• Autographed copy of Tony and Me: A Story of Friendship by Jack Klugman (Good Hill Press), the funny and moving story of the two men who were friends for decades and made history as television's The Odd Couple. Also includes a CD of hilarious outtakes from the TV series.
• No Time to Hide by Rob Palmer (Leisure Books), the hot new psychological thriller that Diana Gabaldon calls "A story of lies and secrets, played out like a game of Chinese boxes."
• The Flavor Point Diet by Daniel L. Katz, MD (Rodale), the new eating plan that helps you turn off your hunger and lose the weight for good.
• Catch Me When I Fall by Nicci French (Warner Books), the exciting new thriller about a successful businesswoman and wife who has a secret life that is about to catch up to her.

"Wealthy consumer ratings in this category are dynamic," said Milton Pedraza, CEO, Luxury Institute. "Ferragamo has the strongest brand loyalty as measured by the critical customer retention index, and is the brand customers are most willing to recommend. While Ferragamo is top-rated regardless of income or net worth, Louis Vuitton is top- rated among women, and Hermes is top-rated among wealthy consumers age 50+, and the brand deemed most worthy of a price premium," said Pedraza.

Coach is the strongest fashion brand among more mass-oriented luxury brands purchased by wealthy consumers. A designer's effectiveness in meeting the needs of wealthy customers, and the trustworthiness of the people who represent the brand, are the two experience drivers with strongest correlations to price-worthiness, retention or referrals.

"This sends a clear message to the fashion industry that in luxury great products are expected, but great customer experience depends on the people you hire, and how you train them to interact with customers. To the wealthy, trust is almost as important in this category as it is in wealth management providers," Pedraza said.

The Luxury Customer Experience Index (LCEI) delivers measures of the drivers for Customer Experience rated by each brand's customers, based on four "pillars" of a Customer's Experience including: Experience Drivers, Price Worthiness, Customer Retention and Customer Referral for each brand in a category. The Experience Drivers section includes metrics of the brand's effectiveness, brand attitude, brand environment, and the brand's problem resolution index.

The Luxury Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2,100+ households with a minimum of $200,000 annual income and net worth of $750,000+ (including home equity).

Pomegranates have been part of Mideastern and Mediterranean cuisine for centuries. But the ruby-red fruit was largely absent from the American diet. That's changing now. Spurred in part by the popularity of Pom Wonderful pomegranate juice, which launched nationwide with a major marketing campaign in mid-2003, U.S. foodmakers are adding the fruit to chocolate, chewing gum, even chicken sausage. In the first nine months of 2005, at least 190 new pomegranate-flavored foods and drinks were introduced in the United States, according to Datamonitor's Productscan Online database of new products. "There's been a desire lately among consumers to gravitate toward exotic foods like this," says Tom Vierhile, Productscan Online's executive director.

Sales of Pom and other pomegranate products also got a boost from several recent studies touting the fruit's protective benefits against cancer, heart disease and high blood pressure. The crunchy (and edible) seeds and surrounding pulp of the so-called superfood are also packed with nutrients like vitamin C and potassium. "There's a lot of science behind its health benefits," says Miami cardiologist Arthur Agatston, creator of the South Beach diet, who recommends the nutrient-dense fruit to all his patients. It's one prescription that shouldn't be hard to fill.

Bank of America's new authentication system, called SiteKey, is now mandatory in all markets across the U.S. in which the bank offers online-account services, with the exception of Washington and Idaho. The bank said it will roll out SiteKey to its online customers in those two states by April.

SiteKey, developed by PassMark Security in Menlo Park, California, is designed to prevent account holders from falling prey to bogus Web sites that troll for sensitive information. It does this by asking you to select an image and a phrase that only you know. If this image and phrase are not displayed on the Bank of America Web site when you log in, then you know the site is fraudulent.

SiteKey uses cookies -- packets of information commonly used as tracking devices -- to check whether or not customers are accessing the bank's Web site from their usual computers. If, for example, they are using a computer at an Internet cafe, then they are given some challenge-and-response questions that only they will be able to answer.

But some companies are encouraged by what they see as increased vigilance on the part of consumers. PayPal's Pires said that eBay has seen a rise in the number of phishing e-mails forwarded to it by users.

"We think greater user awareness about phishing is the reason for this," Pires said. "EBay and PayPal work with Internet service providers and law enforcement to shut down spoof Web sites. We have a very good success rate in the U.S., but it takes longer to shut down spoof Web sites when they are located abroad."

No doubt Reese Witherspoon is still savoring her win at this week's Golden Globes. But her rep's not too thrilled about that old dress she was wearing. Old dress? Yes, and not as old as Witherspoon reportedly was led to believe, according to the New York Post.

Witherspoon was told her silver-and-white Chanel gown was "vintage," but apparently "vintage" meant 3 years old . . . and worn by Kirsten Dunst at the 2003 Golden Globes after-parties. Oops.

"I'm not angry," Witherspoon's rep, Nancy Ryder, told the Post, "just a little disappointed. But the big deal is Reese won the Golden Globe."

The used nature of the frock wasn't the only thing wrong with it, according to E! Online. The "Walk the Line" star got it half right with the sequined bodice and strappy sandals, the site opined. But, "her cocktail dress with full skirt is straight out of a '50s sock hop. Too bad her prim and proper bun tips the style scales into the domestic doldrums." Ouch.

T-Rex Crab Island Hermit Homes are intended for two purposes. First, as hermit crabs grow, they need the opportunity to change their shell to a larger more comfortable home. Hermit Crabs should always have access to these shells in their environment. Second, the hermit crab owner may want to give the crab an opportunity to change into a different shell to enhance or change its looks. This is completely appropriate. Just remember, the crab will change shells when it wants to, not necessarily when the caregiver wants to. The changes will normally take place at night when no one is watching.

Products on the shelves of a Snappy Auctions store are only up for grabs to buyers in the world of online auctioneer eBay. Customers bring in their goods and Snappy sales staff manages the process from starting bid price to pay-out.

And Gordon's custom-made software is what makes the process a breeze. She says most locations can operate with fewer than two full-time employees. The system helps the salesperson determine the item's value based on the market demand and even the best day to kick off the bidding. In exchange, customers fork over between 15 and 35 percent of the sale, depending on the price of the item.

Gordon says this arrangement works because sellers don't "want to put up with all the hassles" of selling on eBay. When Gordon got the idea for Snappy Auctions, she says only 2 percent of registered eBay users were sellers. And buyers "are more likely to bid on our items than someone who hasn't sold much," she says.

• A three book set: Hard Truth, Cold Truth and Dark Truth (Ballantine), the exciting new suspense trilogy by bestselling author Mariah Stewart.
• Slow Burn (Ballantine), the thrilling new suspense novel by bestselling author Julie Garwood.
• 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style by Matt Madden (Penguin), an exploration of storytelling that will inspire your own creative work.
• Angels in Pink by Lurlene McDaniel (Delacorte Press), a trilogy of moving stories about Kathleen, Raina and Holly, three teenaged best friends who have an unforgettable summer.

The RedWire DLX range is designed for men and women, and has a special side pocket with a white leather patch to store an iPod. A four-way joystick on the watch pocket allows the user to play/pause, track forward/back and adjust the volume without removing the player. Retractable headphones have been built in, as has a docking cradle that allows users to look at their iPod screen and control it via the jeans. "In designing the jeans we considered both function and fashion. The result is a uniquely functional, yet stylish, great fitting jean," said Robert Hanson, Levi's US brand president.

....Chief Executive Philip Marineau, hasn't released any pictures of the intriguing new design, but it has described a something like the iPod's trackpad being incorporated into the jeans’ watch pocket. Levis said the infused controls would be compatible with most of the players systems.

The inevitable question of how the denims would be washed is answered thus by the company's spokesperson: "First you would need to remove your iPod and headphones." Check. "And the technology itself," explains Amy Jasmer, "is washable. It's a small device that fits inside the pocket as a docking station with the joystick on the outside of the pocket." You essentially wouldn't even have to go through the trouble of reaching into your pocket to change songs.

Levis had been talking for several months with Apple about the project, Jasmer says. "We thought it would be a great way to bring two icons together." What will they think of next...

If your biggest decision about how to treat a cough is whether to take cherry- or grape-flavored syrup, you might find the following advice a little hard to swallow: The American College of Chest Physicians says don't waste money on over-the-counter cough syrups or drops. They don't work. Cough syrups generally contain drugs in too low a dose to be effective or contain combinations of drugs that have never been proved to treat coughs, said Dr. Richard Irwin, chairman of the cough guidelines committee for the American College of Chest Physicians.

"The best studies that we have to date would suggest there's not a lot of justification for using these medications because they haven't been shown to work," said Irwin, a professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Mass.

The group's new guidelines discourage use of over-the-counter cough medicines. Irwin said that not only are such medicines ineffective at treating coughs caused by colds -- the most common cause of coughs -- they also can lead patients to delay seeking treatment for more serious coughs, including whooping cough.

The guidelines conclude that OTC sedating antihistamines, such as dexbrompheniramine, plus a decongestant, such as pseudoephedrine, do appear to be effective in relieving coughs caused by colds, as does naproxen. Penn State pediatrician Ian Paul, whose 2004 study found no benefit from cough syrups in children, says drinking fluids, saline nose drops, humidified air and Tylenol or ibuprofen can sooth coughing kids.

Where one door closes, another opens -- especially when it comes to beauty boutiques and A-list actresses. Just a month after Scarlett Johansson's role as the face of Calvin Klein fragrances came to an end, the bombshell blonde actress has been swept up by L'Oréal Paris to represent its new colour line: HIP High Intensity Pigments. "It's wonderful to be working with L’Oréal, a company that has celebrated independent women for years," says Scarlett. "I'm very excited to be part of this campaign, which is modern and fashion forward." The Match Point star, who is thought to have made $1 million-a-year through the cK contract, is estimated by industry sources to have been wooed by a $3 million-a-year deal this time around, according to WWD. HIP is expected to generate sales of $50 million in its first year and Johansson's contract will likely include the promotion of further make-up and haircare products in the future. Her first ads for the brand will air during the Golden Globes, of which L'Oréal Paris is the sole beauty sponsor, on January 16.