shamazon.com

2006-11-02T13:31:00.000-08:00

Amazon screws up Jessamyn's order.

2006-10-30T08:38:00.000-08:00

this is a test

2006-09-14T13:56:00.000-07:00

Censorship at Amazon!

Why no one may criticize the BEST AMERICAN POETRY.

2006-08-19T12:13:00.000-07:00

Still sux.

2006-01-08T12:26:00.000-08:00

Via Growing Blog is this story, detailing data mining of Amazon wishlists. In short, this fellow shows how to search Amazon Wishlists, grab shipping info from "private" customers, and then map those customers using google. It's an easy way to track what people might be reading, and then track them right to their front doors.

2005-12-13T14:44:00.000-08:00

Amazon should fucking make up its Borg-mind. They took my listmania list down again.

2005-11-17T02:07:00.000-08:00

My listmania list has mysteriously reappeared at Amazon.com. I wonder if it had anything to do with Moby Lives?

2005-11-15T19:31:00.000-08:00

The Amazon story is detailed in my interview at Moby Lives Radio.

2005-11-12T10:30:00.000-08:00

Wouldn't you think that Amazon.com would want to do damage control before the damage is done? It looks like they have someone in Seattle whose job is to search Technorati for "customer discussions amazon."

I'm looking forward to next week when an interview I did yesterday about this incident hits them like a ton of bricks. Remember: Amazon is Big Brother. Powells.com is your best choice for online book buying!

2005-11-04T02:42:00.000-08:00

After the Farenheit 451 team at Amazon deleted my Listmania list, the incompetents couldn't seem to find it, even though the link was still there. So, I sent them the link, of course, and asked for an explanation. Here was the next message I got:
Thank you for writing to Amazon.com.

Your Listmania list was removed because of inappropriate content. We encourage all voices to respond openly in our store, both positive and negative. However, we do exert some editorial control over our customer reviews.

Please understand that we wholeheartedly support the right to free speech. Our intention is to make the customer review forum a place for commentary and feedback about titles, so discussions that criticize authors and their intentions are removed. Your comments were, in part, directed toward the authors and their character.

What I can suggest is that you resubmit your review, but restrict your comments to critically analyzing the content of the title.

Thanks for your cooperation.

Yes. Yes. Free speech. Yadda yadda.

2005-11-04T02:34:00.000-08:00

My Listmania List, including books published by some of America's most egregious poetry contest cheaters was removed from Amazon. I wrote to ask why, even though I already knew. So Amazon fired up the bullshit generator:

Greetings from Amazon.com.

First please allow me to apologize for the frustration that this has caused.

In researching your question we have been unable to find the Listmania List you have mentioned. At this time we can only suggest that you start a new list.

In addition to a wide selection of items, one of our aims at Amazon.com is to provide a convenient and efficient service; in this case, we have not met that standard.

I am truly sorry that we were not able to fulfill your expectations for this level of service. I hope that you will give us another opportunity to prove the quality of our service to you.

Thank you for shopping at Amazon.com.

And thank you for assuming I'll shop at Amazon ever again. Fucking Censors!

I highly recommend Powells Books of Portland, Oregon. It's America's largest independent bookstore AND it's unionized -- much less abusive than the characterization of Amazon.com.