Graduate Studies

Zipcar Promo code $25 free driving credits on new signup

2011-06-12T02:42:00.006+05:30

ZipCar Free $25 Driving Credits

Click the above sticker and signup to get free $25 ZipCar credits. Promotion code is embeaded in the sticker. Promo code will be automatically applied when you sign up.

enjoy zipping

Osama Shootout video Facebook bug

2011-05-03T23:08:00.000+05:30

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Facebook 'Likes' are being hacked for Osama bin laden shoot out video while attracting people to a video that they say it is real osama bin laden shoot out video in military operation in Abbott Abad in Pakistan.Although there is no video found on their given url...

You most probably found a link on your wall by any of your friends with an image of dead osama bin laden with damaged eye.

When you open that page there will be a pop up shown there with button ("Watch video"), when you click on it, they ask you to perform 5 security task including

CTR C
Alt D
CTR V
Press Enter
Playing Video

When you perform these task successfully, it redirect you on some other page showing you screen that you facebook account is being authenticated, in this process a javascript code post the same 'Wall Post' on all your friends Wall and auto like that page.

You can check your Wall, there will be Posts like that 'You Posted ..(title of that page).. on your ....(friends name)....Wall'.

When this link is being posted on all your friends Wall then it will show you Pop up 'There is no serve available in your country Please try later' etc

You can manually unlike that page later by open that page and by pressing 'unlike' Link on that page.
And manually remove Posts from your Wall created by this Scam Fan page.

Same activity was perform by the same group by showing label

"FACEBOOK PROFILE VIEWERS"

You can check this by opening this link. http://dottot.info/os/

Effect of store cards on your credit score: Bad - Negative

2011-01-16T08:37:00.000+05:30

Please meet Patricia, a 28-year-old teacher who lives in Memphis, TN. Patricia has had a limited amount of credit since she started teaching 4 years ago. All she has are a few credit cards and an installment loan for some furniture. She’s never financed a car or a house.
Patricia’s credit scores are very good. In fact, they’re excellent: 750 at Equifax, 735 at TransUnion and 728 at Experian. She should have no problem getting any sort of credit based on these scores.
Her Dilemma
Last December Patricia was doing her holiday shopping at the local mall. She estimates that she spent about $500 on gifts for her family and friends. In the process of shopping she was offered multiple opportunities to “save 10% on today’s purchase” by the check-out clerks at 5 of the stores. Thinking it was an easy way to save money Patricia took them up on their invitations, applied for 5 store cards, was approved and saved $50 on her purchases. Not bad, right?
Four months later Patricia decided that it was time to start looking for a house. She liked the area, enjoyed her job and felt that it was time to start putting down some roots in the area. And, what better way to do that than buying a home?
She met with a real estate agent and together they figured out how much of a home she could afford. They came up with the range of $175,000 to $200,000, which in Memphis is a pretty nice range. The next step was to look for her first house.
Patricia and her agent spent about 6 weeks driving around the area looking at new homes, older homes, condominiums and townhouses. Each had their pros and cons. New homes were, well, new but they all looked the same. Older homes had a lot of character but required more upkeep. Condominiums had basically no upkeep but she felt like she would still be living in an apartment. She had the same opinion of the townhouses.
After weighing all of her options she decided on a new house. The house was already 90% complete and she would just need to pick out some paint colors, light fixtures and carpet and within 45 days she could move in. Now all she needed to do was get a mortgage loan.
In the mortgage industry lenders will almost always pull all three of your credit reports and credit scores. Then they will look at your middle score to help them determine your level of credit risk. If your middle score is very high you’ll likely be offered the most competitive rate the lender has to offer. If your middle score is less than excellent then you’ll likely be offered a less than optimal rate. If your middle score is very low you will be offered an unattractive rate or you could be declined altogether.
This was the least of Patricia’s worries. Less than 5 months earlier her middle score was a 735. And, she hadn’t missed any payments or taken on any new debt since then. She was certain that her scores were still excellent and that she would breeze through the mortgage application process.
Patricia filled out her mortgage application and turned it in to a local mortgage broker. Three days later she got some distressing news, her application would be approved but at an interest rate that was much higher than she expected.
At the time of her application the best interest rate on a 30-year mortgage was around 5.5%. She had chosen a house that cost right at $200,000 and she was planning on putting down 5% ($10,000). Her loan amount was going to be $190,000 and she projected a monthly payment of about $1,078.
What she was being offered was a $190,000 mortgage loan at 7.75%. Her payment was going to be $1,361. That’s a difference of $283 each month. That doesn’t sound like much but that’s $3,396 more each year and over $100,000 more over the life of a 30-year mortgage. What happened?
After talking to her mortgage broker she found out that her three credit scores had dropped drastically from 5 months earlier. They were now as follows.
Credit Scores from 5 Months Earlier Credit Scores Now
Equifax – 750 Equifax – 682
TransUnion – 735* TransUnion – 657*
Experian – 728 Experian - 649
*Middle Score
Her middle score had gone from 735 to 657, a difference of 78 points. To a lender 78 points is a huge deal. In fact, the way that credit scores are designed, a 78 point difference means that Patricia is 8 times more likely to pay her bills late now than she was 5 months ago. As such, the mortgage lenders are not willing to offer her the best rate. They’ll still approve her loan but at a much higher interest rate.
What baffled Patricia is how this could happen. She went over her credit reports in depth and everything was the same. She never missed a payment, didn’t take on more debt, no collection and no public records. Everything was the same except for one thing, her inquiries.
What Patricia didn’t realize was that when she applied for those 5 retail store credit cards the stores were pulling her credit reports. And each time they pulled her credit report an inquiry was posted to her credit file.
An inquiry is a record of any access of your credit reports. The inquiry shows the date your report was pulled and by whom. In Patricia’s case, she had 5 inquiries on the same day from 5 different companies.
These 5 inquiries sunk her credit scores to the point where she was now considered a “medium credit risk.” And she was getting treated like a medium credit risk.
Her Options
Once Patricia settled down and came to grips with what had happened to her we talked about what she should do next. Here are her choices:
Stop the application from moving forward and wait until her scores are high enough to qualify for the best interest rate.
Continue the mortgage application process, get approved, move into her new house and monitor her scores. When they go back up above 700 apply to refinance the home loan to get a more attractive interest rate.
Have the inquires removed from her credit reports and then when her scores go back up she could reapply for a mortgage loan.
Unfortunately, #3 isn’t really a great option. Unless the inquires were made as a result of fraud you can’t get them removed. The credit reporting agencies have a legal obligation to keep a true and accurate list of all inquiries into your credit report for up to 24 months. In her case, the inquiries were legitimate because she did apply for store credit at 5 different stores.
That’s the bad news.
The good news is that inquiries only count against your credit scores for the first 12 months that they exist. So, in Patricia’s case, she only has to wait another 7 months before the impact to her scores goes away completely. And, assuming she doesn’t start missing payments or becomes overburdened with debt her scores should recover nicely.
She can refinance her mortgage loan and expect to save hundreds of dollars each month assuming, of course, that interest rates stay the same or decrease.
Whether or not to stop her loan now and wait for her scores to go back up is a personal decision and really doesn’t have a simple answer. If she really loves this house, is it worth the risk of losing it while she waits 7 months for her scores to recover? Conversely, is the house worth paying $283 more each month until she can refinance?
In her case moving out of an apartment and into her new home was worth the higher, albeit temporarily higher, payment.
How To Prevent This From Happening To You
Never, ever, ever take advantage of these types of “save 10%” offers. It’s simply not worth the damage you’ll do to your credit scores. Also, beware of the “fill out a credit card application and get a free t-shirt” offers that you see at almost all sporting events. You’ll end up with new and unwanted inquiries on your credit report in exchange for a t-shirt or coffee mug.
The people who ask you to apply are most certainly compensated financially if they can get you to apply for credit. Unfortunately, there is no law that requires them to display any sort of conspicuous warning saying that by applying for their credit card you will likely lower your credit scores, but maybe there should be.
Summary
It takes years and years of solid credit management to obtain excellent credit reports and credit scores. Irresponsible actions may lower your scores, which will cost you, as in Patricia’s case, dearly when you want to obtain credit for a higher dollar items like a house or a car.
Pay the full amount for your purchase, thank the store clerks for their offer and politely decline. Oh yeah, and don’t even bother trying to explain why it will hurt your scores. They simply won’t understand. Trust me, I’ve tried numerous times.
Using your credit as some sort of 10% off coupon is a very bad idea. Don’t let saving $50 today cost you $100,000 tomorrow.

Things you should know before you take your road test

2011-01-11T22:05:00.002+05:30

The day I got my permit on my 16th birthday I was very eager to sign up for my road test that second. "What's so hard about driving around the block with someone in the car with you?" I said. Little did I know that almost 1/2 of my Senior friends had failed their road test the first time they took it! "Jeez, they must be a bunch of losers if they can't pass a road test." I talked with them about their experience and found out what went wrong.

1. Be overly cautious
I know you might feel like a nerd going the extra mile to be a little more careful on a road test, because I did. You have to remember that the DMV person in the car with you is VERY picky. Remember these things:

A.) Drive slow enough so that you don't seem aggressive and fast enough so that you don't seem passive. DMV raters will mark you down if you go over the speed limit, of course, but will also penalize you for driving too slow. Driving too slow is, believe it or not, a traffic violation.

B.) Stop COMPLETELY at every stop sign. Do not give any reason for the DMV person to think you did not stop all the way. What you should do is when you stop, count 2 Mississippi's. Then go. Remember to stop AT the stop sign, count 2 Mississippi's and THEN creep up to look if cars are coming if your view is blocked. They'll get you for stopping beyond a stop sign.

C.) Always remember to check your side mirror AND your blind spot before pulling away from the curb. I got 10 points off for not doing that.

2. Turning

A.) Make sure your turns are smooth and steady. Do not accelerate during the turn. They'll mark you down for making a turn too sharp (like a right angle), or for cutting the corner too much.

B.) 3-point turn. Some state road tests make you do this along with parallel parking.

a. Put your RIGHT blinker on.
b. Pull to the right side of the road.
c. Put your LEFT blinker on.
d. Turn the wheel 100% to the left, and turn as far as you can without hitting cars or the curb on the other side of the road.
e. Turn the wheel 100% to the right.
f. Put the car in reverse.
g. Pull back into the road.
h. Drive forward.

The blinker part is very important for safety. Make sure no cars are coming in either direction before you start.

3. Parallel parking

This is not a tedious task, it does, however, take a lot of practice. I'll try to explain to you how I do it:

a. Pull up next to the car ahead of the spot you want to park in. Get about 6 inches away from the car. Make sure your car is even with that parked car.
b. Put your RIGHT blinker on.
c. Make sure no cars are coming either way before you start your park.
d. Put the car in reverse, and back up directly behind you, SLOWLY, keeping the wheel straight.
e. When the middle of your car is even with the rear bumper of the parked car, turn your wheel ALL THE WAY to the right. Keep backing up.
f. Look in your passenger side mirror. When it looks like you are about to hit the curb, turn the wheel ALL THE WAY to the left. Keep backing in.
g. Try and get as close to the curb as possible. The DMV person will mark you down for being too far from the curb.

4. Relax

Everyone is nervous before they take their test. Remember to take extra caution and TAKE YOUR TIME. My road test took 4 minutes, it's stupid to try and get it over with quicker.

Don't take your road test unless you can do everything I listed above well. I took 2 driving lessons before my road test. I learned some very useful driving tips. My instructor was very helpful in telling me what I was doing wrong, especially when I parallel parked.

And remember, if you fail your road test, you can always take another one. It's not the end of the world, just practice more before you take the next one.

Gmail, Yahoo, Myspace, Facebook: What happens and who gets access to your account when you die

2010-10-10T23:59:00.000+05:30

Have you ever wondered what happens to your email accounts and social networking accounts such as Facebook and MySpace when you die? Who gets access to your accounts, can people get even get access to your account and your stored personal information?

Almost every website will have a different policy for dead account holders, so I will discuss what popular websites such as Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo email accounts, MySpace and Facebook social networking websites do in the event of a death of one of their users.

Gmail

If you have a Gmail account and you pass away, your next of kin will be allowed to access your emails. The account will stay open forever, but as the next of kin, you are able to request it to be deleted. To get access to the email account, you will need to supply the following information by fax or mail to Google to be granted account access of the deceased user account.

Your full name (next of kin), your contact information and a verifiable email address
The Gmail email address of the deceased person
An email containing the full headers of an email message that the deceased person has emailed you with the entire contents of the email
Proof of death
Documentation to prove that you are the lawfully allowed to access their email (if the deceased is over 18). If deceased person is under 18 of age, you must provide a birth certificate

After you’ve compiled the information, Google will verify it and grant you access to the user account.

More information about accessing a deceased person’s mail can be found in Google’s Support Page.

So if you have private information that you don’t want people to look at when you are dead, don’t use Gmail (use Yahoo instead).

If you are trying to access a deceased person’s email account, you may first want to try to reset the user’s password.

Hotmail

If Hotmail accounts are left inactive for a period of time, the email account along with all the information will be eventually deleted (within the year) and therefore, you will not be able to access it. If you die, your next of kin will be granted access to your account provided they supply supporting documents such as a death certificate (similar to what Google needs). Hotmail will not reset the password for the deceased person, but you have to fax or mail information to gain access to the account such as:

Your email address
Your shipping address (as they send you a package in the mail
Documents to state your are the benefactor or you have power of attorney
Your photocopied driver’s license
A photocopy of the death certificate
Information about the account holder such as first and last name, date of birth, city, state, zip, approximate date of the account creation and the approximate date of last sign in.

If you require more information, you can get it at Windows Live Help.

Yahoo

Yahoo has a much stricter policy over who can get access to your account. And that is no one. If you want to ensure no one has access to your emails when you die, you would want to choose Yahoo. Yahoo will not grant permission to anyone to access a deceased user’s account. The only permission Yahoo grants is for the account to be deleted. Therefore, Yahoo does not allow anyone to access your emails. The only way someone can do this is if they reset your account password.

Facebook

Facebook will not grant anyone access to a deceased user account, but if the user of the account is deceased, their page will be turned into a memorial page once reqested. By filling out the form to turn an deceased users page into a memorial page, Facebook will remove sensitive information on the account like status updates and will only allow current friends to access the page. Family members will then be allowed to customise the page of the deceased user.

MySpace

MySpace deceased user policy is a bit vague, but they state that if you are the next of kin, they will not grant you access to edit, or delete any of the content or settings on the account yourself, but you can request it to be removed if you deem appropriate. You can simply emailaccountcare@support.myspace.com and attach appropriate documentation such as a death certificate. However, if you have access to their email account, MySpace recommends that youreset the user password.

In the end…

If you die, your accounts will most likely stay active unless the site automatically deletes the account due to inactivity, or your family has requested the account to be closed. Most sites allow access to your personal data by your next of kin, but to gain this right, they will need to mail proof to the website. Even though you may have died, if you use one password for all these sites, your family members might be able to use that password, or even guess your secret question. But then again, when you die, would you even care what people find in your email inbox or social networking sites?

If you are trying to access a deceased person’s email, try resetting their email, look to see if they have stored the password in a file, or see if they have written it down on paper.

Have you ever gone through something like this? What did you do to secure the deceased user account? Your experience could help easy the transition for others. Share them in the comments.