NetHackz

Survey Says : Online Shoppers Cutting Back This Holiday Season

Staff — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:34:04 +0000

With everything rising in price its not unusual that people are cutting back on spending. I sure have cut my trips to McDonalds. Well, fast food might be cheap for you but when you eat fast food as much as I do, it adds up quick. A recent survey conducted by Pricegrabber shows that 70.8 percent out of 2,641 online shoppers said that they will be cutting their holiday spendings this year in comparison to 2007. Of course the economy has a major role in it. Rising gas prices, grocery cost and of course people do not think that the economy might gain the momentum soon either.

It seems like retailers are going get hit hard this holiday season. More layoffs? Who knows. We have included some images from the report for you to take a look at on this post which should give you a general idea of the report and survey itself and the results. If you would like to download the PDF version of the report please scroll to the bottom of this post.

The graphs above were taken from Pricegrabber.com Holiday Consumer Spending Survey. If you would like to download the report please click here (PDF)

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HugeURL - WTF?

Alice — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:33:11 +0000

Most of you already know about TinyURL which allows users to shorten the links. TinyURL is mostly useful when you need to tweet a link or are confined by character usage. It perfectly makes sense that services like TinyURL exist because they are actually helpful.

HugeURL on the other hand allows you to create a huge URLs, literally. Take a URL and put it in the box provided and you will get one heck of a huge URL. We can’t see any real use of this service besides annoying somebody. If you find a real purpose for this service please let us know in the comments.

We tried to create a huge URL out of this link : http://www.nethackz.com and this is what we got. Go ahead give it a try ,

http://www.hugeurl.com/?YTI0MDA0YTdkZmIwNzdhYmUwNWFiMjA5Mzc4 YTNkNjEmMTMmVm0wd2QyUXlVWGxWV0d4WFlUSm9WMVl3Wkc5V1ZsbDNXa2M1 YWxKc1dqQlVWbHBQVjBaYWMySkVUbGhoTVVwVVZtcEdZV015U2tWVWJHaG9U V3N3ZUZacVFtRlRNazE1VTJ0V1ZXSkhhRzlVVm1oRFZWWmFkR1ZHV214U2JH dzFWa2QwYzJGc1NuUmhSemxWVmpOT00xcFZXbUZrUjA1R1pFWlNUbFpVVmtw V2JURXdZVEZrU0ZOclpHcFRSVXBZVkZWYWQxTkdVbFZTYlVacVZtdGFNRlZ0 ZUZOVWJVWTJVbFJHVjFaRmIzZFdha1poVjBaT2NtSkdTbWxTTW1oWlYxZDRi Mkl3TUhoWGJHUllZbFZhY2xWc1VrZFhiR3QzV2tSU1ZrMXJjRWxhU0hCSFZq SkZlVlZZWkZwV1JWcHlWVEJhVDJOc2NFaGpSbEpUVmxoQ1dsWnJXbGRoTVZW NVZXNU9hbEp0VWxsWmJGWmhZMVpzY2xkdFJteFdiVko1VmpJMWExWXdNVVZT YTFwV1lrWktSRlpxUVhoa1ZsWjFWMnhhYUdFeGNGbFhhMVpoVkRKT2RGTnJa RlJpVjNoWVZXcE9iMWRHV25STlNHUnNVakJzTkZVeWRHdGhWazVHVjJ4U1dt SkhhRlJXTVZwWFkxWktjbVJHVWxkaVJtOTNWMnhXYjJFeFdYZE5WVlpUWVRG d1dGbHJaRzlqYkZweFUydGFiRlpzV2xwWGExcHJZVWRGZUdOR2JGaGhNVnBv VmtSS1QyTXlUa1phUjJoVFRXNW9kbFpHVm05Uk1XUlhWMWhvV0dKWVVrOVZi VEUwVjBaVmVHRkhPV2hpUlhCWVZqSjRVMWR0U2toaFJsSlhUVVp3VkZacVJt dGtSa3AwWlVaa2FWWnJiekZXYlhCTFRrWlJlVkpyWkZoaWF6VnhWVEJvUTFs V1VsWlhibVJPVFZad2VGVnRNVWRVTWtwR1kwWndXR0V4Y0ROWlZXUkdaVWRP UjJKR1pGZE5NRXBKVjFaU1MxVXhXWGhYYmxaV1lsZG9WRmxZY0Zka01WcDBZ MFYwYVUxWFVsaFdNV2h2V1ZaS1JsTnRPVlZXYkhCTVdsWmFVMVl4WkhSa1Jt UnBWbGhDU1ZacVNqUlZNV1IwVTJ0a1dHSlhhRmhaYTFwM1YwWnNObEpzWkdw aVNFSklWMnRrYzFVeVNrbFJiVVpYVFZaS1VGcEVSbHBsUm1SMVUyczFWMVpz Y0ZWWFYzUnJWVEZzVjFWc1dsaGlWVnB6V1d0YWQyVkdWWGxrUkVKWFVtdHdl bFV5ZUhkWGJGcFhZMGhLV2xaWFVrZGFWV1JQVTFkS1IxcEdaRk5XV0VKMlZt MTBVMU14VW5SV2JHUlVZbXR3YjFWcVRtOVdSbXhaWTBaa2EwMVdjREJVVmxK RFlUQXhXRlZ1Y0ZkTlYyaDJWakJrUzFKck5WZFZiRlpYWWtaWk1GWkhkR0ZX TWsxNVVtdG9VRlp0VW5CV2JHaERUbFphU0dWSFJsWk5WbXcxVld4b2MxWnNX a1pUYkdoWFlXczFkbGxWV21GalZrcHpXa1pvVjJKclNrbFdWbVEwV1ZaWmVG TnJXbE5XUlZVNQ==

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BudURL - Track Your Twitter Links

Staff — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:14:25 +0000

Twitter has become one of the post popular site when we talk about social web. Every person that is active on the net has an account on twitter, some are very active and some use it moderately to announce news and link to their blog posts or anything they might find interesting on the web. While using twitter users have a 140 character limit so sometimes sending out links can be quite a pain. This is one of the reason why services like TinyURL have become quite popular as they shrink the URL and make it tiny. BudURL, however, does more than simply shrinking your links. It helps you analyze how many people are clicking on your links.

Twitter is mostly used by bloggers and we all like to promote our sites and links. The key is to do it effectively so you are not sending out your links alone. The main features of BudURL is that it lets you shrink the URL and helps you track your “tweet links.” You can see the date the BudURL link was created and also how many click it has gotten in 24 hrs or 48 hrs. You can also see unique visits to the links. If you are someone who uses Twitter for marketing purposes or would simply like to see how many people click on the links you tweet, this is a must try service for you.

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TypeRacer - Fun Way To Improve Your Typing Skills

Connor Livingston — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:34:44 +0000

I will admit - I am not that good at typing fast. It takes me quite a while to finish a post with only 200 words. This is one of the reasons I dread writing cause it takes forever. Anyway for people like me who cannot type 5 words without a typo there are countless sites to help improve typing skills. The main problem with these sites - they are boring and do not motivate at all.

TypeRacer on the other hand is one of the most fun games to play. The best part is it helps you improve your typing skills as you get to race yourself with other users. I am pretty competitive and when I get to beat others it sure as hell is fun. This is one of the games that I would recommend anyone trying to increase their typing skills. By the way, I ranked first on one of the games. I crossed out the WPM simply because no one needs to know. The only thing that matters is I won. The fact that it took me several tries is a different thing. The main thing is it kept me motivated to keep practicing until I beat everyone else. And thats what most users need - motivation. TypeRacer will give you that motivation to improve your typing skills.

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Google Adds Lively To The Deadpool

Alice — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:38:01 +0000

There has been many ventures google has undertaken but haven’t been able to produce any results with them. Lively falls under that category. Google’s browser based virtual world that can be embedded into other websites is joining the deadpool.

Lively was launched in July of 2008 and the initial reaction was quite overwhelming. Although Lively is going down the crapper we do need to give Google credit for the risks they take. That is what business is all about. Giving everything a shot and weed out anything that doesn’t work. And at this point in time Lively seems to be one of the ventures that didn’t really go as Google planned.

Here is an excerpt from the Google Blog ,

Google has always been supportive of this kind of experimentation because we believe it’s the best way to create groundbreaking products that make a difference to people’s lives. But we’ve also always accepted that when you take these kinds of risks not every bet is going to pay off.

If you are a lively user and have worked hard to create your world on lively, Google suggests that you take snapshots and videos that will remind you later of all your hard work.

[source : GoogleBlog]

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Build Your Own Wall-E

Connor Livingston — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:47:23 +0000

How many of you watched Wall-E? I took my boys to watch it and seriously that was one of the worst animated movie ever. I mean there is no real story behind it. The whole romantic part might have gotten some people’s sentiments but as for me nothing. All in all it was a waste of money. The only thing I liked about the movie was Wall-E itself. Not the movie but Wall-E. You get the idea. Anyway, we found some cool instruction for you to build your own autonomous Wall-E. You will have to buy the toy but after modification the deal gets much better. Watch the instructions below,

- More cool how to projects

[source : Instructables]

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Obama and Miyagi

The Rabbit — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:39:21 +0000

You have just got to give credits to these people who think about these things. This is hilarious! Check it out,

[source : ThreadBombing]

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Do Aliens Exist?

Staff — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:01:12 +0000

Although I would like to believe there are no extraterrestrials, sometimes I just cant help but think that there might be. We have heard of alien and UFO sightings countless times and most of the time they are backed by not images but simply word of mouth. One of our readers sent us an email with a link to a site which claims that the images are of real aliens captured in camera. We have chosen some of our favorites. If you would like to see more please visit the source link at the bottom.

For more images and details please visit the source link at the bottom.

Thanks Joel

[source : Alien-UFO-Research]

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Mark Cuban Answers To The Charges Filed Against Him

Alice — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:16:23 +0000

We had recently posted a piece informing our readers that Mark Cuban, owner of Dallas Mavericks Basketball team was charged with insider trading. He is the founder of Broadcast.com which Yahoo! later bought for $4.6 billion. Known for his outspoken and arrogant nature, Mark Cuban is liked by some and hated by most. I personally like him cause he is one of those who says what he thinks is right.

Although I thought Mark Cuban would reply to SEC personally he made a wise decision and let the lawyers handle it. Please click the links below to see the lawyer’s response :

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Amazon’s Cloudfront - The Perfect Compliment To S3

Jason — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:08:25 +0000

A couple months ago, after I figured we’d start doing podcasts on the Hackz sites, I started on a mad hunt for content delivery services. With the way that these things have been growing, I figured it was better to be safe than sorry!

As you have probably seen, we have been using Amazon’s S3 to deliver a lot of our larger files to save on bandwidth that the server has to come up with…

But anyway - the cost of content delivery is absolutely crazy! $1000 buy-in to Limelight. $500 minimum at Brightcove. It’s out of control. We are testing out Voxel’s services right now and like them quite a bit. But that’s not what this story is about. This story is about Amazon.

S3 is a great service for bloggers and website owners because it lets them offload a lot of their bigger files so that they don’t choke up the pipe. But what happens when 2000 people decide to download a podcast? How does that work? Enter Amazon Cloudfront.

Amazon Cloudfront just came out today - and I’m excited. Cloudfront offers a direct tie in with S3 so that your content is ALWAYS sitting on cache, ready to be served! And the best part, the prices are amazing!

No upfront. No buy-in. No monthly. Pay for what you use!

Check these out…

So if you are looking for a bandwidth/media delivery solution - check out Cloudfront! Over the coming months, we are going to be testing it.

Here is the official launch email:

So let us know what you think! Is Amazon right in launching web services? Or do you think they should just stick to books :0) I am biased, what can I say?

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