Showing posts with label cookies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cookies. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

A Sweet Idea?

When two internet nerds are in love and in danger of losing their house, what do they do?

Get a job? Borrow from friends and family? Try to renegotiate with their lender?

How about hold a virtual bake sale!
http://doubledoublethoughts.blogspot.com - Would you like a cupcake?
On bryanandsandybakesale.com you can buy cakes, cookies, cupcakes and pies, and Bryan and Sandy will email you a picture of the sweet treat you've purchased. No, you don't actually get anything edible, silly. It's completely virtual!

If you see it as a healthy fat-free, calorie-free alternative to eating crap, while also supporting two anonymous humans who say they are in need, then it's a bargain.

But if you see it as a total sham, well then, what fun are you?

oh, and if you'd like to buy a virtual cupcake here...by all means... just deposit $1 (or more,up to you) in the tip jar :o)

Thoughts?

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Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Google starts tracking browsers to target ads

http://doubledoublethoughts.blogspot.com - Google has started tracking using its popular browser in order to send them more relevant ads Google is getting to know you a little better in order to send you ads you'll more likely like.

The Mountain-View, Calif.-based internet company is starting to gather information about the websites people visit using an individual web browser in order to target ads to their interests, Google has announced on its blog.

"By making ads more relevant, and improving the connection between advertisers and our users, we can create more value for everyone," the company said. "Users get more useful ads, and these more relevant ads generate higher returns for advertisers and publishers."

"Interest-based" advertising was launched Wednesday as a beta test on third-party sites that carry Google ads, as well as the YouTube video site that Google owns.
Demand from partners

The blog entry called advertising "the lifeblood of the digital economy" and said Google's advertising and publishing partners have been asking it for a long time to offer interest-based advertising, which is already used by some other companies.

Google's system will be able to infer users' interests based on the sites they visit, which will be associated with their browsers using a tracking file called a "cookie."

For example, each time a user visits an adventure travel site that carries Google advertising, a cookie will be placed in the browser. If the user visits many such sites, he or she will be flagged as someone with a strong interest in adventure travel and more ads for activities like hiking trips to Patagonia or African safaris will show up in the browser even when:

- The user is on a Google partner site that doesn't involve adventure travel.
- When someone else is using the browser.

"This kind of tailored advertising does raise questions about user choice and privacy — questions the whole online ad industry has a responsibility to answer," Google acknowledged, adding that other companies that provide interest-based advertising deal with this in different ways.
Won't add 'sensitive' interest categories

However, the company promised that:

- It will not collect the user's name or any other personal information.
- It will not use sensitive interest categories such as those based on race, religion, sexual orientation, health or "sensitive financial categories."
-Users will be able to view, delete and add interest categories associated with their browser.
- Users can opt not to accept advertising cookies from Google partners.

In addition, users will be able to clear the cookies used by Google's targeted advertising the way they usually clear cookies from their browser.

Until now, Google's ads have been targeted based only on the site that the user is currently viewing. For example, the user would receive adventure travel ads only while on an adventure travel site or reading an email about adventure travel.

However, other companies have been offering personalized advertising for some time. For example, social networking sites MySpace and Facebook have targeted ads to individual users based on their profiles since 2007.


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Thursday, January 22, 2009

Starbucks pulls peanut butter products from menu

http://doubledoublethoughts.blogspot.com - Starbucks logo ATTENTION COFFEE LOVERS: Starbucks has pulled six peanut butter products from its Canadian shelves in the wake of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration warning about the consumption of peanut butter products.

The FDA is currently investigating a salmonella outbreak that has been traced to a Georgia plant owned by the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) that manufactures peanut butter and peanut paste.

According to the FDA, the peanut company does not sell its products directly to consumers, but only to food manufacturers and institutions. The company has recalled all of its affected products.

The FDA is advising the public to check its website to determine if selected peanut butter products are subject to recall. If consumers cannot determine if their products contain Peanut Corporation of America peanut butter or peanut paste, they are advised not to consume those products.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is advising Canadians to check the list of peanut butter products recalled in the United States -- especially if they are travelling there. The CFIA has also made a list of products, sold in Canada, that are affected by the American recall.

In a statement sent to CTV.ca, Starbucks says "it is important to note that Starbucks products are not affected by this recall as the Peanut Corporation of America is not a Starbucks supplier."

But "due to the serious nature" of the FDA warning, Starbucks has "decided to voluntarily pull all products containing peanut butter from company-operated and licensed stores in the U.S. and Canada and stop using peanut butter in those products until further notice."

As a result of the coffee company's decision, the following items will not be available in Canadian Starbucks outlets for the immediate future:

- Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Bar

- Granola Bar

- Peanut Butter Cookie

- Peanut Butter Oatcake

- Protein Plate

- Peanut Butter Portion Pack (w/Bagels)