(LINK)
"Washingtonwatch.com tracks the bills in Congress, along with estimates about their costs or savings, when available.
To learn more information, comment, or take action, click on a bill."
Google Transit now works with Kansas City Metro!
I posted about RevolutionMoneyExchange earlier and I thought I'd add that they posted $25 in my account today. I'm just waiting for my bank account to be approved (it takes about 3-5 days after signup). Sign up and get $25!
I updated my investment portfolio at Google Finance to reflect the 401k I started with Apple, as well as the stocks I bought in December. There's a new feature called Stock Screener which lets you search for stocks using specific, customizable criteria. Check it out!
(from Google Finance Blog):
One new thing I added to my site called TringMe, which lets you add a voicemail/call feature to your website. It should be fun if you have a microphone on your computer. I don't know how many people I know actually use a Mac, but if you have a Mac made in the last few years you should. Check it out, or click the button to the right that says "Call Jameson." The more people you invite to TringMe the more call credits you get to call phones for free. I believe voicemail is completely free however.
"If you haven't used one before, a screener is an advanced search tool that lets you find companies which match a set of criteria. For example, you could search for large companies with a PE ratio less than 20 which pay at least a 5% dividend. Or you could screen for small tech companies with strong 5 year growth. It's entirely up to your investment strategy.Anytime you make adjustments like setting a value, removing a criteria, or limiting the search to a single exchange, the list of results updates automatically. The search is completely live -- no buttons to press. We also have blue and white histograms so you can see the distribution of all companies for a particular value--for example there are far more companies with a market cap below one billion dollars than above. You can either grab the sliders or type exact values to the set the minimum and maximum for each criteria.
Once you have run a screen that you like, you can bookmark the page or email the link to a friend. Since not all of the criteria may be familiar terms, we've included definitions in the Add Criteria wizard, as well as a help icon next to each line."
A new "Paypal" clone is throwing it's gloves in the ring and they seem to have a good start. It offers free money transfers and $25 at sign up. I just heard about this (my friend told me a week ago) and the $25 offer expires tomorrow so sign up today.
I read probably two articles from reddit today and couldn't stop reading the comments.
First was a long list of Top 10 Banned Movies of All Time, which led me to search for a better list, then I got snagged on Top 50 Dystopia Movies, which was the worst list ever. The comments made up for it.
The second article had to do with some chav Londoner using Cockney rhyming slang ordering a taxi over the phone with the phrase, "All I want is your cheapest cab, innit. I need it for 10am. How much is it?" They ship her a cabinet and blah blah..fake story. Anyway, this took me on a wiki-trip and I found myself totally perplexed on how rhyming slang works. In the article it mentions a 1970s British comedy series called Mind Your Language which was "set in a school for adult students in London, focusing on the English as a Foreign Language class and dealing with a motley crew of foreigners. A new version of the show with some of the original cast aired in 1986."
I found the show pretty entertaining, though "more recently the show has been criticised for unimaginative racism and lack of political correctness, but in its day the show was popular because of its light-hearted take on multiculturalism and because it gave some otherwise unrepresented minorities a television presence, albeit represented as caricatures."
What I found interesting was that it gave a good example of European humor, and not the typical Monty Python sort. I read an article or conversation at one point where there was a discussion of humor that Americans don't pick up or something. I'll find it somewhere. I remember thinking the difference was more about word games or something. I guess it would be hard not to find humor with so many languages and cultures criss-crossing and surrounding Europe.
from Consumerist
So you just spotted that gizmo you've been lusting for at unbeatable price, but the only problem is it's for sale at an online retailer you've never heard of. How do you know if they're trustworthy? Consumerist reader "Gigantic Robotic Penguin" (don't let the name turn you off) has put together a comprehensive guide to evaluating unknown online retailers. Get started snooping, inside...
All these steps add up to a matrix that can either reassure you or make you want to run the other way.
* Do they have a toll free customer service number and published hours of operation?
* Do they take credit cards? It is no guarantee of quality if they do, but it is one step up. I think you should generally avoid any place that only takes Western Union money transfers.
* Do they have a security/hacker prevention or testing certificate?
* Does the checkout process use an encrypted HTTPS page?
* Are the company Privacy and About pages blank, or do they look like they are from a default template for an online shopping cart that was just set up the day before?
* Search Google for the store name and words like "scam" and "customer service." It is not a good thing if all the entries are for people asking if a site is a scam in Yahoo Answers.
* [www.google.com]
[answers.yahoo.com]
[wiki.answers.com]
* Check the Whois to see what the website registration looks like. It is not a good sign if it was just registered last week. It should not look like someone is trying to hide the fact that they are running a business out of their parents basement.
* [www.geektools.com]
* Check the Traceroute to see what network it is running on. It should match the WhoIs info to some extent.
* [www.opus1.com]
* Check if the company has a yellow pages listing and street address. If you have a phone number, a company with a street address is a lot more reassuring. Check the address on Google Maps to see if it is a vacant lot or an address in a housing tract.
* [www.411.com]
* See if the site has a warning listed on McAfee SiteAdvisor.
* [www.siteadvisor.com]
* Check fraud and scam report sites. Some of them also list sites that have allegedly scammed other people.
* [edsbandwagon.com]
[www.fraudbureau.com]
[www.ripoffreport.com]
[www.scambusters.com]
[www.scamclub.com]
[www.cybercrime.gov]
[www.fraud.org]
* Beware of "Online Review" sites. Some are little more than a site for scammers to post fake positive reviews, and the owners to make money on banner ads. Here are some you can trust:
* [www.epinions.com]
[reviews.pricegrabber.com]
[www.bizrate.com]
[www.resellerratings.com]
* BBB online. Lots of places do not have entries because they are small and treat their customers well enough to not get a complaint.
* [search.bbb.org]
What techniques do you use to see if a site is legit? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Prosper.com
A year or two ago I read about the Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus who developed a successful micro-lending strategy for developing nations. A few sites sprang up which resembled Ebay or Paypal that enabled average people to lend increments of money to small businesses in developing nations.
I started searching for sites geared toward lending money to "developing families" in the US and I came across Prosper.com. I was just approved 5 minutes ago so I'm setting my profile up now. You can connect with friends and family to "endorse" each other as encouragement to potential lenders to bid on your loan.
Check it out and let me know what you think!
Facebook: Federal Human Data Mining Program
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwnTWZ1-UWY
It's laid out here. We know one of the big neoconservative operatives, Rupert Murdoch, has control over Myspace. Watch Billy Moyers lay out his recent purchase of the Wall Street Journal
Now we know CIA operatives have access to all of the information on Facebook. Using all of that data, they can control future trends and interests, even label future "counter" cultures, as well as control political discourse by laying out all of the issues nonpolitical people care about.
Also note this article:
AT&T Invents Mass Data Mining Language http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/10/att-invents-pro.html They've been monitoring even physical movement trends based on cell phone usage since 2001. In a "worst case scenario," they could potentially use combinations of information to jail and prosecute political prisoners like former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/21/60minutes/main3859830.shtml
