Consumerist
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online shopping
Here Are Your Shipping Deadlines For Christmas 2009
If you're planning on spending the next 6-8 weeks pouring cash into Mammon's gaping maw—and really, who isn't? it's how we love each other—then here are the shipping deadlines for over 100 online retailers, courtesy of CouponSherpa. In today's UPS/FedEx world you can frequently wait right up until Christmas week, but you might want to double-check the list if there's a retailer you absolutely have to shop from.
"Holiday Shipping Deadlines for Christmas 2009" [CouponSherpa] (Thanks to Jeff!)
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we all live in a yellow boat
Company Sued For Selling Beatles MP3s Says They're Original Works, So It's Okay
Since the Beatles are notorious for refusing to release their music online, the mere fact that BlueBeat.com was selling them was kind of strange, which probably explains why EMI just sued them for copyright infringement. But BlueBeat has come up with a perfectly reasonable explanation. The songs aren't really Beatles songs, you see, but "psycho-acoustic simulations" and therefore original works. More » -
personal finance
Quicken Online To Be Shut Down Next Year, Accounts Merged With Mint
When news broke back in September that Intuit, the company behind Quicken, was buying personal finance website Mint, everyone wondered how the two services would co-exist. The worst case scenario was that Mint would be absorbed somehow into Intuit's in-house competitor, Quicken Online. Thankfully, it looks like the opposite will happen. More » -
false advertising
Hilton Complimentary Internet Access In Lobby Costs $10 A Day
At Hilton Washington Dulles Airport hotel, everything is complimentary! That's because to them "complimentary" actually means "for a price." Last week, a linguistics professor tried to take advantage of their "Complimentary High-speed Internet access on the lobby level," which is how they describe the service on their website. He quickly discovered that he'd have to agree to a $9.99 charge in order to get the free service. More » -
vacations
Rent Someone's Home On Your Next Vacation
The next time you travel to another city, it might be cheaper, or at least more interesting, to rent directly from a local homeowner. Cool Tools says Vacation Rentals By Owner (VRBO.com) is a great way to find rental opportunities when you travel. More » -
online banking
Citibank Doesn't Want Your Business, Linux Users
For some reason, Citibank won't let customers using Linux computers log in to their online accounts. Adam argues that in 2009 this doesn't make sense, especially when no other major corporate website blocks him like this. More » -
activism
How To Protect Yourself From Takedown Notices
Earlier this week Boing Boing posted a link to the Electronic Frontier Foundation's new Takedown Hall of Shame, which is exactly what it sounds like: a place to highlight some of the most egregious attempts by companies to use the law to bully critics into silence. Included on the site is a handy guide that explains steps you can take to help prevent the sudden shutdown of your site due to an angry business. More » -
music
Google's New Music Search Launches, But Your Buying Options Remain The Same
The new music search capabilities that Google introduced today will make it easier to quickly find a song you can't remember the name of, or sample some tracks from an artist you're interested in. But it's not so much a new service as a more efficient combination of a bunch of services already scattered around the web. More » -
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fail
State Job Website Has Great Opportunities For Self-Starting Identity Thieves
CBS 5 exposed a "gaping hole" in the code of California's state-run employment website that allows anyone who views the site to access and modify other users' resumes and personal info simply by changing some numbers in the URL. More » -
internet
Here's What The New FCC Net Neutrality Rules Mean
Yesterday the FCC announced new, expanded rules enforcing net neutrality, and they've set aside the next 60 days for public debate. Get ready to hear all sorts of creative end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it arguments from opponents like AT&T. We've checked out the official document (pdf) and below we summarize the changes that are open to public discussion for the next two months. More » -
rumors
Google To Launch Music Search Service Next Week
You've probably seen Google Finance, where each company has its own page made up of content scraped from all over the web. Google is about to launch a similar service for musicians, says the Hollywood Reporter: "The music pages will package images of musicians and bands, album artwork, links to news, lyrics and song previews, along with a way to buy songs." More » -
spam
Now Report Spammers On Twitter With A Single Click
It used to be that when you were followed by a spammer on Twitter, you had to go report them by sending a direct message to Twitter's official spam account. Now they've updated their reporting system, so all it takes is a single click. Have fun turning in the bots! More » -
credit reports
FTC Wants Your Input On How To Improve AnnualCreditReport.com
The problem with annualcreditreport.com—other than its name—is that getting your reports from the site is a little like dealing with GoDaddy: you have to deal with upsells and side-sells at every step. You can indeed get your free credit reports from the site, but you'll also have to keep turning down other offers from the three participating bureaus. Hell, there are even ads (sorry, "sponsor" links) on the home page, the one place where you'd hope for the least consumer confusion. More » -
games
Prove You're Financially Literate And Win At Online Soccer!
We're not sure what "soccer" is—it looks like it might be some sort of real-world Quidditch without the brooms—but Visa and a bunch of soccer players have released a fancy-schmancy (for a website, at least) online version that tests your financial literacy. You can try it out at financialsoccer.com instead of working this morning. More » -
websites
Swine Flu Self-Assessment Saves You Worrying
Do you have H1N1 flu? Probably! Aaaugghh! But before you haul your feverish butt to a clinic or a doctor, consider taking this free online flu self-assessment test from Emory University. It probably could have been combined into a one-page flowchart, but that's not as much fun as pressing YES/NO buttons. More » -
resources
University Launches Free Financial Education Website
We love free, and we love attempts to make people savvier about personal finance, so we really like this new personal finance website from the University of Idaho. It's got all the basics covered, and there are things like checklists and downloadable worksheets so you can practice what they're preaching. Some of the information is geared specifically to Idaho residents, but for the most part this is useful content that anyone can take advantage of.
Idaho Personal Finance [University of Idaho Extension via Idaho Business Review]
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deals
Ask.com Launches New Service To Find The Best Deals
Ask.com has launched a new service—ask.com/deals—dedicated to finding the best deals online. We don't know how well it works, but we like the tabs that let you quickly jump to free shipping offers and printable coupons. It might be a decent starting place if you're in the market for something and need to comparison shop first. Update: Our readers say it's not worth your time, at least in its current state—results are paltry and frequently old or expired.
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A+++ would buy from again
Schwarzenegger Asked To Close Prostitution Ratings Website
At Punternet.com you can rate UK prostitutes, find out about British massage parlors, and participate in a bulletin board about all things prostitutey. ("Punter" = "john" in British slang.) Yesterday a British government minister asked Arnold Schwarzenegger to shut it down, because although it concerns the British sex industry—where prostitution isn't illegal—it's based in California. More »
websites
New York, 5:32 AM
Mon Nov 9
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