With the internet, consumers don't have to rely on their local market or catalog delivery, they can log on to the internet and access a whole world of products and services.
All of this choice can be overwhelming, however, and many people get stuck in trying to decide where best to invest their money. Many websites include a review feature, where consumers can read other people's experiences with products they are considering buying.
However, some of these reviews are spam, created by people who will profit from you choosing one product over the other. Unfortunately, humans are not that good at telling the difference between a spam and a genuine review.
Thanks to computer science, we can now rely on software to filter out spam reviews. The software uses statistical machine learning algorithms, which detect indicators of spam, such as a high volume of verbs, which usually means spam, as opposed to a high number of nouns, which tend to indicate a genuine product review. The software also detects other differences between fake and real reviews, such as use of keywords, punctuation, and how much the reviewer references him or herself.
Truth Bias
Humans tend to fall prey to what Cornell doctoral candidate, Myle Ott, calls a "truth bias." This means that most people tend to assume everything they read is true, until evidence to the contrary is presented. Once people find out what they thought was true, is actually false, they tend to think in the opposite extreme.
They then assume that much of what they read is not true. Neither of these instances is ideal, of course. Ideally, one would be able to decipher what is true from false, but with the endless amount of information on the internet, it is nearly impossible to verify everything one reads. This new software can help people trust what they read.
Review Accuracy
Reviews are an incredibly valuable resource, but their value is limited to their accuracy. The internet provides a great forum for people all over the world to share experiences with different products and services. This information helps consumers make decisions about how to best invest their money. Because anyone can write these reviews, however, people can write false reviews, over-praising certain products and bashing rival products.
Certain spam reviews are quite easy to spot, but studies show that false reviews can easily slip under our radar. Cornell tested three human judges, to see how accurately they could spot false reviews. They were presented with 400 fraudulent positive reviews and the same number of genuinely positive reviews of 20 Chicago hotels.
The judges scored quite poorly, no better than if they had been guessing which reviews were false. "Ultimately, cutting down on deception helps everyone," said Myle Ott. "Customers need to be able to trust the reviews that read, and sellers need feedback on how best to improve their services."
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The Death of the Landline
While many people might argue that the death of the landline came with the mobile phone, there are still quite a few legitimate reasons not to swap one's landline for a cellular phone. The cost of using a mobile phone to make all one's phone calls can get quite expensive. Cellphones are a great way to stay in touch with people while out running errands or doing business, however they're not exactly ideal for fielding long conversations with a client or a grandmother on a Wednesday afternoon.
Most mobile phone contracts include a lots of free usage during the evenings and weekends, and the user can choose how many minutes he or she wants to purchase for use outside of those boundaries. The more "anytime" minutes you require, the more you'll need to spend, not to mention the devastation to your checking account that can occur if you exceed the allowed minutes. Skype is a great solution for people who don't want to spend tons of money on daytime phone calls.
Features
Skype has plenty of free features to help people stay in touch with loved ones and clients alike. Free, unlimited video and voice chat is available for all Skype to Skype calls. Just make sure everyone on your contact list knows about this free service, and staying in touch is easier than ever. If both users have a webcam, they can take advantage of intimate face to face conversations. If not, they are free to send instant text messages or engage in voice chat. Skype also allows free unlimited file sharing, making it easier than ever to instantly send images or documents to friends, family and business associates.
Premium
The free features of Skype may be enough for many people, but for the rest of us, premium features are available at great prices. If you only have the need for an occasional call to a landline or cell phone, you have the option of paying per minute. It is a lot like a prepaid cellphone plan. The user puts money on his or her account, and then can use those funds to make long distance or local calls. Per-minute prices are available at www.skype.com, and there are regular discounts available for different regions.
Skype offers a variety of plans, to make sure users don't have to pay for services they wont use. Monthly subscriptions start at $2.99, for unlimited calls within the United States and Canada. The next plan includes all of North America, at $7.99 per month, and the most comprehensive monthly subscription includes unlimited calls worldwide, across more than 40 countries, at $13.99 per month.
Additionally, Skype offers premium packages, which can be purchased a day at a time, $4.99 per day; a month at a time, at $8.99 per month; 3 months at a time, at $6.74 per month and a year at a time, at $4.49 per month. The 3 month premium subscription comes out to a total of around $20, and the year-long subscription comes out to about $54. The premium features include group video calling, group screen sharing, live chat customer support, in addition to everything available at the free level. A one-month subscription and up includes a 25% discount on an HD webcam, and the 3-month and year subscription includes unlimited calls within the US and Canada.
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Kids these days are smartphone savvy. Parents across the world often hand children as young as the age of four an iPhone, Android phone, or Blackberry to play with.
These smartphones are fun centers packed into tiny squares, and fun apps manage to keep kids who travel quiet for hours on end. Give all the appeal that a smartphone has for children, it’s no wonder that big movie studios are starting to cash in on the “apps for kids” trend.
In the past, movies such as "Kung Fu Panda 2" and "Shrek Forever After" gained their own apps. Now, the latest cartoon blockbuster “The Smurfs Movie” is already attached to a new iOS game app called “The Smurf Storybook.” This app comes before the release of the movie as a sort of teaser for kids.
Who Needs Previews?
Previews are effective marketing tools if kids manage to catch a preview. For those kids who don’t watch a lot of television or head to the movie theater frequently, previews are a lost cause. Movie studios don’t want to lose this potential audience. So, instead of spending all advertising dollars on creating previews that some kids may miss, these studios are sinking large amounts of money into creating smartphone apps.
Parents are far more likely to purchase a movie preview disguised as a smartphone game app than they are to allow kids to watch hours of television per day. Thus far, pre-movie apps for kids are working like magic. When it comes time for quiet time, it’s far easier to hand a child a smartphone filled with fun games than it is to find other activities to occupy a child’s mind.
What This App Does
The Storybook app contains read-alongs and games for kids to enjoy. One game includes allowing children to find certain mistakes within a storyline. While this all seems like harmless fun, there’s one reason why you may want to think twice before downloading the Smurfs app. This app will get your child hooked on the new Smurfs movie before the movie even debuts.
In addition to games, the Smurfs app includes celebrity voiceovers, characters from the movie, and the whole thing is based upon the storyline from the movie. So, when your kids finally do head to the theater, they will know all about the movie. Needless to say, they’ll also be familiar with the celebrities who are taking part in the film. One has to wonder if movie studios will soon be slipping advertisements into these apps as well (will Smurfette get a hankering for a Coke?).
Cost and Availability
The Smurfs Movie Storybook is currently available on the iPhone and iPad. No Android app release has been created at the time of this writing. If your kids want the new Smurf app, you’ll have to fork over $2.99 for the iStorybook application.
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