Business & Technology

Chances are you've received an email with a subject line like this "The hottest method to please your beloved one" or this "Want to get good health for low prices?" Emails offering "low cost med pills!"

You've probably wondered — who is sending these emails? Does anyone actually click on these links? What happens when they do?

On today's show: Three short stories about the stuff we buy — books, toys and clothes.

1. Are E-Books Actually Destroying Traditional Publishing? Conventional wisdom says e-books are destroying the traditional publishing business model. People pay less for e-books and that drives down price. When you talk to publishers though, you realize the story's not that simple.

On average, YouTube streams 4 billion hours of video per month. That's a lot of video, but it's only a fraction of the larger online-streaming ecosystem. For video-streaming services, making sure clips always load properly is extremely challenging, and a new study reveals that it's important to video providers, too.

Maybe this has happened to you: You're showing a friend some hilarious video that you found online. And right before you get to the punch line, a little loading dial pops up in the middle of the screen.