Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Years! Stay safe and have fun :]

With so many online stores opening up, eBay has had to look for other means of generating purchases. One of the ways in which eBay has done this is with the program Kickitback.

Kickitback is an eBay affiliated program which takes a share of proceeds from your purchase, given by eBay, to then give to you (see diagram). You will receive up to 1% of the final price of an eBay item (at closing and not including shipping, insurance, or any other additional costs).

There are no sign-up fees, no monthly charges. You just earn money back for doing what you would normally do.

As the site reveals:

For your purchases to count, eBay needs to know that you got to their site via KickItBack. There are several ways to do this. Choose the one that seems simplest to you.
Before bidding on eBay...

1. Use the Bid page instead to purchase or bid on an item using KickItBack!

2. Use the Watch List page to bid on items in your watch list using KickItBack!

3. Login to KickItBack and click the "StartShopping on eBay" link, the "Search eBay" button, or one of our "Deals."

or 4. Download our ToolBar Button. This eliminates the need to go to KickItBack.com and login. You can simply click the KIB button on your browser interface to get to eBay.

or 5. Download our Desktop Widget. This will eliminate the need to open a browser. You can search eBay directly from your desktop.

The interface is very easy to use and doesn't really detract from the goal at hand... to get that product you've been looking for at the lowest price. So go ahead and sign up for this program and earn a little back on your hard earned investments :)

Check out these cool sites!

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For those of you who have been waiting for an excuse to go to an art museum, wait no longer.

The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA presents "Murakami."

Going on through the 11th of February, 2008, this exhibit showcases some of Murakami Takashi's work in awesome splendor.

Born an raised in Japan, Murakami has come to develop his artistic ability in both traditional and Modern Japanese art forms. As a result, you will not only see Buddhist and Japanese block print references of the past, but tributes to the very prevalent anime and hentai culture of today. His work spans the very colorful to the basic, extraordinarily detailed to the minimalist, cute to the strange. Murakami's work toys with the imagination in a way that is both intriguing and fun.

In this exhibit you will see not only sculptures and paintings, but prints, balloons, videos, and commercialized items.

Even if you you're someone who likes something cute, strange, large, small, detailed, basic, and the list goes on... you'll find Murakami's exhibit a pretty cool one.

Click here to check out the exhibit, but this in no way does justice to the awesomeness of Murakami's work.

Driving back home today, I was listening the American Top 40. It was a special edition showcasing the top 100 songs of the year with 2007 coming to an end.

"Coming to an end?" I thought to myself. How soon it started and how quickly it, seemingly, ended. It's really interesting how the end of the year causes one to pause and reflect.

Anyway, I was really happy about the fact that the top two songs were both sung by females. I don't know why, but there's something really awesome about seeing females rise above the so many obvious and subtle restrictions placed on them. It must be powerful for admirers to see the kinds of things that can be done, creating even greater potential for growth in the future. I can only look forward to seeing more of these barriers fall in the year to come.

Oh by the way, the top two songs:

2. "Say it Right" by Nelly Furtado, and
1. "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie

I know they always say turn off your appliances while you're not using them, turn off the lights when you're not in the room, use energy efficient light bulbs, etc; but I thought that this diagram was rather interesting, showing, not only, appliances you might suspect but others you might neglect to think about.

I'm particularly shocked by the plasma screen, as I wonder why the heck it would use so much information, and appliances that may be off--but not completely.

It only goes to show that if you were to take this into consideration, you would find a nice cut in your utility bill. Money in the pocket for that new book, drinks, or that special someone ;)

PS: I intentionally made that first sentence really long :P

As I mentioned in my first post, a college party must somehow involve drinking. With the crazy number of bowls going on and parties to come, the question remains, how can one get stock up without spending a fortune in hard earned cash?

The solution (at least in the states of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Texas and Vermont) comes in the form of a little known state laws and what it means to you.

These laws date back to the 1930s, when Prohibition was repealed, and allow you to purchase alcohol at places like wholesalers (where you might otherwise need a membership card).

As SmartMoney reveals:

Massachusetts' law, for example, provides that applicants for a license to sell alcohol must "serve the public need and protect the common good." In simpler terms, alcohol sold must be available for purchase by the greater public — no membership restrictions (however the minimum age requirement still applies.) "We uphold those old laws; therefore, any alcohol sold in our clubs in such states is open to the public," says Teleia Farrell, a spokeswoman for BJ's Wholesale Clubs.

Stores like Sam's Club, and Costco have differing options (including no options at all).

Generally speaking, however, this loophole can result in huge savings (anywhere around 20%). That said, don't expect workers to know these laws. Find and talk to a manager if you need to. Bringing this article with you couldn't hurt in also helping to prove your case.

When I used this law, it worked out pretty flawlessly. A manager just further emphasized the fact that this pertained to only alcohol and was not a free ride to buy whatever I wanted in the store without a membership card.

Anyway, try it out if you need to, and save!

There is also a new site that has come about that deals with making predictions and rewarding users who are most accurate and quick at forecasting.

The site is called Predictify.

It is interesting in that it seems trivial to want people to predict X, Y, and Z, but if this site becomes popular enough, it might just become another way of gaging people's opinion.

It might become, in essence, a techy gallop poll, quite potentially able to influence the way corporations, business, and politics does... well business.

Most intriguing to me, is why someone would pay to find out how much a home should be priced. Just a cheap way for a Realtor to do his or her own pricing accurately, or funding mispent?

You can decide yourself. Click here to register :)

Before finding out about this site, I know I was one of those people. After all, I always thought it would be cool to invest funds in companies I highly valued; not only to potentially receive returns from these stocks, but to derive a sense of ownership in the company.

Of course, with this responsibility came fears of not knowing what to do or of losing a great deal.

A new social network, The UpDown, combats this problem through giving you $1,000,000 in free virtual money that you then use in the buying and selling of stocks. It's pretty cool, and for simply beating the S&P average or writing good analysis' you can earn real money.

Generally, The UpDown is a social network for investors. Essentially, however, it is more like one of those learning games (ie. remember Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing) with the added bonus that you can earn on your picks. :P

To receive a personal invitation to this cool site and register, Click Here.

And if you're looking for something a bit more political to play/learn, you might even try Fantasy Congress.

I think law is pretty interesting, especially those that are more obscure. It is so vast and yet so hidden at times. For instance, as daily blog tips reveals:

Don’t copy material just because it does not show a copyright message: the Copyright Law required a copyright notice to protect works until 1977. In 1978, however, the law changed and abolished the requirement for copyright notice. This means that every published work (be it on paper or digital media) automatically gets copyright protection, whether expressed with a notice or not.

Now really, how would one have known that just because X, isn't stated, it is still there?

Somewhat related now are antiquated privacy laws and Facebook. As one of the four common-law privacy torts states, “One who appropriates to his own use or benefit the name of likeness of another is subject to liability to the other for an invasion of his privacy.”

Several states including New York and California have provisions that are similar. Coming out of "Abigail M. Roberson v. The Rochester Folding Box Company," New York’s statute creates both a misdemeanor and a civil cause of action for “[a]ny person whose name, portrait, picture, or voice is used within this state for advertising purposes or for the purposes of trade without the written consent first obtained.”

Harvard Law Professors raise great concern about this issue, as a new day and age develops more sophisticated systems. No doubt, this issue of privacy in these networks will have to be dealt with soon enough.

As an addendum, "ah, the powers of tort"

Ever wondered why on a long drive you tend to see weighing stations? I was driving back down to LA on the 5 and seeing the hoards of trucks funnel into these places, it got me thinking... why?

Apparently, they are a regulatory means for the state and government to (according to Wikipedia), "check freight carrier compliance with fuel tax laws and weight restrictions." With a federal maximum weight of 80,000 pounds and various guidelines being set up by different levels of government, it must get pretty confusing trying to straighten out the law, after all.

To some degree, it makes sense that they would want to regulate this type of activity, but at the same time, what does this do to the trucker? Also, what does this mean for items that increase in weight?

Hmmm, something to ponder on

Ahh, the first post. I guess it would be most appropriate to go over the title of this blog and what I intend to achieve. To start, "Out in 10"...

For my 21st birthday, my best friend put together a really amazing party. It was here that I noticed a couple things:

1. A college party must some how involve drinking
2. People have a tendency to really think in very lofty, almost church-like, terms around their 9th shot (if they've made it that far), and
3. No matter how much people like round numbers, that 10th shot is never a good thing.

Hence the title, "Out in 10"

I was thinking that this would not only include random thoughts, but impressions of various locales/artists/foods/issues... things (for lack of a better word), and various means for saving money (which as a college student is a pretty big deal).

The possibilities are really endless. I hope you will join me on this journey to learn, understand, and think about any and all of these possibilities :D