also said it's like a Match.com for investment advice, and sure enough, they use 45 different criteria to develop a profile of you.

In one example, you enter a stock—say, Apple—and you can see stocks that move with Apple, or stocks that run against it. Inner8 says the value is that some of the stocks you'll see will be counterintuitive, but supported by the data and their fuzzy logic. They said "fuzzy logic" several times. Lots of fuzzy logic in this service, apparently.

Another feature lets you see how other people are doing with stock selections, so you can track their choices. Yet another feature shows stocks that are "appropriate" to your profile.

We'll need someone with better investing experience to check out what Inner8 offers and see whether it looks worthwhile as a suite of investment research tools.

Rate Surfer by My Best Interest
Poor Rate Surfer looked old-skool and kind of ugly compared to the other screenshots being shown this morning. Its also Java-based, so, yay for cross-platform compatibility, boo for being slow-assed Java. (My Mac product ownership is revealing itself here.)

The application runs on your desktop and doesn't connect with any company middle-man, so it theoretically offers better privacy than most everything else on display today. (We're not saying better security, just more privacy.) The app downloads your credit card data, then goes out to bank websites and pulls rate info on comparable products, and then collects all of it into one dashboard for you to compare services.

There's no third-party aggregating being involved—it's just scraping bank websites directly and displaying them for you, so if you really don't want to trust third-parties with your accounts, here's a way to do it from your desktop.

The app also lets you control all of your bank accounts from a single interface, and lets you set up a phone account so that you can execute bank transactions—things like balance transfers—from your phone via text message.

MyMoney on Facebook, by FiServ
Their goal: connecting generation Y with financial providers, because they earn a considerable amount of money, and stand to inherit a lot of ca$h from dying Boomer parents. Hey, that's what the guy said, basically. They're here today to talk about a FaceBook app called "MyMoney" that they introduced earlier this year.

If you're shopping for a place to store your money, MyMoney hooks you up with banks and credit unions, based on search criteria you enter—things like "auto loans" or your zip code. It also shares reviews and commentary from trusted friends (the Facebook version, at least) to help you evaluate offerings.

If you already have a bank or credit union account and it's cooperating with the MyMoney app, you can authorize that account through MyMoney and will be able to see balances and other account info directly on your Facebook page.

Some of you may remember that I am being laid off in four days, and may wonder why I, of all people, have been assigned to do this extra bout of work on behalf of Consumerist. I know, right? But Ben has asked me to watch the presentations and report their new features for you, the readers, so I have agreed. I have ulterior motives: I have also brought along a pile of business cards to pass out, and I figure I can pocket a bunch of these croissants and freeze them, then live off of them through Thanksgiving.

Here's the first group of customer-facing service being discussed this morning:

QuickenOnline
Intuit's fully free (as of yesterday) online money tracking service has been intentionally simplified—their presenter kept emphasizing that this is not supposed to be as dense or complicated as their desktop software. Features include a "What's Left" summary of your dwindling account balance, as well as a cool-looking and potentially very useful "Spending Money Outlook"—a fancy chart that graphs your budget over a timeline and pegs scheduled payments to your balance, so you can visually take in your budget in the weeks to come in a purely graphical representation. They'll also text you daily balance updates and let you know whether or not you're on track to making your payments.

WeSeed
If you're a bit afraid of the stock market—and we don't mean just this past month, because that doesn't count—then you might really appreciate WeSeed, which is basically a giant sandbox where you can play with investments using fake money with real data.

The site pulls you into investing as soon as you hit the site, by asking you what you like—pizza, dogs, survivalism—and then throwing specific companies at you that you might want to investigate. From there you can read about the company, check out its financial history, or see what other users are saying about it in the comments section. We're not sure what value the comments section will have in real life, but the social aspect will probably be a welcome safety net for beginners who want to talk about investing as they learn.

We're impressed with the concept. It will look too simple for knowledgeable investors, but if you've been putting off investing because you don't know what you're doing, it looks like a great immersion-based way to learn. (We have a feeling it will be good for teens and tweens, too.)

Wesabe
Personal finance site Wesabe now has Twitter functionality—you can tweet data into your wesabe account as you're running around buying those dreaded budget-killing lattes financial advisors are always warning you about.

Another new feature Wesabe is rolling out: graphs you can use to see how you spend in particular categories, then compare to how other Wesabe members (they want you to call them "Wesabeans") spend compared to you. Wesabe says over time the community data will build into a library of spending graphs that you can pull up and map your own data against.

Wesabe also lets you rate your relationship to merchants: fan, user, or captive, although I'm not sure yet how this helps your spending.

ZoneAlarm ForceField by Checkpoint Software
Cybercrime is coming after you! Arrrggh!!! "Hooking into your web browser" is a "new thing this year" that's threatening your way of life. Bleyarg, ZoneAlarm's presentation is kind of vague.

ZoneAlarm ForceField has heuristics, which I think are what causes allergic reactions in your nose, that they use to identify phishing sites as soon as they're created—sort of a SpamSieve for phishing sites. FF also watches out for things like keylogging software.

Basically, ForceField looks like an antivirus program specifically for your web browser, which means it will likely be just as intrusive ("We've just stopped 66 MB of data from being spied upon!") and annoying. Until we look more closely at it, we'd suggest your best defense against phishing and scams is to continue being as careful as we hope you're already being.

FiLife
FiLife says their goal is to help find the best products available to you. To do that, they've amassed a vast directory of "product types," and then huge amounts of supporting content to explain the product types and provide reviews and recommendations.

New navigation tool, a "product picker." Their launch product picker is for credit cards: you enter data on your credit card usage patterns and desires, and FiLife filters out the noise and

FiLife also uses proprietary algorithms to come up with a "Personal Value" of the selected product—for instance, credit card A has a personal value to you of $84. We don't fully get it how that translates into real money for you, but it definitely works as a sort of score you can use to quickly compare choices.

Another fun toy is the Stacker, a graphical representation of your personal data. In the example given, you can enter your salary and your age range, and the Stacker reveals a pyramid of little animated people and shows where you stand among your peers or the nation. It looks like a fun way to explore your own personal data and gain a different perspective on things.

And that's the first batch. Off to grab some more croissants, and then we'll hear from the next batch of presenters.

Vickie writes:

I have used the Delta PermEnamel Products for several years with marvelous results. This was an isolated incident which I would not expect to recur. This isolated incident has been resolved to my complete satisfaction. Thank you, Delta Creative, Inc.

Vickie Silcox/Artist
A Painted Setting

(Photo: Getty Images)

I have used the Delta PermEnamel Products for several years with marvelous results. This was an isolated incident which I would not expect to recur. This isolated incident has been resolved to my complete satisfaction. Thank you, Delta Creative, Inc.

Vickie Silcox/Artist
A Painted Setting

Congrats, Vickie! We're glad Delta Creative came through in the end.

If you're finding this for the first time, you can still read the original post below:

First of all, this is a story about Delta Creative, not Delta Airlines. Delta Creative makes craft and hobby supplies, including something called PermEnamel glass paint. Vickie, a glass artist who says she's painted "literally thousands of pieces" using PermEnamel, had it fail on her recently. It ruined almost 100 of her pieces and cost her approximately $2,000. She says Delta confirmed the product failed, and approved a reimbursement request—but then "the President of Delta Creative, Bill George, stepped in and said they don't guarantee their products, nor is he in the business of reimbursement," and he denied it.

Here's Vickie's story:

I have lost nearly 100 pieces, at a value of nearly $2,000.00, due to the failure of Delta Permenamel surface conditioner. Their technical department confirmed the failure, the Director of Marketing approved the claim for time and materials, and the President declined reimbursement to me stating that Delta is not in the business of reimbursement! Most importantly, he stated to me that the company does not and will not guarantee the products.

I have painted thousands of pieces, with fantastic results, never one dissatisfied client....you might say I was a Delta disciple, proficient in every way in the application of these products.......but I am no longer that gal. I will never touch this product again.

I lost the ability to sell these 100 pieces and Delta Creative is responsible, and I am now suffering the aftermath. Loss of inventory to sell, loss of revenue to purchase glass, paint, book future shows. Cut off at the knees.

I'm posting this to give other Glass Painters using Delta Permenamel products the opportunity to weigh the risk that they are taking when using this paint. And to seriously evaluate the consequences, if the process fails. You will have no recourse.

I have reported Delta Creative with the Better Business Bureau, and will take further steps if necessary for them to right this wrong.

Finally, when you read that label that says "dishwasher safe", what it should really say is "sometimes dishwasher safe" or perhaps...."dishwasher safe only at the Delta Plant.

You may not be in the business of "guaranteeing" products, Bill George, but you'd think some sort of goodwill reimbursement at the very least would be a smart idea. Regardless of your behavior, however, we agree with Vickie that other glass artists should know that if (when?) PermEnamel fails, it will be their problem, not Delta Creative's.

(Photo: Getty Images)

TopClassAction [Official Site]

The "What's Left" approach might be too vague for those of you who want details, details, details when it comes to your money. Instead of presenting you a dashboard of data, Rudder uses what our editor Ben called a "no-thought-required cash flow management" approach. Not that there's anything wrong with that, especially if you feel like you need to take control of your finances but don't know where to start.

Click here to see a sample Rudder email.

As Cnet puts it:

Rudder's name for this magic number is "what's left" and it figures out what you've got for discretionary spending based on when you're getting your next paycheck and what's in your various savings and checking accounts, compared to credit card payments and other bills that need paying off. The entire process is shown to users, something Roy hopes will educate as much as it does take the work out of doing the math yourself.

As far as security, Rudder asks for read-only access to your accounts through CashEdge; Rudder itself doesn't store any user names, passwords, or account numbers. It's free as in ad-supported—you can see an example of the sort of ads they serve in the sample email above.

Rudder.com
"Rudder steers personal finance to your in-box" [Cnet]

The funds are FDIC-insured and deposited in West Bank, which has been in Des Moines, Iowa since 1893.

If you decide you need the cash and want to stop saving up with SmartyPig, you can close your goal ("break the piggy bank") and withdraw or transfer your money.

If you're looking for something with built-in restrictions and tools that will both help and force you to save up for specific purchase goals, instead of whipping out the plastic, SmartyPig could be worth a shot.

Smarty Pig [Official Site]

The site has been around for a bit, here's a few other people who've written reviews about it worth checking out:

Get Rich Slowly [Get Rich Slowly]
SmartyPig Review: With Less Fees, Are Piggy Banks Back? [My Money Blog]
Social Networking Meets Savings Accounts: SmartyPig Launches this Week [NetBanker]
Some people had trouble with the sign-up, but I was able to clickity-click and get rolling within minutes.

Just sign up, hand over your bank username and login (yes, this is potentially dangerous), and reply to a text message on your cellphone to get it running. After that you can text BAL to 636363 to get your balances and last 5 transactions, along with a few other commands. You can also set it up to send you a daily message with your account balances, alert you when your balance goes below a certain level, or alert you if a purchase over X amount gets charged to your account.

I gave it a shot and it was quick and worked perfectly. It's a very streamlined service but it's handy for checking on your balances on-the-go, for free. Some banks will charge you a fee just to check your balance from an ATM. It's also great if your bank is the kind that will let you withdraw from the ATM or use your debit for more than your balance and then charge you fees for it. Now you have no excuse for not knowing how much money you have on hand.

QuickenBeam [Official Site]

Pike Place Roast Coffee:

Chris: "I like the old "burnt" coffee just fine."

Ben: "This tastes like 'coffee.' Like 'acme brand coffee.'" Meg: "Like from Looney Toons?" Ben: "Yes, exactly."

Carey: "Easily overwhelmed by the milk."

Meg: "If you told me this was Dunkin' Donuts coffee I wouldn't punch you in the face and call you a liar."

Apple Bran Muffin:

The Apple Bran Muffin has 330 calories and costs $1.75

Ben: "This muffin is the sh*t. It has a lot of sugar, though."

Carey: "It tastes like Frosted Flakes in muffin form. It's Grrrrrrrrreat."

Meg: "I can get behind this muffin." Chris: "Don't you pretty much just love muffins, though?" Meg: "Ok, well. Yes. Shut up."

Perfect Oatmeal:

Perfect Oatmeal has 140-390 calories depending on the toppings you choose. It costs $2.45.

Chris: "I just don't get it. It's nothing you wouldn't do at home with instant oatmeal. There's no Starbucks touch to it. People who eat oatmeal eat it at home or microwave it at work. It tasted fine, but I don't get it."

Carey: "I'm offended by the term 'perfect oatmeal.' It wasn't perfect. It was all right. And it costs $2.45."

Meg: "The nuts are good. I don't know about $2.45 good, but good."

Ben: "Once you add the nuts, there's something to talk about."

Captain Duvel Moneycat:"NOM NOM NOM NOM GET OUT OF THE WAY NOM MOVE OVER NOM"

Power Protein Plate:

The Power Protein Plate has 330 calories and costs $4.95. It contains a hard-boiled egg, peanut butter, a small bagel, grapes, apples and cheese.

Chris: "This is a good package, but I don't like hard boiled eggs."

Ben: "Good portion size. I like it."

Carey: "This is an airplane breakfast."

Meg: "I would buy this at the airport and take it on United Airlines because it doesn't cost 9 %#%@-ing dollars."

Which of these options, if any, would you personally buy? Any final thoughts?

Chris: "I have already bought the "Stella" (280 calories, $1.75) and will again. It's a "not unhealthy" choice. I'm impressed with the changes Starbucks has made overall. It's true that the breakfast sandwiches stink up the place. It was not a good smell. Regularly brewing the coffee makes a difference as well."

Ben: "I'd have to have a reason to eat at Starbucks, but if I did, I'd get the protein pack. That's your 4 food groups right there, and its a sensible portion. It's convenient. And there's pepper. For the egg. They even peel it for you. That's great."

Carey: "If Starbucks showed up every morning with a breakfast like this, there are some days when I would open the door."

Meg: "The oatmeal was a little pricey for what it was, but it did taste good, especially once you added the nuts. I would eat that muffin again. Damn, I love muffins."

Captain Duvel Moneycat: "I love this oatmeal more than anything I have ever known. It has opened my eyes and given my life purpose. Never again will I take for granted the miracle of God's finest creation — the oat. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to lick the floor where someone accidentally dropped some."

Seeing the coffee ground story I was completely stoked to head upstairs and try out the new coffee ground solution. Outcome...overall a big fail.

Shorty63136 hit it on the head. I used about the same amount of water that a small 3rd world nation uses to rinse the last bit of ground out of my hair. Aargh... I just rubbed the back of my ear and found another ground. Yeesh.

As a facial and foot scrub it was fine but as a body scrub I don't recommend it for anyone past the body hair level of "smooth". Again, so much water to get off so few grounds.

Overall, I vaguely smell like the days when I was a barista. Best to leave the past in the past in this instance.

Past the body I really don't think I'd put grounds on a pet just because coffee is toxic for them and I'm not sure I could prevent grounds getting in their mouth. Plus, with all the hair, I have no clue how many lakes I'd have to drain to get Hungry the Cat clean.

Here are several representative snippets:

"I have two preschoolers (ages 2 and 4) and this pool is just the right size for them."

"It is the worst product I'd ever bought from Toys R US and I'll never go to Six Flags! Don't buy it."

"One person can't slide down the slide while one person is in the pool let alone have 2 people sitting in it! The slide is so small and when you turn on the hose to let the sprinklers come down the orange top collapses and has no use!"

"As every one else has said this pool is tiny maybe good for 1 or 2 toddlers. Picture on the front is NOT accurate. A 6 year old can't go down the slide with his legs out because they hit the wall. My 3 year old hardly fit. Buy a sprinkler for $5.00 my kids had more fun with that."

The box admonishes buyers "product may not be as appears on image;" a gross understatement for a gross distortion.

SPIN SPIN SPIN [Popper Font] (Thanks to Paul!)
Banzai Complete Water Park [Amazon]
(Photo: davehwng)

The Discount Zone where we bought the Drank seemed as excited about it as we were. They had a large poster in the front window that advised us that consuming Drank may "cause one to lean." When we made our way to the beverage coolers, we found fake VIP passes allowing one to be part of the "official Drank crew."

Then our excitement took a big hit: Drank costs $3 per can, plus tax. Still, we wanted to find out how it tasted and if it actually had any soporific effect, so we proceeded.

Ingredients
Drank contains several roll-slowing supplements: valerian root, melatonin, and rose hips. Oh, and lots of high-fructose corn syrup. My fiancee is getting a Pharm.D., and she helpfully went on Lexi-Comp to check these ingredients out. What follows is not medical advice, and may not be entirely accurate, as I was leaning pretty hard while I took notes on what she was saying.

Valerian Root: Used for restlessness and sleep disorders. The effect is in the same class (anxiolytic) as Xanax and Valium, but considerably weaker. Valerian root is what the doctor in Fight Club advised Tyler Durden to chew when he couldn't sleep. Taking it with alcohol increases the "risk" of sedation. Seems pretty legitimate.

Melatonin: We release melatonin throughout the day, and supplements may help regulate deficiencies that might occur from jet lag or other sleep disorders. My fiancee says, "Some study found that melatonin gives you a rash on your junk, and it took 10 days to go away." Apparently the proper medical term for this is "fixed drug eruption."

Rose hips: Rose hips are pretty much worthless, but they contain a lot of vitamin C and may help prevent urinary tract infections, which is a common affliction among certified gangstas.

Taste
We did two taste tests: first we drank Drank straight, then later at night we mixed it with vodka to see if it was an acceptable anti-substitute for Red Bull (yes, we know Red Bull and vodka is disgusting, but we were curious if Vodka Drank would be just as gross or something worse). After pouring two Dranks, neat, I inhaled deeply. It had a distinctly grapey bouquet with a grapish nose tastes like grape soda. Nothing but grape soda. When you mix it with vodka, it tastes like vodka and grape soda, although it reminded me more of a Sparks than Red Bull and vodka. Anyone buying Drank for taste is probably better off spending $3 on grape soda, which would probably purchase a few liters.

Effects
After my first drink of Drank, I felt pretty sleepy. I'd only been up for three hours, but I ended up taking a sixty-minute nap. This was probably a placebo effect, and there were several confounding variables that dispel any causality, e.g., my couch is really comfortable, my dogs were already napping on the couch, and joining them looked like a good idea. So the first Drank drinking was inconclusive. When I mixed a drink of Drank with vodka and drank that Drank drink, I didn't feel anything. Nonetheless, I went to bed almost five hours earlier than I did the night before, and was only up for about eleven hours total. I really hope that was the effect of Drank; otherwise I'm a lazy sloth.

Conclusion
It's probably no surprise—Drank isn't worth it. Three dollars is pretty expensive for a can of sugar water, so unless its supplements actually work, it's a rip off. The effects are nowhere near what I've experienced when I've been prescribed opiates like Vicodin or Codeine; it's not even comparable to doxylamine succinate, the sedative found in NyQuil and some over-the-counter sleeping pills, although there was no groggy hangover the next morning. Bottom line: if you're looking for the taste of Drank, buy some grape soda; if you're looking for the effects of Drank, have a glass of red wine.

Pros: Sweet torque horsepower to weight ratio and tight braking. It's fun to zip around in, and really easy to park.
Cons: Cheap plastic interior. The controls feel flimsy and I was worried about breaking them. It was like fondling a fancy blender from Target.
Mixed Blessing: People kept looking at me.
Upshot: I'll stick to my bicycle and renting the cheaper cars from Zipcar.

(Photo: sam.soneja)

Amy points out that "the next cheapest 'New York City' hotels Expedia offers" are all in New Jersey, and all above $58/night.

Check out the full article for more reviews on the cheapest places you can stay in NYC.

"A few details about Expedia's '$58/night in NYC' ad" [NewYorkology]

FYI, this is test data, not my money.

PREVIOUSLY: Mint.com - A New Free Personal Finance Management Site

Santa Clara University School of Law professor Eric Goldman, who has advised RealSelf on the case, posts about the issue on his personal blog:

No matter how many times I see it—and in the Internet era, I see it all too frequently—I always shake my head in disappointment and frustration when a company uses trademark law to lash out against unflattering consumer reviews. To these companies, trademark law is a cure-all tonic for their marketplace travails, and trademark doctrine is so plastic and amorphous that defendants have some difficulty mounting a proper defense. As a result, all too frequently, the threat of a trademark lawsuit causes the intermediary to capitulate and excise valuable content from the Internet.

In its answer, RealSelf goes on the offensive and alleges that Lifestyle Lift directly or indirectly posted shill reviews to the Lifestyle Lift discussion, thereby breaching RealSelf's user agreement. Off the top of my head, I can't think of another lawsuit where the message board operator sued a company for shill postings, so I think this case may be breaking important new legal ground.

We're having a hard time believing that "INFOMERCIAL SCAMS - LIFESTYLE LIFT COMPLAINTS" is an authentic product of a concerned consumer, which makes us even more curious about RealSelf's counterclaim that Lifestyle Lift astroturfed on the RealSelf site:

We believe they have violated our terms of use by posing as patients posting reviews on our site, which is misleading and unfair to our community. These sort of fabricated posts threaten our community's trust in us. We have no choice but to challenge these actions.

"Lifestyle Lift Tries to Use TM Law to Shut Down User Discussions; Website Countersues for Shilling—Lifestyle Lift v. RealSelf" [Eric Goldman - Technology & Marketing Law Blog]

(Photo: Warner Bros.)

ATK chose the following criteria to test their mugs: heat retention, spill-proofness, clean taste, handles (no handles = easier to grab while driving), sippability, visibility (whether or not it blocks your view of the road when you're near the bottom of the drink), cleaning, the ability to fit into a wide range of mug holders, and stability.

Top Two Picks

The Thermos Stainless Steel Travel Mug was the best of the bunch, particularly because of its radial symmetry that allows you to pick it up and sip from any direction without worrying about orientation (*snicker*). Because it took a while for excess liquid to drain back in, there was some risk of splashing on bumpy drives.


Their other pick was the OXO Click LiquiSeal Travel Stainless Mug, which "is comfortable to hold and has excellent insulation" but had some small issues with liquid getting trapped in an inner layer and around the button. They don't suggest the plastic version, however.


Oddball Favorite
They also liked the compact Nissan Dual Purpose Can Insulator/Travel Cup, although not as a travel mug: "It's an unsatisfactory beverage cup—the lid doesn't have any closure, and it leaked like a sieve—but it's a good can insulator and holder. A soda can fit in snugly and stayed well chilled." They demonstrated it on the show, and it looks like a stainless steel can cozy with a screw-on lid to completely cover your drink.

Bottom Rung Losers
At the very bottom of their "Do Not Want" list were two ceramic/stoneware mugs—they were poor insulators and didn't have traps to contain any liquid overflow.

"Equipment Corner: Commuter Coffee Mugs" [America's Test Kitchen] (Free registration required)

(Photo: The Infamous Gdub)

When the $.25 is inserted, the doors close verrry slowly to give plenty of time to everyone:

What follows is possibly the longest and most awkward 20 to 30 seconds of a person's day. The door slips open like an elevator, but then it stays open, to accommodate those who need extra time getting in. Meanwhile, men and women in suits walk past. It is very difficult to look inconspicuous in a bathroom on a sidewalk in New York with the door open. There is just nothing to do but stand there. And the delay will not please those who are in distress.

When you leave, a weight-sensor built into the floor confirms that nobody is inside, then the entire room is washed and sanitized by a robotic arm.

"Greetings, Earthlings. Your New Restroom Is Ready." [New York Times]
(Photo: Getty)

Expedia flatly refused to post my review. I have followed their rules, but they have repeatedly told me they won't post it because I'm not following the rules. They will not tell me which rule I didn't follow.

I firmly believe Expedia has a policy to not post unflattering reviews of properties they represent.

Due to the nature of the information he provided regarding inaccuracy on the hotel infosite (the information pages with detailed information about each ESR hotel we offer), his review was temporarily declined so that we could verify the information he provided and make necessary changes to infosite. His review was in queue for approval but has been expedited and should be up on the site.

Has anyone else run into trouble getting their negative reviews posted?

Is Expedia censoring negative comments about its resorts? [Elliott]

Microsoft's Zune actually came in second place, but when you compare price and battery life, the Sansa View is the better value.

• Apple iPod Touch - great sound and interface
• Microsoft Zune - great sound, great UI but hypersensitive
• SanDisk Sansa View - half the price of the Touch, navigation mimics traditional iPods, great sound
• Creative Zen - large screen but requires too much button mashing
• Samsung P2 - touchscreen is "finicky", sound is "flat"

Their rankings, which are determined largely by the number of "this was helpful" votes, are kept high through "you scratch my back" arrangements and swarms of adoring fans who blindly vote for their favorite reviewer while voting down other Top 10 Reviewers.

The author of the article grew interested in Amazon's Top 10 Reviewer group when he saw an over-the-top positive review of his debut fiction novel. He felt the praise was a little "packaged" and didn't read as genuine, so he asked his publicist about it—she admitted she'd "solicited Grady Harp's review."

"Who Is Grady Harp?" [Slate]
(Photo: Getty)

This one makes us shake our heads.

Stephen Holden, from the New York Times seemed to like Across the Universe, and was quoted as saying, "Extraordinary. Across the Universe captured my heart. I fell in love with this movie. It convinces you that love is all you need. Fantastic... gorgeous... delirious... oh-wow!"

Here's a portion of Stephen Holden's actual review of Across the Universe with the portions that made up the quote highlighted:

"Another extraordinary scene follows Joe to a United States Army induction center... [skip 10 paragraphs backward] Somewhere around its midpoint, 'Across the Universe' captured my heart, and I realized that falling in love with a movie is like falling in love with another person. Imperfections, however glaring, become endearing quirks once you've tumbled. ... [skip 15 paragraphs forward] during the time it lasts, the intoxicating passion of Jude and Lucy, both innocents by today's standards, convinces, for a moment, that love is all you need. ... [skip 14 paragraphs backward] a fantastic array of puppets, masks and synergistic effects... [skip seven paragraphs forward] A visceral peak arrives with 'Strawberry Fields Forever.' In this gorgeous production number... [skip three paragraphs forward] Bono appears as the acid guru, Dr. Robert, a Ken Kesey-Neal Cassady fusion who sings 'I Am the Walrus' at an acid-drenched party and conducts Jude, Lucy and a roiling band of Merry Pranksters on a delirious bus journey through a rainbow-colored countryside. ... [skip one paragraph ahead] its oh-wow aesthetic ..."

The Best Worst Blurbs of 2007 [Gelf]

Peter Hammond (formerly of Maxim) does not perform this function. He does not help the consumer make an informed decision. He says whatever will get his name splashed across movie advertising. Even his negative reviews contain ready-made blurbs, and he has been known to alter his wording at the request of studio executives.

Now he has been fired. eFilmCritic collected some of his 88 movie blurbs from 2007. Here are a few we liked:

One to see! (Resurrecting the Champ) Everyone should see it. (In the Shadow of the Moon) A must-see movie. (The Number 23) It's a must-see movie! (The TV Set) A must-see film that audiences will love. (The Bucket List) Do yourself a big favor and put this movie at the top of your must-see list. (Starter for 10) A movie you must see. (Reign Over Me) Do not miss this film. (Zodiac) This is a movie not to be missed (A Mighty Heart) The can't miss it, gotta see it feel great comedy of the year. (Dan In Real Life) A movie that should - and must - be seen. (Trade) This is one of those rare gems you must not miss. (Control)

A bone-chilling, disturbing thriller. (Trade)
A spellbinding, real-life suspense thriller. (Breach)
A psychological thriller full of great visual style... (Revolver)
A gripping psychological thriller that will have you guessing from start to finish. (Premonition)
A sleek, surprising and surefire thriller that will grab you by the throat. (Fracture)
A fiercely original shocker. (Alpha Dog)
An absolute shocker in every way imaginable. (Hannibal Rising)
A smart, highly entertaining non-stop shocker. (1408)
A true shocker that will shatter your nerves and get you talking. (The Brave One)

Maxim Fires Blurb Whore Peter Hammond [RADAR]
Maxim's Pete Hammond is a tool [Philmguy]
THE 2007 MICHAEL MEDVED BAG OF DOUCHE MEMORIAL AWARD [eFilmCritic via Philmguy]

PREVIOUSLY: Maxim Film Critic Changes Quote for CBS and Miramax

Salon has trouble navigating the marketplace of ideas:

But what of Xinyi Yang "lilyyxy," who claims the DeLonghi DCH2590ER Ceramic Heater with Remote Control was so noisy it kept her up at night? I have no way to tell whether or not Xinyi Yang "lilyyxy" is a light sleeper, or if he/she used the heater on an outrageously high setting, or if he/she placed it right next to his/her head. I can't even tell what gender Xinyi Yang is!

And what about dinner tonight? Should I cancel my reservation at an Indian restaurant because mzt wrote a post about it titled "Bland, Blah and Expensive"? Who is this mzt, anyway? Is his bank account as small as his taste buds?

Much as with critics — the ones who do this for a living — personality and personal preference play major roles in the review process. But while professional critics are held to certain standards, the average consumer is not. A spilled drink, a lost wallet, a bad fight or oversalted popcorn can ruin any experience, but full-time critics are paid to look past these details and speak to the larger experience. Roger Ebert and cornpops116 can both give "I Am Legend" three stars, but only one of them would dare use (and this is an actual quote) "Best cheesesteak I ever had" as justification.

What are your tricks for determining the worth of online reviews? Share in the comments.

Was this review helpful to you? [Salon]

Apparently he gets sued, like, every damn day:

First, he was sued in Florida by the infomercial company GlobalTec, which sells day-trading software. GlobalTec alleged that, by posting reviews of GlobalTec products that turned up in Google searches, Leonard was infringing the company's trademark. With the assistance of Public Citizen, Leonard filed a motion to dismiss, pointing out that, among many other problems with the lawsuit, he lived in Arizona and had no connection with the state where he had been sued. Last month, the court accepted Public Citizen's arguments and dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction.

Next, Leonard received a subpoena from Video Professor, an infomercial company that sells video-based courses, demanding that Leonard turn over IP addresses and other personally identifying information about everyone who posted reviews of the company's products. Leonard objected, again with the help of Public Citizen, and yesterday Video Professor withdrew its subpoena, although it did not drop its lawsuit and is apparently still pursuing another subpoena to discover the identity of a Wikipedia user, who the company claims defamed it in the online encyclopedia.

So it came as no surprise to Leonard when he learned of yet another lawsuit against him, this time in Michigan, brought by the Infomercial company Lifestyle Lift, which performs a facelift procedure that it claims takes only about an hour.

The Hazards of Running a Consumer Review Website [CL&P]

Their winner in the list-off is Maxim:

The superfluous T&A is more of a lure for some readers than others. But Maxim surprises with its witty and varied gift ideas, which are frequently accompanied by well-written snippets of prose. And as long as you're not a vegetarian, you can't help but love a guide that mentions python filets at $40 a pound.

"Smoking Mittens or Felt Fedora?" [Slate]
(Photo: Getty)

According to [our] source, Gerstmann was fired "on the spot" due to advertiser pressure for his review of Eidos' Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. A visit to Gamespot shows that the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game has taken over the site very prominently, with backgrounds and multiple banner ads all pitching Kane & Lynch. Allegedly, publisher Eidos "took issue with the review and threatened to pull its ad campaign."

RELATED
"Game Journalist May Have Been Fired Over Negative Review" [Slashdot]
"The New Games Journalism" [Penny-Arcade]

How It Sucks [Official Site]

Here's what she writes about her security concerns, and the response from Mint's founder:

What if a hacker gained access to the site?

I was so concerned that before even bothering to look at the colorful spending pie chart that Mint had created, I phoned the site's founder, Aaron Patzer.

"Please don't worry," Mr. Patzer said. "I'll make a bold statement and say that you're safer on Mint, putting all your accounts in one place, than you are with online banking. We start with the same encryption banks use, but the difference is that on Mint, you're anonymous. We don't know your account numbers."

I checked the Mint screen again. No account numbers.

"We don't know your name," he said. "Remember that when you registered, you just gave us a user name and password."

I checked the Mint screen. No name.

"We have a read-only connection to your bank, so you can't move money around using Mint," he said.

"A MapQuest for Our Money" [New York Times via BloggingAwayDebt]
(Image: mint.com)

(Photo: zimpenfish)

You can interface with it via cell phone to check your account balances. The service automatically itemizes all your credit card transactions and tags them according to area, like "home" or "restaurants" to help you budget. It's got built-in functionality for all sorts of user groups where people can collaborate together to become better at their personal finances, though attendance is looking kinda spare. Geezeo is still in beta, adjust your expectations accordingly.

Geezeo [Official Site]

We gave it a whirl and it seemed decent, though since we already do what Validas, except WITH OUR BRAIN, it didn't offer much in the way of improvement opportunities, though it did note we should get rid of VCAST and offered a few free phone number lookup services to use instead of 411.

The malformatting of some website elements left us under-enthused, and we wonder if they can really guarantee the security their privacy policy promises. After all, they expect you to upload your cellphone bill, complete with juicy personal information bits and account information.

The first Validas analysis is free, $5 for each additional, and $20 for 15 uploads. Be sure to save a copy of your report because you only get one upload and you don't get to see it again if you navigate away.

If your head spins trying to figure out your cellphone bill and all the plans your provider offers, Validas could help you figure out a better pricing option. Cellphone company profits depend on customers not understanding their bills, services like Validas can add much-needed transparency and rationality to the market. Maybe someone can come out with a better-looking one that makes us feel more comfortable about using it.

MyValidas [Official Site]

I just wanted to let you guys know that Amazon has been tracking reviews posted for possible safety concerns. I had a rice cooker that decided to shock me several times, so I wrote an anonymous review back in January. Unexpectedly, a few weeks ago, I get an email from Amazon asking about the incident. Given the gap between the review and the email, I suspect this is a new program on their part. A copy of their email is below.

-teh

Dear XXXX,

Greetings from Amazon.com,

You submitted a potential safety concern for Aroma ARC7031G 6-Cup Rice Cooker and Food Steamer.

Thank you for taking the time to submit a safety concern. It is the continuous dialogue between our customers and Amazon.com that helps improve the overall customer experience on our site.

The safety of the products we sell is very important to us. We would like to gather additional information regarding your safety concern. Please take a few minutes to answer the questions below.

For internal reference, this has been assigned Concern ID XXXXX

Thank you once again for taking the time to submit the consumer safety concern. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns, and thanks again for shopping at Amazon.com!

Sincerely,

Product Compliance Team

Electrical Shock I was shocked by this rice cooker twice. It is not properly grounded and I would not recommend it to anyone.

Please reply to this email and choose an answer for each of the following the questions.

1. May Amazon.com provide your customer contact information to the manufacturer of the product and/or relevant government agencies so they maybe contact you for more detailed information?

a) Yes b) No

Answer:

2. Was anyone injured by the product? If so, how many people?

Number 0, 1, 2, 3 ...

Answer:

3. Did the product causeany fatalities? If so, how many people? Please enter 0 if there were no fatalities.

Number: 0, 1, 2, 3 ...

Answer:

4. If anyone was injured, how severe was the injury?

a) No Injury b) Minor First Aid c) Professional Medical Treatment d) Hospitalization e) Permanent Disability f) Death

(Please select a - f)

Answer:

5. If anyone was injured, what type of injury was caused by the product?

a) Burn b) Choking/Asphyxia/Suffocation/Strangulation c) Drowning or Near Drowning d) Shock (All Types) e) Contusion/Abrasions/Swelling/Laceration f) Poisoning/Inhalation g) Head Injury/Head Trauma h) Fracture/Dislocation i) Nerve Damage j) Internal Organ Injury k) Other Injury l) None

(Please select a - l)

Answer:

6. What was the nature of the safety hazard?

a) Fire b) Mechanical c) Electrocution d) Chemical e) Entrapment f) Other g) None

(Please select a - g)

Answer:

Please add any additional comments or information about this product safety concern.

Answer:

For most items: File a complaint with the CPSC.
For automobiles: File a complaint with the NHTSA
For most food, cosmetics, etc: File a complaint with the FDA

Oddly, the winning headset didn't provide superior sound quality, but its single-button design made it "incredibly easy to operate, and the squishy rubber loop/in-ear earpiece design was by far the most comfortable I tested."

The fancy $120 Jawbone headset (the one that looks like a tiny, sporty cheese grater) landed right in the middle of the pack. Writes the reviewer:

I didn't mind its relative bulkiness, but the concealed buttons represented an irritating emphasis on style over function. Several times, I ended calls when trying to navigate the noise-cancellation feature, and I never managed to jack up the volume to a satisfying level.

Ranked from worst to best:

• Samsung WEP410, $99.95
• Nokia BH-208, $39.95
• Motorola H700, $99.95
• Jawbone, $119.99
• Jabra BT 8010, $149.95
• Blueant Z9, ($99.95)
• Nokia BH-803, $149.95
• Plantronics Voyager 520, $99.95

"Can You Hear Me Now?" [Slate]
(Image: Plantronics)