Yahoo! Picks - bringing you the best of the Web since 1995
Thu, December 13, 2007, 3:00 am PST
Consumers Union, the non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports, has launched a webpage devoted entirely to the issue of product safety and the most recent recalls for lack thereof. Here are a few facts we learned from the site:
- 80% of all toys sold in the U.S. are now manufactured in China.
- The Consumer Product Safety Commission inspects less than 1% of imported goods.
- The FDA inspects about 1% of imported food.
Filed under: Shopping, Consumer Advocacy
Thu, November 15, 2007, 3:00 am PST
As thing-obsessed as Americans are, most of us lack the time or inclination to ponder our "stuff." Not so, the good folks behind oobject.com, a website devoted to cool (and sometimes hideous) gadgets and the people who love them.
Oobject focuses entirely on consumption—but in a good way. Categories like revolting gold gadgets, most wonderful telescopes, and best interactive clothes run down the left side of the page. Once a topic goes up, visitors can tag items for inclusion and vote on favorites.
The site also takes on other aspects of life, like politics and culture, but only as they relate to things you can buy. A story about former Velvet Undergrounder Lou Reed and former Velvet Revolutionary Vaclav Havel is linked to solely because Reed admonishes his friend to get a Mac. In fact, Apple, its failures, and its pretenders are major Oobject preoccupations; its Geek Hall of Fame Apple Users includes the predictable and the less so.
Tue, November 06, 2007, 3:00 am PST
On Monday, L.L. Bean arrives. Tuesday, Pottery Barn slips through. Wednesday follows with Harry & David or Crate & Barrel or Whatever & Whatever. On and on it goes, the daily deluge of mail order catalogs that are unsolicited—and, often, unwelcome. To this junk mail inundation, Catalog Choice says: Stop the madness!
Sponsored by the non-profit group Ecology Center, Catalog Choice offers a free way to reduce the clutter in your mailbox (and, hopefully, save a few trees, too). Create a profile on the site, scroll through the database of catalogs, and select the ones you no longer wish to receive. Catalog Choice takes it from there. Once you establish a profile, you can always go back and change your mind. Like, if you really do want to keep Victoria's Secret sneaking in to the house. The choice is yours.
Filed under: Shopping, Yahoo! Picks for Good, Green Living
Fri, August 24, 2007, 12:10 pm PDT
Shea'la Finch and Jon Buonaccorsi are self-described "nerds and knuckleheads." But don't let them fool you. In 2005, these two dreamers from Rhode Island hatched a plan to make art more accessible to the non-gallery-attending populace.
Tiny Showcase is the fruit of their furtive planning, and the site's goal hasn't changed in the three years of operation. Their mission? Offer up a tiny limited-run print each week for art enthusiasts to "take home...for around the same price as a CD, book or record..."
We've been fans of the Showcase since it started and were lucky enough to score a conversation with the enchanting Ms. Finch. She's one half of the titanic Tiny Showcase empire and her thoughtful answers demonstrate the colorful spirit behind this arty adventure...
Hey Shea'la, what was the impetus behind the creation of Tiny Showcase (TS)?
We were born to out-idea each other. Your typical idea freestyle session can happen anywhere, anytime, and normally begins, "What if we..."
The ideas are normally outlandish, ridiculous, and seemingly impossible. Read the full profile...
Filed under: Shopping, Art, Drawing, Miniatures, Yahoo! Picks Profiles
Fri, August 24, 2007, 8:05 am PDT
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