Lifehacker has a handy guide to and analysis of the new, streamlined privacy controls just announced by Facebook. There’s also the full version posted on Facebook. The new controls are simpler, but fall short in some respects. [More]
BLOGS
Get Your Complaints Solved With One Simple Question
By 5.24.10
It’s like “The Secret” for CSRs: by asking reps reps this one question, you can get many of your customer issues resolved faster and go on to live a life with less stress and more laughter. [More]
Cut Debt Faster By Sending In Your Payments Sooner
By 5.24.10
One little trick you can do to get out of debt faster is to send in your credit card payments as soon as you can, says No Credit Needed. [More]
VIDEO: Angry Homeowners Rally Outside BofA Exec's House
By 5.24.10
Embittered homeowners and activists packed the yard of a Bank of America executive on a recent weekend, and they brought their bullhorn. [More]
Does Your City Spend A Lot On Eating?
By 5.24.10
When it comes to spending on munching and swigging, how do you think your city stacks up? Bundle crunched the numbers and turned it into a plump and juicy infographic, served up piping hot inside… [More]
Credit Card Limits Going Lower, Rates Staying High
By 5.21.10
A FICO survey of risk officers at various financial companies found that they overwhelmingly agree that credit cards are going to get even crappier for consumers in the coming months. 83% said that card limits are going to go lower. 95% said that interest rates could go higher or stay at the currently high levels. Just two more reasons to cut the plastic. [More]
Rent-A-Center Responds To Predatory Lending Infographic
By 5.20.10
Sonia, Rent-a-Center’s Public & Community Affairs person, saw our popular post, “How Predatory Lending Works, From Payday Loans To Rent-To-Own” and has a rebuttal that shows how they do math. I showed it to Jess, the creator of the infographic, and he has a rebuttal to the rebuttal. Let the chips fall where they may: [More]
Amazon Coupon Codes For May
By 5.19.10
ProBargainHunter has got the entire list of Amazon’s official coupon codes for May. Here’s some of the deepest discounts: [More]
Harper's Magazine: Insider Reveals How You Get Jacked When Selling Jewelry
By 5.19.10
Struggling to make next month’s rent, you might be tempted to dig out some necklaces and rings you don’t wear and try to sell it to your friendly neighborhood jeweler. But you might actually be buying a ticket to a sick magic show. The jeweler performs a blistering series of slight of hand tricks, whipping out calculators, spouting off fees, keeping your eye on the supposedly worthless diamonds under a tenth of a carat while double-deducting for the base metal. By the end, you slink out in a dizzied blur, accepting 1/5th of what the piece is actually worth. In this exclusive excerpt from the latest issue of Harper’s, ex-jeweler Clancy Martin takes you on a journey to the dark underbelly of the jewelry game. [More]
VIDEO: New Kin Ad Creeps Consumer Reports Out
By 5.18.10
Theresa over at Consumer Reports Ad Watch took a gander at the latest Kin ad and is kinda skeeved out. In the ad for Microsoft’s new social networking phone targeted at teens, protagonist “Rosa” goes out to confront in person “Matty Goldberb” who’s been hitting on her on Facebook, despite their never meeting before and not knowing each other besides some “mutual friends” (according to Facebook). [More]
Ex-Jeweler Dissects "Buying Roadshow" Ads
By 5.18.10
The ads are cheesy as all get out: “Buying Roadshow” “Instant Cash For All” “Will pay up to 1100%” in giant block letters and starbursts. And the crazy thing is that they’re really good at packing in suckers eager to sell their “scrap jewelry,” dreaming of riches, but eventually convinced to be happy walking away with a few bucks. Over at Harper’s Magazine, ex-jeweler Clancy Martin takes apart these ads piece by piece and reveals what really goes on behind the black curtain. For instance: [More]
How Predatory Lending Works, From Payday Loans To Rent-To-Own
By 5.12.10
You’re a savvy, savvy consumer. You pay your credit card bills in full every month, auto-deduct a generous portion of your paycheck into savings, invest in index funds, and always make sure you’re getting the best deal from your cable and wireless providers. Unfortunately, some of your brethren do not read Consumerist and can get caught up in the jaws of predatory lenders, wasting limited cash on things like payday loans, bad credit cards, and using rent-to-own stores. So let’s take a walk down the wild side and see how each of these bad choices work, in a giant infographic, courtesy of Mint and WallStats, after the jump. [More]
Visualizing The Devolution Of Privacy On Facebook
By 5.11.10
This chart shows how the default privacy settings on Facebook have gotten less, well, private, from 2005-2010. Created by Matt McKeon based off an EFF timeline, it helps visualize how Facebook has grown increasingly permissive with your data as it has grown in size, power, and revenue. What might tomorrow bring? Perhaps in the future Facebook will create placeholder profiles for people who haven’t signed up yet, using data gleaned from Zabasearch and LexisNexis. Check out Matt’s site for an interactive version.
The Evolution of Privacy on Facebook [mattmckeon via NPR]
Facebook Board Member's Profile Hacked
By 5.10.10
Maybe now that one of their board members’ profile got hacked, Facebook will start caring more about your privacy. Nah. [More]
VIDEO: Unusual Selloff 30 Min Ahead Of Crash?
By 5.10.10
Might there be more to last week’s crash than a “fat fingered” trade, or someone mistakenly entering a “billion” instead of a “million?” An online stock trader has a video showing an unusual spike in trading volume, followed by a very quick sell-off, by funds at large investment firms BlackRock and Vanguard and some other funds 30 to 15 minutes before the big crash. Prescience? Watch the video, check the logs, and decide for yourself. [More]
The 3 Kinds Of American Business
By 5.7.10
According to Tom, there are three basic types of American business. If that’s too many to remember, you can also organize them under them under the umbrella concept known as “screwed up.”
The Three Classes of American Business [4-Block World]
Earn $200/hr Teaching Angry Man To Use Apple Products
By 5.7.10
I guess Apple products aren’t idiot-proof after all. We have found your idiot nonpareil. There is a man in San Fran who needs help using Apple products. He is wiling to pay $200 an hour. This is his NSFW Craigsist ad/rant about how he is too busy to figure out how to get his credit card number from auto-populating when his kids buy stuff on iTunes, but has enough time for you to come over to his house and teach him how to use his devices. [More]
Just For The Record, Your Friend Wasn't Mugged In London
By 5.6.10
You get a desperate email from a friend or acquaintance. It’s urgent. They say they were overseas and got mugged, getting robbed of their cellphone and all their cash and credit cards. Now they’re stranded and need your help. Could you please wire over $900 immediately? [More]
