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alice

The new online toilet paper business: Alice.com

As start-up pitches go, "Never run out of toilet paper" isn't the most compelling I've heard. But the new online packaged goods store Alice, which is behind that scintilatting come-on, isn't quite the loser Pets.com clone I thought it was at first.

While Alice appears to the end use to be a reseller much like Drugstore.com or Diapers.com (I'm a Diapers.com customer, it's great), it's actually built on a fundamentally different business model. Alice is not a traditional middleman reseller. It takes no markup, CEO Brian Wiegand told … Read more

An alarm clock that should never be built

Crave has seen all manner of sadistic alarm clocks, from models that emit sonic booms and electrical shocks to those that fly and roll away. But the appropriately named "Tyrant" from Taiwanese designer Alice Wang takes sleep disruption to a disturbing new level.

If you don't turn it off, this little monster will randomly dial numbers programmed in your mobile phone every three minutes, according to SlashGear. That's right--not calls to yourself, but to others who surely won't be amused. Mercifully, this is only a concept so far (we hope).

'Red Paperclip' house up for bids

Two years ago, Kyle MacDonald acquired a house through a series of Web-chronicled trades that began with a red paper clip. Now he's ready to trade it away.

The asking price for the modest two-story house, located in Kipling, Saskatchewan? Nothing in particular, MacDonald says--just make it interesting.

"I'm looking for someone with an idea, something that would benefit the community," MacDonald told CNET News.com over the phone. Really, he says, it's about "finding the right person to trade with. I'm interested in the experience more than material gain."

He does … Read more