5 Safety Tips for Holiday Shopping Online

 

Holiday shopping can be an exhausting experience, even online. There are so many places to visit and choices to make. You like to believe that the product and service recommendations you receive while shopping are helping show you the best bargains and important special offers. This is the claim made by many behavioral tracking advertisers. Their PhD-designed computer algorithms watch your every move and help predict what you might want to see.

But what happens when one of these friendly helpers has an ulterior motive such as selling your information to someone else or using it to invade your shopping privacy? These five tips will help ensure that you get the most from your holiday shopping experience and keep the unwanted intruders at bay.

1. Beware of upsells and add-ons

It is common practice to offer additional related items to a customer who just completed a purchase. If you purchased a pair of shoes, it is logical for marketers to assume that you might want socks or even another pair of shoes. How you deal with these prompts tells the vendor a lot about your tendencies and preferences. Most importantly, it tells them that you DO or DO NOT respond to such advertisements. Vendors design their sites and shopping carts based on this behavior. If you ignore such prompts, or quickly navigate away from the site after receiving your purchase confirmation, you will be less likely to become a statistic and more likely to keep your personal privacy intact.

2. Use a different email address

One of the biggest annoyances surrounding online shopping is the increase in follow-up emails that are sent after you make your purchase. Good marketers know that existing customers are their best customers, so almost every purchase you make online will result in a series of emails designed to get you back to the site to buy something else. Most sites assume that by making a purchase from them, you have voluntarily “opted in” to their email marketing campaigns. But don’t forget that you can opt-out by clicking on each email’s unsubscribe link, while this sounds easy enough, it can sometimes be a time-consuming, painful process. Instead, go to gmail.google.com and get a new gmail email address that you can use exclusively for online shopping. Make sure to create a legitimate email address because some purchases will require you to validate it. Once you finish holiday shopping, you can then choose to either ignore or cancel that gmail account, and your ‘real’ email inbox will remain spam-free.

Read the next 3 steps here

Thanksgiving Turkey Spoon Craft

This cute turkey craft is a good project for kids, and it uses up leftover plastic spoons.

There was no tomfoolery here. This youngster followed in her mother’s footsteps to design a pleasing project. “Mom was making crafts for a fund-raiser at my school, and I wanted to do something, too,” explains April L. of Detroit, Michigan.

To April, a bird in the hand was a fun choice. “I decided to make a turkey out of a spoon, because I’d never seen one decorated for Thanksgiving before,” she says. “I thought foam feathers would be pretty to use. My family and friends also liked it.”

Ready to dress up a project of your own? Just ask a parent for the materials and any help you need, then follow the simple instructions here.

You Will Need
Patterns (below)
Tracing paper
Pencil
Scissors
White plastic spoon
Scraps of craft foam in five colors, including red (April used Foamies)
Two 10 millimeter wiggle eyes
Scrap of gold felt
Low-temperature glue gun and glue sticks
6-inch-long stick of hard candy or small sucker
Transparent tape

For instructions on how to complete this Thanksgiving Craft—-> Click Here

Top 10 Movies of All Time.

1. Shawshank Redemption

2. The Godfather

3. Godfather Part II

4. Inception

5. The Good The Bad and the Ugly

Meet Meow-Meow- LPRT

Meow-Meow is a beautiful cat with no real issues except being skittish. Meow-Meow was captured during a raid on a hoarder’s house. She will come for petting as the family is settling down for the night or for a nap. During the day, she generally hides. She would be frightened in a busy environment. Meow-Meow comes to her name. She is fine with dogs, but has nothing to do with them. She would be fine with older children. Meow-Meow is a real pleasure to have at home. She has come a long way. She is completely litter trained. For more information please contact Kathi @ 817-891-3909.

Meow-Meow is house trained and spayed/neutered.

www.lostpawsrescueoftexas.org.

Meet Betsy!- LPRT

Hello! My name is Betsy, I LOVE to be petted, but you will have to come to me for some lovin. I love feather toys and jingle balls. I am a very playful kitty. For more information on Betsy, please contact Kathi @ 817-891-3909. Join us on Facebook: LostPaws Rescue

BETSY is up-to-date with routine shots and house trained.

www.lostpawsrescueoftexas.org

Meet Harley- LPRT

My name is Harley. I am endearing, sweet and will win you over in a heartbeat! I am about 4 years old, as far as we know, and I weigh 11 pounds.

I was a little hand shy for a couple days but my foster mom was able to get me past that with lots of love, hugs and kisses and now I’m a big love muffin!

My new home needs to be a very special one, filled with lots of love and affection for me, because I am a dream dog with a good little soul and I deserve that! I promise I will return the love 10 fold!!

Also, I am quiet and very rarely bark! I am playful and I love to be loved on and petted and once in awhile I will nudge under your hand so you will pet me.

If you would like to meet Harley, please go to our website at http://www.lostpawsrescueoftexas.org and complete an on line application. Harley’s adoption fee is $200, which includes shots, spay, heatworm test, and deworm.

www.lostpawsrescueoftexas.org

Eye Care for Dogs

Man’s best friend could use a good eyeballing once in awhile—believe us, your dog won’t take it personally! In fact, giving him regular home eye exams will help keep you alert to any tearing, cloudiness or inflammation that may indicate a health problem. Check out the following ways to help keep your dog’s vision sharp—and that twinkle in his eyes.

1. The Initial Gaze

Face your dog in a brightly lit area and look into his eyes. They should be clear and bright, and the area around the eyeball should be white. His pupils should be equal in size and there shouldn’t be tearing, discharge or any crust in the corners of his eyes.

2. A Closer Look

With your thumb, gently roll down your dog’s lower eyelid and look at the lining. It should be pink, not red or white.

3. What to Watch Out For

The following are signs that something may be wrong with one or both of your dog’s eyes:

• Discharge & crusty gunk
• Tearing
• Red or white eyelid linings
• Tear-stained fur
• Closed eye(s)
• Cloudiness or change in eye color
• Visible third eyelid
• Unequal pupil sizes

For more information on Doggie Eye Care, please visit the ASPCA Website: Click HERE

Meet Ying & Yang from LPRT!

YING & YANG are gorgeous blue point siamese/tonkinese brothers that must be adopted together since they do ev eryone together – sleep, play, eat, mischief!! The “boys” are between 1-2 years of age and are very loving as well as playful. Although they look identical, they have very different personalities. Our adoption fee of $250 covers the FIV/FeLeuk testing, neuter, vaccinations (FVRCPC, FeLeuk and rabies) fecal and deworming plus a well pet exam. Please call/text Kathi at 817.891.3909.

Pet Month @ 4343 at the Parkway!

Since the month of August is all about PETS! We wanted to include info and pictures on available cats and dogs from Lost Paws Rescue of Texas! Keep a eye out for our posts!

Also, we will be throwing a party for you and your pet later in August so keep your eyes open for more details which are coming soon!

August- Get Out of Jail Free Cards and Adoption Special!

 

Our community, 4343 at the Parkway, just recently celebrated our annual pool party on July 17th, 2010.  We came up with a really great idea to help our community all the meanwhile helping our residents!  Our residents were given the chance to give a cash donation of $20.00 to Lost Paws Rescue of Texas and in return they would receive a “Get Out of Jail Free” card. The card is to provide some assistance to residents who may encounter late fees at one point of their stay here at 4343 (Worth $75 towards 1 day of late rent).

The residents were more excited about donating, than the free money they were receiving which was quite entertaining to us, because we assumed it would have been the reverse.   

We were pretty successful with the generous donations from our residents that took advantage of the “Get Out of Jail Free” cards. 

Since our pool party, we have received a couple more calls asking us if we are going to continue to take donations still so they can receive a “Get out of Jail free” card……so we are proudly here to announce that, “YES” we will be extending the donations until the end August. 

We are also offering a “Adoption Special” for residents who would like to adopt from Lost Paws Rescue of Texas!

Adopt a new cat or dog from LPRT and receive 1/2 off your pet fee ($150 fee and $100 deposit). You must show proof of the adoption through LPRT and also adopt during the month of August/pay fees to our community.

To learn more about LPRT visit them online @ www.lostpawsrescueoftexas.org.

Bring your $20 cash donation to the office and we will issue you the card.