shopping

This isn't exactly at gadget you'd want to purchase for your home (we hope), but trust us--you'll want to know when it's available. The University of Buffalo is leading research into dental work that can be done without drilling or anesthesia, based on a device that uses ozone to repair cavities.

The bacteria-killing ozone machine, which is being used in Europe, "fits over a tooth and forms an airtight seal in arresting tooth decay," according to Medgadget. Researchers say the technology is being tested now in the United States and, if approved, could be … Read more

Price Protectr is a service that monitors online stores and alerts you to any changes in price within 30 days of buying a product. If it sounds simple it is, and frankly that's the way it should be.

Nobody likes finding out they could have saved money if they had paid attention to price drops, but it's easier said than done. Price Protectr does the work for you. All you have to do is give them the URL of the product you bought and your e-mail, and it will keep an eye on it for 30 days. If … Read more

Come to think about it, it's surprising that the current wave of Web trends hasn't moved more into the realm of the nonprofit. You'd think that the focus on "people power," citizen media, and user-generated content would have sparked the imagination of some Bono acolytes with Web development skills. And indeed, there are a few sites out there--Care2 comes to mind--but most of them actually existed well before anyone was talking about "Web 2.0."

But that all could change with Changing the Present, which was one of the presentations at last … Read more

USuggest, which launched today, lets you make money when you mention products in your blog, e-mails, or forum posts. It's not the first "affiliate marketing" product out there, and in its current alpha test stage it's not quite robust enough to use regularly, but it's got some interesting tweaks on the concept.

Nearly every retailer out there has a program to cut you in on profits if you drive sales to its online store. What USuggest does is aggregate all these deals together so you don't have to pick one store to do your … Read more

Media sites are watching how we consumers spend our money this holiday season. And it looks like a double victory for the tech world.

First, online sales are up more than 25 percent from last year. Consumers are apparently comfortable now with last minute online buys.

Second, HD flat screens and Nintendo's Wii were both big sellers this season. This week tech gadgets will have to compete with even more heavly discounted general merchandise.

I'm hearing some analysts on CNBC today saying brick and mortar discounters were not even making a profit on the flat screens they sold. … Read more

If you're unsure what to bring to your neighbor's smorgasbord, Bottletalk might help you find a wine fine enough for the occasion. This wine-rating community lets you set up a profile, add and rate wines, and network with fellow members. Descriptive tags identify flavors such as citrus or tobacco, and most of the members seem to know a bit about what they're sipping. One member describes a certain Spanish Rioja as a "Very correct wine, but poor in creativity."

Robert Parker I'm not. I added a Two-Buck Chuck Chardonnay to my list of wines … Read more

Last week we covered Shoutback, a shopping site that adds Digg-like voting functionality to a front page and upcoming deals. Iliketotallyloveit is similar, but it has a much wider array of products, and the page design really catches the eye. Every deal gets its own picture and a short description. Deals are voted on by clicking the giant hearts, and doing so toggles between "i like totally love it" and "been there done that." If you've used Digg before, you get the idea.

To help you find out what's hot on iliketotallyloveit, there'… Read more

Collaboration and shopping are two things that often go very wrong during the holidays. With families spread across the country, joint gifting gets that much harder. For example, this morning, my brother sent me a concerned e-mail about what to get our parents for the holidays. Historically, this is an event that almost always ends in a frantic rush with too much money spent on a gift that ends up sitting in a closet the minute we leave the house. Buddy Shopping is a new collaborative tool that combines screen sharing and instant messaging with a dash of social networking. … Read more

Sure, the Internet is great for Holiday shopping in your bathrobe at 3 a.m., but sometimes you just feel like throwing on some shoes and doing a little real-life late-night shopping. Even in the Big Apple, 24-hour outlets are hard to find, and there are times you want something a little more upscale than the wares at your corner bodega--like maybe a new MacBook Pro.

Starting today, December 13, Apple's flagship SoHo store in New York will remain open 24 hours a day, until 11:59 p.m. on December 24 (the glass-box Fifth Avenue store is always … Read more