Hackers Steal Credit Card Data from T.J. Maxx & Marshalls
Seems hackers broke into the system that handles credit card, debit card and check transactions for T.J. Maxx and Marshalls discount stores… in DECEMBER.
Yes, credit card data and customer data was stolen. No, they didn’t tell anyone. Why? Because law enforcement officials asked them not to. Nice.
But, hey, they’re going to upgrade their security now.
Read the news report here
Beyonce Knowles as Alice in wonderland?
Brilliant marketing? Or not?
Click to see: Celebrities step into fairy tale photos
Downloading free movies
According to the Solutions Research Group (SRG), 32 million Americans (over age 12) have downloaded a full-length movie off the Internet. (And 20 million people are regular movie downloaders)
80% of the downloaders only download movies from peer-to-peer file-sharing sites (ie; they aren’t paying to download). Of the people who download movies free;
- 78% believe “taking a DVD from a store without paying” is a very serious offense.
- 40% believe “downloading copyrighted movies off the Internet” is a very serious offense
According to SRG, it’s the Robin Hood effect. People perceive celebrities and studios to be rich already, so they figure downloading (copywrited) movies without paying for them isn’t a big deal.
What do you think?
Word of mouth beats paid ads
I read an interesting article at emarketer.com today. Finally, just a little verification that Word of Mouth beats paid advertising. I tend to work for a lot of small businesses. Moms and Pops. The types that come to me believing they are struggling because they don’t have deep pockets for advertising. I tell them word of mouth beats advertising anyway. I’m not really big on statistics because most people use statistics the way a drunk uses a lamp post. (ie; to lean on instead of for illumination). But it’s nice to see verification just the same.
