Buying Things with Credit Cards

Is it better to pay by check or by credit card, as a rule?
In general, it’s better to use a credit card. When you pay by credit card, the U.S. Fair Credit Billing Act gives you a lot of protections (see section 5, “Billing errors and overcharges”). These safeguards don’t apply if you pay by check or by debit card.

However, be aware that credit card debt is about the most expensive legal kind there is. With banks paying as low as 3% on savings (as of January 1992) but charging 19% or more on credit card balances, it makes sense never to carry a balance past your grace period.

Household budgeting is beyond the scope of this FAQ list. But always bear in mind that if you’re paying by check because your credit cards are maxed out, you may well be overextended and may want to think about deferring major purchases. Even if your cards aren’t maxed out, if you’re carrying a balance from month to month you are paying dearly for the privilege. (return to Index)

When I make a purchase, can they ask for my address or phone number?
This is a complicated question. There are two possible sources of an answer: Federal and state law, and the policies of the card-issuing organization.

Internet Auctions: A Guide for Buyers and Sellers

Internet auction sites give buyers a “virtual” flea market with new and used merchandise from around the world; they give sellers a global storefront from which to market their goods. But the online auction business can be risky business. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) wants to help buyers and sellers stay safe on Internet auction websites. Among the thousands of consumer fraud complaints the FTC receives every year, those dealing with online auction fraud consistently rank near the top of the list. The complaints generally deal with late shipments, no shipments, or shipments of products that aren’t the same quality as advertised; bogus online payment or escrow services; and fraudulent dealers who lure bidders from legitimate auction sites with seemingly better deals. Most complaints involve sellers, but in some cases, the buyers are the subject.

Whether you’re a buyer or a seller, understanding how Internet auctions work can help you avoid most problems.

How Internet Auctions Work — Rules of the Marketplace
Role of the Auction Site. Most Internet auction sites specialize in person-to-person activity where individual sellers or small businesses sell their items directly to consumers. In these auctions, the seller — not the site — has the merchandise, and often, the site will not take responsibility for any problems that may arise between buyers and sellers. Before using an Internet auction site for the first time, buyers and sellers should read the Terms of Use, and review any information the site offers.

Lost - The Complete Second Season (2004) DVD

What was in the Hatch? The cliffhanger from season one of Lost was answered in its opening sequences, only to launch into more questions as the season progressed. That’s right: Just when you say “Ohhhhh,” there comes another “What?” Thankfully, the show’s producers sprinkle answers like tasty morsels throughout the season, ending with a whopper: What caused Oceanic Air Flight 815 to crash in the first place? As the show digs into more revelations about its inhabitant’s pasts, it also devotes a good chunk to new characters (Hey, it’s an island; you never know who you’re going to run into.) First, there are the “Tailies,” passengers from the back end of the plane who crashed on the other side of the island. Among them are the wise, God-fearing ex-drug lord Mr. Eko (standout Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje); devoted husband Bernard (Sam Anderson); psychiatrist Libby (Cynthia Watros, whose character has more than one hidden link to the other islanders); and ex-cop Ana Lucia (Michelle Rodriguez), by far the most infuriating character on the show, despite how much the writers tried to incur sympathy with her flashback. Then there are the Others, first introduced when they kidnapped Walt (Malcolm David Kelley) at the end of season one. Brutal and calculating, their agenda only became more complex when one of them (played creepily by Michael Emerson) was held hostage in the hatch and, quite handily, plays mind games on everyone’s already frayed nerves. The original cast continues to battle their own skeletons, most notably Locke (Terry O’Quinn), Sun (Yunjin Kim) and Michael (Harold Perrineau), whose obsession with finding Walt takes a dangerous turn. The love triangle between Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway), which had stalled with Sawyer’s departure, heats up again in the second half. Despite the bloating cast size (knocked down by a few by season’s end) Lost still does what it does best: explores the psyche of people, about whom “my life is an open book” never applies, and cracks into the social dynamics of strangers thrust into Lord of the Flies-esque situations. Is it all a science experiment? A dream? A supernatural pocket in the universe? Likely, any theory will wind up on shaky ground by the season’s conclusion. But hey, that’s the fun of it. This show was made for DVD, and you can pause and slow-frame to your heart’s content. Just try and keep that head-spinning to a minimum.

Laptop Buying Guide

Possibly, the greatest mistake that unhappy notebook owners made was to buy their mobile computer without determining its use. In other words, they knew that they wanted a laptop but never got around to asking themselves what they wanted their portable computer to do. I certainly hope that this article will help you avoid unnecessary frustrations

This time, ask yourself…
What will I be using notebook computer for?
(Btw: you’ll notice that I emphasize on asking yourself questions. I have found that being curious before I spend my precious money usually saves me from making decisions that might be fatal to my bank account. Besides when someone asks himself or herself “why?”, it forces them to come up with logical reasoning instead of acting on emotional impulses)

Why do I say “for the next three years?”

Because this is the usual maximum lengthy of a laptop warranty. Believe me, owning a computer that is not covered by some sort of warranty is almost the same as living without medical aid. You simply have to be extra careful or lucky and able to afford to have your laptop repaired when something goes nasty. For instance, did you know that the cost to buy a new laptop screen is so high that it’s much better to consider purchasing a new unit?

Where were we?

Nokia 6233 Review

The stylish, pocket-friendly Nokia 6233 3G phone arrives with a broad set of features and a modest price tag; join Jørgen Sundgot as he ventures to find out what it’s made of.

Sporting a stylish, classic exterior and snappy overall performance, Nokia’s 6233 is a compact and peppy contender which squares off agains handsets such as Sony Ericsson’s W900i spinner and LG’s U890 clamshell.

Browsing - Good

3G and a nice high-resolution screen set the 6233 up for a pleasant surfing experience, but while the built-in offering handles mobile web sites with ease, it unfortunately fails miserably at any attempt of reformatting full-size pages.

Laptop sidekick - Good

One would think EDGE, 3G and excellent signal reception would spell promise for the 6233, but the lack of a bundled USB cable leaves Bluetooth the only alternative for laptop connectivity; effectively halving data transfer speeds.