Daily Deals

Google Sidewiki entry by Barry

2009-10-07T10:21:00.001-07:00

GetAFreelancer Hits 1 Million Users, Switches Name To Freelancer.com

Posted By: admin

–>by Robin Wauters on October 7, 2009

If the Internet has made one thing crystal clear, it’s that physical borders and geographical distance are no longer necessarily an absolute barrier for conducting business.

More and more companies are getting accustomed to the idea of being able to do business with companies on the other side of the world using nothing but digital communication means, or to have entire business units or projects led by teams made up of people located all over the globe.

Hence the popularity of services such as oDesk and Elance, websites where you can outsource given projects to registered programmers, designers, writers, legal experts and whatnot. Another player in this market is GetAFreelancer, an Australian company that’s been offering freelance jobs online since it was founded back in 2004.

Today, the company is announcing that it has changed its name to the far better-sounding and undoubtedly more memorable Freelancer.com. They bought the domain name from a private individual who used to run a magazine called Computer Freelancer over 15 years ago, for a ’six figure sum’. All in an effort to increase its visibility and profile.

GetAFreelancer CEO Matt Barrie tells us that the site recently hit a big milestone and now boasts over 1,000,000 registered professionals and businesses from 234 countries and territories worldwide. Over 475,000 jobs have been posted on the website to date, for a sum of over $43 million.

Not too shabby for a bootstrapped venture.

in reference to:

"GetAFreelancer Hits 1 Million Users, Switches Name To Freelancer.comPosted By: admin
–>by Robin Wauters on October 7, 2009

If the Internet has made one thing crystal clear, it’s that physical borders and geographical distance are no longer necessarily an absolute barrier for conducting business.
More and more companies are getting accustomed to the idea of being able to do business with companies on the other side of the world using nothing but digital communication means, or to have entire business units or projects led by teams made up of people located all over the globe.
Hence the popularity of services such as oDesk and Elance, websites where you can outsource given projects to registered programmers, designers, writers, legal experts and whatnot. Another player in this market is GetAFreelancer, an Australian company that’s been offering freelance jobs online since it was founded back in 2004.
Today, the company is announcing that it has changed its name to the far better-sounding and undoubtedly more memorable Freelancer.com. They bought the domain name from a private individual who used to run a magazine called Computer Freelancer over 15 years ago, for a ’six figure sum’. All in an effort to increase its visibility and profile.
GetAFreelancer CEO Matt Barrie tells us that the site recently hit a big milestone and now boasts over 1,000,000 registered professionals and businesses from 234 countries and territories worldwide. Over 475,000 jobs have been posted on the website to date, for a sum of over $43 million.
Not too shabby for a bootstrapped venture."
- GetAFreelancer Hits 1 Million Users, Switches Name To Freelancer.com « Bonita Web Design (view on Google Sidewiki)

Prominent Tyler resident, accused drug user

2009-07-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

EAST TEXAS (KLTV) - Master builder, community leader, political organizer, and accused illegal drug user. Last Saturday night, Frisco police cited prominent Tyler resident, Anwar Khalifa for possession of marijuana.

The details in the police report took some by surprise.

"Smith County is a sanctuary, is a bubble and we don't want to burst that bubble," said Anwar Khalifa not even four months ago while asking voters to keep Smith County dry. He is now accused of getting high.

We broke the news to Tony Watson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Winona. He worked with Khalifa on the campaign.

"Anwar Khalifa is a man that loves people, a man that loves his community," said Watson. "Any of us can fall at any time."

Late Saturday night, an off duty Frisco police officer was working security in the Embassy Suites parking lot. In the police report, Frisco PD Officer Jerry Profeta details how he smelled the strong odor of marijuana coming from Khalifa's truck. He spotted Khalifa walking toward the hotel. Khalifa looked over his shoulder, and kept walking. The officer followed Khalifa into the hotel and asked him how much pot he had on him. Khalifa responded, he had no idea what he was talking about.

The report says Khalifa told the officer he'd been smoking a cigar. The officer then asked him to step back outside. On the way back, the officer wrote, "Khalifa admitted he was smoking marijuana...the rest of the joint...still in the car. Khalifa also admitted to smoking pot at least once a week."

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"We're expected to be law abiding citizens in the community," said Tyler Police Chief Gary Swindle.

He says Khalifa was immediately dismissed from his duties as a police chaplain.

"Everybody makes mistakes of judgment, of character," said Swindle. "We all make decisions, one day we regret. It's a public image question and we think the Tyler citizens deserve the best and we intend to provide the best."

He says the department will move on. Pastor Watson has that same hope for his friend.

"Hopefully, this is a one time occurrence and he's able to move past it," said Watson.

Frisco police say no other marijuana was found in Khalifa's truck. He was fined and released. After speaking with his attorney, Khalifa declined to make a comment. He did tell KLTV he was in Frisco for a wedding.

Canseco faces super heavyweight in MMA fight

2009-05-27T14:07:00.000-07:00

YOKOHAMA, Japan — Jose Canseco is pumped up for his debut in mixed martial arts even though he’s not sure what he’s getting into.

The former Oakland A’s slugger is fighting seven-foot-two 330-pound super heavyweight Hong Man Choi of South Korea on the Dream 9 card Tuesday night at Yokohama Arena.

“I’m not gonna lie to you: I’m scared. This guy is huge,” Canseco said Monday at a news conference to promote the fight. “I’m a 44-year-old rookie and have had a lot of challenges in my baseball career and hopefully, I can do well tomorrow.”

Canseco, who hit 462 home runs over 17 seasons in the major leagues, has had several fights inside the ring since leaving baseball but has never taken on professional fighters like Choi, who has a 1-2 record in MMA.

“I have a lot of respect for these guys,” said Canseco, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 240 pounds. “A lot of baseball players are fans of mixed martial arts and so am I.”

He boxed Danny Bonaduce, a former “Partridge Family” child star, to a draw in a celebrity match in January. The 1988 AL MVP, who named alleged steroid abusers like himself in his two books, lost to former Philadelphia Eagle Vai Sikahema in his first foray into celebrity boxing.

Mixed martial arts is hugely popular in Japan and organizers are expecting a sellout crowd for Tuesday’s event. Former NFL lineman Bob Sapp is also on the card.

By his acknowledgment, the baseball outcast needs the money. It’s one reason why Canseco has accepted a wide variety of offbeat jobs to make ends meet.

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This is Not a Bull Market: Stocks Are Not Up, and They’re Headed Even Lower

2009-05-27T13:27:00.000-07:00

How do you measure wealth generation?

1) Average annual gains?

2) Gains relative to an underlying index (the S&P 500)?

3) Gains relative to inflation?

Of these three, the last is the only real means of gauging wealth creation or destruction. Commentators have been going bananas over the fact that stocks are up 20%+ since their bottom of 666. No one mentions that this rally may actually be induced by the Federal Reserve pumping trillions of dollars into the financial system.

Similarly, no one mentions that adjusted for inflation, stocks are still WAY down from their peak during the Tech bubble.

As you can see, stocks entered a bear market in earnest following the Tech Crash. Yes, in number or nominal terms, the Dow has risen. But you have to remember the dollar lost roughly a third of its value from 2001 to today. Measuring stocks or anything in dollars between now and then was like measuring with a ruler that was continually shrinking.

Also, bear in mind that the above chart is using the Government’s phony measure of inflation: the Consumer Price Index [CPI] which DOESN’T include food or energy prices. Using accurate inflationary data, stocks are down even more in real terms.

My main point is this: inflation is an ever-present reality in the post WWII era. Investors need to be protecting themselves from this beast at all costs. You can do this by:

Buying gold
Buying commodities or real assets
Buying companies that can offset inflationary costs by raising the price of their products

I suggest having some money in all three. It’s the only certain way to protect your wealth from inflation. The Feds are cooking up an inflationary storm of epic proportions, pumping TRILLIONS of dollars into the financial system. Stocks may rally like a rocket-ship from here. But in real terms they’re still tanking.

After all, if the Dow hits 30,000, but you’re celebrating by drinking a $150.00 coke… are you really any richer?

Diamonds pile up worldwide as consumers finally realize their worthlessness.

2009-05-15T14:07:00.000-07:00

Diamonds pile up worldwide as consumers finally realize their worthlessness.

By ANDREW E. KRAMER May 11, 2009

——————————-

Each day, the contents of the bags spill into the stainless steel hoppers of the receiving room. The diamonds are washed and sorted by size, clarity, shape and quality; then, rather than being sent to be sold around the world, they are wrapped in paper and whisked away to a vault — about three million carats worth of gems every month.

“Each one of them is so unusual,” said Irina V. Tkachuk, one of the few hundred people, mostly women, employed to sort the diamonds, who sees thousands of them every day.

“I’m not a robot. I sometimes think to myself ‘wow, what a pretty diamond. I would like that one.’ They are all so beautiful.”

It could be years before another woman admires that stone. Russia quietly passed a milestone this year: surpassing De Beers as the world’s largest diamond producer. But the global market for diamonds is so dismal that the Alrosa diamond company, 90 percent owned by the Russian government, has not sold a rough stone on the open market since December, and has stockpiled them instead.

As a result, Russia has become the arbiter of global diamond prices. Its decisions on production and sales will determine the value of diamonds on rings and in jewelry stores for years to come, in one of the most surprising consequences of this recession.

Largely because of the jewelry bear market, De Beers’s fortunes have sunk. Short of cash, the company had to raise $800 million from stockholders in just the last six months.

The recession also coincided with a settlement with European Union antitrust authorities that ended a longtime De Beers policy of stockpiling diamonds, in cooperation with Alrosa, to keep prices up.

Though it is a major commodity producer, Russia has traditionally not embraced policies that artificially keep prices up. In oil, for example, Russia benefits from the oil cartel’s cuts in production, but does not participate in them.

Diamonds are an exception. “If you don’t support the price,” Andrei V. Polyakov, a spokesman for Alrosa, said, “a diamond becomes a mere piece of carbon.”

In an attempt to carefully calibrate its re-entry on the global market, without forcing prices still lower, Russia is relying on two things: the Soviet-era precious gem depository — created to hold jewelry confiscated from the aristocracy after the 1917 revolution — and capitalist investors, whom Alrosa hopes will buy diamonds as an investment, like gold.

Russia is taking a leadership role in other ways, too.

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Sergei Vybornov, Alrosa’s chief executive, said that he had helped persuade the central bank of Angola — which, like Russia, is still relatively flush with oil money — to buy 30 percent of the production of Angola’s diamond mines, keeping these stones off the market.

And last fall, Alrosa began what it called the St. Petersburg Initiative, along with De Beers and other large producers, to invest collectively in generic diamond advertising, akin to De Beers’s promotion of the slogan “Diamonds are forever.” Russia assumed the task as De Beers has principally shifted to promoting its own branded gems.

Still, it is a precarious time for the Russian diamond company to assume leadership of the industry.

Until last year, De Beers produced about 40 percent of the global rough stone supply, and Alrosa 25 percent. But De Beers, which is prohibited under its European Union antitrust agreement from stockpiling, closed mines in response to the glut in rough stones. Russia is loath to do that, as authorities in Moscow, gravely concerned about potential unrest by disgruntled unemployed workers, try to keep workers on the payroll.

In the first quarter, De Beers reduced output by 91 percent compared with the previous year. The diversified mining companies Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton also curbed production.

Meanwhile, the market for wholesale polished diamonds, worth about $21.5 billion, is expected to fall to about $12 billion in 2009, according to Polished Prices, an analytical service for the industry.

Rough diamond prices have fallen even more, as much as 75 percent since their peak last July at some auctions.

The two markets are distinct. Typically, about 60 percent of a rough diamond is lost as dust or shavings in the cutting process.

Mr. Vybornov blames diamond traders who pledged diamond stocks as loan collateral for part of the world glut. When credit dried up last fall, banks and other creditors seized those gems and sold them, he says, flooding the market. By December, his company decided to withdraw entirely from the market rather than further erode prices.

Russia historically remained mostly a behind-the-scenes player, perhaps because Soviet authorities would have had to perform some ideological gymnastics to promote a product consumed principally by the rich of the capitalist world.

Instead, twisting politics, the Soviets concluded a semisecret agreement with apartheid-era De Beers to sell Siberian diamonds in a way that would not undercut the market.

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After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian diamond industry created a formal alliance with De Beers, selling the South African company half of each year’s production at a discount intended to subsidize De Beers’s generic diamond advertising undertaken in the 1990s, mostly in the United States.

Now, the Russians are in the driver’s seat.

Charles Wyndham, a former De Beers evaluator and co-founder of Polished Prices, said Russia had thus far managed the transition well: withholding gems to make more money in the long run rather than further depressing the market.

“Whatever one wants to say about the Russians, they certainly aren’t stupid,” Mr. Wyndham said.

Alrosa is seeking to jump-start demand by selling gems under long-term contracts to wholesale buyers in Belgium, Israel, India and elsewhere. Under these contracts, six of which have been signed, prices are set at a midpoint between the peak last August and this winter, and fixed for a period of several years.

“A diamond ring should not cost $100,” Mr. Vybornov said. “We don’t want that type of client.”

Alrosa is also working with a Moscow investment bank, Leader, a subsidiary of the Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom, to market diamonds to investors. Under the plan, investors would buy diamonds but the gems would not be released to jewelers for several years.

It is a program, essentially, of outsourcing the stockpiling function to investors in exchange for the chance to profit from a possible recovery in the market.

At one of Alrosa’s cutting shops in one of Moscow’s outer districts, Aleksandr A. Malinin, an adviser to the president of Alrosa, showed a typical collection that might become the basis for such an investment vehicle.

The gems fit in a felt box about the size of a laptop computer.

The larger stones, a circular-cut 10 carat flawless white and a princess-cut yellow, were estimated at about $400,000. The smaller ones ranged from $16,000 to $100,000. But the value of the box, while surely several million dollars, is something of a mystery just now given the depressed market.

How the buy-in price for the stones will be set, and how the company will determine when the price goes up and down, is unclear, Mr. Malinin said.

“We have to tell people that diamonds are valuable,” he said. “We are trying to maintain the price, just as De Beers did, as all diamond producing countries do. But what we are doing is selling an illusion,” meaning a product with no utility and a price that depends on the continued sense of scarcity where there is none.

At the Alrosa unit that receives diamonds, called the United Selling Organization, where about 90 percent of the output of the Siberian mines arrives for processing, Elena V. Kapustkina pours about 45,000 carats of diamonds though a stainless steel sieve every day to sort them by size.

“It’s just a job,” she said.

When asked whether diamonds had lost their romance for her, Ms. Kapustkina paused, looked down at the pile of gems on her table and blushed.

In fact, she said, her husband, a truck driver, gave her a half-carat ring 22 years ago. “Of course I love it,” she said. “It’s from my husband.”

Puma Men's Replicat II US Sneaker - $41

2008-07-23T18:52:00.000-07:00

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=288303&PartnerID=LINKSHARE&LinkshareID=59JLB7sBj1c-X3o.8QEyZ7TIfg73Vc.SDA

Some deals from today...

2006-09-19T14:11:00.000-07:00

Western Digital 500GB 7200RPM Hard Drive - $180 with Free Shipping

Buy.com sells this Western Digital 500GB 7200RPM Hard Drive for $266.99. Order it at ZipZoomFly this week for $180 with no rebates to hassle with and free shipping.
Expires: Unknown

Thats all for now, I need to get back to work.
I bought the domain Dell Laptop Deals

And check out my main deals site

ok, new deal and coupon site...

2006-09-18T22:30:00.000-07:00

I moved http://dealhackers.com to http://deals.tc

I also bought http://delllaptopdeal.com to see if I get any type in traffic.

The new layout for deals.tc should be up soon...

Give up your myspace password, or get ears and leg stapled, pick one.

2006-08-27T13:16:00.000-07:00

MARTINSBURG — A Martinsburg man charged with felony child abuse Wednesday allegedly stapled his 16-year-old daughter’s ear and leg because she refused to give him her MySpace.com account password, according to court documents obtained by The Journal Thursday.

The name of the36-year-old man will not be published to protect the identity of the victim.

He was arrested Wednesday at his residence on Faulkner Avenue at about 3:15 p.m. by Patrolman Eric Neely of the Martinsburg City Police Department, police said.

The incident happened Aug. 1 at the man’s home. According to court records, the teen ran away from home after the incident. A day later her stepmother went to the police department and reported her missing to Neely. She told Neely there had been a family problem the previous night. The girl ran away during the night after they went to bed, records show.

Neely later spoke to an ex-boyfriend of the teen who told him about possible problems inside the home and that the girl might have gone to her grandmother’s home in Martinsburg.

Neely went to the apartment and spoke with the grandparents. They said they did pick up the teen the previous night at about 11:30 p.m. because she called and told them that she had been physically abused by her father and her stepmother, records show.

The victim’s grandmother said she was told the girl’s father got upset because she would not tell him her computer password. The victim also told her grandmother that her father threatened her and physically harmed her.

The girl was taken to the hospital, and a crisis worker and the Department of Health and Human Resources were contacted by emergency room personnel. A DHHR worker told Neely that the grandparents were given temporary custody of the juvenile until morning.

Two days after the alleged incident, Neely returned to the grandparents’ home and spoke with the victim. She explained that at about 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 1 her allegedly intoxicated father told her she needed to get into the computer room. She said her stepmother yelled at her about the password for her “MySpace” account, records show.

MySpace is a social networking Web site that allows users to post personal profiles, blogs, photos, MP3s, videos and other items. It’s the most popular Web site in the U.S, according to a story recently published by Reuters.

Profiles of those younger than 18 can only be accessed by those on the person’s “friend’s list” and users have the option of restricting access to their profiles.

Facing criticism and allegations that teens were managing to circumvent MySpace security restrictions and thus becoming potential targets for online sexual predators, the company recently added additional restrictions preventing users older than 18 from being able to add users younger than 18 as friends unless they knew the person’s full name or e-mail address.

The victim told Neely that she refused to divulge the password so she was made to stand in front of the computer for more than an hour. During that time she said her father was on the phone with his sister and stated that she would “endure more pain than she could take,” records show.

At about 9:20 p.m., the victim said her father got out of his chair and grabbed her by the throat and dragged her to the computer chair. He then made her sit down and told her that he would hurt her if that is what it took. He then grabbed her thumb, she said, and bent it back in an attempt to break it, records show.

He later let go because she did not answer him. He then left the room, telling her that it was only stage one and returned with a beer. He grabbed a stapler and slammed it on her leg, but the staple didn’t puncture her completely because of the pants she was wearing, records show.

He then grabbed her right ear near the top and stapled it, causing one of the prongs to pierce the skin. She then told him the password and the father and stepmother let her go to bed. Once they were asleep, she said she escaped through her balcony and contacted her grandparents, records show.

Neely examined the girl’s wounds and did see a small puncture wound on her right thigh and right ear. During the interview with Neely, the victim was visibly upset and appeared scared about her father coming to get her, records show.

The father was arraigned Wednesday by Magistrate Sandra Miller and later released after posting $25,000 bail. If convicted of child abuse he faces one to five years in prison.

OP:
http://journal-news.net/news/articles.asp?articleID=3272

A new site

2006-08-21T10:13:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a new site. The site is http://www.dealhackers.com/
It's going to be daily feeds of good deals. There will be RSS feeds and also user submissions.

Saturday 8.19.06

2006-08-19T13:38:00.000-07:00

SanDisk 4GB Cruzer Micro USB 2.0 Flash Drive - $94.95

5 free Sonic Gel Pens from staples!

Free copy of F.E.A.R. Combat Game + Serial Number

Canon Powershot SD500 7.1MP - $249

Thursday 8/17

2006-08-17T20:37:00.000-07:00

23" LCD Monitor/TV - $349

Dell UltraSharp 2007WFP 20-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor - $367.20 with Free Shipping

Monday Aug. 14th

2006-08-14T09:57:00.000-07:00

Viewsonic 20-inch LCD Monitor with Speakers - $219.99 After Rebate

Logitech Quickcam Chat Webcam - Free After Rebate

Samsung 20 Inch LCD Monitor - $269.99 After Rebate

Samsung 2GB USB 2.0 High Speed Flash Drive - $27.95 After Rebate with Free Shipping

Sunday 8.13.06

2006-08-13T08:17:00.000-07:00

Crucial 1GB Kit DDR2 Memory - $90.99 with Free Shipping

.40cttw Diamond Studs - Now $129.99

Dell 5150 2.66GHz Dual Core, 1GB, 80GB, 17-inch LCD Monitor - $569 with Free Shipping

Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi FPS Sound Card - $189.99 with Free Shipping

Deals for FRIDAY the 11th

2006-08-11T05:54:00.000-07:00

250 Fantom 250GB External Hard Drive / No Rebates!

Niko 26-inch HD Ready LCD TV / $469.99 with Free Shipping

19-inch LCD Monitor with Speakers & DVI / $109.95 After Rebate

Free 250 Full Color Business Cards

Norton Internet Security / Save & Restore Bundle / Free after rebate

Lexar 512MB FireFly USB Flash Drive / $6.95 After Rebate

Logitech MX 1000 Cordless Laser Mouse / $39.27 After Rebate

OK, that's all for today, will find some more deals for tomorrow!