Moon-ing Jupiter- but Praising Amazon

This weekend features a spectacular show in the sky. Jupiter, Venus, and the Moon will be very close- about 2 degrees apart.

There is an interesting article titled "Amazon.com Tries User-Generated Public Relations." According to the story, "The company has announced what it calls its “Holiday Customer Review Team.” These are six Amazon customers who are particularly active in writing product reviews that it has offered to reporters to discuss gift picks. (They also contribute their recommendations on a page on Amazon’s site.)

Amazon says that members of the team are “real people giving unbiased advice to fellow consumers. They are not employed by Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.”

That’s not quite the whole story.

Some team members have been flown to Seattle to conduct broadcast interviews on behalf of the company. Moreover, they have been given free products to review and keep.

The freebies are part of the Amazon Vine program the company started last year. Top reviewers get free products if they promise to write about them..."

Been a somewhat quiet and sober holiday. Crowds very significantly less than in previous years, based on my parking lot observations.