$5,000 Game Room Contest Begins

If you need a game room renovation or a brand new $5,000 game room, Sears has started a contest that you would be interested in entering according to a press release today. The company has begun the Hit Us With Your Best Shot billiard video contest. Jeannette Lee, the Black Widow, has joined the sporting goods department at Sears to bring one lucky video entry the grand prize along with 5 $100 Sears gift card second place winners. Sounds like a nice deal for the right billiard player.

Contestants need to enter a short video of their best billiard shot to HitUsWithYourBestShot.com before January 17th to be entered. Accuracy, originality and technique will be the criteria for judging the videos. The public will also vote on the videos similar to American Idol. Voters have a chance at a $25 Sears gift card. Get your Flip video camcorder out today and submit your video for this nice contest.

© 2009 ISMagazine.com – Not a Paid Post

Top 50 Websites in November 2009

Compete.com has completed their analysis of web traffic for the previous month and found some interesting trends. According to their press release (see chart) bargain hunting websites saw a good increase in traffic along with sites selling technology gadgets for Christmas. In fact holiday shopping was very active as sites providing online options for shoppers came in third with the best search traffic growth.

Search traffic increased for bargain shopping websites such as Pricegrabber.com and RetailMeNot.com saw increases of 36% each. Technology shopping websites like BestBuy.com, Gamestop.com and NewEgg.com also saw big gains. Best Buy traffic jumped almost 75% while the others also saw big jumps. Amazon.com, WalMart.com and eBay.com all saw good gains as consumers began shopping for Christmas late in the month of November.

Deloitte Warns Consumers During Holiday Season

Deloitte wants every online shopper to be vigilant this holiday shopping season and has provided a number of tips in a recent press release. Cyber Criminals are very active during the holiday shopping season so consumers need to be careful when searching for gifts to purchase online.

The advice begins with being careful who you give your credit card information to when online. Monitor your credit card and bank statements to notice fraud early in the process. Keep your login information current and change regularly. And keep your security patches up to date for Windows and Anti-Virus software installed on your home PC.

Other good tips include not using free internet access sites, don’t respond to rogue virus alerts when browsing the web, simply shut down the browser, sign-up for credit monitoring and be cautious when posting information on social networking sites like Facebook as criminals look for clues of vulnerable situations.

Milo.com Reaches Milestone and Adds Features

Helping shoppers research items online for free and providing local locations to make purchases has helped Milo.com reach one million users a month. Launching from beta, the website has attracted shoppers from across the country looking for the best price on holiday gifts and wanting to purchase the items locally. The site attempts to take the best features of eBay and Amazon and make it all local so shoppers can see and feel the items before buying.

New Features

New features have recently been added to give users even more search capability. In-Stock searches can be selected to only show items that are in-stock. No more going to the local store to find out they do not have the item. Price alerts are based on a single item at a single store within the users local region. When the item reaches the price you select, you are notified. And finally the Hottest Product List (could have been named by Paris), allows shoppers to browse what others have been searching for.

Online Sales Jump 47% for Black Friday and Cyber Monday

The combined results of Black Friday and Cyber Monday for 2009 exceed sales from last year by 47% according to Retail Decisions. Black Friday performed better with $3.1 billion in sales which is an increase of 52%. Cyber Monday saw sales of $2.2 billion which is 35% better than last year. The good sales on Black Friday related to the heavy discounting that occurred on the day.

The top performing products online for the two day period included the TomTom GPS, Kodak Digital Cameras, Nintendo Wii, Ice Age 3, and Sony Digital Cameras. Some products popular as frauds included virtual gift cards, XBox 360, Nintendo Wii, and the Call of Duty XBox game.

The Ultimate Steal: Windows 7 and Microsoft Office

Currently enrolled students have the opportunity to purchase Microsoft products Windows 7 and MS Office at great low prices. Weather enrolled full-time or part-time you can get these brand new Microsoft software products at lower prices than available anywhere else utilizing the Ultimate Steal program. Windows 7 Professional Upgrade is available for $39.99 while Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007 is available for $64.00.

Use your college email account to be eligible for this Ultimate Steal. When you click “Buy Now” from the “additional products” menu on the Ultimate Steal Microsoft page, you will be sent an email with a link to the location you can purchase these two products at great discount prices. This new program is an upgrade to a previous Ultimate Steal program that Microsoft launched prior to the release of Windows 7. Digital downloads are available at the prices listed above while DVDs are available for an additional $13.00 shipping and handling charge.

Get Started Now!

Secure USB Flash Drives from Kingston

Kingston Digital has announced the release of a secure set of USB Flash Drives at affordable prices that every business can afford. The DataTraveler Locker+ provides password protection and encryption of data on drives that range from 4 GB to 32 GB. Remember when flash drives were in the MB ranges, memory has consistently become more affordable.

The encryption used for the devices is 256-bit AES encryption. A complex password provides access to the data on the drive for ease of use for consumers. Prices are in the range of $36 to $200. With the 4 GB costing $36 and the high-end 32 GB drive costing $200. All the devices come with a 5 year warranty and customer support.

© 2009 ISMagazine.com – Not a Paid Post.

Online Movies and TV Shows a Big Hit

According to a recent study from Parks Associate and the Broadband, Communications, and Entertainment Bundles, viewership of online full-length content doubled over the last year. Households continue to watch more movies and even move television programs as catching up on missed shows or finding better times to watch programs through online portals has become increasingly popular.

The numbers are astounding if you are still connected to the Internet through a dial-up connection or are not participating in the content viewing that is happening. But 25 million US homes are watching television content through their broadband connections on their computers. While 20 millions US homes are watching movies in the same fashion. The aliens from Hulu.com commercials have taken over the world.

FeelingFlu.com Sponsors H1N1 Online Chat

Medical Professionals will be providing straight forward answers to anyone that joins an online chat November 5th hosted by FeelingFlu.com. Dr Allan Greene will be answering questions during the “Get the Facts about Swine Flu” chat tomorrow. With many worried that they are unable to get the vaccine and still wanting to protect themselves and their families, this chat is designed to provide the answers.

Dr Greene, a pediatrician, wants to dispel the false rumors that have circulated on the Internet. From what causes the flu to how it spreads and the symptoms of the N1H1 virus. He plans to discuss who to protect yourself from the virus, what to do if someone in your family contracts the flu, and containing the spread of the flu; all during his chat on the 5th.

Taking Online Dating to a New Level with Clicck

On October 11, Clicck technology brought a whole way to find compatible singles to the online community. Using facial recognition software, singles can now select certain facial features that they prefer and then search current online profiles for individuals with similar facial features. The user tags an online photo and is prompted to tell the software why they prefer the photo. These preferences are stored and used during future searches.

The company strived to bring this technology online as an alternative to the popular eHarmony model which matches individuals on personality and character traits and not to such a large extent on physical attributes. If you visit the Clicck site you will notice that their primary audience is the gay community. But the company plans to expand to include all groups.