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Every hot book now spawns an official site, and the "it book" of the moment -- Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything -- is no different. We bring it to your notice, though, because of its lively Authors' Blog. Here the father of Freakonomics, Steven Levitt, and his co-author Stephen Dubner, wrangle it out with their readers. For instance, check out the riff on how the Chicago White Sox got dubbed "the Black Sox," or this discussion of the claim that abortion reduces crime. The writers also share what it's like to perform in the dog-and-pony show called the author publicity tour (including an appearance on The Daily Show). Regardless of whether you've read the book, these postings prove energetic, informative, and timely -- and may make you think twice next time you're tempted to tip at the Starbucks counter.

Just four short years ago, money flowed like water and ideas were plentiful in the Internet world. The notion of retaining an in-house Zen abbot for e-commerce didn't warrant a second thought -- instead it was embraced. As Casey Dunn, the former CTO of failed online clothier Zoza.com says, "It was in the water." The former dot-com executive developed this site to chronicle the birth of the online store backed by the founders of Banana Republic. While some of the technical details in this exhumation may seem dry, there's plenty of interesting behind-the-scenes commentary. It's all here -- quirky item pages resurrected and critiqued, an examination of unsuccessful marketing efforts, and the failure to standardize sizing, which led to return rates of 80%. While today's armchair analysts are having a field day with the bursting of the bubble economy, sites such as this one provide a fitting (and interesting) epitaph to the demise of many a dot-com.