Lost in the Amazon

Amazon.com claims to be "The Earth's Biggest Bookstore," and they'll get no argument from me! The only problem with being that big is that it's sometimes hard to see the rainforest for the trees. As an Amazon Associate with my own little online bookstore, I spend A LOT of time beating the Amazon bush, and I've found some pages you probably didn't know about:

Although not really a page, recommended product links like the one on the left are cool. Evey time you reload the page new popular products appear. (Try it)

There are also a lot of feature pages that "Browse Amazon Books" never quite leads to. The early adopter pages in our sidebar menu aren't that obscure, but have you seen the Popular Pre-Order Books? What a great way to keep up with authors you enjoy!

Do you miss having a knowledgeable bookseller to advise you on book purchases without a lot of sales pressure? Various Amazon editors publish 200-300 Listmania! pages. That's something you won't find in your local brick-and-mortar franchise!

Of course, Amazon isn't just books anymore although I've started with the book section since there are books about so many topics that there are book tie-ins to 'most everything else. Anyway, I have found a forgotten link to The Billboard Top 40 that I know a lot of people will like.

March Madness

NCAA Basketball conference tournaments are in full swing, with the winners guaranteed a place in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship mercifully known by the much shorter an more alliterative "March Madness."

Predictions abound regarding the make-up of the starting bracket, but the selection committee is largely guided by the Results Percentage Index, an objective if not necessarily accurate measure of relative team strength.

In addition to the thirty tournament champions (plus the regular season champs from the Ivy League, which doesn't hold a tournament), 34 at large teams are selected. Practically speaking, any Top 25 team according to the national polls can expect to be in this group, regardless of their tournament performance.

The remaining at large teams generally selected from the major conferences, that is the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, and SEC. The smaller conferences are often called "one-bid" conferences, since even teams that have dominated these conferences in the regular season rarely go to "the big dance" if they fail to win their conference tournament.

Immediately after the last conference tournament games, the starting brackets will be announced on the The NCAA Selection Show (CBS, 6 p.m. eastern time). There is still plenty of time to get your NCAA Gear to gloat over your team's inevitable victory, or pick out a good College Basketball book.

This year the NCAA will host considerable streaming video content on the web under the title March Madness on Demand. However, to avoid exceeding the available bandwith, they require free registration in advance.