TJantunen.com

Google’s Chrome OS is really a copy of several products already on the market and an interesting recreation of the thin client concept that Sun and Oracle came up with over a decade ago. You could argue, however, that most successful products, like the iPod and iPhone, are simply better copies of what came before. Really, nobody cares that much — consumers only care about whether a new offering will make their lives better. The Google Chrome OS goes directly to a primary need that mainstream PC users have had unmet since the beginning: an appliance experience.
from TechNewsWorld

Cyberpunk author William Gibson once wrote, “The street finds its own use for things.” That’s been the case for the Mac mini since its introduction in 2005. Originally marketed as a personal computer, it quickly gained street cred as a media server for the blossoming digital living room. Now Apple has given its mighty mite a proper server configuration in the hopes of moving the white box from the home to the office. The Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server was introduced last month. Save for the absence of a SuperDrive slot, the unit looks much the same as any other mini.
from TechNewsWorld

The Linux Blog Safari “Tech Turkeys” column may have come and gone, but there’s one more story to share that could almost have been included. What else can you call it, after all, when a Linux professional is apparently fired for using Linux? Sound too strange to be true? Better read on. The story involves an American principal, an Indian contracting company, a “large computer/server company with three letters in their name” and a “large credit card company with four letters in their name,” as HeliOS’s Ken Starks discreetly put it.
from TechNewsWorld

So you think you’ve got the brains to handle just about any puzzle in the market, and the Rubik’s Cube is child’s play for you? Why not try on the 12 Surface IQ Pentagon for size? This $59.99 toy ought to provide your grey matter with a reasonable workout before you turn away from it in frustration.

Introducing the 12 Sided IQ Pentagon, or as we like to call it, Brain Death in a 10×10x10cm Package. Twelve sides and twelve colors to challenge your mind and keep your hands busy. Perfect for standing in line at the DMV, sitting in the waiting room at the dentist’s office, killing time while your professor re-explains the concept for the legacy kids, or biding your time while the server is down.

Perfect for those who want a complex IQ challenge game, where it could possible help unleash your creative thinking powers while providing relevant brain training without having to fire up one of those Nintendo DS titles.

from Coolest Gadgets

Light & Sound Hat	Oyster hydro-electric wave energy device	TomTom XXL 540S World Traveler Edition	Interactive Toy Concepts Skidoo RC Snowmobile
Fragrance Diffuser Lamp is touch-controlled	The Only Botanical Air Purifier

from Coolest Gadgets

E-commerce solution 2Checkout.com is limiting what affiliates (suppliers in their lexicon) can do to promote them to no more than placing a link on their site, based on language in their agreement.

According to the 2Checkout.com Supplier Agreement (bold added by me)…

3 F. Limitations on Solicitations.
Supplier may refer customers to the 2CO website for the purchase of Products of Supplier only through the link provided by 2CO. Supplier may not use any other method of referral of customers for purchases of its Products from 2CO and shall not solicit customers on behalf of 2CO. Supplier will provide a certificate of compliance with this obligation to 2CO within 30 days of the request by 2CO. 2CO shall not request this certificate more often than annually. Such certificate shall be substantially in the form attached hereto as Appendix I and be signed by the Supplier. Failure to provide the aforesaid certificate in a timely manner shall result in the loss of Supplier’s ability to offer Products for resale through 2CO.

Also, 2Checkout.com has sent a compulsory agreement to account holders where it appears they are also making their merchants responsible for any taxes that might be due (see below from the 2Checkout.com agreement sellers have to sign), even though the Knowledge Base on their site says there’s no tax liability:

What about tax liability?
December 30th, 2006, by: knowledgebase
You are not required to charge sales tax at all. Legally we are a reseller and every time a purchase is made we are buying from you for the purposes of reselling to the end customer. Since you are selling to us for the purpose of reselling, there is no tax liability on your end.

Here is the new passage from the Supplier Agreement that contradicts the Knowledge Base information:

11. TAXES.
B. Supplier’s Obligation to Pay Taxes Resulting from 2CO Services.
The parties agree that if additional taxes in the nature of an excise, sales, or use tax are imposed in connection with 2CO’s Services and paid by 2CO on behalf of the Supplier, Supplier shall be liable to 2CO in an amount equal to the amount of such tax payment made by 2CO. Supplier authorizes 2CO to collect and pay over taxes in the nature of an excise, sales, or use tax on behalf of Supplier or on account of 2CO’s sale of Products if reasonably required to do so by any jurisdiction’s taxing authority. 2CO shall have the right to recover from Supplier the amount of any such taxes, related penalties, and interest paid by 2CO with its own funds. Supplier shall also pay 2CO for any related expenses incurred by 2CO, including reasonable attorney’s fees, in its collection of any amounts due from Supplier.

But wait… there’s more.

Last month, 2Checkout.com informed New York affiliates that their services were no longer needed.

2Checkout.com has always valued the business relationship that we hold with you. We appreciate the fact that you may have helped to create affiliate opportunities for other 2CO Suppliers. However, due to changes in New York state law, we must discontinue the Affiliate program with supplier’s in the state of New York.

I am not promoting 2Checkout.com, but if I were, I’d be having second thoughts now with their contradictory communications and limitations on affiliate promotions.

This post originally appeared on the Affiliate Marketing Blog by Shawn Collins

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from Affiliate Marketing Blog by Shawn Collins