A9 seems to be using Windows Live as its search engine now and it really sucks!!
When I search I often get 2 or 3 results compared to Google’s thousands, and when I did a search for “time in nyc” they sent me to website squatter rather than a real website!
I wonder why they are using Windows Live? Must be cost/other Microsoft incentives…. at the long-term expense of attracting users to A9… bleh!!
In another weird online shopping experience, I was trying to buy something from drugstore.com last night. Well, it kept saying I only needed to add $15 more to get free shipping, so I took the time to look around and find something else I could buy. They were offering free standard shipping with a $25 purchase.
Right when I went to check-out, I logged in with an existing account.. well several minutes later, my free shipping “evaporated” and suddenly I needed to buy $49 in order to qualify for free shipping!!
It was so annoying.
I thought maybe I was just hallucinating or something about seeing $25 earlier, so then I fired up Firefox, which apparently does not share cookies with Internet Explorer. Well, I went back to drugstore.com and it *again* said free shipping with $25!! What the heck!?
So this time, I added the same items to my cart, didn’t log in to my existing account to sign out and I was able to get the free shipping… Isn’t that unbelievable?!
It seems they could be more straight forward!
Hmm, I’ve been faithfully searching on A9.com every single day and it looks like they’ve permanently turned off my 1.57% discount!!
I wonder why that is?? Supposedly this is how you qualify:
“You can save an additional 1.57% (π/2%) on virtually all your purchases at Amazon.com by simply becoming a regular user of A9.com. Once you join and use A9.com for a few days you will automatically be eligible for the A9 Instant Reward…
While we are not revealing the exact criteria, they are minimal. If this is your first time at A9.com, you will be eligible after a few days of use. If you are already eligible, as little as a few searches a week will keep you eligible. (We reserve the rights to change the eligibility criteria at any time.) The total number of searches is not important; your eligibility depends on your regular use of A9.com.”
Sigh, perhaps I should just go back to Google. I just prefer the interface more.
Okay, I just went back to the sign-up page and it says I need to “enroll” in the program. Even though I enrolled months ago and have had the discount before, I need to re-enroll??? Isn’t that odd?
I’m going to try this for a week, otherwise, it’s back to Google!
P.S. Not to be critical or anything, but I noticed that Amazon gave out a bunch of free subscriptions to Amazon Prime in November. I got one, my friends got offers and a lot of bloggers mentioned it, too. Well on Amazon’s most recent earnings conference call, they noted how subscribers to Amazon Prime have really risen! Well, duh, if you are giving it away for free, of course it will rise! How many of those new subs are paying subscribers?! Isn’t it a bit disingenuous of them to not mention they *gave* away subscriptions on their call or highlight how the service is so popular?
I have been getting a *ton* of track-back spam and comment spam lately, and I finally noticed that my Spam Karma wasn’t updating its blacklist!
Luckily, the unknown genius has released Spam Karma 2 — which was just finalized a week ago. I just installed it and I hope I don’t get any more advertisements for boob implants or anti-wrinkle treatment. Yes, I know I’m getting old, but stop sending me annoying spam!!!
Hopefully this new thing will work.
I received a notification that I’d been locked out of my gmail account for 24 hours this afternoon.
What the hell?!
The notice said that they suspected “abnormal usage” and asked if I was using any third-party applications.
What?
The only thing I use my gmail account for is email. That’s it! And I don’t use any third-party applications. I don’t understand why they’re doing this. It’s sort of shocking, and I feel quite powerless.
I wrote them an angry email, and asked for a personal response.
I got a form letter in response.
I then tried to log on again, using a different browser (normally I use Maxthon) and I was able to log in. Regardless of that, I don’t consider gmail as a reliable email account anymore. I’ve just set up my gmail account to forward all emails addressed to gmail to my Yahoo! account for back-up purposes. I think it’s pretty ridiculous that I have to do that, especially since I’ve undertaken no unusual activity with my email. Yuck!
Some links to e-reader / e-paper display makers:
How exciting!
Wayfaring Map - Christmas Trees in New York City
Make your place festive with a Xmas tree!
Interactive Transit Map for NYC
Another Google mash-up. Tell it where you want to go and it will tell you how to get there, barring a strike of course!
How to Split a Shared Cab Ride - Economists Weigh In
If you’ve ever been confronted with this dilemma, you’ll find this link pretty interesting. Unfortunately, it seems a bit overly complex with all these economists’ views!
Showtime may rescue ‘Arrested Development’ - Yahoo! News
Hurray for Arrested Development
Num Sum: web spreadsheet
Cool web spreadsheet program.I’ve been looking for something like this!! Unfortunately, it’s not responsive enough for my taste.
Can This Man Reprogram Microsoft? - New York Times
Ray Ozzie - leading a revolution at Microsoft? And is Google going to roll out a killer $200 thin-client computer?
MacGyver Tip: Remove lint with a FedEx airbill pouch - Lifehacker
Niice.
Eight Life Hacks for Health, Wealth, and Happiness : kadavy.net
Some advice on simplifying
Blockbuster Introduces MovieSuite
29.99 per month for online DVD rentals, 2 coupons for in-store rentals AND 2 tickets for the movie theatre… seems like a good idea, if you actually use it, unlike me who pays Blockbuster $16 per month for the pleasure of holding Big Lebowski and Blue Velvet
WSJ.com - Uggs Again? What Last Year’s ‘It’ Gift Does for an Encore
I just bought some Ugg boots last week. They are super duper comfortable and VERY warm, even if they don’t look very attractive
Calculation of NPV of MBA
Is an MBA worth it? Note that the author assumes 10% earnings growth post-MBA and 7% earnings growth without an MBA. I think the earnings growth should be about the same, but maybe the starting point would differ?
The Consumerist: Shoppers Bite Back
Interesting new blog from Gawker Media for consumers — watch out for scams!
theory.isthereason » From Del.icio.us to WordPress: How to automatically post daily links
Guide to posting links to Wordpress blogs using Del.icio.ous… pretty easy and hopefully it will work!
Update: It didn’t work.. I did this manually today, but last night it looked like Delicious was “down for maintenance.” Hopefully it will work today 
Check out this web-based IM aggregator called Meebo.. IM your friends anywhere, without downloading software! Cool.
Founded by some kids I knew in college. Wow!
Update - they’ve just been funded by Sequoia. Whoa!
Yahoo has come out with a new service called Yahoo Answers. Looks pretty interesting… the new site is a community based Q&A forum.
Basically anyone can type in any question and any user can submit an answer. So in some respects, it’s like Wikipedia or eHow or How-To By You (an experimental website where anyone could answer how-to questions, looks like it’s down now), where you leverage the knowledge of the community to find answers.
As this recent NYT article, “Snared in the Web of a Wikipedia Liar”, notes, though, information posted by users online may not be accurate or reliable.
I think Yahoo Answers is interesting, but another challenge might be the ease by which users can find information. I hope they’ve set up good categories and contexts. For example, what if questions are related to NYC and services — say I want to find a good hair-dresser or a reliable petsitter. It would be nice to have a good place to ask these questions, sort of like Chowhound’s message board, except for everything instead of just food.
Here’s a couple links to information services/resources:
Hmm, there was a NYT article discussing the rise of these answering services, but I can’t seem to locate it. Furl’s search function really sucks!! Does anyone remember that article? There was also another article in NYT (or was it the New Yorker?) discussing the researchers behind Google Answers… ordinary people who like to sleuth around on the Internet for answers to questions.
Post from Xooglers on the brilliance of the founders of Google:
“First, I accept that Larry and Sergey really are brilliant. I’m sure that on IQ tests, they’re off the charts, but that’s not the kind of brilliance I mean. I mean brilliant in the sense that they have a vision that burns so brightly within them it scorches everything that stands in its way. The truth is so obvious to them that they have no patience for the niceties of polite society when bringing that vision to life.”
Wow, can you imagine having that much conviction about something?
A vision that burns so brightly within them it scorches everything that stands in its way.
I wonder how long Google will let Xooglers keep up his blog? Or do you think it’s Google-approved?
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