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Return policies usually cover a lot of products like clothes, electronics, books, cars, and even food. Most customers love simple return policies according to latest research. If you are ever in doubt, ask the cashier or the manager about the return policy. There is always a manager or someone with similar powers on duty in almost every store in the country. If the cashier gives you an unclear answer about return policies, ask the manager for a clear answer. Return policies for online purchases are a bit different than purchases made in person. In my personal experience, most major websites usually list their return policies clearly.

Following are some time frames you should keep in mind when returning some items for a refund or for an exchange:

Time frames allowed for product returns with original receipts

• 30 days for clothes.

  All clothing stores allow clothes to be returned within 30 days. When in doubt, ask the cashier. I know people who buy 10 dresses and shirts and then return about 8 of them on the 28th day. You should not abuse the power you have as a customer, but you should exercise the power when you feel it is necessary.

• 14-30 days for books.

  Return time-frames for books depend on the bookstore. Ask the cashier about the return policies or look at your purchase receipt. Almost every bookstore allows book returns. If yours does not, shop elsewhere.

• 15-30 days for electronics.

  Some stores prefer a 15-day return policy while many stores give a 30-day time frame for electronic returns. When in doubt, ask the cashier or look at the receipt.

• 30 days for software.

  Most stores allow you to return software boxes within 30 days.

• 15 minutes to 30 minutes for movie tickets

  If you buy a movie ticket and do not enjoy the movie, most movie theatres will provide a refund or exchange the ticket for another movie within 15 minutes if the movie you are watching is less than 2 hours long, and within 30 minutes if the movie in question is over 2 hours long. Ask your specific theatre branch manager before you walk into a movie if you are not sure.

• Within 1 day for food items.

  Food items are treated a bit differently than all other items. If you were the manager and I brought a rotten banana to you saying “I bought a dozen bananas three weeks ago and 11 of them were bad. This is also bad. Here is my receipt and I want a refund“, you may probably wonder if you have the legal right to attack me. You can usually return food items if you go back to the store the same day, and hopefully within an hour or two of your purchase. Many restaurants with take-out dinner can also change the food for you, and so can drive-thru fast food places and pizza companies that deliver to your home.

• Around 16 days for all over-the-phone and online purchases.

  Most online stores and over-the-phone orders allow items to be returned within 30 days. While this may sound like an incentive to use these channels to buy something, consider this: it takes about a week for such orders to arrive in the mail, and takes another week to have them shipped back and received by the company. That amounts to a total of 14 shipping days, leaving you with 16 days to decide if you want to return the item or not. Last year I got a Samsung t509 by calling T-mobile. After a major unresolved issue, the phone came less than a week before the 30-day deadline for returns. I was told that I could not return the phone anymore. Keep the shipping situation in mind when making purchases online or over the phone.

• Around 15 days for travel tickets.

  Your airline purchase receipt should tell you how many days you have to change your mind. Some airlines charge a fee to cancel or change your reservations. When in doubt, call your airline or visit their site. JetBlue, for example, allows me to cancel or change my reservations even on the last day as long as I am willing to pay a $35 fee. The rest of the money, if any, is added to my JetBlue credit which I can use for future flights.

• 15-30 days for services.

  Signing up with services like new cell phone plans or yearly contracts with your internet service provider also gives you the power to cancel your contract within 15 to 30 days. Some services will even refund you the money if you do not like their service. Ask your service provider for cancellation policies.

• Around 3 days for many automobile and real estate contracts.

  Many agreements related to car and real estate leases and purchases can be legally withdrawn within 3 days. This is called the Cooling-Off rule and you should check if you can exit a contract legally.

• 30 days for different merchandize.

  Tupperware, stationary, toys, sunglasses, beauty products and almost all other items can be returned within 30 days of their purchase.

Thus, you can return most items within 30 days to get a full refund, and some items within 2 weeks.

Things you cannot return

There are a few things you cannot return once you have purchased them. This includes gas, or petrol as many people call it. Once you put the liquid in your car, there is no known way to get a refund. You can apply the same rule to travel tickets. If you buy a train ticket, you cannot use it to get to the another city and then say “I did not enjoy the ride. Refund me some money!“, unless you have some very good reasons to back up your refund request. Items purchased directly from individuals or through classified systems usually cannot be returned either unless you have prior arrangements with the seller.

5 things to remember when returning items

Even when you return an item within the allowed time, you have to keep a few things in mind depending on the items you are returning. Following are 5 tips about returns and refunds that you should keep in mind when you want to return something for a refund or an exchange.

1. All returns at almost any store require the original receipt, even if you throw away the name and price tags. A few stores allow exchanges if you do not have the receipt, though that policy is usually never publicized.
2. All items you return must be in sellable condition. There is no known exception to this rule unless you return a dozen items and the store staff overlooks the condition of some items.
3. Electronic returns vary depending on locations. Many electronic accessories like blank CDs cannot be returned if they are not in their original packing. Similarly, if you buy a computer and break the seal located on the back that allows you to open the unit itself, you will probably not be able to return the computer. Always ask the cashier when buying an electronic item if the item can be returned after you open it.
4. Software CDs and bundles are treated differently than electronics. Software can usually be returned only if you have not opened the box. I once bought Windows XP at a Fry’s store and could not return the item the same day even when I had not used it. The returns department staff told me this reason: I had opened the plastic wrapper on the box and thus the box was considered open. Whenever you buy software, never open it unless you are fully sure. Always ask the cashier what the return policy is for the specific software you plan on buying.
5. Food items can usually be returned if you bring back some of the food that you did not consume as a form of proof. If you buy a box of cereal and return it empty the same day saying “It did not taste good“, you will probably only get back some attention and no money. Many store managers are nice enough to even offer a replacement and a full refund if you buy something that upsets your stomach or has gone bad and you bring back a good portion of it to show to the store staff. Try to go back to the store as soon as possible and simply ask for an exchange or a refund.

The next time you want to buy something, whether it is a bottle of milk or a new computer, keep in mind the options you have if you think you might reconsider your decision later on. Please let me know if you have any questions or wish to share your own experience or points here. Thank you for reading.

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What this means for you in terms of interacting with me and my site is that I might be responding to e-mails and approving comments within a span of about 12 hours instead of the usual average of 2. It is easy for me to write posts while I am offline though. After moving, I will have PeoplePC dial-up internet for a while. I will later get Comcast, which will probably get me speeds of up to 6 Mbps, even though my first choice is the new Verizon FIOS, with which I could get a constant and steady rate of 15 Mbps downloads. Since San Francisco does not have Verizon FIOS as far as I know, Comcast will do. Until I get any good broadband connection, my online adventures may be somewhat slow during the month of February.

If you live in Southern California and we have not had a chance to meet yet, I might be coming back here once in a while a day or so. May be we can hang out then. If you live in Northern California, let me know and we can get together some time. For me, it is always nice to meet online people in person, except for the time when an online person turned out to be an obsessed individual who immediately started making plans for us to be together forever and started following me everywhere and making interesting threats. Getting a restraining order can be a very interesting experience sometime.

Orange County has given me shelter for almost 10 years, with occasional prolonged disruptions of different sorts in between. From opportunities to making money to having fun to meeting good people to facing life to dealing with drama to taking care of childish people to getting stabbed to dealing with people from other states who disappoint you even when you dedicate everything to help them, Orange County has made a lot of things possible. I want to see if Northern California will produce more positive experiences compared to Orange County.

Thank you for supporting me via this site all these years time. Even though changing cities should not affect a site, I know my site could not have come this far without your constant interaction, support and feedback. Thank you.

I personally find the Bay Area beautiful and full of life. Now it is time to find out if I find it as attractive living there as I did visiting the area.

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A human being likes doing what other humans like to do

A website is a showcase of what one wants to offer. If users see how other people trust your site, they will be attracted to the idea of trusting your site too. It is human nature; if a group of people engage in some activity, many other people around them will start getting interested in the same activity also. It is something that Firefox and Internet Explorer [IE] fans unconsciously keep in mind almost everyday when they try to convince people to use their browser. Firefox fans usually talk about how millions of people are switching to their browser while IE fans usually talk about how the number of current IE users overshadows the current number of Firefox users.

Show how the community interacts with your site

You can do the same thing that the car wash employee did and what the Firefox and IE fans do on a regular basis. You can try to create a sense of a visible community in some manner, even if your blog talks about the advantages of not having any kind of community in the world. Whether it is through showing the latest comments by others on every page or allowing users to interact with one another, you can show new visitors how your current and past site readers treated your site. Showing how the community interacts with your site is like showing your site visitors a feedback rating that shows what others think of your site. This will allow your site visitors to feel comfortable and develop a sense of trust in your site, and thus in you.

Conclusion : show people how others feel about your site

Give your site visitors reasons to give you a chance. Show them how others are enjoying your site or even disagreeing with it. I did not get the car wash yesterday because I had to run around taking care of other things. Just because someone showed me how other customers are satisfied with a business does not mean I am going to jump in and stick around also. The same thing may happen with your site too. Some people will stay, while others will have to move on due to various reasons. You just have to keep giving users reasons to start liking and keep using your site by telling them how others are using your website.

As for the car wash, the car will get one soon. I am sure.

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You have to focus on how you will achieve your your online goals. If, for example, your goal is to get 50 comments on your blog every week, you are being goal-oriented and will do different things in order to get those comments. Similarly, if your goal is to participate on 5 new blogs everyday, you are being action-oriented and will participate on different blogs while hoping for good results. The underlying purpose of your goal in both cases is to bring more people to your blog.

Realizing how you would like to approach your goals makes it easier to focus on the goals. If you want to be goal-oriented, you can simply make a list of results you hope for and regularly write a list of actions that can help you achieve those results. Similarly, if you are action-oriented you can simply make a list of things you want to do and regularly write a list of results you think will be achieved because of your actions. This will help you realize what you are after and what you are currently achieving.

What do you think about this? As for me, I have yet to finalize my online goals for 2007. Once I do, I will share them here and let you know how I would go about addressing them.

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What rebates really mean

Rebates mean that you pay a company a certain price for an item and that company mails you some money back later. The process described by companies is simple: you buy something, mail in a rebate form along with a copy of your purchase receipt, and then wait for the check in the mail. What most companies do not tell you is that the last part of the rebate filing procedure is where the problem lies for majority of the customers: the rebate check never arrives in the mail. Customers are then told, most of time, a myriad of reasons why their rebate claims was not processed. Majority of the customers who sent in rebate forms during the past 5 years have not received their rebate checks, and they never will.

There are companies out there that specialize in handling rebates for big companies, and many of them promise their corporate clients that they will do their best to ensure that the percentage of customers who get their rebate money back remains low. While many call such business acts unethical, many rebate processing services call that a business promise. Such and similar tactics do not go unnoticed, however. Best Buy got sued in 2004 by Ohio’s Attorney General for not honoring rebates, and that shed more light on the whole rebate scenario in the media that year.

One of my personal experiences with rebates

If you are expecting a rebate, you are usually depending on mere chance to get your money back. I purchased an eMachines system in 2004 and mailed in a $200 rebate form to eMachines, for both the computer and the Hyundai monitor that came with it. I waited for a month and then contacted their customer support, only to find out that they needed more information from me. Obviously, since it was my money, they were not going to call and say “Hey, we want to give you your money so we need more information.” Instead, I had to call them and ask about the rebate myself. After faxing in more papers that they needed, I was told to wait a month for my check to come in the mail. After another month, I was given several reasons ranging from them needing a copy of my original receipt again to them needing my mailing address again to them having to check why they had not sent out a check to me yet, and so on. I never got the rebate money back.

8 reasons rebates are a scam

Many people question why companies will not simply make the customers pay less in the first place instead of offering rebates. Following are the top 8 reasons why:

1. Most customers never send in a rebate form.

   Only about 10% of all eligible customers send in their rebate forms. Many companies depend on this. Online orders usually take about 7 business days to be delivered, and mail-in-rebates have to be mailed with the invoice, which is usually only mailed with the online orders, within 30 days of the purchase date. Thus, online customers lose around 7 days to begin with and are already at a disadvantage to begin with.

2. Most rebate forms are rejected by companies.

   Most of the rebate forms mailed by customers are rejected for various reasons by the companies. Whether it is for late rebate submissions or for incomplete forms, most rebate forms are rejected by companies and the customers are always notified via the standard postal mail, which itself usually takes several days or even weeks to arrive. By the time it takes for a customer to start sorting things out, they usually give up because of the hassle involved.

3. Rebates are used to attract more sales during busy shopping seasons.

   Companies usually go on a rebates-offer spree around the busy shopping seasons, telling customers through price tags that a certain expensive TV costs “only $199*” while that * means that there is probably a mail-in-rebate on such an item. Some prices tags do not even mention such disclosures, and people have to find later on that a rebate is involved. Rebates are simply another way of having a sale and attract a lot of people.

4. Customers lose money because of the actual price of the item at the time a rebate check is received.

   By the time it takes to get the rebate, one may have paid more depending on the value of a product. For example, if you paid $200 for a stereo system in January and got $50 in rebates after 5 months in June, you may have lost money as by June the stereo may be selling for $120 without any rebates.

5. Customers still pay taxes on all the money sent back to them while the company keeps the extra tax.

   When you pay full taxes on an item, the company never refunds you the tax you paid for the amount of money you get back in the refund. For example, if you pay $550 on a computer that comes with a $90 mail-in-rebate, any tax you pay for that entire $550 amount is lost completely, as the rebate sent back [which is the $90] does not include the taxes you paid for those 90 dollars. This extra sales tax stays with the company.

6. Most rebates require cutting the UPC label from the product box, meaning you can never return that item.

   Most companies require customers to send in both an original receipt and the UPC bar code that is present on almost all boxes for things you buy. Cutting this UPC sticker from the box means that you cannot return that item for a refund in most cases. Thus, companies that do not like honoring rebates actually make sure that you can never return the item for a full refund if you are not satisfied with your purchase.

7. Many rebate checks are never cashed or get lost in the mail.

   Almost all rebate checks are sent by standard mail and many of them get lost in the mail. Checks usually gets canceled when not cashed within 6 months. Some companies send rebate forms in unmarked envelopes or in envelopes that look similar to envelopes used by most junk mailers. Many customers simply throw such envelopes away, which plays to the company’s advantage. I am not yet sure if the companies do this on purpose, but I am keeping a track of which companies do this and will probably share my results in the future.

8. Interest is made on the rebate money by companies.

   The money that is sent back as a rebate to a customer is held for a while as interest. By the time a rebate is mailed to a customer, the company has already earned a lot of interest on that money. This is the same as a loan or the money you put into your savings account. The main difference is that in case of a rebate, you may actually never see the money you lent the company in the first place.

5 easy steps to ensure you get your rebate money

Here are 5 easy steps you can take to make sure you get your rebate money on time.

1. Most rebates require cutting the UPC code from the product box. Make sure you want to keep the product before doing that, as stores do not accept returns that have missing UPC labels.

   Since most online and retail stores do not accept returns on items where the box does not have a UPC code, make sure you like your purchase before mailing off that rebate form. If you do not like the item your purchased, simply return it and get all your money back.

2. Mail in your rebate forms right away using the correct shipping method

   Most customers never file a rebate claim, and many people send in rebate forms after they have expired. I have also waited several times before sending a mail-in-rebate, and most of the time it was too late. Send your rebate forms right away and make sure you send them either with a return receipt or a delivery confirmation. Return receipt allows you to get a receipt from the post office stating that the recipient got the mail you sent them, and a delivery confirmation also shows written and official proof that you mailed something which was received by the other person. Any of these two options can help you in cases where you have to start arguing with a company that you did send them those rebate forms.

3. Keep a copy of everything.

   This may be the single most important thing you can do when filing a rebate claim. Keep copies of everything as many companies are famous for never getting rebate forms or for losing them. If you do not have copies of all your forms and receipts and the company denies ever receiving your form, you are most probably never going to receive any rebate check from that company.

4. If you do not get anything in the mail soon, start inquiring.

   Many companies have been known to make customers wait for their rebate checks for a long time, hoping that the customers will forget about it and move on. Many customers do forget about their rebate checks until its too late. Try not to be one of those people. I know you are busy, so if you can, mark down some future date on your calendar as a day to start contacting the company and inquiring about your rebate check. Keep a track of all things on your calendar.

5. Avoid rebate items altogether

   This is the most logical step to take. Avoid items that require a rebate. If a store is selling an item that comes with a $50 mail-in-rebate, chances are there is another store selling the same item at a price that will save you exactly 50 dollars without any rebates and thus a lot of hassle. Shop around. The internet is a valuable tool to find good prices for a lot of things.

How companies are changing their policies regarding rebates

Because of the complications and complaints involved with rebates, many companies are simply trying to eliminate any headaches associated with rebates. Staples is taking an interesting approach to this by allowing people to submit their rebates online through the “Staples Easy Rebates” program. This allows customers to submit everything online instead of mailing stuff, and also helps customers keep an online record of everything submitted. Such online systems let the customers know immediately what extra information is needed before a rebate can be processed, and it also helps the company track down and fix any rebate issues experiences by a customer.

Other companies are taking a different approach by trying their best to eliminate rebates altogether. Dell is planning to end mail-in-rebates in order to further improve its image in front of customers. Similarly, after getting sued, Best Buy announced it will try to curb out mail-in-rebates by 2008. Other companies like OfficeMax have also taken similar steps. This way, a customer does not have to wait for any rebate check to be mailed to them and can save money right away.

More resources that talk about the rebate hassle

In addition to the links mentioned above, following are some resources I found useful in the past, and I think they may help you also in finding out more about the nature of rebates.

• Business Week article titled “The Great Rebate Runaround” - first published on November 23rd, 2005.
• Slate article titled “The Great Rebate Scam” - published on June 30th, 2003.
• A 5 part series written by Lyle Bateman, talking about a rebate scam involving a Creative webcam and Future Shop. The posts are titled “The Rebate Scam” and divided into 5 parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and The finale. The author explains how even though the rebate check was received, it was still a hassle and involved a lot of risks for the end consumer overall. Published from October 24th, 2006 to January 15th, 2007.
• MSN Money article titled “Don’t get ripped off by a rebate ‘deal’.”

I hope that helps. If you have any questions or comments, please let me know or post them here so others can share their opinions also. Thank you for reading.

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The most obvious change is the new name of the site: The Reasoner dot Com . I ran a poll on this site from December 26th, 2006 till January 11th, 2007, asking all users to let me know whether or not they missed the layout with a penguin. 53 votes were cast, and the results show that most people were all right not seeing a penguin every time they came to this site. By a difference of only 3 votes, many people expressed their feelings that they wanted the now-missing penguin. 10 people thought I was crazy and had no idea what I was talking about, and thus they voted “What previous design?” Based on this, I decided to go ahead and remove the penguin from the site for now and make a few other changes throughout the site. I will bring the penguin back if I can somehow incorporate him [him, right?] into the layout and see if everyone is ok with him then.

I classify the changes into the following 4 areas:

1. New title

   For several years I used the name “The Penguin Chronicles” as the title for this site. As cute as that name was, it did not convey a feeling related to the content of the site. I like penguins, but I do not talk about penguins that much on this site. I decided that a new name was in order, and the domain name, The Reasoner dot Com, was a good replacement in my view. As time progresses, I will come up with a related tagline that better deals with the site content. The penguin lives on, but the logo is gone. “The Penguin Chronicles” title with the penguin logo was created around July 24th, 2005 and stayed around until January 18th, 2007. The penguin stayed with us as the mascot for 1 year, 5 months and 25 days [543 days total].

2. Rate every article
   You now have the power to rate each article to show how much you like it. You can rate any post on this site anywhere from a 1 to a 5, with 1 being the lowest rating and 5 being the highest rating. Your ratings and comments let me know how and what to improve. To rate an article, simply move your mouse over the star you wish to rate and click it. This will instantly rate the article and reflect the current ratings. Go ahead; try it on this or any other post.
3. Improved navigation

   The other changes on the site include a simpler navigation system on the top and on the side of the page. I had simplified the navigation before and have decided to consolidate several links into one location further so as to make the site easier to understand. There are now more ways to find out other comments, commentors and posts on this site via the different sections on the side of the page. Also, I have removed the advertising that was being displayed on the side bar. I am trying to limit any advertising on this site in order to make everything as simple and relevant as possible.

4. Updated sections and a new stats page

   A few pages have been updated to make them easier to read. The following pages have been improved for easier reading:

   • Links page. Links are now organized with more description. If your link is listed here and you want a different description, please email me.
   • About page. The about page needs constant changes, and I have included more details on advertising compared to before. You can now see more details about my disclosure on the advertising used on this site.
   • Copyright page. This has been updated to show what can be done with this site.

   I wanted to make more stats about this site available to you, so I came up with a small new section of the site called “Latest activity” that shows the user interaction on this site. On that page you can see the total number of comments, the last 10 comments, the most commented posts and the latest commented posts. If you would like to see something added or removed from this section, please email me.

This change can be considered a bigger change than the last one, v 0.81. The numbering system is a random system I chose in order to make it easier for both myself and you to keep track of changes. The latest change is v 0.9 . Once I have a new tagline and a logo ready, I will add a few more changes and call it v 1.0 .

As with all the changes, if there is something you would like to see or if you feel something should be removed, please email me to let me know.

Thank you for reading this post; I really appreciate it.

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It seems as if the customer is always fortunate enough to run into a lucky sale that the store says is about to “end very soon!” There is always a sales event going on at retail stores. There is always the need to give more discounts to the customers, and this need to give more never ends because of sales events. Last year, the retail stores had sales ranging from Independence day sales to Labor day discounts to Thanksgiving sales to Christmas day discounts to New Year’s and Memorial day, enabling customers to see the “Sale ending soon!” sign change its color and size almost every week of the year.

Car dealerships have something similar too. Car dealerships always have discounts on cars, almost every single week of the year. Car dealerships have different kinds of cars, and sales events usually mean that any car out there is advertised to almost every customer. Similarly, retail stores promote every item as being the perfect gift for every holiday out there. It’s as if you can never go wrong with your purchase throughout the year. You can probably do the same in your life: you can buy something for Valentine’s and give it as a gift to someone during the holiday season and not be ridiculed.

How many times can we usually find good deals that we would not find rest of the year? Only about 2 or 3 times. So if you go to a store and get attracted to something because of the “On Sale!“, ask yourself whether you like buying stuff based on their price or based on your needs and wants. If you find a good deal on an item today, chances are you can find a better deal on that same item in the same store in the next 4 months.

There will be a different sales sign with a different color by then, of course.

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This is a randomly chosen list, so if you can think of any other tool or piece of technology that you think is not living up to its promised standard, please let me know or share it here via your comment.

1. Faster cars

   This is one thing many people love to have. However, it does more harm than good at this time. Newer cars all boast faster speeds and lower 0-60mph time frames. While having cars with capable speeds of 160 mph or more is nice, here is a question that many do not answer directly: why have such high speeds when the maximum speed allowed for most cars anywhere in many countries is only 75 mph? Having higher speeds in newer cars is actually making some people get into more accidents. Why not focus on making more room in the car, giving out more gas mileage and building an engine that needs less oil change, repairs, and other things?

2. Automated customer support systems

   This is something majority of the companies are rushing after. Calling customer support these days usually results in listening to a computer voice that usually claims it is “happy to help you.” Many times these automated support systems are so poorly planned that customers end up getting frustrated. Hearing a robotic voice say “Please enter your account number. Without it, we will not be able to assist you” is not good when you are calling to find out your account number. When properly used for the benefit of the customer, automated support systems can be a life saver, instead of simply being money savers for companies who do not want to hire additional support staff.

3. Watches with fancy features

   While watches are considered by many to dictate define first impressions, wearing a watch that has a host of dozen extra features that you do not use somehow shows to many people that you simply want to impress people through your watch and not your personality. Imagine the new features in watches today: cameras, tv, thermometers, blood pressure readers and more. While such features are nice for specific purposes and for paving ways for future advancements, they do not aid in finding out the current time. How about we add fancy features to watches that serve a target audience only, like swimmers who need to know the water depth? That way, we can all look at the time and be done with it in a second while those who need the extra features get them.

That is my list of 3 things that I think should be kept simple and made more efficient instead of making them fancier. Please let me know what you think, or if you have a list of your own. Thank you.

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John Chow’s site is fairly new to the internet; John Chow, however, is not. He has been working on the famous hardware site The Tech Zone since 1999, TTZ Media Network, and his new blog since December of 2005. Since then, he has been offering a lot of information on things that have made his site better and tips that have helped him optimize different aspects of his site in order to earn more. He offers tips ranging in many topics; from the banner ad types suitable for different advertising networks work to how doing different things with your content gives different results. John does all of this not by theorizing stuff but by giving examples of his own experience with his blog.

John has also started helping his readers in other ways. He offers prizes through contests and recently offered to linkback to anyone who writes a review of his site, both good and bad. That is what I am doing in this post. So far, I have had a good time reading his posts and so my overall experience has been a positive one. I have been confused though by the “Google’s #1 Dot Com Mogul” word being used around the site, but the more I read the site, the more I realize what it really means. The site does not give you the answers that you can copy verbatim to your site, but tells what the results were for different things happening around his site.

I hope this review helps you know a bit about John Chow’s blog if you did not already know about it.

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This is a randomly chosen list, so please feel free to write and let me know about other things that may annoy you when it comes to cell phone usage around other people. This list is addressed to the annoying cell phone user that I describe in each point; thus the usage of the word “you” in most cases.

1. Talking via the cell phone speaker and not expecting people to look at you

   This one is a classic. I have seen people get on buses, go into public places and even sit in quiet waiting rooms full of people while talking through their cell phone speaker. Everyone can hear Mr. X’s conversation with his girlfriend about how late last night they had some “mutual fun“, as if using that code word is going to throw anyone off or make anyone believe that something happened. These people get offended and sometimes get hostile when people start staring at them. If you are willing to share your story with others in places full of people, expect other people to share their reactions with you too.

2. Talking on your cell phone while you are hanging out with someone

   Majority of the people in this world do not know the right manners when it comes to giving attention to people who are hanging out with you. Regardless of the cultures involved, a person should always try to make another person who has willingly chosen to hang out with them feel better. I have a few nice friends who are regular visitors to this site, and they are also regular cell phone users while they are in a movie with others, eating with others, walking with others, talking with others and last but not least, driving with others. When you are with friends and start talking to people who call you, do not say “I am sorry! That was long, I know!” when you told the caller on the phone earlier “No no, it’s ok, I have time to talk right now” in front of your friends. It shows your level of respect for people you hang out with.

3. Whispering and joking about people around you

   I have seen many people whisper via the phone about weird things they notice about people around them. It is embarrassing for many people to realize that you, a complete stranger, is making fun of them to your friend on your cell phone. Everyone notices something different and odd everywhere, and whispering about it usually only hides the exact words you use to describe the deficiencies about a person. The person you are whispering about knows that you are talking about them as you keep looking at them repeatedly. “Why do they not say something, then?“, you ask. Simple answer: they are more mature about it and know how to control their actions. They are also better at making good jokes that do not involve hiding from other people and whispering.

So there you have it. My list of 3 randomly chosen annoying things that many cell phone users need to think about. Please let me know what you think, or if you have a list of your own. Thank you.

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Racial discrimination

Theoretically on the web, there should not be any form of discrimination. In reality however, there is. We use the same racial terminology to describe people on the web that we do in person. On sites like MySpace and Facebook, I see many people sticking around and joining groups that promote their culture only by degrading other cultures. The potential of the web is being wasted in creating more separation than what the web is actually capable of: bringing everyone closer than never before. Similarly, we ask people about their ethnic race and background culture even when it comes to things like creating some e-mail account or joining certain blogging networks. We need to realize the situations where such information is beneficial to everyone, and we also need to realize the situations where such information is not relevant.

It is easy to get a chance to appreciate others online for what they do for themselves and for what they do for others. Even when we see pictures of millions of people on their own sites, we do not rush to conclusions based on their biological appearance. Instead, we associate the writing with the picture and that association creates a completely new perspective in our minds. Such interaction with others on the web will help us phase out any stereotypes we have related to different people online.

Gender discrimination

One of the other obvious forms of discrimination today is against females. In real life, many people get surprised when a female accomplishes great things in a male dominated world. We still get surprised and show anger at the very thought of a woman running a country, regardless of her political affiliation. Similary, in the corporate world we still throw tantrums in real life and online when a female runs a big corporation, creating extra fuss simply because of her gender. We have a way to get over this on the web but many choose not to.

The same way there are stereotypes against people of a specific gender in the world of shopping, stereotypical discrimination exists on the web also. Many people will still only link to sites of the same gender, because they “don’t trust” the opposite gender. I wonder if they follow this same rule when it comes to their parents, siblings and children? While everyone is entitled to their opinion, we have more chances to look at sites without wondering about the identification differences that the societies in the world have created. The online world allows everyone to have equal opportunities, regardless of their gender. Let us make use of these opportunities to at least remove discrimination from our own mentality.

Conclusion: The web allows us to progress against discrimination

While discrimination usually amounts to promoting a certain biological trait over another, sometimes promoting such traits effectively as a reactionary countermeasure helps people be aware of discrimination. Blogging sites focusing solely on a certain gender can be an example of this. While they all may be considered promoting a certain gender over the other, some of them actually take the right step when it comes to raising more awareness about something that has been suppressed for centuries: realization that everyone is equal regardless of their gender. Similarly, there are many sites which promote blogs by a certain country or a certain ethnic group. Joining these groups is fine as long as you do not put any other country or ethnic group below your own. You do not own rights to a certain group of people, and therefore you certainly not own rights to degrade any group of people.

I look forward to the day when people would feel comfortable doing things both in real life and on the web regardless of their gender or race. I also look forward to the day when different people will do different things together while still getting together with people of similar traits if they wish. I hope this is done in an effective manner so that everyone is treated equally, and that sticking close to people of different races and both genders makes us realize that we are all equal. One day people will hopefully tell each other “Back then they used to treat people of different races and gender differently.” I hope I see that day in my lifetime.

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Following are the 5 topics that the Peeve Week is offering posts for the week of January 15th, 2007:

1. Monday - Discrimination
2. Tuesday - Cellphones
3. Wednesday - Techology and gadgets
4. Thursday - Retail
5. Friday - Money

I will try to participate in the different topics available here. Also, I entered my article “Importance of transparency in blogging” into the WTLC Blogging Essay Competiton. Please go ahead and read the entry and rate it depending on whether you like it or not. I would really appreciate it.

Thank you.

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What does practicing transparency mean?

Being transparent on the web is the same as being transparent regarding certain things with people in real life. Tony Hung on Problogger says that transparency “means that no matter what the blog is about, the readers know what they’re getting into.” Mentioning your personal details on the web is still considered a taboo by most people. While personal information should be kept private in many cases, giving users extra information that lets them know who they are indirectly interacting with is an excellent step towards establishing your credibility and making your blog better. Here I present to you some explanation of transparency by showing you how a company and an individual deal with transparency through a site and a blog respectively, and how I try to deal with transparency through different ways.

How a company website can show transparency

Any site on the internet can use the power of transparency to gain loyalty and trust. Whatever a site maybe about, the more information it gives to readers about the nature of the content offered, the better. Take Agloco as an example. It is run by the same founders who ran AllAdvantage. AllAdvantage became popular in 1999 because it paid online users to view ads. It closed in 2001 because of not earning enough money. Agloco explains this on its new site with details about the past and how the new model is more stable. This comparison is a form of transparency, where a company mentions the bad things that happened before and explains the current plans in order to regain any broken trust from previous users. This way, users can know about the risks involved when using such a service. If you wish to sign up with Agloco so that I can get a referral, please use my Agloco referral link. Otherwise, simply visit http://www.Agloco.com directly to sign up without using a referral link.

How individuals can practise transparency on blogs

In addition to content, it is sometimes important to make the online personality of an author transparent. When people read great content, they wonder about the author. The author, whether a single person or a company, becomes associated with the content in the minds of the readers. If users can trust the author, they will try to read more things written by that author. Darren Rowse is an example of presenting yourself transparently. The ProBlogger author talks about how much he earns from different advertising mediums and also about his personal life from time to time on his website. Users see Darren as someone who is willing to share something personal from his life which results in users associating his site with quality content and Darren himself with credibility. Because of this, Darren is trusted since users know who and what they are dealing with when they visit his blog.

John Chow recently launched a linkback campaign where a MiniTV USB was offered as a prize along with a linkback to anyone writing a review of his site. The review could be either good or back, and John explained in his post how this would benefit both his site and the site of the reviewer. This is transparency, where the users know exactly what the blogger aims to gain from the blog and what the blogger aims to give back to the users via the blog. The contest is now over at JohnChow.com and John is still offering linkbacks, so I thought of using this as an opportunity to use his site as an example of transparency on blogs and as a small review also.

My attempt at transparency

When you are doing something via your site that the users may not be aware of, it is best to explain things that may not be obvious. Take the Amazon links on my site as an example. Almost all of my Amazon.com links [except the one mentioned in this paragraph] have a referral id in them which allows me to earn referral commission from Amazon purchases by readers like you. This is stated in my About page also. Take this very post as a second example for this. I stated clearly earlier in this post how one of the links contained a referral id for Agloco while the other did not, and I did that on purpose to convey this example. Similarly, stating my intentions behind reviewing John Chow’s site while using it as an example for my post at the same time is my attempt at making this very post as much transparent as possible.

Just like in real life, when people know more details about a person online, they tend to interact with that person more comfortably. I have noticed on my site that people contact me more when they know something about my site or myself compared to when they do not know anything about me or my site. Being anonymous is nice, but just like in real life, you must open up some part of yourself, directly or indirectly, or else risk alienating yourself from the world. Am I good at being transparent? No. I am still learning everyday on how to be more transparent and how to open up some parts of my personal life for the benefit of my site readers, and how to keep certain parts only to myself as I do in real life.

My conclusion : be transparent about relevant things

You do not have to be completely transparent on your site about everything related to you, specially when some things are not related to your site. While a reader may be interested in knowing who a site owner is, they will not be expecting to know everything there is to know about that site owner. Be transparent and be mysterious. Refrain from mentioning unnecessary details. Stick to the point and convey the point so well that the users know everything that is to know about the nature your site and the message conveyed through it.

Regardless of the nature of your site, users will trust you if they notice that you are willing to share something interesting with them. The more open you are about relevant things, the more trust you will get from your users. Transparency online is a good thing. The more transparent you are about yourself and your intentions on the web, the more respect and loyalty you will gain from your fellow blog visitors.

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