Saturday March 27th, 2010 5:00 PM
Posts Tagged ‘Internet’
Link to the Burning Element Virtual Gallery
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
Microsoft Cashback—Scam or Glitch?
Monday, February 9th, 2009
Cashback Offer a Scam?
I went for it and bought a brand new shiny lens. The supposed rebate would amount to $162.95. My rebate was supposed to become available on January 18th. The 19th came and went. I contacted them and they claimed there was some kind of glitch preventing the payment from going through. Last week they promised the rebate would finally be deposited into my Paypal account on or before the 9th of February.
To be fair their tech support has kept up sporadic contact with me, but one promise after another for resolution has not been met. At one point they blamed the problem on Paypal. I have spoken with Paypal support as well to no avail. Right now I am still floating in limbo.
I have searched the net a few times and it would appear that I am not in this alone. It would seem that some people have received their rebates, while many others have not. What I am suggesting to others who may find this an enticing offer, you may wish to reconsider. I will let you know if and when anything changes.
Searching—Beware the Data Mine
Monday, February 9th, 2009
Keeping an Eye Out!
Just for the record I thought I would share this. I recently read an article in Parade (Sunday, February 8th, 2009), the small magazine that comes with the Sunday paper I thought was interesting.
According to an intelligence report the top three search engines keep records of your search engine activities for varying lengths. Microsoft (I.E. Live Search) saves records the longest at 18 months. Google follows second with 9 months. And due to pressure from privacy advocates Yahoo! Only keeps them 90 days.
This may seem unimportant to you, but these searches can be traced to you by your name and your IP address and therefore “Internet search companies have a detailed profile of your personal interests and tastes”.
Take into consideration… what if you’re searching medical issues and your health insurance company or a future health insurance company gets a hold of it. What about credit agencies if you are searching about foreclosure or some other related credit related activity they may base responses on?
Having worked in advertising and in accumulating client lists I already knew what was available on just about any demographic. Even so, I never really considered what could be assembled through simple web searches. But it makes complete sense once you think about it.
And certain Internet companies have been known to sell information in the past.
Am I going to change search engines? No, most likely not. But it is something to be aware of.