Beware of the Terms and Conditions

How many times have you signed up for something online without bothering to read the terms and conditions and just put a tick mark on the- I have read and I agree to the terms and conditions tick box? One? Two? Maybe ten times? Or maybe you have simply lost count. That is fine; we are all guilty of being bored or, most often, lazy of reading these very fine lines in one time or the other. After all, these lines contain guidelines that are generic and generally accepted rules and regulation about the usage of the online services we signed up for. Or so we thought.

Let me tell you this (just in case you haven’t figured it out yet); Terms and conditions are sneaky bastards. Sometimes it is on the terms and conditions that companies make the bucks. It is here where the really really fine lines are inserted amidst the really fine line, so watch out and be more vigilant when it comes to reading these terms and conditions.

Still not getting it? Let’s take for example one company that offers services to help you find government grants (I would have print screened and posted their terms and conditions here if only I did not care about their proprietary rights). They will offer to send you a free cd to help you get started, you only need to handle the shipping and handling for a small amount. I think this is just fair. So where is the shady part? – you ask me. Here it is. On the terms and condition that you did not bother to read, it was stated that upon agreement, you will be signed up for other services such as three hundred minutes of phone time which is free for the first 10 days but will automatically charge your credit card or debit card for $14 or something after the trial, or you will be signed up for a desktop service that you could use as for email and sending a few sms/text messages to anyone which is free for 10 days and $12 something after that, and there are also other add-on services that god knows what that will charge you god knows how much on god knows when. The thing is, you will only be notified through email about this add on accounts, and if your email service have spam filters, then you’re scr**ed.

How they get away from it, you ask. Call their customer service to complain about an unauthorized charge on your billing statement, and It will be explained to you that it was stated on their terms and conditions that you will be signed up for some add-on services. Tell them you are not notified, they will tell you to check your spam mail, maybe it’s there. Ha! But can you blame them?

Here are some basic tips that you need to keep in mind when signing up for something online.

• read and understand the terms and conditions.
• If it requires a credit card number, you must be paying for something, so read the terms and conditions again.
• If you are using multiple email addresses, take note of the email address you use and check if some username and password were sent out and what that login information is for.
• Check your spam mails; you’ll never know what is filtered in there.
• If you happened to have been charged for add-on services that you are not aware of, ask the customer service representative about how you signed up for the account. If you decide to keep the service, well and good, but if you decide to cancel the account and want your money back, ask for a refund. These companies don’t refund your money back without you asking for it.

That’s it for now. Happy surfing. Ciao.

Viveri Rising!

Viveri, that is the name of an experimental website that Microsoft is planning to launch sometime this year. Tech websites went to the extent of dubbing this new website a “google-killing search engine”. Is there a truth in this assertion or just is it purely hype? If you ask my opinion, I would say, Viveri, is still in the drawing board and it is still to early to say if it really is a Google-killing search engine.

Microsoft researchers who are working with these new technologies are planning to upload the developments on Viveri to the internet so that public could have a first hand experience with the technology. Microsoft is expecting a great number of techno enthusiasts to flock on the page for hands on.

The site is built using silverlight, a programmable web browser plug-in that enables features such as animation, vector graphics and audio-video playback. Silverlight’s 2.0 version was released last October 2008. Viveri will also serve live search results.

Want to know more? Click here for related stories from computerworlduk

Dogpile, a two thumbs up!

Imagine using search engines from yahoo, google, msn and other major search engine by using just one search site. The search parameters also include audio and video content providers. Isn’t that convinient? Some tech people would call this technology “metasearch”, I call it dogpile.

Metasearch engines operate on the premise that the web is too large for any search engine to index it all. so metaseach is designed to do a more comprehensive search by searching through multiple search engine and combine the search result in a single list.

The service is convenient and the layout is user friendly. It is also a charitable. Dogpile is aiming to raise $1 million before 2009 to donate to animals in need; They will donate $1 each time someone uses the search engine. The more people using dogpile, the better it is for the animals in need.

Dogpile is a trademark of InfoSpace that was founded in march of 1996

Site Rate: ♠♠♠♠♠

mylot.com

mylot.com is a community based website where you could actually earn by posting questions about almost anything under the sun. It may be about you dreams last night or about your neighbors’ cat or anything at all.

Post questions about some topics that you want answered and earn from doing it. I just started posting in this site but sure is fun. You will get paid monthly with a minimum account balance of $10. You have the option to increase your minimum payment to $25, $50 or $100. All payments will be in US dollars and made via PayPal, depending on the country you reside in. All users will be required to have a valid PayPal account. To sign up for membership, Click here.

Ciao.com

Initially, I was adamant on signing up with ciao.com for a couple of reasons. First, I am a newbie when it comes to paid-reviews. I am not even sure about what ciao.com is. I found myself asking myself “What the hell am I getting myself into?” I am eager to learn and earn a few bucks on the net and I won’t mind spending 8 hours everyday in front of the PC so long as I get paid.

I signed up for ciao.com feeling like I am shooting at the dark. When I started to get the hang of it, I am amazed how efficient the entire operation works. It is great and you could really see the money on your account grow. This is a site I would definitely endorse.

Here are some tips to make your stay with ciao.com a very good experience:

* Create good reviews, 120 words is considered a full review. That would earn you 35 points.

* Add as many friends as possible. More friends mean more points.

* Leave comments on your friend’s reviews so they could do the same to yours. Every comment you leave on other’s review earns you points, every comment they leave on your

* reviews, earns you points.

* Read reviews, reading reviews are also paid.

* At ciao.com, points mean money.

Need more information? Here is what people at ciao.com have to say;