Today's Links: Shopping for votes, Wal-Mart makeover

"TODAY’S LINKS" October 27, 2006

“Today’s Links” is an eclectic round up pointing to noteworthy news and worthy analysis from all around the World Wide Web.

TODAY’S LINKS October 27, 2006: SHOPPING for Votes, at Wal-Mart, for the Holidays, PLUS Did You Catch...

SHOPPING FOR VOTES  AP, 10/27/06

Gin or vodka? Ford or BMW? Perrier or Fiji water? Does the car you buy or what's in your fridge say anything about how you'll vote? Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign thinks so.

Employing technology honed in President Bush's 2004 victory, the Republican governor's re-election team has created a vast computer storehouse of data on personal buying habits and voter records to identify likely supporters...

The Schwarzenegger campaign has stockpiled millions of names, phone numbers and addresses with consumer preferences, voting histories and other demographic information. The information allows the campaign to target a household with phone calls, mailings and visits from volunteers, with the message tailored to issues the resident is believed to care about.

Wal-Mart revealed a new look for its Web site on Tuesday, trading in its familiar smiley-face logo and low prices motto for a more sophisticated design that will appeal to trend-conscious shoppers.
The world's largest retailer said it has spent a year overhauling Walmart.com with bigger pictures, more product descriptions, a quicker checkout process and a cleaner look overall that will make shopping online easier but also drive traffic at its bricks-and-mortar stores...

The changes to Walmart.com are in line with changes at Wal-Mart Supercenters, some of which have been remodeled to include upscale touches such as wider aisles, faux-wood floors and trendier products.

It's almost Halloween; how's your Christmas shopping coming?

A poll released Wednesday night by Consumer Reports found that 29 percent of Americans have already bought some of their holiday gifts and 49 percent expect to be done by the second week of December...

the gift most people said they planned to give was clothing _ which respondents said was the most disappointing to receive _ especially socks.

Going by the poll, 39 percent of Americans will be going online to buy gifts this year, although 72 percent of those people expressed concern about the security of their personal information.