If you're stuck with a gift card that is simply of no use to you, there is now a place to exchange or sell it online.
A northwest suburban couple, Stacy and Arlen Shub, came up with the idea for the Star Gift Card Exchange out of necessity. Shub said they had a stack of gift cards they couldn't use.
Those cards proved to be the "seed money" for the exchange, which went online earlier this year.
"At first I was thinking let's try exchanging our own cards as a test," Shub said. "That worked, and since then, it's grown and grown."
Shub said in the past month, Star's first holiday shopping season since going online, business has "really exploded."
He expects another onslaught of would-be shoppers seeking cards to exchange or sell now that Christmas presents are opened.
"It's a way to get some value out of the cards you've been sitting on," he said.
Shub estimates that 10 percent of gift cards are simply never used, for a variety of reasons.
The exchange buys cards for between 65 and 75 percent of face value, and resells them at a discount. You can buy cards from such retailers as Barnes and Noble, Macy's and Saks for between 12 and 20 percent below face value, or trade for cards from everyplace from Applebee's to WalMart.
All online transactions with Star are secure, and Shub said the value of the cards is verified before they are listed for sale or trade to take the worry out of card exchanges for those doing business with it.
The site also tells how to find out what your card is worth, and has a frequently-updated listing of state laws governing gift cards
FOR MORE INFORMATION CLICK HERE
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Monday, December 24, 2007
R&B Group B2K say they were victims of Molestation
For years there has been nasty speculation in the industry about producer Chris Stokes being a child molester. Those stories were completely unfounded, until now. Former member of B2K, Raz-B, and older brother, Ricky Romance, are coming out on record making startling allegations that Stokes molested both of them, and most likely all of the other B2K members as well as Marques Houston.
Raz-B can be seen in the Youtube clip below confessing the molestation to Marques Houston's sister: He claims to be on a new spiritual journey finding solace in God. Part of his healing is bringing to light the horrible events with Stokes that have haunted him since they occurred. His mission with this phone call was to alert the Houston family that Marques and Omarion were most likely victim's as well
Read More......
Raz-B can be seen in the Youtube clip below confessing the molestation to Marques Houston's sister: He claims to be on a new spiritual journey finding solace in God. Part of his healing is bringing to light the horrible events with Stokes that have haunted him since they occurred. His mission with this phone call was to alert the Houston family that Marques and Omarion were most likely victim's as well
Read More......
Sunday, December 23, 2007
You can now trace your family tree through DNA testing
They are everywhere these days — lurking at family reunions, popping up at funerals, trolling wedding receptions.
They don't want your blood, just your spit.
Geri Gibbons of Madison nabbed her 65-year-old uncle during his first trip to the U.S. from Scotland in September. Armed with a cotton swab, she swiped a swath of DNA-laden tissue from his mouth.
"I'm not entirely sure he knew what I was asking for," she says, "but he didn't seem to mind."
Gibbons shipped her uncle's cells to Family Tree DNA, one of about two dozen companies offering genetic ancestry tests. She has just started getting periodic e-mails back from the company alerting her to fellow test subjects who share her family's DNA markers, an indication of a relationship somewhere in time.
For Gibbons and other recreational genealogists, DNA testing unlocks exciting possibilities. Yet the newness of commercially available genetic tests and the quick growth of the industry has some people urging restraint.
In a Science magazine report in October, several scientists and scholars said the limitations of the tests make them less informative than many realize. Pilar Ossorio, an associate professor of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin Law School and a co-author of the Science article, said in an interview that she has strong privacy concerns because genetic genealogy companies are largely unregulated.
"Once your DNA gets out there, there are a lot of things that could happen to it — a lot of different kinds of tests and studies that could be done with it — and some of those might produce information that could come back to haunt you."
A new way to search
Gibbons, 45, has spent hundreds of dollars ordering birth certificates of potential ancestors in Europe, but the paper trail often fades prior to the 1850s. She spent about $200 for a 37-marker DNA package using her uncle's Y chromosome.
Test packages typically start with 12 markers and go as high as 67, with prices increasing accordingly. The more Y chromosome markers tested, the greater the ability to predict when two men shared a common ancestor.
They don't want your blood, just your spit.
Geri Gibbons of Madison nabbed her 65-year-old uncle during his first trip to the U.S. from Scotland in September. Armed with a cotton swab, she swiped a swath of DNA-laden tissue from his mouth.
"I'm not entirely sure he knew what I was asking for," she says, "but he didn't seem to mind."
Gibbons shipped her uncle's cells to Family Tree DNA, one of about two dozen companies offering genetic ancestry tests. She has just started getting periodic e-mails back from the company alerting her to fellow test subjects who share her family's DNA markers, an indication of a relationship somewhere in time.
For Gibbons and other recreational genealogists, DNA testing unlocks exciting possibilities. Yet the newness of commercially available genetic tests and the quick growth of the industry has some people urging restraint.
In a Science magazine report in October, several scientists and scholars said the limitations of the tests make them less informative than many realize. Pilar Ossorio, an associate professor of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin Law School and a co-author of the Science article, said in an interview that she has strong privacy concerns because genetic genealogy companies are largely unregulated.
"Once your DNA gets out there, there are a lot of things that could happen to it — a lot of different kinds of tests and studies that could be done with it — and some of those might produce information that could come back to haunt you."
A new way to search
Gibbons, 45, has spent hundreds of dollars ordering birth certificates of potential ancestors in Europe, but the paper trail often fades prior to the 1850s. She spent about $200 for a 37-marker DNA package using her uncle's Y chromosome.
Test packages typically start with 12 markers and go as high as 67, with prices increasing accordingly. The more Y chromosome markers tested, the greater the ability to predict when two men shared a common ancestor.
Friday, December 21, 2007
It's Finally Over! Valerie Bertinelli and Van Halen Split!
Eddie Van Halen has officially gone solo. At least in the relationship department.
A Los Angeles judge has signed off on the divorce between the guitar god and TV fixture Valerie Bertinelli, ending a quarter-century of matrimony.
The judgment was entered Thursday. The former One Day at a Time player filed for divorce in December 2005, even though the couple officially separated four years earlier.
She cited the usual irreconcilable differences for the split, which her publicist described as amicable.
According to court papers, the ex-couple, who wed in 1981, has already divvied up their assets.
There was no word on custody arrangements for their 16-year-old son, Wolfgang. The teen has been living with his mother since the split, but of late has been on the road touring with dad's revamped Van Halen.
Bertinelli, 47, has morphed from child star to TV-movie queen to Jennie Craig pitchwoman. In July she announced she was writing a memoir, Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time, slated for release in April.
"I've grown up in and out of the public eye, survived some tough times, learned some important lessons, and come out—as has my entire family—in a great place," she said.
Van Halen, 52, has managed to get his career back on track after being sidelined for oral cancer in 2000 and then rehab earlier this year.
His eponymous band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last March and has since embarked on a hugely successful reunion tour with original frontman David Lee Roth, brother Alex on drums and Wolfgang on bass.
The band, which is up for a People's Choice Award next month for Favorite Reunion Tour, recently extended the road show into 2008.
Read
A Los Angeles judge has signed off on the divorce between the guitar god and TV fixture Valerie Bertinelli, ending a quarter-century of matrimony.
The judgment was entered Thursday. The former One Day at a Time player filed for divorce in December 2005, even though the couple officially separated four years earlier.
She cited the usual irreconcilable differences for the split, which her publicist described as amicable.
According to court papers, the ex-couple, who wed in 1981, has already divvied up their assets.
There was no word on custody arrangements for their 16-year-old son, Wolfgang. The teen has been living with his mother since the split, but of late has been on the road touring with dad's revamped Van Halen.
Bertinelli, 47, has morphed from child star to TV-movie queen to Jennie Craig pitchwoman. In July she announced she was writing a memoir, Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time, slated for release in April.
"I've grown up in and out of the public eye, survived some tough times, learned some important lessons, and come out—as has my entire family—in a great place," she said.
Van Halen, 52, has managed to get his career back on track after being sidelined for oral cancer in 2000 and then rehab earlier this year.
His eponymous band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last March and has since embarked on a hugely successful reunion tour with original frontman David Lee Roth, brother Alex on drums and Wolfgang on bass.
The band, which is up for a People's Choice Award next month for Favorite Reunion Tour, recently extended the road show into 2008.
Read
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Hedge-Fund Veterans Stir Up the World of Philanthropy
As hedge-fund analysts, Holden Karnofsky and Elie Hassenfeld made six-figure incomes deciding which companies to invest in. Now they are doing the same thing with charities, for a lot less pay.
Mr. Karnofsky and Mr. Hassenfeld, both 26, are the founders and sole employees of GiveWell, which studies charities in particular fields and ranks them on their effectiveness. GiveWell is supported by a charity they created, the Clear Fund, which makes grants to charities they recommend in their research.
Their efforts are shaking up the field of philanthropy, generating the kind of buzz more typically devoted to Bill Gates and Warren E. Buffett, as charities ponder what, if anything, their rigorous approach to evaluation means for the future.
“I think in general it’s a good thing,” said Thomas Tighe, president and chief executive of Direct Relief International, an agency that GiveWell evaluated but did not recommend. Like others in the field, however, Mr. Tighe has reservations about GiveWell’s method, saying it tends to be less a true measure of a charity’s effectiveness than simply a gauge of the charity’s ability to provide data on that effectiveness.
Mr. Karnofsky and Mr. Hassenfeld met at Bridgewater Associates, an investment management company in Westport, Conn., which they joined at roughly the same time.
In the fall of 2006, they and six colleagues created what Mr. Karnofsky calls a “charity club.” Each member was assigned to research charities working in a specific field and report back on those that achieved the best results. They were stunned by the paucity of information they could collect.
Read More.......
Mr. Karnofsky and Mr. Hassenfeld, both 26, are the founders and sole employees of GiveWell, which studies charities in particular fields and ranks them on their effectiveness. GiveWell is supported by a charity they created, the Clear Fund, which makes grants to charities they recommend in their research.
Their efforts are shaking up the field of philanthropy, generating the kind of buzz more typically devoted to Bill Gates and Warren E. Buffett, as charities ponder what, if anything, their rigorous approach to evaluation means for the future.
“I think in general it’s a good thing,” said Thomas Tighe, president and chief executive of Direct Relief International, an agency that GiveWell evaluated but did not recommend. Like others in the field, however, Mr. Tighe has reservations about GiveWell’s method, saying it tends to be less a true measure of a charity’s effectiveness than simply a gauge of the charity’s ability to provide data on that effectiveness.
Mr. Karnofsky and Mr. Hassenfeld met at Bridgewater Associates, an investment management company in Westport, Conn., which they joined at roughly the same time.
In the fall of 2006, they and six colleagues created what Mr. Karnofsky calls a “charity club.” Each member was assigned to research charities working in a specific field and report back on those that achieved the best results. They were stunned by the paucity of information they could collect.
Read More.......
Lakota Indians Announce Secession from United States
The Lakota Indians, the tribe of legendary warriors Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, have declared their independence from the United States Wednesday.
The Native American tribe, whose territory span five midwestern states, delivered a message to the US State Department earlier this week, announcing that they were unilaterally withdrawing from treaties signed with the US government.
The Native Americans say the treaties have been repeatedly violated by the US government. There are 33 treaties that the Lakota tribe feels have been broken.
Around half of the Lakota nation is in the state of South Dakota. The rest of the territory rests in parts of the states of Nebraska, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming.
Representatives of the self-proclaimed new Lakota country say they plan to issue their own passports and driving licenses. Residents would live there would be tax-free, provided that they renounce their US citizenship.
The Lakota Indians have gone through hard times in recent years as a culture. Lakota teen suicides are 150 percent above the United States average; infant mortality is five times higher than the US average; and unemployment is very high.
Read more
The Native American tribe, whose territory span five midwestern states, delivered a message to the US State Department earlier this week, announcing that they were unilaterally withdrawing from treaties signed with the US government.
The Native Americans say the treaties have been repeatedly violated by the US government. There are 33 treaties that the Lakota tribe feels have been broken.
Around half of the Lakota nation is in the state of South Dakota. The rest of the territory rests in parts of the states of Nebraska, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming.
Representatives of the self-proclaimed new Lakota country say they plan to issue their own passports and driving licenses. Residents would live there would be tax-free, provided that they renounce their US citizenship.
The Lakota Indians have gone through hard times in recent years as a culture. Lakota teen suicides are 150 percent above the United States average; infant mortality is five times higher than the US average; and unemployment is very high.
Read more
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