Like we do with all Ask.com posts from Gary, click here to read about a new service. Gary is Director of Online Information Resources at Ask.com.
Something new from AskCity today.
Many of you are likely familiar with the Entertainment coupon "book" that offers coupons to thousands of services, restaurants, activities, etc. Both Ask.com and Entertainment Publications are services from IAC/InterActive.
Today, Ask City (the Ask.com service with the useful mapping features, see below) begins offering a first release (more to come) with coupons from Entertainment Publications that can be printed on-demand. Over 150,000 coupons in all. For example, need some work on your cars transmission and live in San Francisco? A search for AAMCO (beep beep) offers several coupons for various services.
Now a few notes about the first time you select a coupon:
+ You will be asked to register for the online Entertainment service but registration takes about two seconds. That time depends on how fast you type and how long your email address is. That's it. :-)
+ Registration DOES NOT REQUIRE ANY other personal information besides an email address. Note the boxes directly below the email line. Here, you can also opt-out or opt-in to receive other offers via email.
+ A CREDIT CARD is also NOT REQUIRED to register for the trial.
+ You can then print any/all coupons you like for 14 days.
+ OK, you've tried the service but you DON'T want to subscribe. No worries. Is it now your responsibility to contact Entertainment Publications and cancel the service? NO! You do NOT have to contact Entertainment Publications or Ask.com. After 14 days you will be notified via email asking if you would like to subscribe to the fee-based online service.
+ If you don't register (in other words, disregard the email), you're done. The trial is over. That's it.
Personal Note: As a sometimes "ombudsman" for Ask.com, I'm pleased to see that you can trial the service without having to provide any personal info besides an email address. I am also pleased to see that users are NOT required to contact Entertainment or Ask to cancel if they decide that the coupon service is not right for them.
Aside from that, nothing has changed at Ask City. Recently, Ask added an option to embed maps from AC on blogs, web pages, etc.
The service continues to offer local business listings, movie listings, event listings, reviews, and some features that make the map portion of the service unique. One feature allows you to search "inside" or alongside any shape you draw on the map,
This mapping service is a research feature that can be used in many ways by the info pro, teacher, traveler, etc.
See Also: Here are a Few Other Sources for Coupons and Money Saving Resources.
This is an extremely abridged list. You could easily list hundreds of them.
+ mPire
We've mentioned this database a number of times in recent months. It's what we consider search + intelligence resource. Why? Not only online shopping but historical pricing data info is available. This portion of the site lists coupons, online coupons, coupon codes, and rebates.
A family of resources to help information workers be more effective, raise the value of information in their organisations and contribute to success. Read more »
Recently I have found myself cooing over visualisation maps (and heat maps) of health and well being resources. The content rich data is overlayed with mapping technologies, and some interesting themes and patterns are emerging.
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Information overload is a figment of your imagination. Or a failure of your filter. Or a symptom of your technological submissiveness. Depends on who you ask.
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