Commentary
Credit Karma – My Review
by Lonnie on Nov.03, 2010, under Commentary, Reviews
Let me start by stating for the record that I have no affiliation with Credit Karma ( www.creditkarma.com ) at all .. I found them using a google search while looking for an alternative to freecreditreport.com since I got stuck with them before and had a hard time cancelling. I was looking for something that was TRULY free..
I found Credit Karma when someone suggested it as an alternative via a yahoo question someone asked, so I decided to do my own research and read a few positive reviews before deciding to try it out for myself.. so without further delay..
Truly Free
During the signup process they don’t ask for any banking information or for a credit card, they do require you to give over your social security number, which is expected since that information is required in order to do a credit inquiry. They also asked a couple of questions to verify that I am who I claimed I was, some multiple choice questions based on information the gleaned from my credit history.
Intuitive Interface
It’s very simple to navigate the site, everything is pretty well self explanatory and the information is easy to find! While the site is indeed ad supported, the ads are not intrusive and there are no popups.
Useful Tools
The site provides a few useful tools such as the ability to compare credit cards, Auto Insurance, Banks.. etc .. But one of the most useful tools I found was the Credit Simulator that lets you see the results of certain actions on your credit score. I was able to see for example, what adding a new credit card would do to my credit … This was very useful to me in deciding what actions I would take to improve my score.
Unlimited Credit Queries
That’s right, you can go back every day and check your credit score if you like and it won’t hurt you because they are doing a soft check as opposed to a hard check. Basically they are just getting the basic information which is free. When you go in for a loan or apply for a new credit card, the issuer will typically do a hard check and too many of those will damage your credit score. Worth mentioning here is that one of the bits of information that Credit Karma provides, is the ability to show you how many hard checks have been made against you.
The Bad
There’s not much negative I can say about Credit Karma except that you don’t get specifics about what is knocking your score down, it showed that I have an auto loan but it doesn’t tell you who the loan is with.. so if there were some bad stuff on there I wouldn’t know where to go to correct it. With that said, Credit Karma is still immensely useful as an indicator that something is wrong.. When you sign up, you have the option to have a monthly e-mail go to you that will tell you your score.. If you notice a signifigant drop, you can take further action by going to www.myfico.com directly and pulling your credit information up for a fee. www.myfico.com is as good as it gets for getting your credit score in detail because these are the people who created the algorythm that your score is based on.
Con or not?
I can’t say for sure, I can only say that nothing has happened to me.. they don’t ask for payment and I’ve not receieved any junk mail! the community seems helpful and the information / tools are useful .. I would recommend it to any of my friends!
Bottom Line: I strongly recommend Credit Karma ( www.creditkarma.com ) .. as with anything like this, always do your own research before handing over your personal information. I’m not responsible for you, only you are =)
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i675 Crash Update – Brennan Eden Out of ICU, Doesn’t Remember Accident.
by Lonnie on Sep.01, 2010, under Commentary, News and Events
Update: Police found no evidence of drugs or alcohol in Brennan’s Body ( blood results from the morning he was taken to the ICU )
Update: Brennan commented ( see below ) and the post has been updated to it’s final state.
Sunday night I was informed by someone who’s a friend of the Eden family that Brennan was released from the intensive care unit at Miami Valley Hospital. This doesn’t mean that he will be released from care any time soon as I imagine his injuries are significant. What I do know at this point is that he has no brain damage which is a very excellent sign despite the fact that he doesn’t remember anything about the accident at this time.
Memory loss after such an extreme accident isn’t uncommon, Brennan may recover some memory from the accident, but the chances of him actually remembering enough detail to shed light on what happened seconds before going off the road are slim to none in my honest opinion.
There have been numerous theories thrown around about the cause of this near tragedy, such as:
- Brennan was attempting to commit suicide – False
- Brennan’s accelerator was stuck – False
- Brennan fell asleep - I accept this as what happened
- Brennan was drunk, high or both – Officially disproven ( see update above )
- Brennan thought he could out run the police – False
- Brennan was being chased by police – Officially disproven ( I was there )
At the end of the day, none of this can be proven as true without getting into Brennan’s head and without his memory of the events, I don’t think any of these theories will be proven or dis-proven any time soon.
So what do we know? all we know are the facts and the facts don’t really support a lot of the theories that have been tossed around..
Am I angry with Brennan? not at all .. not in the very least. I wish him a quick recovery, I wish the best for his friends and Family .. and I hope that one day we can all truly understand what happened.. but most importantly, I hope Brennan realizes just how lucky he really is.. he not only survived the horrific crash, he survived being ejected hundreds of feet.. AND .. came within 10 feet from me running him over.. so he should also thank the manufacturer of my breaking system :)
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Reduce your PPC adwords costs!
by Lonnie on Aug.16, 2010, under Commentary, Nerd Stuff
The most common mistake in affiliate marketing today is not using Google AdWords pay per click to drive traffic to their sites directly affiliated with this method is not only costly but also traffic to AdWords pay per click no convert well.
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The difference between PPC and SEO
by Lonnie on Aug.16, 2010, under Commentary
PPC and SEO methods are quite different. While previous work on a bidding system, or pay for keywords related to your product or service in order to reach the top rankings in search engines. Search engine optimization, however, is based on the keyword search without pay, and the popularity of building links within and outside its website. By optimizing a site through the integration of detailed research on the most important phrases, one is able to lead their ranks the pages of the site.
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New Flock marks desire for strong hands
by Lonnie on Jun.21, 2010, under Commentary, Linux, Nerd Stuff
Once any computing niche becomes established, established players seek consolidation.
Squeezing out rivals, creating firm leadership, is how you move from buzz to sales to profit.
Social networking has now reached that stage, and nothing marks it more than Flock 3.0.
Most observers are focused on the switch from Firefox to Chrome as the base browser, including the setting of Google as the default search engine. It’s a complete rewrite, and the business plan rewrite is the most important bit.
Flock is no longer content to be cool — it wants to make money.
There is a sense of urgency to that, and consolidation of the social space will hasten it. The new software is focused entirely on two social networks — Facebook and Twitter. LinkedIn, MySpace, even Google’s Buzz are over the side.
These are good choices, but are they the market’s final answer? This is where I suspect Flock may have made mistakes.
Because not all markets consolidate as one or two mass market leaders and laggards who eventually fail. What can happen is the creation of solid niches, fortresses that are impregnable for parts of the market.
We saw it in PCs with Apple. We’ve seen it in cellphones with Blackberry, still the market leader. Apple established itself with artists, the Blackberry with e-mailers, and if that’s your thing these are the only choices you look at.
The same may be true in social networking. Twitter is for communication. Facebook is for kids. Linkedin is for professionals. And so on. By limiting its reach to just the two leaders, Flock may be missing much of the market.
This is far from fatal. Other networks and “special editions” are always possible, following suitable negotiations. And it’s clear now that if there is profit in it Flock will be happy to negotiate.
Social networking is here to stay. It’s time to make money from your friends.
