RetailMeNot.com features coupon codes and discounts for 50,000 online stores.  The site has a fairly simple organization with four main sections:  Coupon Codes, Printable Coupons, Grocery Coupons, and Community.

The first three are somewhat self-explanatory, but the fourth really caught my eye.  In the community section, users can post coupon codes that they find, they can comment on other people’s postings and leave feedback on whether the code works properly.  The site tracks which codes they use, how much they save, and now much they help others save.  It also awards users “badges” based on certain achievements.  For example, the “Bargain Hunter” badge is given to those who use over 10 coupons.

The site is currently offering a $5,000 prize for for the winner of a contest where you give RetailMeNot.com a wedding-style toast in a YouTube video.

While it’s hard to ascertain exactly how this website makes a profit, there are clues on one of their pages: “Category sponsorship – For only $200 a month you can sponsor any category (e.g. clothing) on RetailMeNot”

This seems to imply that RetailMeNot.com gets their income from retailers and producers.  As a shopper, there seems to be no downside to using their website.  It is free of annoying banner ads or popups and features lots of savings.  Get started today!

…at SocialEdge.org.  It is a website where Social Entrepreneurs can share their thoughts and ideas online.  They publish 20 different blogs through their website, each on a different topic within Social Entrepreneurship.

I spent some time reading one such blog called “Kiva Chronicles” which features stories about Kiva.org, an online social micro-financing venture.  The blog usually has 2 to 4 entries per month, which are quite interesting.  Many of them share the personal stories of those helped by Kiva, with good detail and description.  There are also some fantastic pictures of these foreign entrepreneurs at work!

The Social Edge website also has a collection of videos, discussions, a wiki, and even job listings.  It seems to me that this website serves as a great hub for information about Social Entrepreneurship.

One of the main ways that the internet has changed investing is by making easier for the “little guy”.  With the advent of computer-based trading software, a small-time investor can actually complete a small trade before the large institutional traders can buy or sell their huge blocks of shares.

Another important change that we’ve seen in the last decade is the huge drop in commission charges.   In the 1990′s, brokerage fees of 2 to 3% could mean that 100 shares of a $50 stock, or a $5,000 equity purchase would be charged a commission between $200 and $300.  The stock would need to increase noticeably just to sell it back at cost!  Today, you can trade stocks through online brokers for just a flat rate of $5 per trade.  This means that the same 100 shares of a $50 stock would only be charged a 0.1% commission fee.

Some well-known brokers like Fidelity still charge higher fees ($10 to $20 per trade) but this is still much cheaper than what they charged in the past.  Popular discount brokers include ThinkOrSwim and TradeKing.  Their low flat fees are helping to drive down costs for everyone!

Creative Commons was created to with music, blogs, pictures, films, and other such cultural media in mind.  However, in 2005 they added a new focus by launching Science Commons.

This arm of the Creative Commons concept has been lowering the barriers that exist for those conducting scientific research and data mining.

Their website lists three primary building blocks of their plan to improve scientific discovery:

1. Making scientific research “re-useful” — We help people and organizations open and mark their research and data for reuse. We are also exploring new models for licensing patents and know how.
2. Enabling “one-click” access to research materials — We help streamline the materials-transfer process so researchers can easily replicate, verify and extend research.
3. Integrating fragmented information sources — We help researchers find, analyze and use data from disparate sources by marking and integrating the information with a common, computer-readable language.

A way this project can ultimately benefit us is by speeding the time it takes to go from identifying a gene to developing a drug to fight the related disease – currently 17 years, but potentially  much shorter.

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament brings a new element to the internet:  online sports brackets.  I believe this concept brings out the gambler in all of us!

Some of the most popular bracket challenges online are found on CBS, Fox, ESPN, and Yahoo.  Top prizes are typically $10,000 for the best bracket, although one site offers a new Infiniti car.  Ruby Tuesday (the restaurant chain) and others have even offered $1,000,000 for a perfect bracket!  Although your chances of getting a perfect bracket are almost nil, the gambler in me is quick to try something free if you have even the smallest chance.

What we may not realize is how much publicity and advertising revenue these companies are getting in return for their efforts.  A $10,000 prize is chump change for brand such as ESPN, so I believe that they have more to gain from the online bracket challenge than we do.  Still, it’s worth a shot at the big bucks!