LinkedIn Scamming Customers?

Anyone who is active in the professional world loves LinkedIn. (In my opinion) it is an absolutely flawless way to network, get your name out there, and build up on online resume that is able to be referenced on websites,blogs, or emails. It allows companies seeking employees an easy venue to find qualified personnel, helps skilled labor to find a company looking for someone just like them, and rekindles old flames left to die. Okay, so maybe isn't the hotbed of romantic activity on the internet, but its great for business. Especially LinkedIn's bottom line.


"How can LinkedIn benefit from networking?"

When you sign up for LinkedIn, you are asked to complete a resume of sorts. This initial information includes your name, date of birth, field of business,location and interests. Then you of course have the option of adding where you have worked, gone to school, and clubs/associations you are a part of. After all these personally identifiable things, you are then given the option of Joining Linkedin "Groups". These are generally trade groups or groups that allow a person to further network their profile. In short, LinkedIn has developed a complete advertiser's dream scenario. A company can buy your profile information from LinkedIn, and are provided with all of your information, along with means of contact for you. In general, LinkedIn has a full demographical breakdown of you and anyone you "Invite" to LinkedIn. And whereas the majority of LinkedIn users are over 40 and have incomes of over $100,000 dollars- they are the ideal targets of marketers, both legitimate and not. Recently LinkedIn decided to advertise merchandise to its users, but in a selective manner. For example, if Mercedes decided to advertise its new model, it would go to LinkedIn and they would choose from the member database the ones that fitted the marketing campaign. Then, LinkedIn decided to make a little more money by offering Premium Business and Premium Business Plus. With a regular membership you couldn't just send someone an e-mail, you had to be introduced first; with the new types of membership, this was no longer an issue. HR companies saw a great opportunity in this and for good reason. All they had to do was pay and they had access to all sorts of potential job candidates.

Their new Enterprise Corporate Solution gives access to all 23 million users of LinkedIn.

MICROSOFT SCAMS AGAIN!

Businesses that skip Windows Vista and upgrade their computers directly from the XP operating system to Windows 7 could expose themselves to security risks and other problems, Microsoft says in a new white paper.

Bypassing Vista could have "implications for security, support, and regulatory compliance and reduce flexibility in the face of changing business requirements," writes Microsoft VP Mike Nash, in the paper.Specifically, Nash says that businesses that wait for Windows 7 -- set for release in late 2009 or early 2010 -- to upgrade from XP could find themselves using outdated applications that don't employ proper security safeguards or are no longer supported.

They also won't get the advantage of new security technologies and other improvements that Microsoft embedded in Vista, Nash says. "By not deploying Windows Vista, it means missing out on the proven benefits such as better security, productivity, search, mobility, manageability and infrastructure optimization," Nash says in the paper, which is titled "The Business Value Of Windows Vista."

Do you remember any similar pushes with previous operating systems? This could possibly be because of the absolute travesty that is Vista security, that has kept so many large businesses from switching to the operating system. After such an outcry from the IT community and backlash against their prettiest operating system, Microsoft has decided to switch their tactics from marketing to George Bush-esque "strategertizing". Overheard in a consultation, "OH so you don't want to upgrade to Vista? If you don't You will never be able to Upgrade again!!!" Basically they are trying to tell you that if you don't upgrade to Vista, You can't upgrade to 7. And you can bet that the software of 7 wont allow a install from XP. And will most likely have a discount upgrade to Vista. 49.99 so that you can upgrade to vista so that you can upgrade to 7 (It's a steal!!!)

From the Open Source Guru- Open Source Gas!

I'm not going to write much about this, just going to show you a few websites that may inform you on some methods to increase your mpg for your car without any modifications and to save gas!

http://www.hypermiling.com/ - "What is hypermiling? According to a a fantastic August 2006 story in the Washington Post, it is a method of increasing your car's gas mileage by making skillful changes in the way you drive, allowing you to save gas and thereby have an easier time withstanding the rising oil and gas prices."

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread199143/pg1 - just a topic I've made that has collected tons of information on how to increase your car's MPG

http://www.ehow.com/how_2629_increase-gas-mileage.html - "You may have noticed how expensive gasoline is these days. A few simple steps can improve your gas mileage, and free up more cash for the more important things in life - like ice cream. Follow these few steps to increase your gas mileage and ease your wallet."

http://www.pureenergysystems.com/news/2005/03/17/6900069_Acetone/- "Readily-available chemical added to gas tank in small proportion improves the fuel's ability to vaporize completely by reducing the surface tension that inhibits vaporization of some fuel droplets."

http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2007/05/30/how-to-improve-your-gas-mileage-23-top-tips-for-better-fuel-economy/
- "Fuel prices have been hovering at record levels around the United States for the past few weeks. Now is a good time to review of the best ways to improve your gas mileage and save money at the tank. I scoured dozens of web sites and read hundreds of tips — these are the best of the bunch...."

Here are some Websites I've found that has helped me find the cheapest gas around me.

http://www.gasbuddy.com/
- GasBuddy.com can help you find cheap gas prices in your city. It is a network of more than 181+ gas price information websites that help you find low gasoline prices. All web sites are operated by GasBuddy and has the most comprehensive listings of gas prices anywhere.

http://autos.msn.com/everyday/gasstations.aspx?zip&src=Netx
- Every night MSN Autos receives pricing data from over 90,000 gas stations across the nation.

http://gasprices.mapquest.com/
- Find your Local Gas Prices using mapquest

Hope this helps!
James Andreasen (His Blog)