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How To: Behave on an Internet Forum

GeekSugar — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:00:00 -0700

I love the hilarious "how to" vids I come across on VideoJug that keep me on point with subjects ranging from learning how to speak geek, getting a free airline upgrade, and even how to safely (and eco-conciously) clean my computer. But really, I'm always on the lookout for a great "how to" that I can share with my geeky cohorts that may just make them lol. So for today's how to, I present: How to Behave on an Internet Forum.

Maybe some of you haven't been on a forum since the early 2000s, but these intricate and finite rules can apply to comments on blog posts, too. You know the annoying offenders that troll forums: They post snide, off-topic remarks, attack other commenters when they post their opinions, and everybody just wishes they would go away? You don't want to be that guy do you? I didn't think so. Check out the video and ensure that you won't.

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Take Part in Our Thanksgiving Feast Forum!

YumSugar — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 05:30:20 -0800

Well, folks, today is the big day. Over the past several weeks, PartySugar and I have covered pointers on everything Thanksgiving - from grocery shopping to brining the bird to setting the table - except eating the food itself. Yet we understand, perhaps more than anybody else, that unpredictable issues arise in the kitchen. Last year, I made cranberry sauce that didn't turn out sweet enough, and two years ago, PartySugar tried not to panic when her gravy wouldn't thicken.

That's why we'll be around today (in between potato ricing and oven change-ups) to answer any questions you might have about making the perfect Thanksgiving meal. Unsure about a cooking temperature? Don't know what to stir into your mashed potatoes? Need a substitute for thyme? Just ask in the comments below - this is your forum for the big feast. Party and I (and any helpful readers!) are right here to help you. Happy eating!

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Google's Best Attribute: Technology or Customer Service?

GeekSugar — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 13:10:32 -0800

I don't need to go off on a rant about why I love Google so much, lest I compromise my professionalism by being too gushy. In short, it's the quality of Google's technology and products that won me over, but what keeps me an avid user is its customer service.

The company's latest achievement is the new Google Help Forums, which include improved searching and a ranking system so you can get support easier and faster. I love the accompanying video to this new announcement, because I feel it shows them really considering what their customer wants and needs. It's a tossup as to what makes Google great.

What do you think?

Join Our Project Runway Fanatics Group!

Fab Community — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:21:22 -0800

I've been talking about Project Runway all season long - now it's your turn to do the talking. We have started a Project Runway Fanatics group to give you a forum to discuss everything from Heidi's gorgeous outfits to Nina's harsh comments to the designers' talent (or lack thereof) to workroom drama. Who knows, I may highlight one of your inspired posts on Fab!

Anthony Bourdain, Alice Waters, & Duff Goldman Talk Food

YumSugar — Fri, 22 May 2009 03:30:48 -0700

A week ago, nonconformist food writer Anthony Bourdain, slow food queen Alice Waters, and celebrity pastry chef Duff Goldman took the stage at Food For Thought, a panel discussion that took place in Hartford, CT. There, the three rather different famous food figures discussed, among many other subjects, sustainable food, last meals, celebrity status, and food aphrodisiacs.

Waters made no mention of Bourdain's recent comments about her - in an interview with DCist, he spewed, "Alice Waters annoys the living s**t out of me . . . There's something very Khmer Rouge about Alice Waters that has become unrealistic." While the two got along, they expressed contrasting views on the local and organic food movement. To learn their standpoints and view a clip of the titillating discussion, read more.

The Chez Panisse founder challenged people to find out where their food comes from: "You can have the hot dog, but . . . I want to know that it's a grass-fed beef hot dog. Where did the bun come from?" Bourdain respectfully disagreed. "As a chef, I’m not your dietitian or your ethicist. I’m in the pleasure business . . . My responsibility is to give you the most delicious tomato that I can afford, given the circumstances, and maybe increase the likelihood that you get laid after dinner.”

View the partial footage below and tell me who's right? Alice Waters or Anthony Bourdain? Do they seem to have put their differences behind them?

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Win Tickets to Watch The Saturdays Perform Live In London!

PopSugarUK — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:00:42 -0800

Calling all UK-based Saturdays fans! To celebrate their new partnership with Impulse body spray "The Impulse Diaries", the girls are performing an exclusive gig in London and I've got two sets of three tickets for two lucky PopSugar Community members!

Simply leave a comment and you could win tickets to be part of the small audience at the show which will be held at London's Forum on the evening of Monday 7 December. The girls will perform their big hits as well as tracks from their new album, and the performance will be filmed for a special TV show! Please read the terms and conditions below carefully.

All you have to do to enter, is leave a comment before midnight (BST) on Sunday 29 November. Two winners will be selected at random to attend the gig with two guests each and will be contacted on Monday 30 November. You need to be a PopSugar Community member to enter, so if you're not already one and want to enter you MUST register for an account now. One entry per person; all repeat entries will be ignored. You must be logged in to make a comment and be eligible for the prize. Giveaway is open to UK residents aged 14 and over: please see the terms and conditions below for further rules regarding age requirements.

For terms and conditions, just read more.

Terms & Conditions

1. The Impulse Promotion is open to UK residents aged 14 and over.
2. If you are between the ages of 14 and 16 you must have obtained your parents' or guardian's consent before entering.
3. Each entrant may only enter the Competition once. No entrant may win more than one Prize.
4. Responsibility is not accepted for entries lost, damaged or delayed as a result of any network, computer hardware or software failure of any kind. Proof of sending will not be accepted as proof of receipt.
5. The tickets are not transferable, re-saleable or exchangeable. There is no cash alternative. The winner and attendee must be able to get to and from The Saturdays exclusive gig at the Forum in Kentish Town, London. If the winner or attendee is under the age of 18, a parent or guardian (over 21), must accompany them to, from and at the gig. To enter the gig, ticket holders must be at least 14 years old. The Promoter reserves the right to verify age of all ticket holders and refuse entry at the gig. The Promoter reserves the right to check that a parent or guardian (over 21) is present in a winners' group if one or more in the party is under 18. Anyone under the age of 18 who is attending the gig must have the permission of their parent(s) or guardian(s) to do so.
6. All winners will each be responsible for their own travel costs to attend The Saturdays gig and accommodation costs in London.
7. All entries will become the property of the Promoter. In consideration of the right to enter the Competition, each entrant automatically grants to the Promoter an irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free, world-wide licence for the full period of copyright to use, reproduce, alter, adapt or sub-licence their entry in any media in perpetuity.
8. All prizes are subject to availability. In the event of unforeseen circumstances the Promoter reserves the right to substitute the prizes for alternatives of equal or greater value.
9. The Promoter shall not be liable for any loss, damage or consequential damage of any nature in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise caused by acceptance of the terms and conditions or in connection with the prizes (except to the extent that death or any personal injury occurs as a result of the negligence of the Promoter).
10. The Promoter reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify or withdraw the prize of any entrant found to be tampering with the voting process for the Competition or to be acting in any manner deemed by the promoter to be in violation of the Terms and Conditions.
11. To claim their prize, winners must confirm their attendance and names of their friends attending. If the prize is unclaimed after this time, it will lapse and the Promoter reserves the right to offer the unclaimed prize to a substitute winner selected in accordance with these Impulse Promotion rules.
12. The winners' details (name and county) will be made available on request to those writing to "The Impulse Promotion, Mindshare UK Ltd, 40, Strand, London WC2N5RF" within ten weeks after the closing date, enclosing an SAE. Each entrant consents to the use of their personal details in accordance with this clause.
13. Winners may be required to participate in publicity arising from the Impulse Promotion.
14. By entering the Impulse Promotion, all entrants will be deemed to have accepted and be bound by the rules and consent to the transfer of their personal data to the Data Controller for the purposes of the administration of this Promotion and any other purposes to which the entrant has consented. All entry instructions form part of the rules.
15. The Promoter reserves the right to amend these Terms and Conditions at any point during the Promotion if circumstances outside our control make this unavoidable. Any amendments will be explained at the top of these Terms and Conditions.
16. These terms and conditions shall be governed by English law and the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction.
17. Prize draw is open to UK residents only.
18. Competition prize includes three tickets to an exclusive Saturdays performance on December 7, 2009 in London for each winner (two winners in total). No travel or accommodation is included. You MUST be able to get to London on December 7, 2009. No alternative prize will be offered if winner is unavailable.
19. One entry per PopSugar Community member.
20. The winning UK residents will be drawn at random on Monday 30 November, 2009.
Promoter and Data Controller: Unilever UK Limited, Unilever House Springfield Drive Leatherhead KT22 7GR

Good luck!

The Pros and Cons of Buying Topshop Online

Fab Community — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:22 -0800

Check out what Emily EMS has to say about her online Topshop experience in our 24/7 Go-To Fashion Guide group.

I always knew they existed - I have seen their chic dresses, sexy heels and cool tops. I am talking about Topshop. I got even more excited when I found out they opened a store in NYC, although I live in Denver, Colorado. I must say, things come around a lot slower around here, and don't get me wrong, there are nice stores here, but it's not to the point where they satisfy my fashion cravings.

This is when the beauty of online shopping comes in handy. My friend Sophie loves to shop online. She says that it's the best because she can buy things anytime, even at two in the morning, not have to worry about driving to the mall, (and not finding anything at the mall!), and in most cases, there's no sales tax, a small shipping fee, and usually, the return and exchanges are easy.

I must say, I was never comfortable with buying clothes online. Shoes and bags, I'm OK with. With clothes, things are different simply because every brand has slightly different sizing and all. Topshop was no exception. It's from the UK, and I know sometimes the equivalent of those sizes can be confusing - look at H&M!

One day, as I was looking through tons of pictures as always - new trends, jackets and coats for Fall and Winter. And there it was. I fell in love with this striped knit jacket from Topshop. I looked at the price, and fell in love with it even more - it's only $80!

I had to go to the store - but wait, there is no Topshop here in Denver! As I envied those folks in NYC, I went online. I quickly navigated myself to look for the jacket and there it was! I want, I want! Pause. What is my size?

Suddenly, I was lost. I usually wear a 2 or 4, depending on the brand. I also have jackets and tops that run rather small or large. While all those thoughts kept going around my head, I looked up on the sizing chart. Hmm . . . I think I am 4, but I don't want it to be too tight since it's a knit jacket . . . oh well, let's just order 6 in case, and if it didn't fit, I'd just exchange it. Before placing an order, it suddenly dawned on me that in case this size didn't work out, I better check on the return policy. Just in case. I'm not sure if that was a sign of something, but I looked. And I discovered many things I did not know. At first, I did not know Topshop's merchandise all ship out from UK. Thus, $15 shipping charge makes sense. Then I realized another thing. What if I wanted to return or exchange something? Sure, you can either return it in person at their stores but that is not my option. According to their website, if you wanted to return or exchange an item, you have to ship it back to their UK warehouse at your own expense. Hmmm . . .

Now I'm determined to make my purchase more "oops wrong size" free. I certainly don't want to go through with shipping the item back and forth till I get it right. It's not only time consuming, but also could end up being costly. I carefully studied the sizing chart, I realized, I needed some real people's opinions. Of course, the chart gives you the idea to narrow down which size you could possibly be, but just in case, to double check it, I did my own research.

I googled the "Topshop sizing review" and voilà! There were a few out there, but one forum was particularly helpful - Facebook. People with the same problems come together and discuss the sizing. Some argue Topshop's sizing runs smaller. Others disagree.

In the end, I ended up getting a 6 - I figured if it's bigger rather than smaller, I could live with it. I haven't gotten the jacket just yet, because I just ordered yesterday, but I'll keep you posted on the sizing. I must say the forum, like the one Facebook, did help me tremendously, sometimes a sizing chart won't do justice. Real people's opinions really do count.

So will I shop online again? Yeah, sure. But do some research beforehand, and read the fine print in case you don't like it, or it's too small or too big, or it's not what I thought it would be, or whatever the reason may be. As for me, for now, I'm waiting and hoping that all the research and reading will pay off.

There are already a bunch of groups you can join and explore, and please - start some new ones! Here's a helpful guide to creating in case you need some clarification.

Do You Use Social Media to Contact Companies?

GeekSugar — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:44:18 -0800

I just finished reading an article about a US couple who, because of visa problems, nearly missed their Russian honeymoon. They thought they'd done their research; online travel agency Expedia assured the couple that they didn't need visas to travel to St. Petersburg. It turned out, though, they did. After sharing their experience and anger in real time via Twitter and their blog, Expedia reached out to the couple, reimbursing the cost of their trip, the additional expenses they incurred, and offering a huge credit toward their next trip.

More companies are using social media to respond immediately to problems and interact closely with customers. In fact, some of Sugar staffers used the service to get in touch with JetBlue during a severely delayed flight.

While I agree it's a great way to interact with a company, I can't decide if this will increase their responses or just create a new forum for more people to complain. What do you think?

Model Motivators in the FabSugar Community

FabSugar — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:00:22 -0800

Kate. Linda. Cindy. Lara. Natasha. Gorgeous defined. Followers of fashion grew up idolizing models and their unbelievable beauty. In the Fab Community, there are several groups dedicated to pretty faces. Here are a slew of them, idolize away . . .

Model Behavior: Here is where I found this festive photo of Russian mod Natasha Poly. Share fashion editorials, runway photos, gossip, ads, street style, and more.
Vlada Roslyakova Fans: Share pictures and news about another Russian, the lovely Vlada.
Model Talk: If you go gaga over Laetitia Casta check out this tribute.
Models: Yay or Nay!: Open forum for the models you love and love to hate.
Daria Werbowy: I am stoked there's a group dedicated to Fab fave Daria, but sad there's only one member - Daria fans unite!

There are already a bunch of groups you can join and explore, and please - start some new ones! Here's a helpful guide to creating in case you need some clarification.

Wills and Harry Combine Clubbing and Charitable Causes

PopSugarUK — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:00:00 -0700

Prince William and Prince Harry enjoyed a night out together at Raffles on Saturday night, with Wills leaving at 3am and Harry lasting half an hour longer. Wills also spent the evening with Kate Middleton at her children’s charity auction, while recent birthday boy Harry apparently treated himself to a full English breakfast with Chelsy Davy after his night on the tiles. It's not all partying for the Princes though, as they have reportedly been making secret visits to wounded troops in hospital. The pair have also set up the Princes' Charities Forum, a charitable foundation which encourages charities to "think out of the box".

To see more pictures of Wills and Harry, just read more.

View 10 Photos ›