Greg's Corner

Updates from June, 2017 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

• 

  Greg Collier 9:02 am on June 23, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Amazon ( 114 ), eBay ( 16 ), retail ( 49 ), walmart ( 25 )   

  In the battle for supremacy, is one retailer fighting to survive? 

  

  While Amazon and Walmart continue their battle of the retail titans, another player has entered into the fray and thrown down the gauntlet towards its larger opponents. While never far from the consumer conscience, eBay is not the retail stalwart that it once was. However, recently, they have thrown what could amount to as a monkey wrench in the plans of Jeff Bezos and the Walton Family.

  The once and future online auction king has been pivoting their business model for some time now. It first started with the ‘buy it now’ prices. Now it seems eBay has pivoted even further toward being a pure retail outlet by offering their new Price Match Guarantee. eBay says they will match the prices from Amazon.com, BestBuy.com, Walmart.com, HomeDepot.com, Target.com, Sears.com, Wayfair.com, and Jet.com. The catch is, the items have to be new and in the manufacturers packaging and you have to contact eBay customer service to get the price break. eBay claims 90% of the items on their site are eligible for these deals.

  While there are some hoops to jump through in the process, on the surface it seems like a great move by eBay. However, it can also be looked at as an act of desperation by a former industry leader. So we ask you, do you think this is an act genius or an act of despair? Please let us know in the comments.

   

  Leave a ReplyCancel reply
• 

  Greg Collier 9:00 am on June 22, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: delivery robots ( 2 ), Safety ( 47 )   

  Are delivery robots the future of safety? 

  

  Recently, the state of Wisconsin approved legislation that would allow delivery robots to use pedestrian trafficways. They follow Idaho and Virginia, who passed similar legislation. The robots, made by a company called Starship Technologies, are designed to be used by stores to deliver around two bags full of groceries to nearby residents.

  But what if they could be used for a different purpose?

  The most dangerous part of any classifieds transaction is going to meet either the buyer or seller who could potentially turn out to be someone looking to rob you, scam you or worse. What if there was a service that could eliminate that meeting? The service could be like an Uber for transactions. Once the seller receives the money through a valid online transaction they could take the item to a delivery hub where the robot could then take the item to its intended destination. Since most classifieds transactions are usually local, the delivery robot could be a very useful tool in ensuring the safety of classifieds users.

  Granted, this technology is far from being widely adopted since it’s only been approved in three states. However, before we know it these robots could be as commonplace as any other delivery service is today.

  San Francisco bans delivery robots | Greg's Corner is discussing. Toggle Comments

   
• 

  Greg Collier 8:56 am on June 21, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: craigslist ( 131 ), LetGo ( 10 ), murder ( 9 )   

  Why haven’t the classifieds murders of two young men caused any concern? 

  

  Within the past week two young men who were both full of promise lost their lives after trying to complete transactions through online classifieds. In the first case, 19-year-old Brian Brown was shot and killed in North Miami Beach while trying to sell a Playstation through craigslist. He was getting ready to leave for college in Northern California where he had earned a football scholarship. According to the Craigslist Killings – Craigslist Safety blog, Brown was the 115th person to be killed through some type of craigslist transaction gone wrong.

  In the second case, 21-year-old Zack Finch was shot and killed in Charlotte, North Carolina after trying to buy a cell phone through the classifieds app LetGo. Finch was a star for his university’s baseball team. By this blog’s estimation, Finch is the third person to have been killed while using the LetGo app.

  Both of these men had such promise and unfortunately their lives have been cut short due to greedy and heartless killers who just wanted to make a quick buck regardless the cost of lives. In both cases no arrests have yet to have been made. The bigger question is, why haven’t these two murders, that happened within days of each other to two similar men, not been a cause for concern? People carry on using craigslist and LetGo like nothing has happened and continue to disregard the basic tenets of safety. Both murders occurred in broad daylight in public spaces and as we’ve said in the past, these old rules don’t apply anymore as criminals have become bolder in their crimes in the past few years. Virtually all the big names in the industry have had violent crimes attached to their brand including Backpage, LetGo, OfferUp, Facebook Marketplace and of course, craigslist.

  Geebo is very serious about the safety of our users. When you meet someone to either buy or sell an item we highly recommend completing the transaction at a police station during the day. Many police stations now have areas set up just for these transactions. Even then we still recommend taking a friend and letting people know where you’re going and why. While these measures may seem extreme, it’s worth it in the end to see not only our users, but the users of all sites and apps, to come home safely.

   
• 

  Greg Collier 8:58 am on June 20, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Amazon ( 114 ), walmart ( 25 ), Whole Foods ( 7 )   

  Are we headed for a retail duopoly? 

  

  Wal-Mart is the number one retailer in the US with a substantial web presence. They see Amazon as their greatest competitor. Amazon is the number one online retailer and they’ve been looking to get into the physical retail space. They see Wal-Mart as their greatest competitor. Now, Amazon is firing a shot across Wal-Mart’s bow as they are in the process of acquiring organic grocery store Whole foods.

  While not even coming close to Wal-Mart’s almost 5,000 locations across the country, including Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market and Sam’s Club, this acquisition would give Amazon a substantial foot in the door in the country’s grocery market. With its already popular online business, with just 400 possible new locations it actually could give Wal-Mart a run for its money if they’re also used as small distribution or pick up centers for online orders. Not only that, but Amazon could also end up taking a piece out of Wal-Mart’s grocery share in the country, which is where Wal-Mart makes most of their money.

  What could be worrying is Wal-Mart’s response to Amazon’s potential acquisition. A lot of brick and mortar store chains have crumbled under the might of the Wal-Mart. Sears and K-Mart used to be giants in the industry. Sears alone has been around since the 19th century, but is now facing the spectre of closure. If this trend continues, we could all end up shopping at either a Wal-Mart or Amazon branded store in the near future. Competition always breeds innovation in business, but a near monopoly between two retail monoliths will cause not only stagnation, but will also allow the two corporate giants to become complacent in their pricing.

  The road to Amazon's retail dominance goes through Blue Apron | Greg's Corner is discussing. Toggle Comments

   
• 

  Greg Collier 9:01 am on June 19, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Denver ( 2 ), Rentals ( 14 ), Scams ( 1,668 )   

  Denver man takes on rental scammers 

  

  If you’re looking for a property to rent online, and you come in contact with an obvious scammer, we don’t recommend engaging with them. Any actual information they can get out of you can be used for their gain. Instead, if you really want to help prevent the activity of these scammers, we recommend contacting the Internet Crime Complaint Center. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate someone who wastes a scammer’s time in the same way they like to waste ours. A man in Denver was looking for an apartment on a certain disreputable classifieds site when he was contacted by a slew of scammers. Here’s how the rental scam usually works.

  In Denver, the scammers kept asking the man for a picture of a check written out for a phony deposit. The Denver man kept sending the scammers e-mails with no attachments, links to URLs that went nowhere, and a picture of broken image error message. It was a number of back and forth e-mails before the scammers realized they were being trolled.

  While this man recognized the red flags that led him to realize there were scammers afoot, not everyone does. Just as a reminder, if a rental price sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If a ‘landlord’ wants you to send money without letting you view the property, it’s probably a scam. If they ask you to wire money to them or send money using prepaid credit cards or gift cards, it’s most definitely a scam. Education is the key. If more people are aware of these scams, less people will fall for them and that will begin to drive the scammers out of business.

   
• 

  Greg Collier 8:57 am on June 16, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: FCC ( 30 ), net neutrality ( 32 ), Netflix ( 15 )   

  Is Netflix fighting for net neutrality once again? Sort of. 

  

  Previously, the CEO of Netflix said that his company was not worried about net neutrality since he said they were “big enough to get the deals they want.” Now it appears the subscription video streaming service may have changed its tune. Recently, Netflix made an announcement they were participating in the July 12th Battle for the Net campaign, alongside sites such as Reddit, Etsy, Kickstarter and Amazon among many others.

  
  Relative content between 4:36 and 5:12

  In a tweet from Netflix they said, “Netflix will never outgrow the fight for #NetNeutrality. “Everyone deserves an open Internet.” The tweet also included a link to the ‘Day of Action’ website. It’s still unknown what is going to take place on July 12th, but back in 2014 many websites participated in a similar protest where they displayed animations to make it look like their websites were loading very slowly.

  So why did Netflix have a change of heart? Probably for PR reasons. Many Netflix subscribers are cord-cutters, meaning they’ve gotten rid of their expensive cable or satellite subscriptions in favor of the less expensive internet streaming service. Their customers do not want to see those savings nullified by internet service providers raising their rates even further just so people can have quicker access to prioritized sites.

  Again, even with Netflix wearily on board, this latest campaign for net neutrality may be like trying to hold back the ocean with a broom, as the President Trump-backed FCC has full intentions of repealing the net neutrality regulations put in place by the Obama administration.

  You can go here to voice your opinion about net neutrality to the FCC.

   
• 

  Greg Collier 10:17 am on June 15, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Amazon ( 114 ), Amazon Go ( 8 ), Moby, Wheely's Cafe   

  Swedish company testing mobile store that seems to solve the problems Amazon Go has 

  

  Previously, we’ve posted on this blog about Amazon Go, Amazon’s proposed attempt at an automated brick and mortar store with no employees. One of the issues Amazon came up against was that the store’s system crashed when there were too many people in the store. To that end, the store with no employees would then require employees. Now, a Swedish company is testing a similar concept, and may have a better grasp on the concept than Amazon.

  Wheely’s Cafe is a company that already franchises mobile coffee stands around the world. Now, they are testing a mobile marketplace called Moby. Like Amazon Go, it has no employees, however, unlike Amazon Go it only allows four people inside at a time. Also, rather than being a brick and mortar store, a Moby is mobile. While now it requires a driver, Wheely’s is hoping to use autonomous driving in the future. Currently, Moby is only in beta testing and is only being tested in select Asian markets.

  Amazon may want to take a few hints from Wheely’s by making Amazon Go mobile. Not only could they be used as regular stores like Amazon is proposing, they could also be used as a sort of delivery hub. The last mile of delivery is the most expensive according to online retailers. If Amazon were to deploy mobile stores they could have mobile hubs where people could come to pick up their orders without waiting as long.

  Oxford tests its own autonomous delivery truck | Greg's Corner is discussing. Toggle Comments

   
• 

  Greg Collier 8:55 am on June 14, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: employment ( 47 ), McDonald's, Snapchat ( 13 ), Snaplications   

  McDonald’s using Snapchat to recruit new hires 

  

  If you need to hire a large number of new employees, you need to go where your potential hires are. For McDonald’s, that would be social media and not just any social media, but Snapchat specifically. The fast-food pioneer is using the photo sharing app to appeal to the 16-24 demographic in order to hire 250,000 people for the summer.

  If you use Snapchat, you may see a short ad for McDonald’s about open positions. In a process McDonald’s is calling ‘Snaplications’, if you’re interested in the position you can swipe up on the ad where you’ll be taken to the company’s career webpage where you can complete your application.

  It will be interesting to see if this recruitment drive is successful for the Golden Arches. While their appeal to a younger demographic through Snapchat seems ingenious, there is still somewhat of a stigma when it comes to working at McDonald’s. The term ‘McJob’ comes from that stigma after all. Many young users tend to portray themselves on Snapchat as being more financially well off than they actually are. They may see working at McDonald’s beneath them even if it is one of their better financial options.

   
• 

  Greg Collier 9:07 am on June 13, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Facebook Marketplace ( 68 ), Safety ( 47 )   

  Florida Facebook Marketplace shooting shows need for safety vigilance 

  

  A very sad and unfortunate incident recently took place in Jacksonville, Florida, that involved Facebook Marketplace. A father of two was shot and killed in front of his children when a man giving away a dog on Facebook Marketplace became suddenly violent in the man’s home. The gunman was giving away a dog that he had allegedly found in the back of his truck. The father wanted the dog for his children and asked the man if he could pick the dog up but the man insisted that he drop off the dog at the father’s home.

  When the man showed up at the house the father and his fiancée invited the man in for a drink to thank him for the dog. The man is said to have overstayed his welcome and becomes drunk and belligerent before getting into an argument with the father and shooting him dead. Thankfully the children and the father’s fiancée were physically unharmed.

  Normally, when a murder is committed through the use of a classifieds site, mainly the notorious craigslist, it’s usually a robbery that goes bad. However, it’s not unheard of for freak occurrences like this to arise. Having someone come to your home is never a good idea no matter how trustworthy you think the person may be. As soon as they try to talk you into meeting you at your own home you should immediately say that you’re no longer interested in the item. It’s recommended that you always ask someone who is about to complete an online exchange with you to meet you at a police station as most police stations in the country now welcome these transactions to take place within the safety of their walls. If something does not feel right when making any kind of classifieds transaction, listen to your gut and walk away.

   
• 

  Greg Collier 7:54 am on June 12, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: malware ( 28 ), mouseover, Tinba, Zusy   

  New malware doesn’t even need you to click on a link 

  

  Another week and another new type of malware comes out, this one even has a new trick to it. Normally, when your computer gets infected by malware you have to open an attachment or click on a link. With this new type of attack, you don’t even have to do that. All you have to do is hover your mouse over the link and it could infect your computer.

  This particular attack exploits a flaw in an unpatched version of PowerPoint. Usually, PowerPoint will warn you that something is attempting to download itself to your computer. However, it’s pretty easy to accidentally bypass the warning, allowing the malware to infect your computer. This attack is said to download a type if malware known as both Zusy and Tinba. The malware is designed to copy any financial information you may input while you’re on the internet such as account or card numbers.

  The fact that you don’t even have to actively click on anything to get infected shows that the war with malware has reached a new level. As we’ve previously mentioned the best defense is not to click on unsolicited links or attachments. With this new type of attack the best thing to do would probably be not to even open emails from unknown entities.