i woke up this morning to the following email from american express:

click image for larger version.

american express has issued a partial refund of $106.25 to me for my iphone purchase. i called the purchase protection plan service department number to ask them about how this amount was reached and this is what i was told:

we are examining these requests out of policy and on a case-by-case basis. in your case an amount of $100 was approved and since we are also crediting the sales tax, the additional $6.25 is the tax refund on that $100 amount based on the sales tax for illinois.

when i asked to speak to an examiner about why i was refunded only $100 on a $200+ claim, i was told the following:

i’m sorry the examiner is not available right now but i have talked to my supervisor and he said that we have issued a $100 credit because an additional $100 can be claimed from apple.

apply for refund from apple.

Technorati Tags: american express, apple, iphone, refund, credit

ben (from blogging experiment) and i just had a conversation.

while i’ve participated in social media quite a bit, and even had some success, i figured i’d better serve you, my readers by going directly to the source. i contacted muhammad saleem who is currently ranked #6 among digg members, and has written about the subject of social media on high profile sites such as pronet advertising, 901am, and copyblogger. basically, i found one of the top social media experts to answer the questions you had (as well as a few of my own).

please check out the interview and don’t forget to subscribe to blogging experiment to learn how to build a blog from ground up.

Technorati Tags: blogging, experiment, interview, muhammad saleem

i am becoming more and more cautious about my privacy by the day. most of my online profiles are now visible to friends only (where possible) and i have even gone the extra step and de-registered from some sites that i signed up for just so i could review them. but it’s not me that i’m worried about, it’s the kids!

original photo: shapeshift

a new study from pace university contradicts the data from an emedia survey and a pew internet & american life project study by reaching the exact opposite conclusion. the study states that myspace and facebook users are willing to allow the sites to sell their personal data or have it otherwise compromised in exchange for social networking functionality.

catherine dwyer, a professor at pace who worked on the study, noted that most facebook and myspace users said that they’re willing to develop online relationships even though they believe that trust and privacy safeguards are weak.

users seem to view the social networking sites as a way to get online profiles, photos and the like for free while the sites “can take all their data and do whatever they want with it,” she noted.

at this point the data so strongly contradicts the previously mentioned studies that i have to question the methods used in each. according to the pace study survey, even though less than 5% of myspace users and a little more than 5% of facebook users believe that their personal information on the sites is protected, over 85% of users from both sites are willing to share their photos, and 91% of facebook users and 62% of myspace users said that they would use their actual name on the sites (the emedia study, on the other hand, pointed out that over one third of social networkers used falsified information online).

if this data is accurate, then our preconceptions about myspace users’ disregard for online safety (versus facebook users’ attitude) are reversed. on the contrary, we see that though both sites’ users are quite careless, myspace users are less so.

Technorati Tags: facebook, myspace, social networking, privacy, emedia, pew, pace

i have to admit, i didn’t know such a thing existed but it seems that i have been approved as an up and coming stumble god!

muhammad saleem is an up and coming stumble god. he just crested over 5,000 thumbs, which is enough to get him into the official mega stumblers group, and shows no signs of stopping. besides being a stumble god, muhammad is also known as a very powerful digger and netscape scout (now propeller).

it’s really an honor to join the ranks of a certified stumble god, anitabeth (though i’m a very tiny, mini god compared to her).

i’ve been using the new digg (social networking features included, see inside for details) for a few hours now and like most of the features on the site. the one concern i have, one that a friend (mark/aidenag) pointed out, is the mandatory use of zip codes for all users wanting to add a location from the united states or canada. you can’t just choose country, or country and state/city, you have to tell them exactly which neighborhood you’re living in.

why would they do this?

the first thing that comes to mind is that they might use it for local-social-networking but then why is it mandatory and why just for users in the u.s. and canada? i should be able to decide how much information i want to put in and how local i want to go when networking online. what makes more sense is that they would use this for zip-code-based targeted advertising (this is speculation of course).

but i can fake the information!

of course you could fake the information and in fact i would’ve recommended it but here’s an interesting gem from the ‘new and improved’ digg terms of use:

you shall provide digg with accurate, complete, and updated registration information. failure to do so shall constitute a breach of the terms of use, which may result in immediate termination of your digg account.

and while both the terms of use and the privacy policy repeatedly mention that you can choose not to display certain pieces of information, have a look at the following from the digg privacy policy:

1. digg personnel: digg personnel and authorized consultants and/or contractors may have access to user information if necessary in the normal course of digg business.

2. business transfers: in some cases, we may choose to buy or sell assets. in these types of transactions, user information is typically one of the business assets that is transferred. moreover, if digg, or substantially all of its assets, were acquired, user information would be one of the assets that is transferred.

at this point i can’t specifically confirm that they are using zip codes for targeted-advertisements but that seems to be the more logical conclusion since it’s mandatory if you want to display any geo-information at all.

Technorati Tags: digg, zip code, advertising, privacy