What Facebook Knows About You

[yogi]

That makes sense. Apple product users are often ostentatious. They can afford to pay for their sins.

[Kellemora]

I don't doubt that one bit Yogi!
We often rent cars to go somewhere out of town.
Although I've not tried checking using Opera. I do know we find better deals using my Linux computer than she finds using her Windows computer, and that is from the same rental place we always use.
A couple of times we got to use a car for free because we were going to where they needed it to end up.
We still paid the gas of course, but the rental fee was waived if we rented it one way.
Then we would rent another round-trip to go where we intended going in the first place.
And after we got back from the round-trip we took the bus to get home from the closer destination.

[yogi]

There are indeed a lot of bargains out there if you know where to look. I understand, if you are lucky, you can upgrade to first class on an airplane that has empty space. It usually involves paying a little extra at the terminal gate, but I've also read about people who got the upgrade just for the asking. This last trip we made to SC was special. Usually you can't get me that far from home unless I'm flying there.

[pilvikki]

didi's really good at sniffing out good prices, she once ferreted us a week at a resort in cuba for $1200, all inclusive, and that was for 3 adults and 3 wee kids.

me, not so much, i find the page set ups often infuriating and don't have the patience to keep going back and forth.

[Kellemora]

I hear ya!
The frau went ahead and got a couple of weights, instead of a set.
She looked at several on-line also, and got different prices shown to her than were shown to me.
This got her POed big time, as they were all higher than the prices I jotted down on the note I gave her.

[yogi]

Next time I'm out bargain hunting on the Internet, I'm going to try the use of different browsers side by side trick. However, the next time I do that I will try it with the Tor (anonymous) browser and see what happens to the prices.

[Kellemora]

I've learned a lot since yesterday.
Some of which you already touched on.

Many big on-line dealers use what is called Dynamic Pricing...
And it does depend on which Browser you use, and your Browser History.
What Operating System you used, and especially what Zip Code you live in.
Dynamic pricing will adjust the price downward for lower income neighborhoods, and upward for higher class neighborhoods.
Plus they look at your previous shopping habits. Do you tend to look and not buy because of price?

The suggestions were to do your research using one computer and the actual buying of products from another computer.
Also, do a search using a different zip code to see if the price changes.
Use Incognito Mode with all cookies cleared to see what prices you get also.

Once I learned the words to search for "Dynamic Pricing" there is a lot of info out there regarding same.

[pilvikki]

dang! this is awesome info just before christmas!

squeaki needs a wee laptop, so i'll try to ferret out one that'll also work for her photography lessons, but won't put me into a poorhouse either...

rather different from my school supplies of pencil crayons and graph paper at the top. and wow! the kids were SO impressed with my fountain pen!

[yogi]

I've not heard the term "dynamic pricing" before, but I have been familiar with the technique for a long time.

The Tor browser it totally anonymous. Being a Linux fan, you might look into using Tails, a totally anonymous OS as well. They all use proxy networks which end up coming from third world countries most of the time. Heck, you might end up not having to pay at all using the Tor/Tails combination. LOL

[yogi]

I ran across an article explaining session replay tracking. It is exactly what you think it it. It's software that tracks your session on a website so that it can be played back by the site owner at some point. The technique is simple and has been around like forever. However, a lot of people don't know that many popular websites are doing this.

Session replay scripts act just like a silent cameraman, recording aspects of your visit like how long you spend on each page, where your mouse goes and what you type, so that it can be played back like a movie by the site’s owner.

They exist to help website owners improve their sites by observing how users engage with them.

The security issue centers around how that recorded information is handled by the people collecting it. Seems like there is very little security there. The article might be a little technical for the average reader, but you will get the gist of what can and is known about you when you visit a web site which decides to track you.

https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2017/1 ... -websites/

[Kellemora]

OK, now I've caught Amazon in the Price Gouging act big time.

The frau and I were considering a purchase. Comparing two different units by the same company.

The Better Unit was priced at $251.00, and the Best Unit was priced at $264.00 when I looked at it on my computer.
Went down to the house to have the frau look them up on her computer to see the features.
When she went to the page.
The Better Unit was priced at $370.96, and the Best Unit was priced at $329.00, on her computer.
Hmm, the Better Unit is priced forty bucks more than the Best Unit, that makes no sense!

Went back up to my office to use my computer, because we decided to buy the Best Unit for $264.00, only now it was showing me $329.00 also. I decided to check the Better Unit and it was priced at $372.89, which is about 30 bucks above the list price.

Decided to sleep on it overnight, because after being shown I could buy it for $263.99 I was not going to pay $329.00
This morning they still showed me the $329.00 price, and just a few minutes ago, they showed me $299.99 on a lower link. But when I clicked on the lower link, the window it took me to was back up to $329.00

Something else I wanted to buy, a low cost item. Has changed from $5.96 to $14.99, and right now it's showing $12.89...

Since I know what the lowest prices they have shown me are, I won't be buying until they give me those prices again.
If they don't, I won't be buying...

[pilvikki]

THAT is outrageous!

but i've also noticed things tend to wobble from one minute to the next.

[yogi]

A little wobble could be expected, but what Gary is showing is ridiculous. His experience was with Amazon, but it's not limited to those guys. I might be tempted to beat them at their own game and create an alternate account and using an anonymous (no tracking) browser. It's a lot of trouble to get the 'best' price, but if it works then go for it.

[Kellemora]

I don't think going incognito from a computer never used, unless it was because I have the same ISP, matters.
This mornings prices on an Old Dell Computer 10/100 running Linux Mint 17.
Better Unit $297.49
Best Unit $299.99

This mornings prices on the Frau's Windows 10 computer they recognize.
Better Unit $372.89
Best Unit $299.99

On my daily use computer, the Silver Yogi.
Better Unit $349.00
Best Unit $329.00 on main display, $299.99 from bottom link, and stayed at $299.99 when main display opened back up.

The items I'm referring to above that I failed to mention are:
Shark Ion 720 as Better Unit, and Shark Ion 750 as Best Unit.

The secondary item mentioned was Fiebing Glycerine Saddle Soap. It sells for $4.89 at our local hardware store.
Amazon has showed me $5.96, $12.89, and $14.99 so far.
I don't necessarily like Fiebing and prefer Belvoir Glycerine Saddle Soap. It sells for $9.33 at another local hardware store.
Both of the hardware stores are selling it for less than the recommended price by the manufacturer.
$5.00 list for Fiebing, $10.00 list for Belvoir. Amazon does not have Belvoir, only Fiebing, but higher priced than our local stores.

[pilvikki]

totally bonkers!

btw, if you'd like some really awesome soap, daughter makes beautiful soap! and you can get it in flavour you want, or any you don't want. lol. it's all natural stuff, so great for my cranky skin.

[yogi]

Using the Tor browser in an OS such as Tails hides your true IP address and domain references. You can change the browser user agent string too so that it's totally impossible to identify you. It is how hackers do their job. The only give away would be use of an existing credit card. There too you can find cards that use different account numbers for every transaction. I don't know if it's worth going through all that trouble, but I do know it can be done.

[yogi]

In a slightly different vein, I use a graphic editing program called PaintShop Pro. I've used it for maybe ten years now and have upgraded along the way. The average price is around $100, retail. But, every so often when an update becomes available they will discount it to get me to upgrade. It's not really an upgrade. It's an entire stand alone piece of software that requires a clean install. Last year, when the new version came out they were going to do me a favor as a long time customer and give me the new program plus 5 other freebies for a mere $69. I knew they would try again later at a lower price so that I did not buy in at that time. Sure enough the next offer was reduced and the one after that reduced even more. I think it was down to $39.99 by that time. It was very tempting and I decided to buy it but got distracted and forgot all about it. A couple weeks later they made their final 'clearance' offer. I could have the entire package for $25. I never saw it that cheap in all the time I've been using this program. Needless to say I bought it and got the 5 other programs to go with it.

I don't know why they did that other than I usually did the upgrade every two years. I was at that two year mark and not buying so that they must have thought I found something else. Each of the 6 programs was worth at least $25 apiece. I felt that I got a bargain.

[yogi]

FWW: I found this article by LifeHacker that implies we are onto something, i.e., prices change dynamically on the Internet. They suggest a couple tools might be helpful to getting the best deal. Or, just a plain ol' Google search, which is what I do much of the time.

https://lifehacker.com/use-a-price-trac ... 1820748867

[Kellemora]

I had a Google Chrome extension called 'Invisible Hand' for a while, but found I got the same results using Google Shopping.
What I liked about 'Invisible Hand' was it still showed you the prices, even if the websites had them blocked unless you logged in.

I was swamped this morning so did not yet get around to checking prices. I'm hoping they have the Cyber Monday deal price.