Traditionalists might balk, but the holiday shopping season is already underway. Skeptical? Head to your local department store and you'll be inundated by Christmas trees and ornaments. Bargain hunters, though, know that the real deals are more than a month away.
Black Friday, traditionally, is when retailers truly slash prices. Early birds can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars off of their holiday bills. Switched.com checked with a few elves, who gave a sneak peek at what you can expect deal-wise this year.
Blu-ray Players and Movies: Blu-ray is shaping up to be the biggest door buster of this year's Black Friday. de Grandpre expects at least one retailer will offer a Blu-ray player for just $49. Look for bargains on Blu-ray films as well, with last year's hit titles (such as "Iron Man") to fall as low as $5.
Laptops: With the proliferation of Netbooks this year, it's never been easier to find affordable portable computing, but Dan de Grandpre, CEO of DealNews.com says it will get even cheaper on Black Friday. Look for well-equipped Netbooks to sell for $199 – and basic 15" laptops to go for as little as $249.
HDTVs (Pretty big): The holidays are typically the best time to buy a new TV – and Black Friday is the time to do it. If you're looking for a normal sized set, you're in luck. Piper Jaffrey analyst Mitch Kaiser says he expects to see 32-inch LCD sets for as low as $299. GottaDeal.com is estimating 37-inch plasma and LCD sets will fall to $399 or less.
HDTVs (Really big): Need something bigger? How about a 46-47 inch LCD set for $599 – a 25 percent savings? Or a 52-inch LCD for $999? Dealnews says you can expect both. Plasma deals will be a little harder to come by, but a 50-inch set should run roughly $899.
HD Camcorders: You've wanted to shoot your child's school play in HD for a while, but haven't been able to spring for the pricey camcorder. This might be the year. Low-end, flash-based 720p models could drop as low as $60 (though you won't be able to zoom with those). Expect a high quality 1080p HD camcorder for $349.
GPS: While navigation systems have dramatically expanded their reach this year – even making it onto the iPhone – there's still a market for car-based systems. Dealnews predicts you'll be able to find a no-name entry-level system for $49, while a Garmin or Tom-Tom brand will be as low as $69.
Digital Picture Frames: Showcasing your digital pictures consistently gets cheaper. This year, skip the 7-inch screens and focus on the 8- or 9-inch ones, which should be available on Black Friday for as little as $30.
Monitors: Computer monitors might not be the sexiest of gifts, but they're usually welcomed with open arms – and they'll be cheap this year. Name brand 22-inch LCD models may go for as low as $99, while 24-inch models will drop below $150.
Memory: Don't know anyone who needs a monitor? External hard drives are always popular, since they're an easy way to back-up data. Dealnews expects a 1TB drive to fall as low as $49 this year. Gottadeal is looking for 8GB flash drives to hit $15.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
nunya said 1:52PM on 3-11-2008
This is not just a problem if you've already got a job, either. More and more, as you apply for jobs employers will search you out online. My law school has warned us to make Facebook profiles private so that only people accepted as friends can see it. However, there are instances of this not working for some people, whether the employer finds ways around this, your profile gets hacked or someone who is allegedly your friend takes pics from your profile and posts them elsewhere. Unfortunately, there is just no such thing as privacy on the net.
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Steve A said 2:58PM on 3-20-2008
I'm pretty sure both sites have privacy features that can be used to keep people who aren't your friends from accessing your profiles. Post whatever you want in your profile but make it only available to your friends.
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Mike said 2:28PM on 3-20-2008
Or you can create a professional profile that employers can find and use your information to your advantage.
http://www.ziggs.com
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patrickgawne said 2:35PM on 4-30-2008
I used to be in a position where I hired a lot of people and it would have been a Godsend to be able to look at their profile pages and take what I found there into consideration.
Anyone still under the impression that there is anything even remotely private about the internet really needs to wake up and smell the hackers.
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mickster said 11:19AM on 1-26-2009
michael voisinet @ Nov 28th 2007 12:26PM
"...after all this is free country and everyone is entitled to their personal opinion regardless of wheather its right or wrong...."
Actually, it is NOT a "free" country, it is a country with liberties and priveleges. For example, no one has the RIGHT to drive a car...it is a privelege which is sustained by maintaining certain criteria, not the least of which is a safe driving record, etc. Equally, it is not a guaranteed RIGHT to state one's opinion in a public forum
"...wheather [sp.Incor.] its right or wrong." This is a common falacy propounded by the un- or under-educated as to the interactive social principles of a Constitutional Republic. E.g., 'all white people are racist...' is an opinion and is thus considered inciteful and most likely a violation of the Terms of Service of any online forum; just as similar inciteful language can be cause for actual arrest in the 'real' public milieu. Federal and Supreme courts around the country (incl. the US Supreme Court) have ruled on this interpretation of Free Speech too many times to be debated by proponents of anarchical behavior. According to Law, when a person knowingly and willingly posts private or potentially inciteful or, g-d forbid, illegal information or activity on an open website forum, they are Ipso Facto posting this information into the Public Domain. Which means that anyone can see it, and utilize info gleaned from it (as it may or may not affect their lives, livelihood, or business and/or governmental operations). For example, you cannot disclose an "opinion" about a company policy where you work if that comment violates a Non-Disclosure Agreement. Period. You will have "breached contract" at that point. Many companies have moral/ethical clauses as terms of employment, and such have been upheld as legal by the courts. Let's say you work for a company that contracts with GE and donates to the SPLC (or any such company or non-profit group) and you then post on your MySpace/Facebook page pics of you at a Klan meeting, or showing off your most recent SS or Swastika tatoo. You are NOT just "stating a personal right or opinion" on a private webpage, you are IN FACT of Intent of Law, making a statement in the Public Domain (as if standing on a soapbox in the intersection of a busy street declaring your racism). These can be grounds for dismissal from employment and potentially grounds for inciteful "speech" or what is called "Hate Speech" in today's judicial vernacular.
Indeed, every private business (and gov't) has the option, by Right of Privelege to Perform Business, to terminate your employment "at will" IF you violate any terms of your employment contract. Those terms can be as immediate and proximate as 1. stealing from the company (called 'termination for Cause') or, 2. announcing in a publically accessible forum that you are a racist, ingaging in slander/libel/defamation of character of another, or 3. violating company policy. The delusional belief by so many people in our fine country that they can say or do anything they like whenever or wherever has been the cause of a decay in both ethical standards and economic stability. As a former Director of a major company who hired people based solely on resumes and oral interviews, I would have loved to have had the accessibility to such websites as Facebook or MySpace. I have had to fire people in the past who started to display behavior, ex post facto, that might very well have been predictable (as a matter of their DECLARED personality and interests) as seen on their webpages.
Here's a clue: don't put anything on your webpage that you wouldn't be willing, proud, or openly honest to say outloud in the "real" world.
~ M
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Ludy said 2:39PM on 1-26-2009
Just don't post your real name in Facebook.
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Barnsinger said 4:05PM on 1-26-2009
I agree with Tracie that prospective or current employers have no right to judge anyone by what they do in their off time. But on the other hand, if drunken pictures of yourself mean so much to you that you need to display them to the entire free world, it doesn't say much about you as a person or as an employee. My advice to social network users is have fun, but be mature and responsible about what you choose to share online. Be aware that your friends are not the only ones who can see it.
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tyson said 8:37PM on 3-08-2009
sup
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jack said 10:10PM on 3-10-2009
hi dont do myspac i sent a node photo on myspace and the next day it was all over the place
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brodie said 10:14PM on 3-10-2009
HI tyson
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sam said 11:49PM on 3-11-2009
hi tyson and brody
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tyson said 12:35AM on 3-17-2009
i hate myspace
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Benjamin Wright said 2:32PM on 11-09-2007
An idea: People could post legal terms of service on social networing pages declaring that employers and prospective employers are forbidden from looking at or copying from the pages. Such terms would be like No Trespassing signs on land. Some case law supports the notion that terms posted on a web site can restrict the right of visitors to gather information off the site.
Arguably, if an employer grabs information off of a site in violation of posted terms, and that leads to termination of an employee, then the employee could sue the employer for violating the terms of the web site.
Even if the terms are not legally binding on the employer, they could be ethically binding. --Benjamin Wright, Dallas, Texas, http://hack-igations.blogspot.com
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Tracie Van Den Houten said 3:55PM on 11-13-2007
Your employer should have NO right to "judge" you by what you do on your personal time. If you are not representing your employer, or posting anything innappropriate about them, then they should not be able to use that page against you. Of course there are acceptions to this such as government employees and people who hold a high position in a company or people who set examples in companies.
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Amber said 12:18PM on 2-01-2009
What about teachers?? My ex-husbands "erotica queen" teaches Kindergarten! She has very provacative pictures of herself on her facebook page. If my child was in her class, I would have a HUGE problem with that.
883 Harley girl said 5:09PM on 11-13-2007
I ride a motorcycle, inherently there is risk in riding a motorcycle. I love to ride and I accept that risk, I know it is at least possible if not likely that I will have an accident with my motorcycle and the injuries could be great. I still ride as much as I can but I am very very careful when I am riding to watch for every thing that poses a threat. I work in a professional engineering position. Having an online profile, in my case Myspace, is a risk to my profession, but because it is fun and I am networking with other women riders all over the world, I accept that risk and am very careful what I display on that page, it very much reflects me and what I am about but there is absolutely nothing incriminating on that page. Seriously people there are consequences to every action and sometimes I have to wonder how people can go through life not thinking about things like that. Ultimately it may not be right or legal or ethical for a prospective or current employer to base a hiring decision on your myspace content, but you know perfectly well that it could happen, at the least, the risk of it happening is real. If your willing to accept that risk then may the force be with you, put it all out there.
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OU812 said 3:42PM on 11-18-2007
Oh the hypocrisy! Here's a thought...Don't post that BS on the internet.
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Heather said 2:48PM on 11-19-2007
What about those that work in a position, like a teacher, that is constantly under scrutiny? If items are being posted to facebook/myspace that are not appropriate and their students could see, shouldn't that teacher be reprimanded if not fired? Especially with new stories of teacher/student outside relationships...
As a teacher in a private school, I see many of my students and their parents outside of the school grounds and I have to constantly be aware of the possibility of running into them. I also know that if something were to get posted that was not appropriate I would run the risk of losing my job for not representing the school.
Why not just get rid of the facebook or myspace account? Then you don't run the risk of being caught while being stupid. Find something else to do--maybe call those friends instead of posting new photos and stories.
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michael voisinet said 12:26PM on 11-28-2007
i thought that the internet was protected by free speech.your employer has absolutely postively NO RIGHT at all to prevent you from expressing your opinion.after all this is free country and everyone is entitled to their personal opinion regardless of wheather its right or wrong.employers should not use subseversive tactics and terminate an employee me just because they post an opinion about them on the internet.just as in real life people are going to say things that we arent going to like.we simply cant change or modify someones behavior simply because we dont like what they say.
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James H. said 9:48PM on 12-06-2007
For what it's worth, I do not advocate a company using information harvested from a personal profile to be used as a tool to investigate an employee.
With that said however, I do not buy the whole mentality of "I can say what I want to in my blog and not have to face any consequences" either.
True the Constitution protects the rights of the individual with regards to freedom of speech. But if you say something slanderous or defamatory about the owner of or the company in general, the Constitution also gives your employer the right to say "you're fired."
With regards to things you post that are not related directly to your employer or the company, it's like my grandma always says: an ounce of prevention beats a pound of cure. Which means if you don't want your boss thinking your a drunken slut, don't post comments or pictures that lead to that conclusion.
And if you want to let the whole world know that you have extremely strong feelings about certain ethnic groups or religions - be my guest. But don't complain if someone gets offended.
When you were born no one guaranteed that you would get your way. No one guaranteed that nothing bad would ever happen to you. No one guaranteed that you would agree with my opinion. And no one guaranteed that you would have to like it.
But the fact remains this is my opinion. And I'm okay with it.
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