David Pogue thinks the Pleo dinosaur is meh. He’s seen it all before with Aibo, and despite all the “it’s so lifelike!” ad and editorial copy devoted to it, the charm wears off pretty much the same day you buy it: “My surprise, though, was my kids’ reaction. They thought it was really, really cool—for the first half-hour.” He’s proposed a new website idea where you’d sign up for the latest Hot New Thing coming out of CES, Toy Fair, Macworld, etc., then pay an ever-shrinking percentage of the original sales price to own it when your turn came in line.
websites
Facebook's Privacy Practices Under Investigation In U.K.
By 1.22.08
Facebook is being investigated by the U.K.’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) over their jacked-up cancellation policies, which keeps your user data on Facebook’s servers even after you’ve closed your account. Facebook says its privacy policies are well within ICO regulations, and that they are taking the “concerns of the ICO and our user’s privacy very seriously.”
TSA Traveler Website Exposed Private Citizens To Risk Of ID Theft
By 1.15.08
The Transportation Security Administration’s traveler redress website—which was launched to give travelers a way to get their names removed from the government’s toddler-centric no fly list—operated for months without proper security in place, leaving citizens who submitted detailed personal information to it wide open to identity theft. Gee, we’re this close to thinking that the TSA is run by a bunch of grotesquely incompetent, slug-like bureaucrats.
Finance Website Buxfer Lets You Store Sensitive Data On Your Own Computer
By 1.5.08
With its new Google Gears functionality, Buxfer might finally be the answer for people who want the bells and whistles of an online personal finance website (hello Mint!)—charts, pretty colors, and general infoporn goodness—without having to blindly trust an unknown company with sensitive data such as bank account or credit card numbers (goodbye Mint!). The service uses Google Gears to store account login information and credentials on your own computer, then syncs the data collected with the Buxfer servers, writes VentureBeat.
Does Urban Outfitters Have A Secret In-Store Website?
By 1.4.08
Reader Chaely C tried to return a gift to Urban Outfitters, only to find that the website in the store showed that her item was on sale for $19. Chaely knew her friends paid $58 for the item via Urban Outfitter’s website, and told the cashier this.
The Apple Store For Education Makes Mistakes, Too
By 12.26.07
Reader Patrick sends the above screen grab with the comforting email subject line: “No Worries–Apple.com Can’t Spell Either.”
AOL Moviefone Aks Everyone To Choose Hottest MILF
By 12.26.07
Question #17 of Moviefone’s year-end poll asks, “Who was the hottest movie star MILF?” At first glance, we were a little surprised to see an all-ages website asking whose mom you’d like to engage in sex with. On the other hand, maybe Moviefone is intentionally an adults-only site—the copy on the front page says, “Vote on your favorite movies, celebrities and nude scene,” and we don’t imagine too many of the “Enchanted” demo is going to have much of an opinion on that last category.
Wesabe's New Mobile Site Helps Track Expenses On The Go
By 12.13.07
Wesabe, the popular personal finance website, has unveiled a new mobile version that “lets you check your balances, see recent transactions, and… enter cash transactions, from any mobile browser.” To save time, you only need to enter the most basic information via your phone—you can add the details to the entry later from a standard web browser.
TryPhone Lets You Test Phone Interfaces Online
By 12.12.07
TryPhone seems like a great idea on the surface—you can preview mock-ups of current phone models and test out their interfaces through your browser. In reality, the beta launch feels underdeveloped, even for a web service beta, with only four models to choose from and limited interactivity on each. The idea is good, but we hope they work on execution.
LeverageCard Lets You Store And Trade Gift Card Data Online
By 12.10.07
A new website launched last week that lets you store your gift card data from a variety of retailers in one location, where you can track usage, retrieve card numbers if you lose the physical card, or even swap card balances with other members. The site will also pay you 1% interest on the balance of each card you register, or 3.65% interest if you purchase the card through their site.
A Casual Review Of Mint.com
By 11.26.07
Michelle Slatalla, the Erma Bombeck-David Pogue hybrid who writes casual articles about the Internet for the average person (she’s the mom who pestered her daughter on Facebook this past summer), has published a Chatty Cathy review of personal finance site Mint.com. Her verdict: it’s nice to not have to go to multiple sites; the aggregated information is a good feature; security worried her at first, but she’s okay now that she knows Mint is a read-only site and they don’t have her account numbers, just user names and passwords; and she has actually used the ads that Mint displays—not to open new lines of credit, but to negotiate lower interest rates for existing accounts.
By 11.1.07
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We’re not totally convinced there isn’t a catch of some sort (they do require you to enter a credit card as part of the validation process), but Register.com appears to be offering free domain name registrations. [Register.com]
Walmart Launches "Customer Contact Reduction" Program, Disconnects Phone
By 9.24.07
Walmart.com doesn’t want to talk to you, so they’re disconnecting their phone as part of their new “Customer Contact Reduction Program.”
By 9.19.07
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A new, pretty, site where people collaborate and share information to help each other get customer satisfaction. Companies are encouraged to participate as well. [Satisfaction]
American Airlines Copies Southwest's Website
By 5.22.07
Cheater! Copy-cat! American Airlines has resigned their website “based on focus groups” and by “focus groups” they mean, “Southwest Airlines’ website.”
American Airlines Eliminates Enfeebled "Women's" Search, Now Directs Women To Powerful Man Search – LGBT Search Remains The Same
By 4.15.07
Hallelujah, American Airlines has eliminated the gender-gap they created last week with the introduction of a powerless pink “women’s” search box. Women are now directed to American’s front page, where they must cope with the powerful, feature-rich man search.
American Airlines Alters Adorable Pink "Women's" Search Box
By 4.12.07
American Airlines has altered their adorable pink “women’s” search box, it’s now blue and looks almost like the boy’s search box except for the lack of scary tools.
Netflix Recommends Moses Movie For Lovers Of Death Wish 3
By 4.5.07
Speaking of God and marketing, here’s a movie recommendation Netflix made to Sam. Because he enjoyed Death Wish 3, Netflix thought he would enjoy The Bible Collection: Moses.
