Fake reviews are drawing the attention of regulators. They have cracked down on a few firms for deceitful hyping and suspect these are far from isolated instances. “Advertising disguised as editorial is an old problem, but it’s now presenting itself in different ways,” said Mary K. Engle, the Federal Trade Commission’s associate director for advertising practices. “We’re very concerned.

For $2 a Star, a Retailer Gets 5-Star Reviews

ArtToFrames, an Amazon retailer, does this as well.

I purchased some frames from them, and when I received them, I noticed some frames had glass fronts while others had plexiglass fronts. The product descriptions didn’t mention this. The frames also came with some weird hardware I hadn’t seen before, and there were no instructions on how to mount the frames.

Frustrated, I took photos of the hardware, compared them using Google Images, and then found instructional videos on how to use the hardware on YouTube. (Yay technology!). Regardless of this, I left the retailer a three star review.

Cut to yesterday when the framing company contacted me with the following offer:

“We apologize for the inconvenience it may have caused. We would be more than happy to issue you a refund on your order to make up for it, and hope you can revise your feedback accordingly.”

This was my response.

A refund isn’t necessary; I’m perfectly satisfied with the frames as they are. However, I will not amend my feedback since it is true based on that particular purchase. Asking me to change it is akin to asking me to forget the incident ever happened. I have a small business myself, so I completely understand that feedback is important to your company as it represents your reputation. Feedback, whether positive or negative, should be used to improve your company’s operations. Since my subsequent orders from ArtToFrames included instructions for using the hardware to mount the frames, I can assume my feedback did just that.”

I just visited ArtToFrames’ Amazon page, and someone has left a one-star review. I’m sure they’ll be getting an offer for a full refund to change that review soon.

Shit Programmers Say (by pneustrom)

EXCLUSIVE: Ferris Bueller’s Mysterious Super Bowl Ad Is For Honda
If this is true, Honda just pissed off a lot of people. Including me. (Hmph!)

EXCLUSIVE: Ferris Bueller’s Mysterious Super Bowl Ad Is For Honda

If this is true, Honda just pissed off a lot of people. Including me. (Hmph!)

The .net strip #16: Job ad
Mr Dotcom went out of his way to attract attention—and not just by changing his surname from Schmitz. He surrounded himself with glamorous women and fast cars bearing number plates such as “GUILTY”. He likened himself to Dr Evil, a movie villain, though he looks more like Dr Evil’s henchman, Fat Bastard.

So this asshole (also known as Mayor Joseph Maturo of East Haven, CT) has been getting hundreds of tacos delivered to his office after these extremely insensitive remarks of his (see the video).

Part 351848657849615 of US Politicians Acting Badly.

People, please stop voting for these turkeys. Stop electing idiots and bigots to public office. And if they’re in office like this guy, you have the power to vote them out.

DO IT.

!!!!!!!!

(Source: youtube.com)

I remember saying this once at a company where I worked and I damn near got fired.
It’s true, though.

I remember saying this once at a company where I worked and I damn near got fired.

It’s true, though.

(Source: osolage)

laughingsquid:

FBI releases plans to monitor social networks
At issue in these hearings are challenges that allege that President Obama is not eligible to hold or run for re-election to his office, on the now wholly discredited theory that he does not meet the citizenship requirements. As you know, such allegations have been the subject of numerous judicial proceedings around the country, all of which have concluded that they were baseless and, in some instances – including in the State of Georgia – that those bringing the challenges have engaged in sanctionable abuse of our legal process.

Brian Kemp to Barack Obama’s attorney: Skip ballot hearing ‘at your own peril’

Kemp’s reply to Obama’s attorney includes a cc: to that nutjob Dr. Orly Taitz, Esq. I had a feeling she was involved with this.