Subscribe to this blog in Radio:
Didn't find what you were looking for?
E-mail this blog's author, Bruce Umbaugh:  |
|
 |
Tuesday, November 09, 2004 |
Best Buy tries to separate  customers from "devils"
Fascinating Wall Street Journal article about Best Buy's campaign to get rid of the smartest 20% of it customers, and keep only the fools who are looser with their money.
Best Buy's angels are customers who boost profits at the consumer-electronics giant by snapping up high-definition televisions, portable electronics, and newly released DVDs without waiting for markdowns or rebates.
The devils are its worst customers. They buy products, apply for rebates, return the purchases, then buy them back at returned-merchandise discounts. They load up on "loss leaders," severely discounted merchandise designed to boost store traffic, then flip the goods at a profit on eBay. They slap down rock-bottom price quotes from Web sites and demand that Best Buy make good on its lowest-price pledge. "They can wreak enormous economic havoc," says Mr. Anderson.
Mr. Anderson's campaign against devil customers pits Best Buy against an underground of bargain-hungry shoppers intent on wringing every nickel of savings out of big retailers. At dozens of Web sites like FatWallet.com, SlickDeals.net and TechBargains.com, they trade electronic coupons and tips from former clerks and insiders, hoping to gain extra advantages against the stores.
Link
[bOing bOing]
10:17:57 PM 
|
|
"Sorry, everybody". What is so beguiling about SorryEverybody.com? What keeps us going back again and again to look at more snapshots of aggrieved Kerry voters expressing their regret to a disappointed world? [Salon.com]
10:14:19 PM
|
|
Another from BNA News
CHINESE COURT HEARS SOFTWARE DEVELOPER COPYRIGHT CASE
Beijing Haidian District People's Court last week accepted
its first lawsuit that involves game developers' accusations
against their employer. The two men believe the company has
violated their copyright in failing to give them name
recognition for their work, and they have asked for an
undisclosed sum of money.
1:43:25 PM
|
|
Kevin sends news that
SLOWDOWN FORCES MANY TO WANDER FOR WORK
Unemployment among tech workers, once almost nonexistent, is now higher
than the overall jobless rate for the first time in more than 30 years.
See
what this means for tech workers at the URL below.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Greg Schneider]
9:42:40 AM
|
|
From BNA News:
AUSTRALIAN IMPRISONED FOR NIGERIAN SCAM
Australian authorities have imprisoned a Sydney man for more
than five years for duping people into sending him millions
of dollars in the notorious Nigerian scam. Prosecutors said
the fraudster fleeced his victims of AU$5 million dollars.
ADVANCE COPIES OF U2 ALBUM HIT NET
Advance versions of U2's new album have emerged on Internet
file-sharing networks two weeks before it goes on sale,
throwing into question its official release date. Earlier
this summer, a tape containing rough tracks from the
upcoming album went missing from a studio in Nice, France
where the band was recording. At the time, the band said it
might move the release date if the tracks appear online
first.
9:42:34 AM
|
|
Hacking Faxes.
Prisoner is freed from jail based on a forged fax:
In West Memphis District Court yesterday, Tristian Wilson was set to appear on the docket for a bond hearing on the charges. When he did not appear, Judge William "Pal" Rainey inquired about his release and found that a jail staff member released Wilson by the authority of a fax sent to the jail late Saturday night.
According to Assistant Chief Mike Allen, a fax was sent to the jail which stated "Upon decision between Judge Rainey and the West Memphis Police Department CID Division Tristian Wilson is to be released immediately on this date of October 30, 2004 with a waiver of all fines, bonds and settlements per Judge Rainey and Detective McDugle."
Jail Administrator Mickey Thornton said that these faxes are part of a normal routine for the jail when it comes to releasing prisoners, however, this fax was different.
Faxes are fascinating. They're treated like original documents, but lack any of the authentication mechanisms that we've developed for original documents: letterheads, watermarks, signatures. Most of the time there's no problem, but sometimes you can exploit people's innate trust in faxes to good effect. [Schneier on Security]
6:21:56 AM
|
|
A 10x10 View of the News.
 David Krane from Google points to a killer new site called 10x10 that every hour scans the RSS feeds of several leading international news sources and performs an elaborate process of weighted linguistic analysis on the text contained in their top news stories. The result is a conclusion about the hour's most important words. The top 100 words are chosen, along with 100 corresponding images, culled from the source news stories. At the end of each day, month, and year, 10x10 looks back through its archives to conclude the top 100 words for the given time period. In this way, a constantly evolving record is formed, based on prominent world events, all without any human input.
Sounds cool, right? Here's what's even cooler. David says this should be integrated into Google News. Maybe this is a sign of RSS things to come?
[unmediated]
6:08:19 AM
|
|
Ideas Stolen Right From Nature. Nature is pretty good at solving engineering problems, so designers are increasingly turning to biomimetics to improve their products and ideas. By Rowan Hooper. [Wired News]
6:07:43 AM
|
|
Monday Nov 8: Kerry 252, Bush 286.
Today's map
Here is the preliminary page. It will be updated later today.
I have now made a page containing the final election results and up to 5 polls taken in September, October, or November. The polls are sorted by the middle date. The length of the poll is given in the final field after the dash. The data are also available in Excel format and .csv format.
Although the 2008 presidential campaign has already begun, let us not forget the Congressional elections of 2006. The Democrats may have the edge this time since they have only 12 seats to defend whereas the Republicans have 21 seats to defend. Of course, it is always difficult to unseat an incumbent senator of either party. Here is the list of the senators up for re-election: Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Wayne Allard (R-CO), Max Baucus (D-MT), Joseph Biden (D-DE), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Thad Cochran (R-MS), Norm Coleman (R-MN), Susan Collins (R-ME), John Cornyn (R-TX), Larry Craig (R-ID), Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), Pete Domenici (R-NM), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Michael Enzi (R-WY), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Tom Harkin (D-IA), James Inhofe (R-OK), Tim Johnson (D-SD), John Kerry (D-MA), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Carl Levin (D-MI), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Jack Reed (D-RI), Pat Roberts (R-KS), John Rockefeller (D-WV), Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Gordon Smith (R-OR), Ted Stevens (R-AK), John Sununu (R-NH), and John Warner (R-VA). [Electoral Vote Predictor 2004]
6:05:03 AM
|
|
Update: Election-day footage from Michael Moore's Video the Vote Team
Dave Pentecost is one of a number of volunteer filmmakers who worked with Michael Moore to document election day conditions at polling sites throughout Ohio. Background on the project in a previous BoingBoing post: Link.
Dave sends BoingBoing this short movie comprised of excerpts from footage they captured on November 2, 2004. Much of it was apparently edited on laptops in the back of a bus. He says:
"Our thanks to People for the American Way and Election Protection. My apologies to the Jayhawks for not clearing the music first. (I'm still waiting to hear back, their rights person is in transit, I'll do it next week). The decision to go ahead was mine. This was shot by a dedicated group of 20 volunteer filmmakers, but any faults in the editing or focus of this video are my responsibility. The organizers of the trip will release a longer selection of statements by voters who had problems voting.
This is not leaked Michael Moore footage. As far as we know he has no plans to make a film with it. This was created by the Ohio volunteers on their own and the material belongs to them. Anyone wishing to use the original footage will be able to license it from the individuals who shot it. We are saddened by the voting problems we saw and hope that releasing this short video will add to the conversation on election reform. "
One BoingBoing reader suggests the short be known as Fahrenheit 59MB. Video (in 3 MB, 20MB, and 59MB streams and downloads): Link 1, Link 2, Link 3. WMV format downloads: Link.
(Hosting thanks: internetvetsfortruth.org and Sean Bonner + Jason DeFillippo. Thanks for the shrinkage, cowicide).
Daily Show post-election clips
Lisa Rein's posted two more Daily Show clips, Reactions to the Election (featuring "Tony Blair's latest press conference brown-nose, the Shrub reaching out to people who already share his goals, and the Shrub enforcing the one-question rule") and an interview with Chuck Schumer (D) New York.
Surprise! Bush website no longer blocks non-US visitors
Boingboing reader Rob says, I'm in Ireland and was very puzzled when the president's site was blocked to all non-U.S. visitors, but thought I'd let you know it no longer seems to be blocked.
In related news, Norwegian police shut down a satirical web site calling for the assassination of George Bush. Link to news story (via politech).
[bOing bOing]
6:01:49 AM
|
|
Grass Roots Documentaries. 
Now that the election is over, will we still see more of the political themed shorts, and video remixes, that flourished? Technology Review:
What now? The event that drove traffic, the presidential election, will quickly fade into history. How are these sites hoping to hold onto the gains made in the last four months? Harrison says iFilm will soon launch an action sports channel, hoping to capture the grassroots enthusiasm surrounding activities such as skateboarding and motocross. Atom Film s O Neill says her company has learned a valuable lesson from its recent success: go topical. [unmediated]
5:56:22 AM
|
|
|
