Interesting multi-channel marketing question. We received a Tassimo coffee maker. Needing to order the T-discs to make coffee, I did a quick Google search. If you're Braun, the Tassimo manufacturer, you'd probably prefer to have people order directly from you, so that you can add them to your mailing list, and try to sell automatic shipments of coffee (very much the low priced razors, high priced razor blade model).
Negatives of the Tassimo website: it's difficult to find decaf coffee, and the free shipping on $30 ordered isn't prominently promoted.
Positives on Amazon: Prominent free shipping on $25. Bigger packages available -- 16 packs rather than 8, slightly discounted prices, and the ability to use an existing account.
If I was running the Tassimo site, I'd have a huge banner with Free Shipping on your first order, regardless of amount. The lifetime value of a customer would have to outweight whatever it costs to ship some relatively light coffee discs.

Search Engine Journal has the nominees for the "2006 Search Blog Awards" up.. It's a great resource if you're looking for search information, although there aren't direct links yet to the blogs.

Merrifield Citizens Association

Local citizens in action. The Merrifield Citizens Association formed to prevent a homeless shelter in Merrifield. It's one of the better local community sites I've seen.

Knotice - Concentri

Brian from Knotice had sent me some information on Concentri. It's their program to manage multi-channel marketing communications, and they have a pretty good track record of working with cable companies. I've always enjoyed talking with Brian, and I'd be curious to read a case study, or even an example without names, on how they've integrated email and web with dynamic content, as those seem to be the two most used channels currently.

Lots of news from the affiliate marketing and comparison shopping engine front.

The latest issues with Google Checkout. Many affiliates aren't getting paid when Google Checkout is being used. Google's being very proactive, and putting a lot of resources towards this, so I wouldn't be surprised to see it fixed shortly.

PC World has a skeptical article on shopping comparison engines, which makes some excellent points. At this point, you'd be hard pressed to find a good comparison of any electronics under $25, and in many cases under $50, due to the high price of clicks.

As someone I was talking to Saturday, who works for one of the major vendors in that space, it really is the Wild Wild West right now. The NY Times weighs in on some of the sites trying to step into the space.