The social bookmarking website for finance fanatics, Tip’d, is adding several new features:

• The Tip’d Socialtickers are pages that track any given stock ticker across a variety of social networking websites. The GOOG StockTicker page aggregates posts about Google from Twitter, Technorati, Delicious, and of course, Tip’d. The site displays a convenient stock price chart as well as links to Google’s stock pages on a variety of other financial websites like Yahoo Finance.
• Tip’d Video Integration. When you submit stories that include video to Tip’d, if possible, the site will embed the video directly so you don’t have to leave Tip’d to enjoy the multimedia experience.
• Tip’d Top 100. If you’re interested to see which websites receive the most Tip’d votes, take a look at the Tip’d Top 100. Consumerism Commentary is currently 54th on this list.
• Top Tip’d Ambassadors. See which users are recruiting the most new members for the community.
• The Tip’d Greatest Hits is a list of the all-time most popular articles submitted to Tip’d. Three of the top seven most popular articles of all time are stories about Tip’d itself.

If you enjoy an article here at Consumerism Commentary, I encourage you to share it with your friends or a wider community by using the links at the bottom of the article, including the “Add to Tip’d” link.

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Tip’d, Social Bookmarking for Finance, Adds New Features

Thanks very much to all the readers and contributors who have helped make Consumerism Commentary a complete community for the past five years. In the span of those five years, the “blogosphere” has exploded with thousands of new blogs that write about personal finance, the economy, budgeting, and every money-related topic you could possible conceive in your mind.

The problem now comes with finding the best of what’s out there. I have a number of suggestions.

Carnival of Personal Finance

The Carnival of Personal Finance is a weekly column, featured on a different host blog each Monday. Within the column is a select list of the week’s best articles, submitted by their authors and reviewed and screened by the host. The host also selects a few articles for “Editor’s Choice.” These five to ten articles are often great examples of the excellent writing found across the blogosphere. Note: The Carnival of Personal Finance was founded here at Consumerism Commentary.

pfblogs.org is an aggregator of over 1,000 personal finance blogs. This is a great way to keep your finger on the pulse of this niche in the blogosphere. Most importantly, pay special attention to the Friends of pfblogs.org; these bloggers take their writing seriously and work hard to produce the best content. You will find the popular listings on pfblogs.org the most useful. The most frequently-visited articles from the past 24 hours are presented in order of popularity. Note again: I created pfblogs.org.

If you like Digg for finding the best news and articles in general, take a look at Tip’d. Tip’d is like Digg, where news articles are submitted by anyone. For example, I saw an article on MSN Money Central about Henry Paulson, and I submitted this article even though I was not the author. Submitted articles that are enjoyed by others in the Tip’d community get promoted.

It’s easy to find articles you like with Tip’d. You can browse a number of categories, such as personal finance, economy, green, and real estate. These are the types of articles that wouldn’t always “succeed” on Digg, so creating a “social media” website specifically for personal finance is a good move.

The founders of Tip’d have extensive experience with social media and beneficent search-engine optimization. If any niche new website has the potential for success, it’s Tip’d.

Every article on Consumerism Commentary is followed by an option to “Add to Tip’d.” If you read something here that you like, click on this link to share the article with the Tip’d community.

Alltop

Alltop is an aggregator like pfblogs.org. With the Personal Finance page on Alltop, in one view you can see five latest articles from both mainstream finance news like The Motley Fool and Forbes as well as some of the top money-related blogs such as I Will Teach You to Be Rich, Get Rich Slowly, and Consumerism Commentary.

Google Blog Search’s business section contains the latest news from blogs as well as a search form to help you quickly find what you want from thousands of participating websites. Personal finance articles can be found in the business section. Google’s powerful search engine groups related stories across hundreds of blogs, giving you a quick idea of how many people are writing about any particular news item.

Technorati

Like Google Blog Search, Technorati offers a home page for business articles throughout the blogosphere, but with this portal, you can focus on finance articles more specifically. Technorati meshes in news from mainstream media with articles from the blogosphere. In terms of search capabilities, I prefer Google, but Technorati has unique features that let you measure the popularity of blogs and blog articles.

Have I neglected to include any other resources? Please free to let me know.

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How to Get the Latest News and Opinions in Personal Finance

PC Magazine recently published a list of their editors’ picks for the top 100 “undiscovered” websites. The list spans a variety of categories from reference to music to health. Consumerism Commentary readers are probably familiar with a few of these sites, particularly those in the “money” category. Here are some of the highlights throughout.

Hard to Find 800 Numbers: Some companies do a decent job of hiding their toll-free customer service numbers in an attempt to use e-mail (and possibly avoid complaints). Others gladly provide a long distance phone number to save money. This site lets you browse for your favorite companies to find those hidden toll-free numbers.

Cork’d: This site is billed as the “simple way to review and share wine.” I can never keep track of the wine I drink, so every time I go out, I have to guess at what I might like. Now, if there were only a device that would allow me to check reviews while at the restaurant…

Menupages: Speaking of dining out, this undiscovered website indexes menus for over 6,000 New York restaurants. This is a great way to decide where to eat rather than using other options, including visiting the restaurants’ individual websites, which may or may not include their own menus.

Kiva: This microlending site has been mentioned quite a bit by other financial blogs. Kiva provides a mechanism to provide small loans to needy entrepreneurs all over the world, improving the lives and communities of people who will likely be very appreciative.

Rentometer: I discovered Rentometer in March and found it to be an interesting way to determine whether you’re getting a good deal on rent. At the time, my rent was on the low side for my area. I’d like to see how my new apartment compares, but the site is not responding at the moment.

Trulia: If you’re planning to make a real-estate-related move, Trulia should be one of the websites you check first. It has financial information as well as details about school districts and communities. Right on the front page, I can see that Trenton, New Jersey has made the top 5 in median listing price increases.

Topix: Here is a powerful news and blog aggregator that can organize listings by location or, as one would imagine, by topic. Some pages, like the one for Princeton, New Jersey are edited by humans, but when no human has been assigned, Topix’ intelligent robots take care of the job.

The Bargainist: For those who like to make their purchasing decision based on what’s on sale, The Bargainist provides a nearly-constant feed of coupons and deals. The only deal that stood out to me is the 40% of a CD at Borders. Even with that discount, you can find much better deals on music online.

Do My Stuff: Why do something yourself if you can pay someone else to do it for you? This site lets individuals and companies bid on your mundane and annoying tasks.

Yapta: After seeing this site featured, I joined Yapta immediately. I entered the confirmation code for my upcoming flight to California and will now allow Yapta to track my route’s prices. If the tickets become available for a lower amount of money between now and my flight, Yapta will inform me how to receive a refund for the difference. The likelihood of my holiday travel suddenly becoming available for less money is low; the flights are sold out now.

Remember the Milk: If you’re highly organized, unlike myself, you may enjoy making lists. You can tie your to-dos listed on Remember the Milk into your email or SMS (text messaging system) to allow you to be reminded of your tasks any where. Become a slave to a list — you know you want to.

Those are some of the “undiscovered” websites I found interesting or possibly useful for Consumerism Commentary readers. There are lots more — 89, to be precise — with commentary in the PC Magazine feature.

Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites [PC Magazine]

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My Picks From the Top 100 Undiscovered Websites

Yesterday I received an email apparently from eBay, informing that my account was used for malicious purposes, and I should change my password post-haste. I’m very skeptical of emails apparently from eBay. Normally I delete them without thinking. But this email managed to catch my attention. Here’s a portion of the text:

It appears your account was accessed by an unauthorized third party and used to send unsolicited emails to other community members, including email offers to sell items outside of eBay. It does not appear that your account was used to list or bid on any items. Additionally, the email address on your account may have been tampered with, which is why you may not have received any emails about this activity.

At this time we have taken several steps to secure your eBay account. Rest assured that your credit card and banking information is safe on the eBay site. This information is kept encrypted on a secure server and cannot be viewed by anyone.

Click on the screenshot to see that the email is authentic looking. I’ve removed all the naughty bits to protect my identity. To check the email’s authenticity, I tried to log into eBay in a new browser window — not by clicking on any links in the email.

I was unable to log in, as the email explained further. eBay had changed my password after it detected malicious activity. I reset my password after verifying my identity and logged in. In my message inbox was the same email I received externally. Apparently, my account had been used to send “questions” to the hosts of a variety of auctions pointing them to some external website. I checked my sent messages folder within eBay, and I saw 25 messages sent on July 2 to a number of other eBay users.

The account was not used to bid on any items, so I didn’t have to worry about that. I did go through and change all of my passwords as the message from eBay suggested. I’m not happy with this situation, and after being conditioned that all email appearing to be from eBay is most likely spam or someone trying to trick me into entering my password somewhere, I could easily have overlooked this warning.

There are several ways my password could have been used by a hacker. There’s the slight possibility I clicked on one of those fake eBay emails. I find that really hard to believe as I am very careful about such things. One of my computers may have a keylogging program installed on it. My home computer is protected by AVG, which has never discovered any malicious programs running, so either that’s not the answer, or AVG Anti-Virus Free has failed.

Most likely, the password was guessed through software designed to do such hacking. I could have chosen a stronger password to use.

If there’s anything to take away from my experience, it’s that not every email from eBay is fake, strong passwords aren’t strong enough, and even rarely-used accounts with unimpressive stats are targets.

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My eBay Account Was Hacked!

I’m willing to bet that if you’re reading this website, you are connected to the Internet at a speed faster than a dial-up connection. Perhaps you’re reading from work on a T-3 or you’re reading from home on a cable or DSL connection. Perhaps you’re at school and you’re sharing your college’s OC-12.

If that’s the case, let your grandparents know about this deal. Some customers might qualify for AT&T DSL service for $10 per month for a year. To find out if you or your luddite relatives qualify, fill out this form. If you qualify and DSL is available in your area, the $10 plan will be listed among the other plans offered.

Thanks to Consumerist for the heads-up, where they also mention that DSL will soon be offered to those without a phone line.

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Really Inexpensive DSL Service From AT&T

My former boss at the company I currently work for knows that I have a side interest that involves personal finance and the web. Obviously, I do not supply too many details to him as I prefer to maintain some level of anonymity on Consumerism Commentary, considering the personal information I’ve been posting since 2003. He contacted me today to make me aware of an article in today’s Wall Street Journal. (The article is available for free online, for now.)

The article addresses the trend of twentysomethings (I’m 31) sharing their personal financial information online using social networking websites. One of the social networking sites mentioned is NetWorthIQ. NetWorthIQ allows people to create profiles and update their financial standing every month. These profiles can be set to either public or private. You can even look at trends and comparisons between individuals.

While I like NetWorthIQ, I never got into using it much. I like keeping my information on my website, first of all. Also, I think the social networking aspect encourages comparisons between individuals or groups of individuals, which I’d rather not be a part of. I’m a fan of internal comparisons for tracking progress, but comparisons between people are almost meaningless. Also, balance sheet information doesn’t mean much without an income and expense report, which I don’t believe is supported by NetWorthIQ.

Nevertheless, I think it’s a great tool, especially if you want to take some of the work out of publishing your own reports.

The article also mentions Wesabe, which provides a way to access the information one might enter in software like Quicken from anywhere. The article didn’t mention Mint, which is still under testing, but it may turn out to be a better application than Wesabe.

Two additional websites sound interesting and are worth a look.

At other sites, such as the just-launched Covestor LLC, which allow investors to share their portfolio information, members manually input transaction data for their brokerage accounts or provide their account passwords to have the firm automatically track their trades. Members can choose to remain anonymous, and the actual dollar values of trades and specific holdings of each member always remains confidential, with only percentages displayed…

On Geezeo, members can create discussion groups with other users about specific financial topics. The site lets members create a consolidated view of their financial accounts and use text-messaging technology to get quick balance updates from their mobile phones. Starting this week, users will be able to provide feedback on financial products, such as student loans, credit cards or savings accounts.

The idea of tracking your finances publicly is gaining a lot of attention and popularity. I never thought this would be something that would catch on and have “mass appeal.” That’s the beauty of the internet — people with strange interests can come together to form communities, convincing those involved that their perceptions are “normal.”

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Wall Street Journal: Managing Money in Public

Here are five reasons according to Forrester Research people spend 15% more on the average online transaction compared to a traditional transaction from a brick-and-mortar store.

You don’t have time to think. Once you have items in your cart, retailers want to move you through the checkout line before you can reconsider. If you’ve already entered your credit card or shipping information with a particular retailer, you’re out the electronic door with a mere twitch of the mouse.

They guarantee you won’t regret it. More than 40% of all online shoppers say product reviews are important to them… However, 80% of online reviews are generally positive.

They won’t let you forget. It uses [your purchase] information to make recommendations for new items and remind you that you didn’t pick up that item you wanted before.

They’ll throw in free shipping. The lure of free shipping is an important tool in getting customers to spend more on each visit. Even if shipping only costs $4 or $5, shoppers will put extra items in their basket that cost several times that much just to qualify.

They’ll reward their best customers. most of the rewards that retailers shell out are just incentives thrown in to get you to buy more, such as a 20% off coupon or free upgrade to shipping. Often, retailers will send these perks out to you right after a purchase, so if there was anything you didn’t get the first time around, you’re motivated to pick it up now.

These are all legitimate ways that, on average, people might be enticed to spend more than they “normally” would, only half-knowing that they are being slightly manipulated. Now, I love the internet. When I’m buying gifts for friends and family, I can go to their Amazon.com wish lists to get them a gift I know they will like, and I will pay less online than I would if I were to buy the same products at the local Borders. (I’ve compared prices.) On the other hand, the accessibility of the internet means I can find things to buy that I wouldn’t be able to find without extraordinary effort.

I have no faith in the statistics in the article. Sucharita Mulpuru says the average online transaction is 15% higher than the average brick-and-mortar purchase. How was this calculated? Perhaps it is based on data from credit card companies. If so, one bias is immediately apparent. Almost all transactions online are done with credit cards, while credit cards may be used mostly when shopping in person, but small purchases are likely to be paid with cash. All those trips to the bodega on the street to pick up a daily newspaper and/or a stick of gum wouldn’t be included if this were the source of the data. If those small cash transactions are not included in the study, the data might be skewed downward.

Here’s another possible source of bias for these statistics. The Internet still has not permeated to the entire purchase-making public. Some people simply do not use the internet, and they may be individuals who have low-value or high-value transactions. The sample populations are likely not identical enough to calculate a direct comparison.

It’s probably likely that the average online transaction is higher than the average in-person transaction, but the reason for the difference — and its accuracy — can’t be deduced without more details about the research.

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

Spending More Money on the Internet

I received an email from the DreamHost abuse team — DreamHost is the company that provides the web services for this website, pfblogs.org to an extent, the MoneyBlogNetwork and its forums, and a number of others. They made me aware that my web space was being accessed by a computer user in Romania. The user was logging on with my identification and running programs that created a lot of network traffic, clogging up the pipeline and probably slowing down a number of websites.

The DreamHost representative asked if I knew anyone in Romania. I do not. I am also not sure how the perpetrator got my password; it’s difficult to guess and I constantly run a virus scanner on my home computer. DreamHost cleaned up the trojan programs and I changed my password. I hope this won’t be an issue again; I’ve had enough problems with DreamHost in the past and they’re just starting to make me happy with them, as I was six years ago.

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

My DreamHost Account Was Hacked

I heard on the radio this evening that Reuters is opening a “bureau” to cover news in the virtual world — an online role-playing game — called Second Life.

This world is so immense and detailed, it allows the “players” to participate in any activity they could in the real world. You can open businesses, participate in communities, buy land, and hire people to build homes in 3-D through the Internet. This virtual world uses its own currency, called Linden dollars. Each day, the exchange rate between US dollars and Linden dollars is calculated based on supply and demand. Your membership fee is charged in US dollars, but to own land or to make other purchases, you pay in virtual Linden dollars.

However, Lindex dollars aren’t exactly virtual. Thanks to the many people who play the game, there is a demand for the fake money. The fact that people are willing to buy Linden dollars to participate in the game legitimizes the currency. One prominent virtual real estate broker makes $100,000 a year. In real money. This income isn’t even taxed! Have no fear, Congress — the real, not virtual Congress — is looking into that.

Adam Reuters, the Virtual Life citizen representing the Reuters organization, interviewed the CEO of the biggest (possibly the only) bank in Second Life. To me, it seems like this economy is not quite ready to be legitimate. Nevertheless, you can currently trade L$275.5 for US$1.

Want more Second Life news? Visit the Second Life Reuters News Center, headed by Adam Reuters (also known in the real world as Adam Pasick). Here is his interview with Marketplace, a real-life radio program.

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The Virtual Reality Economy of Second Life

It was time for me to renew one of my domain names, and I found these coupon codes for GoDaddy. Feel free to use them and share.

Coupon code: CHRIS1 for 10% off any order (added 9/29/2006)
Coupon code: CHRIS2 for $5 off any order $30 or more (added 9/29/2006)
Coupon code: CHRIS3 for $6.95 .com domain names (added 9/29/2006)

If you know of any others currently working, leave them in the comments, and if I find any more I’ll add them here. Working codes seem to come and go, and ones I’ve seen posted on forums expire quickly.

I’ve been using GoDaddy for a long time, and I’ve never had any problems. (Also, I’m not an affiliate.)

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

GoDaddy Coupon Codes for Domain Registration

Tomorrow, September 28, 2006, is Financial Health Day on Gather. Gather is a social networking and community website that is based around informative articles written by the community members on an incredibly wide variety of topics.

Here are some sample personal finance-related articles that will be featured tomorrow:

* Pay the Real Estate Property Tax Yourself
* Credit and You

There are some knowledgeable writers, but as with any community, you may have to dig deeper to find the highest quality. Gather is a massive community; a while ago I spent some time to try to get a handle of what the site is. Many of the articles seem to be written by individuals who are active on issues. You can rate articles, and this reflects on the articles’ authors. Highly-rated authors move up in the community.

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

Financial Health Day on Gather

I’ve been hosting my websites through DreamHost since December 1999. The last several months have been very rocky as the “little hosting company” with its humble beginnings as the New Dream Network has expanded exponentially.

They’ve just performed a major upgrade on their infrastructure, and now all my websites seem to be running well. For a while I was looking for a new hosting provider, but now it looks like I can start recommending them again.

Most people these days who want to publish on the internet are looking mainly for blogging. If you think you’re going to keep up blogging for more than a few months, and if your website is something you’re going to take somewhat seriously, you need your own webspace. BlogSpot isn’t going to cut it. In fact, a little while ago I offered free DreamHost web server space for five personal finance bloggers who wanted to get serious. Even though DreamHost makes it very simple to set up blogging platforms, the experiment had mixed results. I won’t be able to offer free hosting again for a while, the earliest being next year.

However, I can offer $20 off for people who want to get their own hosting through DreamHost. Simply use this link and the promotion code FLEXO20. The basic plan, which is sufficient for blogging, is cheap at $7.95 a month. They have a 97-day money back guarantee, and the $20 off is a decent bonus.

Note: That’s a referral link in which I’ll also receive money for sending you in DreamHost’s direction if you choose to sign up.

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DreamHost Back in the Game, Here’s $20 For You

Some readers of financial blogs keep coming back for the free “advice.” There are some better ways to get in touch with financial advisement online, and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance has a few suggestions for finding a real advisor through the internet.

* The Alliance of Cambridge Advisors is a network of 75 advisors in 25 states who passed a peer review, passed a long training course, and regularly attend industry conferences.
* The Garrett Planning Network lists 250 fee-only advisors and helps you find an advisor tailored to your own interests. Take a look at their financial fitness wheel.
* MyFinancialAdvice.com pairs you up with an advisor who can provide immediate advice. Their database contains advisors grouped by topic their a range of hourly rates. Once you select an advisor, you can email your question. The website will respond with the price and estimated response time for your answer.
* WiserAdvisor.com lets you narrow down your search to find an advisor with a specific set of qualification determined by you, but Kiplinger’s claims spotty results.
* Paladin Investor Resources is an elite group of advisors; only 820 out of the 14,000 who applied made the cut and many have multiple certifications.

When you meet with a financial advisor, the first meeting is usually free. This time should be used to determine if the relationship is right for you. Kiplinger’s offers these suggested questions:

• Are there financial incentives for you to recommend certain products?
• Do you provide a comprehensive written analysis of my financial situation and recommendations?
• Do you take custody of, or have access to, my assets?
• Do you have clients who might be willing to speak with me about your services?

The Internet is a great tool for financial advice, as long as you’re looking in the right places. These links should help you get started.

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

Find a Financial Advisor Online

At the beginning of the month, I mentioned I had been getting 12 Mbps cable internet for $29.99 a month. Download speeds average between 10 and 12 Mbps. The promotion has elapsed and I’m now being charged $52.95, the normal price for the “ultra-fast” 8 Mbps connection.

Lately, I’ve been feeling the pain of my reduced cable television. I’m only paying $16 a month, but I’m only getting 30 channels. I don’t watch television often, but sometimes I wish I had a better selection. I have no Comedy Central, no permium movie channels.

Meanwhile, I’m also paying for Netflix every month, yet I haven’t watched many movies. Perhaps now, without having to do classwork every night, I’ll be able to enjoy more “Flexo time.”

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

No More Promotional Price for Comcast High-Speed Internet

AOL, your favorite company to hate and mine because they single-handedly destroyed the internet while saving the internet, leaked their users’ search history. They plugged the leak but not before the database was replicated. The CNET article contains some disturbing search requests, but it gets worse.

At the moment, you can search the replicated database yourself. I wouldn’t be surprised if who ever is operating this site is (ironically) logging database search requests, so be careful what you search for.

Also, I would be willing to bet all search engines save histories and link your searches with a unique user ID. It attracts news stories only when the data are leaked.

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AOL Leaks Users’ Search Histories

Here are my internet access speed statistics from home. That’s almost 12 Mbps for downloading and 702 kbps for uploading. I pay $29.99 through Comcast Online in central New Jersey, which I think was the promotional rate for their 6 Mbps. Somehow due to the customer service representative’s confusion, they gave me the the fast speed and the low priced promotion at the time. The regular price is currently $42.95. They advertise their top speed as 8 Mbps, but I’ve been busting through that barrier for months.

Take the speed test from Speakeasy, choose your closest benchmark server, and post your results and price. I’m curious to see what prices people pay for what kind of internet access. Also mention if it’s a “promotional” rate.

For what it’s worth, I used to run a bulletin board system (BBS) over a 1200 baud (bps) modem before eventually upgrading to 14.4 kbps and later 57.6 kbps. My connection speed is now 10,463 times faster than the speed at which I first discovered the internet.

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

How Much Ya Bench? Compare Your Internet Speed and Price!

The Under 30 Honor Roll is a network of bloggers who are and write for twenty-somethings (and younger) with a focus on personal finance. They’re doing a great job of building a subcommunity, and have message boards as well. This is where all the “kids” will be hanging out… at least the “cool” ones. Check it out.

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

Special Website For The Under 30 Crowd

I have a deal for my personal finance blogging friends. Blogger was a great piece of software several years ago, bringing “pushbutton publishing to the people.” When they added BlogSpot, it only enhanced the value of the software. But let’s face it, BlogSpot is not that stable despite being hosted by Google, and many people since the beginning of the decade moved away from Blogger’s services due to spotty access at one time or another.

I have many gigabytes of web server space and bandwidth at DreamHost that is currently going unused. By the time I could possibly fill up that space, it’s likely Dreamhost will have quintupled what is available, as that seems to be their pattern.

Therefore, I would like to help a few bloggers remove the BlogSpot shackles and get their own space… for free. Yep, that’s right, free. The only cost would be the domain name, which you can buy yourself (I suggest GoDaddy) or I’ll buy for you if you want if you send me the funds through PayPal. So basically, the cost of having your own domain and your own website is less than $10/year.

If you think you’re going to be serious about blogging, then do yourself a favor and get off of BlogSpot. Sure some people like Atrios can make BlogSpot work for them, but it’s rare.

By moving off BlogSpot, you can keep Blogger or switch to a more powerful blogging software like Movable Type or WordPress. I’ll install everything initially and provide you with shell, ftp, and configuration panel access so you can make changes yourself, but I’ll help with upgrades and installations as my schedule permits. I’ll give you 1GB of space which should be enough for anyone unless your’re incorporating audio and video. I believe I can also provide unlimited email addresses (via webmail, POP, and/or IMAP, and forwarding).

This offer is good for the first five personal finance bloggers currently residing on BlogSpot who comment here and tell me why they’re serious about blogging for the foreseeable future.

In case you’re wondering, I wouldn’t require bloggers to display ads or anything. I may be mistaken and perhaps this isn’t a service personal finance bloggers are interested in, but either way, the offer is open.

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

Flexo’s “Get Away From BlogSpot” Project

DreamHost, the company that provides servers for this website and an increasing number of others I host, has done me wrong a number of times, but now that they upgraded my system from a Pentium III to a dual Xeon, things have been smooth. My hosting plan of choice is their “Code Monster” plan, for which I pay about $12 a month in lump payments every two years.

Last night, I processed the payment for the next two years. In turn, I host sites for friends and clients in addition to myself. It takes only one client to pay for DreamHost’s hosting fees, so I don’t complain too much. They provide more than enough server space and bandwidth for now.

This is the kind of expense I should use Quicken to spread out over the two year period (the accural method) but I usually don’t bother with so much detail and just record the lump expense when I pay for it (the cash method).

While occasionally I’ve threatened to leave, I’ve been a customer since 1999. Prior to that my web space was provided to me for free by various universities, including the University of Delaware (I attended school there, so I guess it was included in tuition), Princeton University (I worked there), and George Mason University (a friend of a friend attended school there).

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

Renewed Web Hosting With DreamHost

David Kirkpatrick from Fortune Magazine stipulates that all websites are the same; they all have the ability to deliver content (text, audio, and video), to facilitate communication between its users, and to allow users to share their own content. This is the case, regardless of whether the site is supporting a television network, a magazine publisher, a newspaper publisher, or a film studio.

There are two issues to consider. First, if all websites are the same, then users will go to the ones that provide the most relevant content in their opinion. With all sites delivering, text, audio, and video, thecompany doesn’t matter so much as the content.

Most likely the decision will not have much to do with the fact that one organization was historically a TV network and the other a magazine. The sports fan seeks good sports content – which can now be distributed in all forms online.

The second issue relates to advertising. If product companies produce their own content, it reduces the need to advertise on traditional or other online media. The first thing that springs to my mind, which was not mentioned in the article, is BMW Films. Here is an automobile production company that spends resources creating content that theoretically appeals to its existing customers.

While an increasing amount advertising has been moving online from traditional media, the structure (which includes this site’s ability to bring in a few dollars from advertising) may not be a good long-term strategy for content providers. Why would < ShareBuilder (for example) continue to advertise on blogs if the company could theoretically create its own blog, podcast, video program, etc. and attract its own regular visitors?

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All Web Sites Are The Same?

I’ll admit there’s a little bit of hyperbole in the title of this post. I’m sure I’d survive without the internet, but I’d be unwilling. Unwilling to go on living. If I had to choose, here are the ten websites I’d want to have with me on a desert/deserted island, in no particular order.

CNN. If I were stranded, I’d want to know when my rescuers were coming, and CNN would probably inform me. Of course, this includes all of its hierarchical sites like CNN Money though it will be the least of my concerns.

NPR. While on the desert/deserted island, I’ll use shows like All Things Considered and Wait Wait to keep me entertained and sane.

Amazon.com. They must sell rafts. I’ll just have one shipped to the island.

Radio Paradise. Great music, all the time… just not while I’m in my car.

pfblogs.org. When you can’t choose just one personal finance blog, choose them all — without ads.

ING Direct. While I’m stranded, I’ll have time to watch my interest compound. In fact, interest will compound slower at ING Direct than they would at several other banks.

Google. The internet wouldn’t be the internet without it. Remember when if you wanted to seriously search the internet you had to use WebCrawler?

Bloglines. I’ll need to keep up with my friends’ lives if I can’t contact them otherwise.

My Grad School. Even if I’m stranded, I’ll have to participate in group assignments and maintain a decent GPA to get reimbursed. This one is only out of necessity, and I can’t wait until this website is no longer in my life.

New York Craigslist. I need to find a place to live so I’m prepared for the moment I get off this island.

If you have ten desert/deserted island websites, leave a comment or a trackback!

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Ten Websites I Couldn’t Live Without

Yahoo is preparing to launch a new site I don’t need, Yahoo Tech. It will be another website flaunting all the tech gadgets I would like to have but can’t justify buying.

Yahoo Tech will provide information on gadgetry in 18 categories, including cellphones, laptop computers and digital-music players. In each category, Yahoo will highlight the top five products according to Consumer Reports, which is providing product ratings under an exclusive deal…

There already is a website like the one described, and it’s called CNET. We’ll see what Yahoo does to make their version unique, and hopefully it’s more than including Consumer Reports ratings.

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If Ya (Ain’t) Got It, (Don’t) Flaunt It

The entire Wall Street Journal Online will completely free for ten days. They plan to publish several special features to coincide with the website’s tenth anniversary. You can also get free print newspapers and meet some names known to personal finance bloggers:

The Wall Street Journal Online will go live from Times Square in New York City with a mobile newsroom to celebrate its 10th anniversary. “Newsies” will be handing out free coupons for online subscriptions and encouraging pedestrians to visit WSJ.com during its Open House… Terri Cullen, personal finance columnist of WSJ.com and Jason Fry, assistant managing editor of WSJ.com will also be in Times Square to help morning commuters and pedestrians visit the mobile office and participate in the Newshound quiz.

Be sure to take advantage of the free offerings which will be available until May 10. Thanks to a Journal fan, Doobie, for the heads-up.

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Wall Street Journal Online Free

Pkp646 asked in response to my latest Comcast adventure (which isn’t quite the latest — there’s something new I haven’t written about yet):

I would be interested to know, Flexo, if there has been talk of allowing Verizon’s FIOS into your area. It seems that everywhere that they are trying to enter the field, Comcast gives away free speed upgrades. The reason behind it is simple, though. FIOS is comprable, if not outright cheaper, but also provides a greater speed and a more reliable connection. I’m hoping to be able to get it in my area soon.

In fact, the word is that we are being primed for FIOS service in my area. In 2001 and 2002, the fiber optic cable was laid underneath US Route 1, the main corridor in my area of the state. Back then, Comcast Online (or Comcast @Home or Excite @Home) — the only broadband option in the area other than satellite — had major connectivity issues. Everyone was looking to Verizon for the first sign that DSL would be available.

DSL either never came, or by the time it did, Comcast had improved dramatically. With Comcast as the only serious choice for broadband in the area, my friends and neighbors are still looking for FIOS to provide some competition.

For the last few years, I check every so often to see if FIOS is available, just in case I missed the huge announcement. Here’s today’s response, same as before:

Verizon FiOS Internet Service is not currently available at your address. Our network is continually being expanded, and we don’t want you to the miss the opportunity to get this state-of-the art Internet service.

Honestly, I’m satisfied for now with my 10 Mbps downstream, despite an outage yesterday — while I was home sick — due to the landscapers cutting the cable connection outside the apartment and depriving my building of cable television and internet for several hours. (That’s the story I mentioned at the top of this post. Now you know.)

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Verizon FIOS Driving Down Comcast Prices

It was inevitable. Google is working on a project that mashes up its Google Base (data management) and Google Maps for the sole purpose of listing real estate for sale and for rent.

If Google handles this correctly, it could simply crush all other online listing services.

The best way to get to it is to search Google proper for the term homes for sale and follow the instructions above the results.

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Google Real Estate Listings