Category: Lifestyle

  • How to Check an eBay Seller’s Reputation (and Why You Should Do It).

    How to Check an eBay Seller's Reputation (and Why You Should Do It).

    When you buy something from an eBay seller, you are giving them your money and hoping that you will get something in return. However many guarantees of safety eBay might make to you, nothing is certain: if you just give your money to scammers all the time without doing any checks then the chances are you won't get all of that money back.

    That's why you should always check the seller's reputation, or 'feedback rating'. This is a quick and easy-to-read summary of their history as an eBay seller, which gives you some idea of whether or not you should trust them with your money. Buying anything is a calculated risk: you want to minimise that risk.

    How to Check Feedback Ratings.

    On each item's description page, there is a box in the top-right hand corner about the seller, with the title 'Seller information'. This contains the seller's name, their feedback score, and their positive feedback percentage, as well as any stars they have earned.

    Different coloured stars are given to eBay sellers depending on their rating, in this sequence: yellow, blue, turquoise, purple, red, green, shooting yellow, shooting turquoise, shooting purple, shooting red. Anyone with a 'shooting' star is an experienced eBay member who you should be able to trust.

    If you click on the seller's name, you can get to a more detailed view of their reputation – their 'member profile' page. This page shows the total number of people who gave them a positive or negative rating, as well as a breakdown by time. You can also see a complete history of all the comments that have ever been left about them, with the most recent first.

    What to Look For.

    You might assume that anyone with a very high number can be trusted, but that isn't always true. It is more important to look at their positive feedback percentage – and you should really consider anything below 99% to be a red flag and investigate further.

    Take a look through the first visible page with the most recent transactions: are there any negative comments? What do they say? Take others' experiences into account, as they could happen to you if you deal with this person. Be careful not to punish sellers unfairly, however, if they did bad things in their past on eBay but have improved since. You should look at the breakdown by time and ignore any negative feedback that was left a long time ago. Equally, though, you should sit up and pay attention if a seller seems to have been left an out-of-character amount of bad feedback in the last month or so.

    Now that you know who to trust, it is worth learning a little more about how the different kinds of auctions work, so that you don't accidentally slip up and make yourself and your feedback page look bad. Our next email will be about the different kinds of auctions you can expect to encounter during your time on eBay.

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  • Tips and Tricks for Using eBay Search.

    Tips and Tricks for Using eBay Search.

    If you know what you're doing, you can quickly find what you're looking for on eBay. Here are a few golden rules.

    Be specific: If you're searching for the first edition of the original Harry Potter book, you'll get further searching for 'harry potter rowling philosopher's stone first edition' than you will searching for 'harry potter'. You'll get fewer results, but the ones you do get will be far more relevant.

    Spell wrongly: It's a sad fact that many of the sellers on eBay just can't spell. Whatever you're looking for, try thinking of a few common misspellings – the chances are that fewer people will find these items, and so they will be cheaper.

    Get a thesaurus: You should try to search for all the different words that someone might use to describe your item, for example searching for both 'TV' and 'television', or for 'phone', 'mobile' and 'cellphone'. Where you can, though, leave off the type of item altogether and search by things like brand and model.

    Use the categories: Whenever you search, you'll notice a list of categories at the side of your search results. If you just searched for the name of a CD because you want to buy that CD, you should click the 'CDs' category to just look at results in that category. Why bother looking through a load of results that you don't care about?

    Don't be afraid to browse: Once you've found the category that items you like seem to be in, why not click 'Browse' and take a look through the whole category? You might be surprised by what you find.

    Few people realise just how powerful eBay's search engine is – a few symbols here and there and it'll work wonders for you.

    Wildcard searches: You can put an asterisk (*) into a search phrase when you want to say 'anything can go here'. For example, if you wanted to search for a 1950s car, you could search for 'car 195*'. 195* will show results from any year in the 1950s.

    In this order: If you put words in quotes ("") then the only results shown will be ones that have all of the words between the quote marks. For example, searching for "Lord of the Rings" won't give you any results that say, for example "Lord Robert Rings".

    Exclude words: Put a minus, and then put any words in brackets that you don't want to appear in your search results. For example: "Pulp Fiction" -(poster,photo) will find items related to Pulp Fiction but not posters or photos.

    Either/or: If you want to search for lots of words at once, just put them in brackets: the TV example from earlier could become '(TV,television)', which would find items with either word.

    So once you've found your bargain item, bid for it and won it, what if it all goes wrong? Don't worry – eBay has a thorough dispute resolution procedure, and we'll cover it in some depth in the next article, so you'll be prepared if the worst happens.

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  • Criticism of Google

    Criticism of Google

    Criticism of Google includes alleged misuse and manipulation of search results, its use of others' intellectual property, concerns that its compilation of data may violate people's privacy, censorship of search results and content, and the energy consumption of its servers as well as concerns over traditional business issues such as antitrust, monopoly, and restraint of trade.

    Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program.

    Google's stated mission is "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful"; this mission, and the means used to accomplish it, have raised concerns among the company's critics. Much of the criticism pertains to issues that have not yet been addressed by cyber law.

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  • Beauty Books: Are They Worth Your Money?

    Are you interested in improving your appearance?  If you are, are you interested in learning what types of makeup is best for you, as well as how to properly apply it?  If you are, you may have turned to the internet or to fashion magazines, but have you ever thought about buying a beauty book?  If you haven’t or even if you have, you may be wondering whether or not beauty books are really worth the money.

    When it comes to determining whether or not beauty books are worth the money, there are a number of important factors that should be taken into consideration.  For instance, beauty books come in a number of different formats.  If you are looking for something in particular, like how to properly apply and remove makeup, you may be able to find a beauty book that specializes solely on those tasks.  Beauty books that are right to the point and contain the information that you are looking are the best and they are definitely worth your money.

    In addition, when trying to determine if beauty books are worth the buy, you will want to individually examine each book that you are interested in buying. Books may cover the same topics, but the information inside of them may be presented in different ways. For instance, if you were looking to buy a beauty book that outlined the proper ways to apply makeup, you likely want to see drawings or pictures; right?  Just so you know, not all beauty guides contain detailed pictures or drawings.  That is why it is important that you learn as much as you can about a beauty book before deciding to buy one.

    Although the beauty book or books that you would like to buy are important in determining if the book or books are the worth your money, so is the location in which you buy them from. You should know that beauty books can be found at an unlimited number of different locations. For starters, you can buy beauty books from your local bookstores, beauty supply stores, department stores, and fashion stores.  In addition to storefront locations, you can also buy beauty books from a number of online retailers.  You will want to think comparing prices first to ensure that you are getting the best deal or at least to make sure that you aren’t being overcharged.

    If you are interested in buying a beauty book, but you are also on a tight budget, you may want to think about buying used books.  There are a number websites, including online auction websites, where you can buy used books, including used beauty books.  Also, if you like to attend yard sales or book sales, you may want to think about keeping your open for beauty books.  Yard sales, thrift stores, and online auction websites often allow you to get a used book for fifty or even seventy-five percent off the normal asking price.

    The decision as to where you want to buy a beauty book from, as well as which book you would like to buy is yours to make.  With that in mind, however, it is important to make sure that you know exactly what you are buying.  Just buying a beauty book without skimming through the book first or reading online reviews is almost always a surefire way to be met with disappointment or even end up wasting your money.

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  • Google AdSense

    Google AdSense

    Google AdSense is a program run by Google that allows publishers in the Google Network of content sites to serve automatic text, image, video, or interactive media advertisements, that are targeted to site content and audience. These advertisements are administered, sorted, and maintained by Google, and they can generate revenue on either a per-click or per-impression basis. Google beta-tested a cost-per-action service, but discontinued it in October 2008 in favor of a DoubleClick offering (also owned by Google). In Q1 2014, Google earned US $3.4 billion ($13.6 billion annualized), or 22% of total revenue, through Google AdSense.

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  • Sport Entertainment

    Sport Entertainment

    Sporting competitions have always provided entertainment for crowds. To distinguish the players from the audience, the latter are often known as spectators. Developments in stadium and auditorium design, as well as in recording and broadcast technology, have allowed off-site spectators to watch sport, with the result that the size of the audience has grown ever larger and spectator sport has become increasingly popular. Two of the most popular sports with global appeal are association football and cricket. Their ultimate international competitions, the World Cup and test cricket, are broadcast around the world. Beyond the very large numbers involved in playing these sports, they are notable for being a major source of entertainment for many millions of non-players worldwide. A comparable multi-stage, long-form sport with global appeal is the Tour de France, unusual in that it takes place outside of special stadia, being run instead in the countryside.

    Aside from sports that have world-wide appeal and competitions, such as the Olympic Games, the entertainment value of a sport depends on the culture and country in which it is played. For example, in the United States, baseball and basketball games are popular forms of entertainment; in Bhutan, the national sport is archery; in New Zealand, it is rugby union; in Iran, it is freestyle wrestling. Japan's unique sumo wrestling contains ritual elements that derive from its long history. In some cases, such as the international running group Hash House Harriers, participants create a blend of sport and entertainment for themselves, largely independent of spectator involvement, where the social component is more important than the competitive.

    The evolution of an activity into a sport and then an entertainment is also affected by the local climate and conditions. For example, the modern sport of surfing is associated with Hawaii and that of snow skiing probably evolved in Scandinavia. While these sports and the entertainment they offer to spectators have spread around the world, people in the two originating countries remain well known for their prowess. Sometimes the climate offers a chance to adapt another sport such as in the case of ice hockey which is an important entertainment in Canada.

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  • free book

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  • Things To Know When Using Autoresponders

    To help increase the flow of traffic to your website, nothing beats an autoresponder.  These programs can save you a lot of time by answering most of your emails automatically.  They can handle customer support questions, product related questions, or provide information about your company and services.  If you own an online business – an autoresponder is something you should definitely invest in.

    Autoresponders can also be used to track your promotions and how effective they are.  These days, autoresponders are one of the best tools that you can get for your online business.  They are used by some of the biggest and most popular online companies, and for good reason.  They simplify your life with your business – and give you more time to dedicate to other things.

    If you are planning to submit your website to search engines like Google or Yahoo, you should know that most search engines use autoresponders themselves.  Therefore, if you attempt to contact search engines using your autoresponder, theirs will contact yours and you’ll have a never ending reply of emails that will eventually flood both of your email boxes.

    Under no circumstances, should you ever use your autoresponder to subscribe to forums or other discussion type subscriptions.  A majority of the time, these discussion groups and such will email you updates regarding new information.  If you joined with an autoresponder address, your autoresponder will send a response each and every time.  This can get very annoying very fast, and a majority of the time you will end up being unsubscribed.  In this event, it can be very hard for the administrator or webmaster to determine who is using the autoresponder.  Therefore, to make things easier, you should never use your autoresponder with any subscription.

    There are some companies out there that completely take advantage of autoresponders.  They will use their autoresponder to respond to automated messages, which will automatically subscribe the “from” address in their mailing list.  This is totally the wrong way to use and autoresponder, and those who use it in this manner are displaying a very negative image.  Using your auto responder this way will send a negative image rather than positive.  Instead of spreading good word about you and your company, people will become upset and spread the word that you should be avoided.

    Whenever you use your autoresponder, you should always use courtesy towards your customers and your visitors.  Autoresponders are meant to help your company grow, and help you spread information about your services, products, and your company.  There are many creative and innovative ways that you can use this tool, providing you do it the right way.  Most customers know when they are receiving an autoresponder message, and if you don’t use it the right way they will know it.  Although you can always change or add to the preset messages; most contain a unique signature and address that will always be associated with autoresponders.

    The Internet is one of the best ways to conduct business and promote your products.  Autoresponders can help you save a lot of time, although when you use them in the wrong ways, they will eventually get you a negative image.  If you know you are using it the wrong way and continue to do so, you will eventually lose a lot of business and your company will suffer a great deal.  On the other hand, if you always think in terms of courtesy towards your customers, your autoresponder can help you obtain a lot of business and establish relationships with customers who will always spread the word about your company.

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  • Abraham Lincoln said

    All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years.
    Abraham Lincoln

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  • Google Products and Services Discontinued in 2010 and 2011

    Google Products and Services Discontinued in 2010

        Marratech e-Meeting – Web conferencing software, used internally by Google's employees. Google acquired the software from creator Marratech on April 19, 2007. Discontinued on February 19, 2010.
        GOOG-411 –Google's directory assistance service, which can be used free of charge from any telephone in the US and Canada. Discontinued on November 12, 2010.
        Google Labs – allowed users to test and demonstrate new Google products.

    Google Products and Services Discontinued in 2011

        Google Buzz – social networking service integrated with Gmail service allowing users to share updates, photos, videos, and more at once. It let users make conversations about things they found interesting. It was released on February 9, 2010. Discontinued by end of 2011.
        Google Dictionary – it was first introduced as part of Google Translate, it then became a standalone service that allowed searching of words and phrases from over 22 languages. Discontinued on August 5, 2011.
        Google PowerMeter – free energy monitoring tool that allows you to view your home's energy consumption from anywhere online. Discontinued on September 16, 2011.
        Real Estate – Real estate listings in Google Maps, launched in July 2009 and discontinued February 10, 2011.
        Google Directory – Collection of links arranged into hierarchical subcategories. The links and their categorization were from the Open Directory Project, but were sorted using PageRank. It was closed on July 20, 2011.
        Squared – creates tables of information about a subject from unstructured data. Discontinued September 2011.
        Google Sets – Generates a list of items when users enter a few examples. For example, entering "Green, Purple, Red" emits the list "Green, Purple, Red, Blue, Black, White, Yellow, Orange, Brown." Described in its 2003 patent filing by creators Simon Tong and Jeff Dean as “an inside peek at how Google groups keywords by concept,” it was discontinued in mid-2011.
        Google Pack – Collection of applications – some Google-created (including Google Earth, Google Desktop, Picasa, Google Talk, and Google Chrome), some not. (Supported Windows XP, Vista, 7). Discontinued on September 2, 2011.
        Google Fast Flip – Online news aggregator that mimicked the experience of flicking through a newspaper or magazine, allowing visual search of stories in manner similar to microfiche. Discontinued September 6, 2011.
        Desktop (Mac OS X, Windows 2000 SP3+, XP, Vista, 7, Linux): Desktop search application that indexes emails, documents, music, photos, chats, Web history and other files. It allowed the installation of Google Gadgets. Discontinued on September 14, 2011.
        Google Image Labeler – game that induced participants to submit valid descriptions (labels) of images in the web, in order to later improve Image Search. Discontinued on September 16, 2011.
        Aardvark – Social search utility which allowed people to ask and answer questions within their social networks. It used people's claimed expertise to match askers with good answerers. Discontinued on September 30, 2011.
        Directory – navigation directory, specifically for Chinese users.
        Gears (Google Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari): A browser plug-in that enables development of off-line browser applications.

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