O2 / Telefonica paying for links? The fairness of the internet

What started out as an innocuous piece of spam in my inbox has lead me to multiple sources of evidence that O2, a major UK telecom provider owned by publicly traded Telefonica (and sponsor of the England Rugby team and Arsenal football club) is benefiting from a pay for links scam. I’ve found 6 suspicious backlinks to O2 that exactly match the pattern of an illict “advertising” offer sent to the Splitwise blog.

The most likely explanation (if the JCPenny / SearchDex scandal is any guide) is that a search engine consultant or marketing company hired by O2 has created a scam on O2’s behalf to increase their search rankings.

“We are unaware of this activity and, as a result of your findings, we are now conducting a full internal investigation,” said John Malley, reputation manager for O2 UK, via email on Tuesday morning EST.
Continue reading O2 / Telefonica paying for links? The fairness of the internet

Latrines’ Galore

Today we’re talking about some sweet unconventional housing, hardwood floors, and figuring out how much rent each housemate should pay.

Dear Splitwise,

I am trying to arbitrate a living situation for my daughter and want to share some Outhouses Galorethoughts. Your “Splitwise” rent calculator is ingenious! However it may not work as well with unconventional housing. One thing missing from the calculation is the number of bathrooms. This is a drawback as a typical 4 bedroom house might have only two bathrooms so the MBR rent would be much higher due to the exclusive use of the MBR bath. All other tenants and house guests would use the single remaining bath… much less desirable.

Continue reading Latrines’ Galore

Marketplace Fairness Act – Who Really Wins?

There is a bill going through the Senate right now called the Marketplace Fairness Act. It’s a bill that will force online companies like eBay and Amazon to collect taxes on all purchases, regardless which state they are shipping to. Currently Amazon only collects taxes from 5 states in the country.

I can hear you asking – “A new tax?! Don’t we already have enough taxes to pay? Why are both sides of the political fence backing this bill.. has the sky really fallen?!” Turns out, legally you’re supposed to be paying those taxes for your online purchases at the end of the year when you file your tax return. Surprisingly enough, Americans aren’t always so voluntary and forthcoming with that sort of information when tax time comes around. State and Federal Tax bureaus also haven’t been the best when it comes to enforcing it either.

Continue reading Marketplace Fairness Act – Who Really Wins?

Saving the World, One Microwave at a Time

In today’s Dear Splitwise, we consider the troubles of a super-intense treehugger who lives off-campus with his roommates (and their girlfriends).

Dear Splitwise,Unplug that Microwave!

I live in an student-style apartment with 3 roommates, and we all have separate leases. The only thing not separate is the electricity, and there are a couple issues splitting it based on usage and our guests. Also, I’m an environmentalist, and every month, they hand me a $180 electric bill and asking me to pay for a third of it. To me, this is like saying, “Hey I need you to give me some of your money for something I need that you will not be using that will cause your friends to die, can I get that on the 20th?”

Continue reading Saving the World, One Microwave at a Time

Take (time) off with TestFlight

If you’re like me, you probably have this interaction at least once a month:

It’s 11:30 pm. You’re unwinding after a grueling day of coding. Cue cell phone.

CEO: I just met [VC/Angel Investor] and I need to show them our app. Is the latest code up on TestFlight?

Me: No, it’s two weeks old. Do you need this right now?

CEO: Yes! I talked to this investor a few weeks ago and need to show some progress.

Me: Ugh. Ok, let me pull out my laptop and update the build.

…ten minutes of fumbling…

CEO: Can we just keep this more up to date? [VC/Angel investor] had to move on.

Me: Sure, whatever, it’s up to date now. Can I go to bed?

I got sick of these phone calls, so I decided to see if I could find some solution to change the conversation. TestFlight has an API and with a little elbow grease, you can get this whole process down to one step.

Continue reading Take (time) off with TestFlight

When Fairness Backfires

The J.C. Penney logo
J.C. Penney has struggled after introducing new “fairer” prices this spring.

In most money matters, it pays to be fair. (Certainly when paying back your friends.) But when big businesses try to be fair to their customers, sometimes it can backfire in a big way.

Take J.C. Penney. Back in February, they hired a new CEO, Ron Johnson (who built Apple Inc.’s retail operation) to revamp their declining sales. The department store chain then made some radical changes to their pricing.  They eliminated coupons, got rid of confusing fine print, and cut back from over 500 sales a year to just 12. The goal was to make shopping simpler, more transparent, and fairer for consumers.

Five months later, sales are tanking and stock prices have fallen more than 30%. But why? And is it possible for a company to be honest and still turn a profit? Continue reading When Fairness Backfires

Fridge Overlord

Shelf OverlordDear Splitwise returns this week to settle the issue of shelf space in a fridge that is owned by a roommate. This is common in places like Europe, where household appliances being included with a rental isn’t necessarily the norm.

Hi Splitwise,

I live with three other people in a four-bedroom share house. One of my housemates owns a 400L fridge. She uses between 40-60% of the fridge space, depending on how much food she has at the time. She also claims sole use of the largest and most convenient shelf (there are only three shelves, so no-one else can have their own shelf) and says that this is fair because it is her fridge. If we wanted to have unfettered fridge access, then we should supply our own fridge.

The problem with this – aside from the logistical issues with placing multiple fridges in an average-sized, inner-suburban house – is that the kitchen of a shared house is shared space. We all rent that space. If a housemate wants to carve out a fridge empire or own other large ungainly objects that others can’t freely use, they should do so in their bedroom and leave the common areas to be used equally by all housemates.

What do you think?

Yours Truly,
Shelfless

Continue reading Fridge Overlord

An Interview With JumpOffCampus

JumpOffCampusRecently, Katie from JumpOffCampus conducted an experiment: what happens if you tape record me talking for 15 minutes, and post it almost word-for-word on the internet?

Find out the results by reading the interview on the JumpOffCampus blog (except for the parts that were “too colorful for the internet”, kindly censored out).

JumpOffCampus is, in my honest opinion, the world’s best off-campus housing tool. It’s only available with schools that partner with them, so if you are a student and looking for a good apartment search tool, you should reach out to them.

A widget-ized version of the rent calculator is currently available as a resource on their page, which we hope will be very valuable for their students. Woot!