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Posts Tagged ‘insurance’

Facebook Ad Terms Prevent Dirty Dealings with Virtual Goods

Online advertising can, at times, be downright villainous. We’ve all fallen victim to the misleading “X” that opened up more windows instead of closing the one, or lured by ads that seemed to know all our personal information. But today, Facebook released a new set of terms for ad and offer networks that looks to help prevent dishonest advertising.

David Swain, a spokesperson for Facebook, said that the new terms are meant to create more accountability and faster enforcement when things run afoul.

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The terms are in addition to the already existing, so-called “Facebook Policies,” to which the ad and offer networks are already held.

What’s New?

In today’s release of “Platform Terms for Advertising Providers”, we see a common theme – accountability and protection for the user. Within the seven new term items, companies are required to keep open lines of communication with Facebook, provide “a clear and conspicuous method for a user to make a complaint” and “provide to Facebook the names, email addresses, and business addresses of all operators and employees of the ad provider.”

Overall, the terms appear to make a number of connections and communication channels and hold ad providers responsible, which is something we certainly won’t complain about. They prevent back-dealing and information swapping, especially for companies that run both ad networks and Facebook applications, and require companies to operate transparently. The terms also look to prevent companies from duping Facebook by using IP filtering to show different content to Facebook employees than other users might see.

Keeping Relationships Above Board

It also looks like Facebook is trying to avoid a repeat of past issues with advertisers, especially an instance in December, when a health insurance lobbying group reportedly paid Facebook users in virtual, “in-game” currency to send a letter opposing health-care reform legislation to their Congressional representative.

The fourth term reads as follows:

If the ad provider owns or operates an application on Facebook Platform, the ad provider may not make customer support contingent upon using such an application or require a user to share information with the application, and will not use any data it receives through operation of the application to tailor content (such as serving advertisements through an ad network).

This term seems to address that sort of situation directly, something we strongly agree with. Using the more addictive qualities of Farmville and the like should not create influence over political outcomes. What we’re saying is, an addict’s desire for virtual corn should not be for sale, especially in ways that force people to act and potentially cause real change in the world.

It is illegal to buy votes and it should be for companies to trade virtual corn for letters to congressman. We hope these terms help ensure that simple idea.

While Zynga was not implicated in the December debacle, we asked how it saw this term affecting its business practices, if at all. Zynga is, after all, the exact type of company described in the clause. We did not receive a response by press time.

On a less sinister note, this also seems to prohibit ads using friends pictures and other data collected from applications. While Swain reminded us that Facebook had already “prohibited user data [from] showing up in third-party ads,” we hope that these new terms keep that a reality.

In the end, the number of ways that Facebook tries to hold companies accountable is substantial and we hope that we never seeing an ad for a date with our mother ever again.

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I’m planning to start a new beauty pageant system in Illinois, this will be the basic pay pageant, held in a hotel ballroom, having every one sign a disclouser that neither I or the hotel is responceible for accidents. Do I need insurance?

I have recieved negative feedback from friends, boyfriend and family whenever I mention the words — life insurance. But when I talk to the recruiters they say that their family always is ready and interested to buy. I need some new points of view.

Creepy insurance company pulls coverage due to Facebook pics

The things people post on Facebook have gotten them in trouble with spouses, their employers, the law (or not, as the case may be), and now their insurance companies. A 29-year-old Canada woman is now battling her insurance company, Manulife, after her sick leave benefits were revoked thanks to photos she posted on her Facebook page. She wasn’t skipping out on work and she didn’t even post a public update, but the company somehow managed to find her private photos and has decided to stop paying out.

Nathalie Blanchard took leave from her job at IBM a year and a half ago after being diagnosed with “major depression,” according to CBC News. At that time, Manulife began paying out monthly sick leave checks as part of her benefit package—until Blanchard posted photos to her private Facebook profile depicting her having fun at her own birthday party.

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Walmart recalls 1.5 million flammable Durabrand DVD players

Remember those amazingly cheap doovde players Walmart was so proud of a couple years back? Well, they ain’t so amazing anymore, unless that’s what you’d call a device capable of spontaneously bursting into flames. Sold between January 2006 and July 2009 exclusively at Walmart stores in the US and ASDA supermarkets in the UK, the explosive Durabrand units are all being called back due to 12 reported instances of overheating, including five that caused fires. You have to love the irony of skimping on a doovde player purchase, only to pay for it later with “enhanced” insurance premiums. We reached out to Walmart for comment, but they didn’t know what a doovde was. Nevertheless, we captured the conversation after the break.

[Via CNN Money]

Continue reading Walmart recalls 1.5 million flammable Durabrand DVD players

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Video

Walmart recalls 1.5 million flammable Durabrand DVD players originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Aug 2009 06:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MINI Roadside Assistance can get you and your MINI out of trouble spots

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Our colleague, Sam Abuelsamid, at Autoblog has pointed out the release of a roadside assistance app from automaker MINI. The app, MINI Roadside Assistance [iTunes link], is a collaboration between the automaker and insurance company Allstate and allows one to access roadside assistance as well as the specify its cause

So, say you’re driving your MINI to Las Vegas for your buddy’s bachelor party. During the drive, your car overheats; it’s 120 degrees and you forgot were too lazy to check the coolant before you left, what’d you expect to happen? Well, no need to worry — roadside assistance is just a few taps away with MINI Roadside Assistance.

MINI Roadside Assistance is available as a free download. MINI Cooper not included. More info and a demo video are available at Sam’s article.

TUAWMINI Roadside Assistance can get you and your MINI out of trouble spots originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Our lives are unpredictable what will happen the next moment no one knows in this world, any event can drop into our paths and hurt us financially. In the same way term life insurance can be a great blessing which will let you get on with life smoothly in both the immediate and the long term time frames afterwards. With the large population we have in our country, the main problem with them is whether they need to take an insurance policy for themselves or not. As many people feel it is waste of money but it is not true to a great extent. You can understand this more clearly with the explanation given below.

Investing your hard earned money in buying an insurance policy will help you to face many difficult circumstances very easily. For example, life is not forever, every person in this world has to die one day or another. If the main source of income or the head of the family who is the only earning member in the family dies, then whole family comes to a standstill. No one will be there to look after the financial problems and take care of the loved ones. The best way out is to take any one among all the different types of insurance policies which are available in the market, which suits your needs and requirements perfectly can be selected.

It is always better to be on the safe side by preparing and planning for the future. Especially if you know that your family will struggle later on, taking out protection is one of the best ways of making sure that you can still help them once you have gone. Moreover, a funeral can be really costly and your term life insurance will help them to afford a good send off for you. So, you will not only be helping the people you care for, but you will also be helping to have your memory honored in the best way possible.

If a person wants added coverage then he can go for permanent life insurance policy. You will never regret getting yourself a whole life insurance policy. If you are not aware of where to get the right information from then counseling through experts will help you make your decision easier. They will understand your reasonable needs and the premium you can pay and will make the purchase of this policy so smooth for you. The insurance markets are full of huge varieties of options.

The best place to shop is through Online Internet which allows you the ease to do your research and shop around, and take time to make your own decision under no pressure. Within no time a person can access Hundreds of websites of insurance policy that to very easily and quickly. If you have no information about the policies then it’s always good to gather all the information by doing some research or from counseling through experts which will help you to take your decision very easily. So, it is a wise thing to invest our hard earned money so that you and your family can have a safe future.

How can long term care insurance Keep Up With Inflation? When purchasing a long term care insurance policy, it is important to have an inflation protection rider included in your policy.

Since many people who purchase policies do not access their benefits for many years, having inflation protection helps keep your policy competitive with the rising cost of care. A 5 percent compound inflation protection rider is recommended for individuals purchasing long term care insurance who are under age 65. A more modest inflation protection option of 5 percent simple interest is recommended for people over age 65. With compound inflation doubling in 14.3 years, a 50 year old who purchases a $150 daily benefit with 5 percent compound inflation protection will have a $300 daily benefit by the time they are 65. The daily benefit will have grown by 5 percent compound each year. With simple inflation doubling in about 20 years, a 65 year old that purchases a policy with a $150 daily benefit and 5 percent simple inflation protection will have a policy that will have grown to $300 by the time they are 85 years of age. The daily benefit will have grown by 5 percent simple each year.

These types of inflation protection are automatic. The daily benefit will automatically increase by 5 percent compound or simple each year and premiums will stay level. We know what the cost of care is today but in 20 or 30 years when an individual is more likely to go on claim, having a policy without inflation protection will not provide enough coverage when it comes to claim time. Although having the inflation protection rider in your policy has been proven to keep your policy competitive, this finding is also due to the shift in care received in nursing homes toward assisted living and home and community based alternatives.

Recent studies have shown that more than 80 percent of the costs of care will be covered by such policies. Other options include a Guaranteed Purchase Option (GPO), or the option to increase coverage. This option differs greatly from an automatic inflation protection rider. Having a GPO is not automatic and your premiums are not level. With a GPO you can choose to increase your benefits periodically for example, every two or three years. A GPO usually gives you the option to increase your benefit by 5%, 10% or 15% of the original amount of your daily benefit. When you do increase your benefit, your premium will increase. The increase in premium is dependent upon the age you are at that time. If you increase your daily benefit regularly then you usually do not have to show evidence of insurability. If you do not regularly increase your benefit, you may not be given the chance again.

Inflation protection can be one of the most important decisions that you can make when purchasing a long-term care insurance policy. With the rising cost of care it is important that your benefits have raised throughout time or you may find years from now your policy is not adequate enough to pay for your care.