10 Tips To Safe Online Shopping

Written by Gina Stathopoulos


The internet has changed our buying habits. Many people have foundrepparttar convenience of online shopping to be a great experience. You can easily click and seerepparttar 110981 product. You have a fun time shopping, browsing, reading and getting informed about products. And you don’t have to take time out from your busy schedule to fight traffic, crowds and lines to buyrepparttar 110982 perfect gift for your recipient.

No wonder Internet business generated $301 billion in revenue last year, by a University of Texas estimate.

If you compare shopping online to offline you would think as far as security goes, it would favor offline shopping, right? Not really.

Inrepparttar 110983 years past, shoppers were more reluctant to do their shopping online – now things have changed greatly. And that confidence in consumers directly reflectsrepparttar 110984 enormous growth of online sales.

I have a friend who took his wife out for a romantic evening to a local restaurant. The last place you would expect credit card fraud to happen. Byrepparttar 110985 time he noticed they had charged him doublerepparttar 110986 amount for their dinner, it was too late to go back torepparttar 110987 restaurant. He rang me and we concluded that it must be a mistake. It was later that we found out thatrepparttar 110988 restaurant owner’s reputation was a bit shaky. Apparently he frequently overcharged customers inrepparttar 110989 hope they wouldn’t notice.

I don’t know. It’s a funny world we live in.

Does this meanrepparttar 110990 internet is safe? Relatively yes, but don’t forget,repparttar 110991 Internet is an open field and there are some bad elements out there. We have been shopping online for years. We never had a problem with credit card fraud onrepparttar 110992 Internet. But then again, we always take precautions. From this point forward, you will see 10 checkpoints online merchants have to pass to secure our business... Will your credit card details be safe?

Reputable companies online know that one ofrepparttar 110993 things preventing customers from placing orders with them is customers not been sure whether their credit card details will be safe. Responsible companies have taken this concern onboard and have set up their systems to providerepparttar 110994 customer with maximum security.

How would you know if you are entering your payment details on a secure page?

You should see a picture of a lock onrepparttar 110995 bottom right hand side of your screen. This lock will appear onrepparttar 110996 page that you fill in when ordering and ensures that your name, address and credit card information is being sent torepparttar 110997 online store through encrypted code. This encrypted code means that a hacker will not be able to steal your credit card information. Doesrepparttar 110998 online store value your privacy and confidentiality?

Prior torepparttar 110999 internet days, when I used to order something from a mail order company, mysteriously I would be sent advertising from companies that I hadn’t done business with. Back then I didn’t know that companies sold your personal information for advertising purposes to other companies.

Receiving junk mail was annoying but because ofrepparttar 111000 cost involved, it didn’t happen constantly. Imagine now if you do business online with a company that doesn’t respect your privacy and sells your email address.

Next time you open your email software, you are bombarded with emails ranging from a dozen to hundreds. Now that’s not annoying – it’s intolerable.

So moral ofrepparttar 111001 story here, make sure your email address won’t be sold. Ensurerepparttar 111002 online store has a privacy statement which would state they will maintain your personal details inrepparttar 111003 strictest privacy and confidentiality. Doesrepparttar 111004 online store have contact details?

You may think, of course an online store would display their contact details on their website. You would be surprised. I was. No email address, nothing. This is a sure red flag.

The Sentimental Meaning Of Flowers

Written by Gina Stathopoulos


For me certain types of flowers bring back a flood of memories. I remember in my early teens visiting my best friend who had moved torepparttar country. We would spend hours inrepparttar 110980 field next to her property, talking and pickingrepparttar 110981 petals of daisies in a game played by many, he-loves-me, he-loves-me-not.

This memory can rushing back two days ago when I was waiting in line atrepparttar 110982 supermarket and happened to glance atrepparttar 110983 bouquets for sale. Amongstrepparttar 110984 mixed bouquets, there were daisies. This flower has special meaning in my heart. I associate it with my best friend who I lost to a car accident when we were both 17.

Flowers definitely bring an emotional response and we remember our happy and sad times through them.

The first time I inhaledrepparttar 110985 sweet fragrance of a carnation I was enthralled. It happened when my father, took us to Greece to visit his parents. As a 7 year old, this strange land captivated me. I vividly remember my first response when we made our way uprepparttar 110986 hill where my grandparents’ house was, to find myself staring up atrepparttar 110987 handing grapes fromrepparttar 110988 porch roof andrepparttar 110989 carnations which were planted alongrepparttar 110990 edge ofrepparttar 110991 porch.

Blood red, I can still recall their sweet aroma. They wererepparttar 110992 pride and joy of my grandmother who nurtured them and allowed me to help care for them. I had been instantly impressed by this glorious flower, not having seen it before.

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