Story of a bad business that gamed Google's search system
Posted: Friday, January 7, 2011 12:00 am
Story of a bad business that gamed Google's search system
By Kim States
Since its inception in 1912, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) has stood for trust in the marketplace. We’ve staked our reputation on making the case to businesses that they do well by doing good. That is, if businesses approach their consumer interactions with honesty, both businesses and consumers will be better off.
Unfortunately as technology advances, unscrupulous businesses sometimes figure out ways to temporarily game the system. The New York Times reported of one such example in late November about how an online eyewear retailer, based in New York, had purposefully been garnering online customer complaints in an attempt to appear higher in Google’s search results.
The article focused on a New York consumer who conducted a Google search for her favorite brand of eyeglasses, and at the top of the search page, just below Google’s paid advertisements, she found a company called DecorMyEyes.com. The consumer placed an order for a pair of designer eyeglass frames, and prescription contact lenses for a cost totaling several hundred dollars.
According to the Times article, the next day a representative from the company called the consumer saying they had run out of the merchandise she ordered, and told her she had to pick a different brand of contact lenses. The consumer told the Times that when she told the caller she wanted a refund, not different merchandise, he became rude and demanded she choose something else, and refused to give her a refund.
The article went on to detail how in her attempt to get her money back, the consumer was allegedly threatened repeatedly, sometimes with physical violence, by an employee of the company. The consumer told the Times the experience was “one of the most maddening and miserable experiences of her life.”
At first glance, you would think this was just a case of a dishonest company trying to cheat a consumer out of their money, but as it turned out the hostility towards the consumer was actually part of a calculated strategy. Not only was the company trying to avoid issuing a refund to the consumer, they were purposefully trying to get the consumer to write a negative complaint on one of the numerous online complaint boards.
DecorMyEyes.com’s strategy was simple. An online message board post, that the Times says was written by DecorMyEyes.com’s owner Vitaly Borker, says the company’s goal was to create negative buzz about the company all over the Internet, because the more online attention the company received, positive or negative, the higher the company would appear in Google’s search results, consequently channeling more unsuspecting consumers their way.
As it turns out, the New York consumer’s experience with DecorMyEyes.com was not unique; consumers on multiple Internet complaint boards reported similar experiences with the company. BBB serving Metropolitan New York has received 306 complaints against the company in the past three years, and 285 of those complaints have been left unanswered.
For consumers who research companies they find online, the complaints undoubtedly would have acted as more of a deterrent to doing business with DecorMyEyes.com. Unfortunately many do not, and companies like DecorMyEyes.com have been able to bully consumers out of their merchandise, and out of their money.
Fortunately this story has a positive ending for consumers and honest businesses everywhere. The week after the story ran in the Times, Google announced, in a blog post titled “Being bad to your customers is bad for business,” they were making significant changes to their search algorithm, so it will now detect “the merchant from the Times article along with hundreds of merchants” that, in Google’s opinion, “provide an extremely poor user experience.”
The fact that Google acted so quickly to address the problem with their search algorithm to lock out less than honest companies indicates that even in the wide-open business landscape the Internet has created, ultimately, to do well financially, businesses still must do well by their customers.
Whether commerce is taking place online or at a traditional brick and mortar business, trust is absolutely necessary for a marketplace to function properly. Dishonest companies may be able to game the system for a while, but at the end of the day, businesses can only do well by doing good.
http://www.insidetucsonbusiness.com/news/small_business/article_ef8edc02-2369-56b0-ab25-01eb3bee956b.html
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Fix Your Computer Posture
Fix Your Computer Posture
By Chris Geisert
Is Your Computer Posture Hurting You? If your body starts hurting while you are sitting at your computer, it is time to fix your computer posture. Sitting at your computer all day can cause immediate and continuous, prolonged pain if you are not careful.
More and more people are spending an increasingly longer period of time on their computers. This increases the number of people with forward head posture and upper body aches and pains.
Here are some easy tips to keep your computer from becoming your worst enemy.
1. Exercise is the best medicine for common neck, back, shoulder aches caused from poor posture. When you sit at your computer all day, your muscles become rigid, tight and aches and pains creep in.
Swimming is the best exercise for getting rid of your upper body aches and pains, especially neck pain because it loosens and strengthens your neck and back muscles.
2. Raise your computer monitor so the center is eye level. Raising the monitor a good 5 to 10 inches will help improve your computer posture. Continuously looking down will put the head in an uncompromising posture position which causes and increases aches and pain.
3. Don't spend all day on your computer, if possible. After 15 to 20 minutes on the computer, get up and walk around. This will help exercise your muscles, refresh your mind and help get rid of your upper body tension. You can also do some stretches, especially neck stretches in your chair if you can't get out of your seat.
4. Exercise: This is probably the only truly reliable long term solution to your aches and pains as it increases your muscles strength and loosens the body's tension from staying still.
5. Improve your posture. Don't slouch at your computer. Sit up straight. Don't slouch while standing. Stand up straight. Don't slouch.
6. Stop sticking your head out. When a person has forward head posture, they put an extra 10 to 15 pounds of excess strain on their upper body for every inch forward the head is from its natural plum line, causing pain which could lead to a hump on your back.
7. Stretch your neck. There are many stretching exercises for free on the Internet which will help release neck tension. When you wake up, spend extra time in the hot shower stretching your neck muscles. The heat will help loosen your neck after a long night of sleep. The more you stretch your neck, the better you will feel.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Fix-Your-Computer-Posture&id=5850623
By Chris Geisert
Is Your Computer Posture Hurting You? If your body starts hurting while you are sitting at your computer, it is time to fix your computer posture. Sitting at your computer all day can cause immediate and continuous, prolonged pain if you are not careful.
More and more people are spending an increasingly longer period of time on their computers. This increases the number of people with forward head posture and upper body aches and pains.
Here are some easy tips to keep your computer from becoming your worst enemy.
1. Exercise is the best medicine for common neck, back, shoulder aches caused from poor posture. When you sit at your computer all day, your muscles become rigid, tight and aches and pains creep in.
Swimming is the best exercise for getting rid of your upper body aches and pains, especially neck pain because it loosens and strengthens your neck and back muscles.
2. Raise your computer monitor so the center is eye level. Raising the monitor a good 5 to 10 inches will help improve your computer posture. Continuously looking down will put the head in an uncompromising posture position which causes and increases aches and pain.
3. Don't spend all day on your computer, if possible. After 15 to 20 minutes on the computer, get up and walk around. This will help exercise your muscles, refresh your mind and help get rid of your upper body tension. You can also do some stretches, especially neck stretches in your chair if you can't get out of your seat.
4. Exercise: This is probably the only truly reliable long term solution to your aches and pains as it increases your muscles strength and loosens the body's tension from staying still.
5. Improve your posture. Don't slouch at your computer. Sit up straight. Don't slouch while standing. Stand up straight. Don't slouch.
6. Stop sticking your head out. When a person has forward head posture, they put an extra 10 to 15 pounds of excess strain on their upper body for every inch forward the head is from its natural plum line, causing pain which could lead to a hump on your back.
7. Stretch your neck. There are many stretching exercises for free on the Internet which will help release neck tension. When you wake up, spend extra time in the hot shower stretching your neck muscles. The heat will help loosen your neck after a long night of sleep. The more you stretch your neck, the better you will feel.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Fix-Your-Computer-Posture&id=5850623
Bill Gates - 11 Rules
Love him or hate him , he sure hits the nail on the head with this!
Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.
Rule 1 : Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2 : The world doesn't care about your
self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6 : If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault , so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7 : Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8 : Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9 : Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10 : Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11 : Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Four Management Lessons
Four Management Lessons
by Shovna
* Lesson Number One *
A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day. A small rabbit saw the crow, and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?"
The crow answered: "Sure, why not."
So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow, and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
Management Lesson: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.
* Lesson Number Two *
A turkey was chatting with a bull.
"I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but I haven't got the energy. "Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull. "They're packed with nutrients."
The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found that it actually gave him enough strength to reach the first branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fortnight, there he was proudly perched at the top of the tree. Soon he was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot the turkey out of the tree.
Management Lesson: Bullshit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.
* Lesson Number Three *
When the body was first made, all the parts wanted to be Boss. The brain said, "I should be Boss because I control the whole body's responses and functions."
The feet said, "We should be Boss as we carry the brain about and get him to where he wants to go." The hands said, "We should be the Boss because we do all the work and earn all the money." And so it went on and on with the heart, the lungs and the eyes until finally the asshole spoke up.
All the parts laughed at the idea of the asshole being the Boss. So the asshole went on strike, blocked itself up and refused to work. Within a short time the eyes became crossed, the hands clenched, the feet twitched, the heart and lungs began to panic and the brain fevered. Eventually they all decided that the asshole should be the Boss, so the motion was passed.
All the other parts did all the work while the Boss just sat and passed out the sh*t!
Management Lesson: You don't need brains to be Boss, any asshole will do!
* Lesson Number Four *
A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold, the bird froze and fell to the ground in a large field. While it was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on it. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, it began to realize how warm it was. The dung was actually thawing him out!
He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard he bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him!
Management Lessons Summary:
1. Not everyone who drops sh*t on you is your enemy.
2. Not everyone who gets you out of sh*t is your friend.
3. When you're in deep sh*t, keep your mouth shut!
http://www.fropki.com/four-management-lessons-vt37303.html
by Shovna
* Lesson Number One *
A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day. A small rabbit saw the crow, and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?"
The crow answered: "Sure, why not."
So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow, and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
Management Lesson: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.
* Lesson Number Two *
A turkey was chatting with a bull.
"I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but I haven't got the energy. "Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull. "They're packed with nutrients."
The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found that it actually gave him enough strength to reach the first branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fortnight, there he was proudly perched at the top of the tree. Soon he was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot the turkey out of the tree.
Management Lesson: Bullshit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.
* Lesson Number Three *
When the body was first made, all the parts wanted to be Boss. The brain said, "I should be Boss because I control the whole body's responses and functions."
The feet said, "We should be Boss as we carry the brain about and get him to where he wants to go." The hands said, "We should be the Boss because we do all the work and earn all the money." And so it went on and on with the heart, the lungs and the eyes until finally the asshole spoke up.
All the parts laughed at the idea of the asshole being the Boss. So the asshole went on strike, blocked itself up and refused to work. Within a short time the eyes became crossed, the hands clenched, the feet twitched, the heart and lungs began to panic and the brain fevered. Eventually they all decided that the asshole should be the Boss, so the motion was passed.
All the other parts did all the work while the Boss just sat and passed out the sh*t!
Management Lesson: You don't need brains to be Boss, any asshole will do!
* Lesson Number Four *
A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold, the bird froze and fell to the ground in a large field. While it was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on it. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, it began to realize how warm it was. The dung was actually thawing him out!
He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard he bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him!
Management Lessons Summary:
1. Not everyone who drops sh*t on you is your enemy.
2. Not everyone who gets you out of sh*t is your friend.
3. When you're in deep sh*t, keep your mouth shut!
http://www.fropki.com/four-management-lessons-vt37303.html
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Amazing but true
This is a true story that had happened in 1892 at Stanford University . Its moral is still relevant today.
A young, 18-year-old student was struggling to pay his fees. He was an orphan, and not knowing where to turn for money, he came up with a bright idea. A friend and he decided to host a musical concert on campus to raise money for their education.
They reached out to the great pianist Ignacy J. Paderewski. His manager demanded a guaranteed fee of $2000 for the piano recital. A deal was struck. And the boys began to work to make the concert a success.
The big day arrived. Paderewski performed at Stanford. But unfortunately, they had not managed to sell enough tickets. The total collection was only $1600. Disappointed, they went to Paderewski and explained their plight. They gave him the entire $1600, plus a cheque for the balance $400. They promised to honour the cheque soonest possible.
"No." said Paderewski. "This is not acceptable." He tore up the cheque, returned the $1600 and told the two boys "Here's the $1600. Please deduct whatever expenses you have incurred. Keep the money you need for your fees. And just give me whatever is left" The boys were surprised, and thanked him profusely.
It was a small act of kindness. But it clearly marked out Paderewski as a great human being. Why should he help two people he did not even know? We all come across situations like these in our lives. And most of us only think "If I help them, what would happen to me?" The truly great people think, "If I don't help them, what will happen to them?" They don't do it expecting something in return. They do it because they feel it's the right thing to do.
Paderewski later went on to become the Prime Minister of Poland. He was a great leader, but unfortunately when the World War began, Poland was ravaged. There were over 1.5 million people starving in his country, and no money to feed them. Paderewski did not know where to turn for help. He reached out to the US Food and Relief Administration for help.
The head there was a man called Herbert Hoover - who later went on to become the US President. Hoover agreed to help and quickly shipped tons of food grains to feed the starving Polish people. A calamity was averted.
Paderewski was relieved. He decided to go across to meet Hoover and personally thank him. When Paderewski began to thank Hoover for his noble gesture, Hoover quickly interjected and said, "You shouldn't be thanking me Mr. Prime Minister. You may not remember this, but several years ago, you helped two young students go through college in the US . I was one of them."
The world is a wonderful place. What goes around usually comes around.
A young, 18-year-old student was struggling to pay his fees. He was an orphan, and not knowing where to turn for money, he came up with a bright idea. A friend and he decided to host a musical concert on campus to raise money for their education.
They reached out to the great pianist Ignacy J. Paderewski. His manager demanded a guaranteed fee of $2000 for the piano recital. A deal was struck. And the boys began to work to make the concert a success.
The big day arrived. Paderewski performed at Stanford. But unfortunately, they had not managed to sell enough tickets. The total collection was only $1600. Disappointed, they went to Paderewski and explained their plight. They gave him the entire $1600, plus a cheque for the balance $400. They promised to honour the cheque soonest possible.
"No." said Paderewski. "This is not acceptable." He tore up the cheque, returned the $1600 and told the two boys "Here's the $1600. Please deduct whatever expenses you have incurred. Keep the money you need for your fees. And just give me whatever is left" The boys were surprised, and thanked him profusely.
It was a small act of kindness. But it clearly marked out Paderewski as a great human being. Why should he help two people he did not even know? We all come across situations like these in our lives. And most of us only think "If I help them, what would happen to me?" The truly great people think, "If I don't help them, what will happen to them?" They don't do it expecting something in return. They do it because they feel it's the right thing to do.
Paderewski later went on to become the Prime Minister of Poland. He was a great leader, but unfortunately when the World War began, Poland was ravaged. There were over 1.5 million people starving in his country, and no money to feed them. Paderewski did not know where to turn for help. He reached out to the US Food and Relief Administration for help.
The head there was a man called Herbert Hoover - who later went on to become the US President. Hoover agreed to help and quickly shipped tons of food grains to feed the starving Polish people. A calamity was averted.
Paderewski was relieved. He decided to go across to meet Hoover and personally thank him. When Paderewski began to thank Hoover for his noble gesture, Hoover quickly interjected and said, "You shouldn't be thanking me Mr. Prime Minister. You may not remember this, but several years ago, you helped two young students go through college in the US . I was one of them."
The world is a wonderful place. What goes around usually comes around.
Top 13 things about the new Mac OS X Lion first developer preview
You have seen the Mac OS X Lion Preview in the past Apple event. Today, the first developer preview is released. The reason why we want to talk about it because this first developer preview is different. Lots of new things and controls have been added.
We have reviewed and make up a list. Check out the top 13 things you probably don’t know about the Mac OS X Lion.
1. Migrate from other PC. Yes. A PC.
It should not be difficult for Mac users to switch or upgrade their Macs. What if switching from Mac to PC? In Mac OS X Lion, Apple have already added such option for existing PC users in the Migration Tool. Switching is not that hard anymore.
2. The scrollbar scrolls in opposite direction! Thankfully it can be disabled
3. Swipe to other Spaces and more finger gestures
The finger gestures in Lion is very similar to the recent iOS 4.3 beta for iPad. You can swipe left or right using 4 fingers to go to other Spaces. If you are a frequent Spaces users like me, that would be much better than using the hot keys.
And yes, the Launchpad is already included. It works just like the iOS. The reason why it becomes very useful is that you can launch it simply use 5 finger to pinch on the trackpad. No need to find it from Finder or spotlight.
4. New Finder: Improved Quick Look and different sidebar
The Finder of Lion is changed. “PLACES” now becomes “FAVORITES”. The Quick Look is now changed. It’s not transparent anymore. There is a “Open With” button on the top right which you can quickly launch the related apps.
5. Auto saving different versions
Time Machine is great to restore files. But, it needs extra partition or harddisks. Apple has added the new Versions feature in Lion. As long as you have choose to “Save a versions” from File menu. You can revert to any versions by clicking the “File” > “Revert to Saved” menu.
6. AirDrop: I wish it can share files with iOS devices
As long as the MacBook are on the same Wi-Fi network, you can share the files with each other easily from AirDrop. No configurations is required. In the past, you will have to enable “File Sharing” from system preferences. I just hope there is an official app for iOS so that I can share files instantly.
7. QuickTime can now record part of the screen with video
No one wants to record the whole screen all the time. In Lion, we finally have the option to drag and select the parts we want to record. After recording, it can be shared to more platforms like Vimeo.
8. Signature Preview: Create a clear signature easily with the iSight
Some companies have already started to sign things digitally. For those who don’t have a scanner, Lion now allows to create signature in preferences. The best part is that it will clear out all the unnecessary backgrounds and keep the black stroke only.
9. Reopening windows after re-login
It now provides an option to reopen windows when logging back in. That’s what Apple called as “Resume”. During our test, it works perfectly. However, it may increase the loading time if you have previously opened too much applications.
10. iChat is now enhanced – with support of Yahoo!
11. Missing Front Row, Rosetta (old Mac apps) Support, no Java runtime
Do you use the Mac as a multimedia center with Front Row? The app is now missed from the first beta of Lion. Rosetta, those old mac apps built before the Intel Mac released, are not supported.
No Java runtime is pre-installed. That means you may not be able to run pure Java apps. Thankfully, Apple will prompt you a dialog and lets you to download the Java runtime instantly when needed.
12. Podcast Publishers from server edition
If you are a top host, there is a “new” tool in Lion. It’s the Podcast Publishers. It is not “new” actually. It was only available in server edition, but now it’s available in Lion also.
13. About This Mac is different
Current Mac OS X shows a tree lists of system information. In Lion, it is presented in a very easy-to-understand way. It uses different tabs and colorful icons.
That’s it. If we got any additional information, we will keep you all posted. Just keep clicking on winandmac.com.
New Calculator of Income Tax Scenarios in 2011 Gets Good Press
July 29, 2010
New Calculator of Income Tax Scenarios in 2011 Gets Good Press
by William Ahern
Our new calculator of potential 2011 income tax liabilities at MyTaxBurden.org got a good technical review from a blog that builds and evaluates online utilities, many of which concern economics and public finances.
The blog is Political Calculations, which calls itself the blogosphere's toolchest. Here are some excerpts from their review:
We found it very easy to understand what kind of data we were supposed to enter as well as what the output results communicated.
We therefore find the compromise between a complicated user interface and the detailed results of the tool to be justified, ...
We're also fans of the tool's automatic update feature, which users have the option of disabling (by unchecking a box). This is a really nice touch, making it possible for users to change a number of fields without the distraction of having the output fields flicker and change with each edit. ...
The bottom line? The MyTaxBurden calculator is a very well done tool that will allow its users to obtain high quality information of special relevance to them.
The MyTaxBurden calculator, created by Nicholas A. Kasprak, therefore earns our second-highest online tool design award: the Silver Standard. The only thing keeping it from earning our Gold Standard is its very time-specific focus-it will only produce relevant results for the individuals who might use it in 2010 and 2011.
http://www.taxfoundation.org/blog/show/26563.html
New Calculator of Income Tax Scenarios in 2011 Gets Good Press
by William Ahern
Our new calculator of potential 2011 income tax liabilities at MyTaxBurden.org got a good technical review from a blog that builds and evaluates online utilities, many of which concern economics and public finances.
The blog is Political Calculations, which calls itself the blogosphere's toolchest. Here are some excerpts from their review:
We found it very easy to understand what kind of data we were supposed to enter as well as what the output results communicated.
We therefore find the compromise between a complicated user interface and the detailed results of the tool to be justified, ...
We're also fans of the tool's automatic update feature, which users have the option of disabling (by unchecking a box). This is a really nice touch, making it possible for users to change a number of fields without the distraction of having the output fields flicker and change with each edit. ...
The bottom line? The MyTaxBurden calculator is a very well done tool that will allow its users to obtain high quality information of special relevance to them.
The MyTaxBurden calculator, created by Nicholas A. Kasprak, therefore earns our second-highest online tool design award: the Silver Standard. The only thing keeping it from earning our Gold Standard is its very time-specific focus-it will only produce relevant results for the individuals who might use it in 2010 and 2011.
http://www.taxfoundation.org/blog/show/26563.html
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