Amazon Prime customers may feel frustrated that they pay the $79/year fee only to find that their packages are still subject to the same delays as everyone else. But Prime members who carefully monitor their purchases can score free extensions on the service if a package is not delivered on time. And even if you’re not a Prime member, you can still get a discount if a guaranteed delivery date is not met. [More]
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That’s Not Santa At The Door On Christmas Day: It’s FedEx
By 12.26.13
There were probably a lot of printed-out photos standing in for gifts under Christmas trees across the country. A combination of huge last-minute demand, retailers’ promises of Christmas delivery, and bad weather meant that many gifts that were supposed to arrive on the last business day before Christmas didn’t. Lots of people were disappointed. Joseph was one of them. Then…there was a modern miracle. [More]
Sure, You Bought a Disney Digital Movie from Amazon, But You’ll Never Own It
By 12.18.13
Instantly accessible movies, TV shows, and games are one of the most convenient inventions of the early 21st century, but they’re not without their problems. One big problem? Just because you bought and paid for a digital good doesn’t mean you actually get to keep it. [More]
The Good, Bad & Ugly Of Stores’ Holiday Return Policies
By 12.18.13
As much as we’d all love to believe that everything we give to our loved ones — and everything we receive from them — this holiday season will be exactly what we want and need, and that it will fit our bodies and/or be compatible with everything we already own. But odds are that a lot of us will be returning at least one thing to a store in the days and weeks after Christmas, so it helps to know retailers’ return policies. [More]
George Takei Seems To Be Beating Newt Gingrich In The Famous Amazon Reviewers Battle
By 12.13.13
There is a war raging in reviewer land, and it’s one you might not have noticed. BUT IT IS VERY REAL. Or at least it is to anyone taking note of which famous faces are taking the time to review things on Amazon. Because while everyone knows that George Takei is very adroit at making funnies on the Internet, Newt Gingrich is also in the reviewing ring. [More]
Amazon Going After Costco, Sam’s Club With ‘Pantry’ Bulk-Buying Service
By 12.13.13
For years, Amazon has been selling certain household goods, like toilet paper, cleaning supplies, and cereal, that are the bread-and-butter for warehouse clubs like Costco and Sam’s Club, but the online retailer has had trouble competing because of the shipping costs. That may change next year with the reported launch of something called Pantry. [More]
Cablevision: Broadcasters’ Attack On Aereo Doing More Damage Than Good
By 12.12.13
As you probably know, the broadcast networks have all been filing lawsuits against streaming video startup Aereo, which takes freely available over-the-air feeds and makes them available online to paying customers. While you’d expect a large cable operator like Cablevision to stand behind the networks in this fight, a new paper from the company expresses concern that the broadcasters are going too far and, if successful, may call into question the legality of all cloud-based technology. [More]
Christmas Ordering Deadlines For 25 Top Online Retailers
By 12.12.13
Still working on your Christmas shopping? If you’re going online to buy those gifts, you need to be aware of the sites’ wildly varying cutoff dates for placing orders in time to get them under the tree on the big day. [More]
This $40,000 TV Is The New Thing To Ridicule With Delightful Amazon Reviews
By 12.9.13
It’s not every day that the Internet’s commenters can all decide together which product on Amazon is most in need of derision by way of product reviews. This time it’s not a gallon of whole milk or even a gigantic tub of lube, but a $40,000, 85-inch LED TV from Samsung. It’s on sale, too, down from $44,999.99! [More]
DHL Uses Drone To Deliver Medicine In Germany
By 12.9.13
We might as well start digging our underground rebel hideouts now and prepare for the inevitable Robot Wars of 2023, as DHL has made the first successful package delivery via flying drone. [More]
Someone Bought A CD-ROM For $3B And 5 Other Things You Might Not Know About Amazon
By 12.9.13
We’re sure you’re aware of Amazon.com, as it sells everything from gigantic gummy bears to a Wi-Fi enabled egg tray. But there are things about that sprawling, massive and enormous company that you might never have known. Except that someone has looked into it and so of course, now we’ll all have a few more trivia facts to fill that next awkward silence at all the upcoming holiday parties. [More]
Century 21’s ‘Delivery Landing Pads’ Will Give Amazon’s Flying Robot Army A Place To Call Home
By 12.5.13
The future of delivery is not teleportation or 3D printing but rather a sky full of autonomous drones that know where we live, what we buy, and what we want for Christmas, and which will surely someday decimate our numbers by blacking out the sun. So it only makes sense that these doomsday devices should have a pleasant place to land while they silently learn our ways and calculate how best to defeat us in the inevitable war. That’s why Century 21 has unveiled the C21 Delivery Landing Pads, so that our future flying overlords will know exactly which homes are most willing to do their bidding… or something like that. [More]
Split Your Amazon Transaction And Use Up That Old Visa Gift Card
By 12.5.13
Do you have an old prepaid debit card or major credit card-branded gift card sitting around? Maybe it’s sitting around because it has a balance on it that’s too small to be very useful, yet not such a small amount that you’re willing to throw it away. Here’s a novel solution: use it to split a transaction on Amazon. [More]
Non-Profit Sends Cake To Amazon To Remind It Of 3-Year Overdue Invoice
December 4, 2013
MusicBrainz is a free-to-use encyclopedia of music-related metadata (all that information, like artist name, track name, composer, etc.), and like a lot of free-to-use services, it has a commercial tier for companies whose use would put an undue burden on the service. Yesterday, the folks at MusicBrainz sent over a cake to Amazon to remind the online giant that it hasn’t paid a 3-year-old invoice for its commercial use of the service. Let’s hope the accounts payable people got the message before someone just left it in the break room for everyone to gorge on. [via Boing Boing] [More]
The Robot Wars Begin: UPS Also Looking Into Drone Deliveries
By 12.3.13
Everyone’s talking about how Amazon has secretly been developing an army of delivery drones that will, in my not-at-all paranoid opinion, turn on their creators and begin using human beings as living batteries. But a new report claims that UPS is also working on some creepy copters of its own. [More]
5 Non-Drone Suggestions For Amazon PrimeAir
By 12.2.13
Last night, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos unveiled his not-at-all-fraught-with-problems plan to unleash an autonomous fleet of delivery drones into the air, which he says it at least another two years off because of those wet blankets at the FAA and their silly “rules.” So we thought of a few suggestions that might be doable in the interim. [More]
The Robots Are Winning: Amazon Wants To Use Autonomous Drones To Deliver Stuff To Your Door
By 12.1.13
What’s the next step in door-to-door delivery for online purchases? According to Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, it’s self-piloting drone helicopters, which isn’t at all terrifying. [More]
Gingerbread Goes Inclusive With Sugar Cookie Chanukah House
By 11.27.13
Looking for a fun Thanksgivukkah(TM) activity this weekend while your Christian neighbors put up their tree? Why not try frosting together the adorable sugar-cookie Chanukah House from Manischewitz? [More]
