A company called Solve Media is rolling out a new CAPTCHA interface that requires you type in an ad slogan instead of a nonsense word, reports AdAge. Advertisers are looking for message comprehension,” says the company’s owner, “And you know what they say, ‘If you write something down, you remember it.'” And if you force a customer to repeat your slogan during an unrelated transaction, does he resent you for it? [More]
internet
Why Haven't Broadband Prices Dropped?
By 9.20.10
Ten years ago, 5% of the country had access to broadband Internet. Now over 95% of the country has access. In other technology markets, notes the authors of a new study, prices tend to drop significantly once a technology matures–but with broadband, prices since 2004 have dropped by less than 10% in most markets, if at all. So what’s going on? [More]
Man Gets Time Warner Bill Lowered More Than He Even Thought He Could
By 9.7.10
Nathan was paying $48.99 for Time Warner Cable internet and saw they were advertising the same service at $43.99. It wasn’t very hard to find, they put it right on his bill! When he called up to ask to get the same rate, they told him he could only get it if he bundled it with cable TV. So he hung up and called back again, using a different Time Warner Cable number. [More]
Consumer Group Launches Anti-Google Ad In Times Square, Keeps Google Analytics On Its Own Website
By 9.6.10
The group Consumer Watchdog is pushing hard for Congress to establish a “do not track” list for online consumers, which I’m all for. I’m not sure whether releasing a ridiculously unpleasant cartoon in Times Square is the right strategy, though–especially when you use the very service you’re warning people about. [More]
Snoop Dogg Partners With Norton To Fight Cybercrime
By 9.3.10
Security software maker Norton has hired rapper Snoop Dogg to be the face of a new contest that asks people to upload to “hackiswack.com” a 2 minute videos of themselves rapping about cybercrime. Winners get to hang out with the Snoop Dizzle, free tickets to his concert, and a new laptop preloaded with Norton Internet Security 2011. The partnership makes sense, as computer on Norton runs as fast as if you “smoke weed everyday.” [More]
Erase Yourself From The Internet
By 8.31.10
Need to escape from a stalker or clean up your online identity before a potential or current employer finds out that you have a personality? Here’s instructions on how to delete yourself from the internet, everything from erasing your profile from Facebook to “unGoogling” yourself. [More]
Reader Gets $40 Per Month Knocked Off FiOS Bill
By 8.19.10
Reader Shelve says he was able to get Verizon to give him $40 per month off his FiOS bill. How? [More]
Mozy Wants To Explain Wireless Internets To You
By 8.16.10
You might think that a company like Mozy, which sells secure online backup services, would be able to troubleshoot common technical issues that are directly related to its business. After all, surely Heather isn’t the only customer to have problems with her initial backup hanging for several days in a row. But instead of offering useful assistance, Mozy’s tech support person told Heather that the problem was that “wireless internets don’t like lots of files flying through the air.” Wow, that must really cause problems with Mozy’s business model. [More]
FTC Shuts Down Domain Name Scammers
By 8.10.10
The FTC says a Toronto-based company called Internet Listing Service scammed thousands of U.S. consumers and small businesses by mailing invoices to them demanding payment for unnecessary domain registration services. The company was given a suspended judgment of over $4 million, based on “the total amount of consumer injury” caused, but in reality the people behind the scam have been ordered to pay $10,000 because that’s all the money they have left. [More]
Man Who Offered To Set Car On Fire Saves Home
By 7.27.10
The guy who offered to set his car on fire in exchange for “loanations” (his word–he says he’s going to pay back all donations) managed to raise enough money to prevent the foreclosure sale of his house yesterday. Below is a video of him handing over a check for $21,000. The only problem is, now he’s saying he might not burn the car. [More]
Man Offers To Set Car On Fire To Save Home From HSBC Foreclosure
By 7.26.10
John admits on his blog that he’s responsible for falling six months behind on his mortgage. But once he got over his divorce and losing his adopted son and started trying to make things right, he ended up in loan modification limbo at HSBC. The bank never moved forward on any modification, and now he has to pay $21,638.02 today if he wants to keep his house. Logically, he’s offering to burn his car and post the video online in return for donations. [More]
Consumers Hate Facebook As Much As Airlines, Cable Companies
By 7.22.10
Has Facebook’s ongoing foolishness with privacy settings, fine print, and advertising taken its toll on the brand? According to The American Customer Satisfaction Index’s E-Business Report, Facebook scored 64 points out of 100, which puts it in the bottom 5% of private companies, “in the same range as airlines and cable companies.” The one bit of good news for Facebook is that MySpace scored 63 points. [More]
Is "Internet Content Screener" The World's Worst Job?
By 7.21.10
Last week I thought I’d found the job I’d hate most of all (warning: it involves sewers, a shovel, and “fat mounds”), but then I read this New York Times profile of people who are employed as Internet content screeners, which appears to be the real world equivalent of web surfing in hell. [More]
New Company Aims To Reward Consumers For Their Personal Info
By 7.18.10
Truth is, there are advertisers and marketers out there just slavering over our personal information on the Internet, trying to get their hands on as much as they can so they can better pitch their products to us. From our Facebook profiles to our Internet searches, that info is like gold. And now there’s a company attempting to give consumers some reward, instead of just advertisers. [More]
Mysterious Comcast Internet May Cost $35, $48, $62 or $39.99
By 7.9.10
Reader Scoots was paying a promotional rate for Comcast internet. The rate expired and the bill went up to $48. Scoots called Comcast to ask for the old rate back and encountered a “four-square car dealership rip off” of sorts. [More]
Google Store View Cameraman Spotted In The Wild
By 7.6.10
Reader Yankees368 was dining at Breeze NY when a Google employee tromped in and started taking pictures of the restaurant’s interior, including the food he was about to eat, for the Google Store View project. [More]
Internet Sales Tax Bill Introduced Again
By 7.6.10
Last week, Massachusetts Rep. Bill Delahunt introduced a bill called the “Main Street Fairness Act,” which is a stupid name for a bill. The text of the bill hasn’t been released yet, but if passed, it would presumably set up a process where sales tax could be collected on purchases made over the Internet. As anyone who has shopped online over the past decade is probably aware, this has been an ongoing and thorny issue, since billions in online sales tax would provide a welcome revenue stream for struggling states. [More]
Internet One Step Closer To Adding .XXX Suffix
By 6.25.10
Back in 2007, the Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers rejected the idea of creating a .xxx suffix for porn web sites. Today, ICANN overturned their own decision and is now seriously considering adding the suffix to the list of existing ones like .com and .org. [More]
