The pitch is straightforward: The newsletter will bring you one cool and/or useful online site, service, app, etc., per day. The alpha versions I’ve seen suggest that subscribers try out the likes of Gazelle, Zeni Optical, and Hazelmail.

If the concept sounds familiar, it should. There are several popular Web sites, like Gawker Media’s Lifehacker, that tread similar thematic ground.

And there are many variants in newsletter industry. Very Short List, the newsletter started by IAC (IACI) and now owned by the Observer Media Group, offers up a cool book, movie, video, etc., per day; DailyCandy, now owned by Comcast (CMCSA), tells its subscribers about cool sample sales and boutiques; Thrillist*, the DailyCandy for dudes, informs dudes about cool restaurants, bars, etc.

One other commonality: This newsletter business, like many others, is getting a boost from Bob Pittman’s Pilot Group. The investment fund, which has invested in newsletters, including Daily Candy and Thrillist, owns a piece of Recognition Media, the New York company that produces the annual Webby awards, among other silly/serious events.

*Your story is coming, Ben. Patience!

[Image credit: polmuadi]

The Costco customer program works pretty much like the one that startup Gazelle has offered to everyone for about a year. Enter the make and model of your old gadget (say, a third-generation 8GB iPod Nano) into the Costco Gazelle Web site, and the company tells you how much cash they’ll give you for it ($47, as of Friday, July 17) if you put it in a box and mail it to them. Gazelle then resells your old gear on eBay (EBAY) and to wholesalers–or, if it’s really old, they’ll recycle it for the value of its tech innards.

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