Justin Breithaupt | *NIXEDBLOG
Right now you can go to http://gnuconsumerreports.blogspot.com/ and read the first GNU Consumer Review blog entries.
This site rates products and services based on real world facts and not on who pays us the most money to review their item. You as the reader also get to comment and rate these companies as well as suggest new companies to review.
We haven’t dugg this page yet or put it on lxer because we are waiting for our registered domains to be linked to this site and for our advertisers to approve our site. Once they do we will open up for everyone. We also want to post several product reviews before announcing the site to the world so if you have any ideas please don’t hesitate to suggest them to us. If you want to write for us you can also let me know at admin @ mindblowingidea.com. Thanks.
You will find GNU Consumer Review by using one of these links. (will be available after Edwin gets them working with his Linux web server.)
http://gnuconsumerreports.blogspot.com/
“Your items will be reviewed in the order that we receive them and we get to keep your item in exchange for writing the review weather it’s positive or negative.”
Yeah, sure, keep on dreaming! Is this your version of a fundraiser for yourself? Just one more crackpot idea.
Well thats just a disclaimer. Other sites do the same thing. What would you suggest? We pay to ship the item back?
Actually ranger2,
It is not uncommon for some companies/groups such as MaximumPC to keep products for future testing.
Justin, a slight warning which you will no doubt totally disregard. The ads on your “consumer” sites come from fraudulent sources. One is a Casino get-rich-quick scheme, the other a buy-a-degree that is illegal almost everywhere. You might want to reconsider using those to make some click-through revenue as they are not really radiating a consumer-friendly profile for you. As an example the BS degree in 8 days is offered by Almeda University. Below information on that particualr scam comes from Wikipedia:
Legally, Almeda University is a corporation registered on the Caribbean island of Nevis. [3] Almeda claims accreditation by the Council for Distance Education Accreditation, Interfaith Education Ministries (IEM) and the Association for Online Academic Excellence (AOAEX); [4] none of these is recognized by the United States Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.[5] On its website, Almeda states that its claimed sources of accreditation are not recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, with the results that students cannot receive U.S. federal loans or assistance under the GI Bill and Almeda degrees may not be recognized by academia or employers.[4]
* Connecticut: According to the Connecticut Department of Higher Education, Almeda was ordered to cease operating in Connecticut in October, 2001. After an investigation in 2002 indicated that Almeda was continuing to advertise its programs in Connecticut, the Department of Higher Education sent Almeda a second cease and desist letter and referred the issue to the Connecticut Attorney General for possible legal action.[6]
* Florida: In 2003 the Florida Department of Education made an agreement with Almeda to cease operating in the state. Although Floridians can still get a degree from the online university, Almeda warns Floridians that its degrees may not be valid for public employment in Florida.[7]
* Texas: Almeda is also on the Texas list of “Fraudulent or Substandard Institutions”, making it illegal to use an Almeda degree in Texas in an advertisement; to get a job, promotion, raise, license, or to get admitted to an educational program or to gain many positions in government.[8]
* Other states: Almeda’s website also warns Almeda degrees may not be valid for public employment in Illinois, Oregon, New Jersey, North Dakota, Washington and Idaho.[3]
Well Ranger2 I’m not going to argue with you because I haven’t seen any bad adds on my site. There very well may be. All I know now is that adbrite is the only company I can get adds threw. Google adsence turned me down and I don’t know why. I’d like to get them to tell me why they turned me down but they won’t. I’m thought bout doing a review on them but my blog is being hosted by Google. If you can get a company to put adds on my site I’m willing to switch. Most add companies won’t consider your site unless their are no adds currently on it. So you want me to take the adds down? Apply for more companies so they can turn me down? What is a poor hacker to do?