http://www.commerce.net

Do you have a business idea for the web but are unsure financially of how you might go about getting it off the ground? Look no further than CommerceNet, a group venture that specializes in taking a great idea and helping you make it a reality.  Founded in 1994 by web guru Dr. Jay M. Tenenbaum, the pioneer of secure pay methods via the internet (i.e. https), CommerceNet is focused towards:

“...building a balanced portfolio of initiatives: long-term and short, high-risk and sure thing, never-been-tried and retried at the right time, too theoretical to work and so obvious it must have been tried long ago. We're looking for ideas that fulfill the promise of the Internet…”.

CommerceNet strives to impact the internet by:

• Tapping collective intelligence to solve problems and improve decision-making.
• Redefining processes to put more intelligence into software.
• Dramatically lowering transaction costs creating new categories of products and services.

Scrolling through their website you can see the success they’ve helped others achieve.  Stirr.net is a San Francisco based site that helps facilitate relationships between entrepreneurs and the people and resources they need in order to be successful.  They do this by offering an audience of professionals who will give you feedback and advice on fine tuning your pitch along with many other services.  Another site, PeopleLikeMe.com, is community oriented and allows users to communicate with other individuals who are dealing with similar life threatening illnesses.

Whether it’s business or relationships, CommerceNet is helping making a positive impact on the internet.  If you’ve got an idea for a web business, keep it to yourself no longer.  This website could help you move that idea from concept to reality!

Reviewed by Library Staff Member – Brian Seguin – S.F.

This year marks the 60^th anniversary of Christian Dior’s first collection as a couturier. The dress most identified with “The New Look” signature consisted of an off-white tight fitted waist coat and full volume black skirt.  This silhouette was meant to embrace femininity and all its charms, yet the lines still suggest discipline and formality.  With all its quiet sophistication, it is hard to believe that this dress not only influenced design in all areas outside of fashion – but also was considered controversial during this point in history.  The New Look: The Dior Revolution is not only a biography of the man behind the dress, but the history of haute couture and the rise of ready-to-wear.

World War II was happening.  Designs produced during this crucial period had huge influence on casual clothes since the war.  Shortages resulted in rations of materials and styles were necessarily conservative.  Dior defied this reality by using more than 25 yards of fabric to make his skirts.  When the war was over, the world was ready for something new.  Dubbed the New Look, it was reminiscent of the opulence of la belle époque, the time immediately before World War I when the century was young and optimistic.  Dior’s New Look seized the world’s imagination.  It exploded like no style before or since.  It can still be seen as the foundation of post-war fashion.

The New Look: The Dior Revolution critically looks at what was happening within the industry between countries and between occupations. Dior is not the only couturier mentioned in the book.  All the major players of the day have honorable and dishonorable mentions (Madame Gres, Balenciaga, Chanel…etc.).  Beneath the surface of all the hoop-la, there is analysis of style and society, women at war, and the influence of Hollywood.  All things considered, fashion and film fed fantasies to a populace when times were down to keep them up.  Dior ignited this with his dress that inspired more than a look.

Review by Library Staff Member - Glenda Ronduen