Get Your Piece of Social Networking Profits

Social networking sites like facebook, twitter are about sharing everything but not the profit generated from our posts. Facebook has made a revenue of $7.87 billion in 2013. Where does it come from ? A major portion of the social networking sites profit comes from the the targeted ads which generated from the information in our posts. Bubblews and Bonzo Me are trying to change this by paying the users for their posts.

Bubblews has more than 300,000 users. It makes money off advertising posted on its website. Bubblews earnings concept is rather unique but once you have figured it out you can earn quite well on the site even on a part time basis. 

Users create "bubbles" (posts), follow one another, and Like and comment on the posts they find the most interesting. Users can write maximum 10 bubbles (posts) per day.  Users can attach video, pictures, and blogs to their bubbles and earn 0.01$ for every like, view, and comment. Posts are required to be at least 400 characters (micro blogging). 

The key to earning on Bubblews is to interact with other contributors to the site.

The minimum amount that can be redeemed is 50$. There have also been some disputes about non payment but overall writers and bloggers seem to get paid. It seems as long as you stick to the rules which are displayed on the Bank page you will get your payment.

Unfortunately there is no andriod or iOS app yet for Bubblews.

Bonzo Me is paying users up to 80% of its ad revenue for the most widespread posts and watching videos through their app. This is a very recent startup. It does not have too many users but has has a huge potential to grow big. 

There are two ways to make money on "Bonzo Me":

1. Watch commercials, answer a few questions, get paid and then share it with your friends. When they watch it, they get paid and you will get paid… when they promote it, you will get a piece of that too.

• You will see your earnings for watching the video right away
• You will not see your earnings for sharing it until the campaign has reached the number of users that the advertiser wanted to reach

2. Post a video or picture

-You will only start making money if the video or pic is popular. Once it is popular and many people are viewing it, advertisers will start running ads on it… then you make up to 80% of all the Ad revenue generated by your post. If only a few people look at it, then it probably won't make any money for you.

The minimum amount that can be redeemed is 10$.

It's time for a change. Let's get a piece of Social Networking Profits. 

Guide to Buying Gold Jewellery in India

Planning to buy gold in India? Don't compromise on the Quality or Cost of your Gold Jewellery. Make sure you are not cheated, when you buy gold jewellery next time. Here is a guide to buying gold jewellery in India…

Do you know gold ornaments are made with 24K gold or 22K gold ?

What is 24K, 22K Gold?

Karat is a measure of the purity of gold. The purest form of Gold 24 karats is equal to roughly 99.9% purity.

As pure gold is very soft, it is not possible to make any jewellery out of it. Metals such as copper, silver, cadmium are added to pure gold to make it strong, shine and with the desired shade. Based on how much extra metals are added, the Karat value of the gold reduces to 22Kt, 18Kt or 14Kt.

22K gold is most popular in India. 22Kt gold jewellery means it has 22/24 percent pure gold in it or in other words 91.6% purity. 22K gold is also called 916 gold.

18K gold has 18 parts gold and 6 parts of one or more additional metals, making it 75 percent gold. Nowadays, most ornaments are made with 18K gold as it is relatively more durable against daily wear and tear, especially if it is studded with diamonds or gemstones.

What is 916 KDM?

A 22K gold soldered with cadmium is called 916 KDM. If KDM is stamped onto the gold, it means that Kadmium Monaxide was used to connect some of the piece of jewellery.

What is BIS Hallmark?

The BIS hallmark is a hallmarking system for gold as well as silver jewellery sold in India certifying to the purity of the metal. A hallmark consists of five components -- logo of BIS, the fineness number corresponding to the gold content in the jewellery (ex: 958, 916, 875, 750, 585, 375), mark of BIS recognized Assay and Hallmarking Centre which certifies the quality, identification mark of the BIS certified jeweller, and the year of manufacture, denoted by a code letter (Starting with A for 2000, B for 2001..O for 2014). Check the picture below for more details.

What is the cost of Gold Jewellery?

Prices of gold jewellery are decided according to the purity of the gold. Gold price changes every day and 24K gold price is what commonly available in market.   

Price of 22K gold is computed as = Price of 22K *22/24

Price of 18K gold is computed as = Price of 24K *18/24

On top of the cost of the gold we have to pay for wastage charges, making charges and VAT.

Wastage Charges:

Wastage is nothing but scrap, same as in other materials. Some years ago, Goldsmith charged up to 30% as wastage while manufacturing ornaments. Now a days, the technology has developed and recycling is done to reduce the wastage to less than 1 %. But the Jewellers are still following the old tradition to earn money. For the pure gold items the wastage is around 6-13%, whereas for diamond jewellery it goes upto 15%-25% of pure gold.

Wastage charge is the component to be targeted to save a good amount of money on your gold purchases.

Making Charges:

Making charges are what a consumer pays above the price of gold(on a certain day) for crafting the gold into jewellery. This varies from item(viz. bangles) to item(viz. chains) and from one jeweller to another.

Cost of Gold Jewellery = Making Charges + Wastage Charges + Cost of Stones, if any + VAT

For example, assume that the gold rate is at Rs.2500/- per gram for 22 Karat gold. When you buy a 10 gram gold chain with the making charges at 35 rupees per gram and wastage charges at 12%, the following will be the calculation to arrive at the final price:

(1) Cost of gold alone = 10 * 2500 = 25,000/-

(2) Making charges   = 10 * 35 = 350/-

(3) Wastage charges = 12 * 25,000 / 100 = 3,000/-

The total cost before VAT = 28,350/-

If the VAT is at 1% that becomes 28,633.50/-

Sometimes there is a trick in special offers like “Reduced making charges” or “Rs 100 less per gram gold”. “Reduced making charges” could mean the jewellery is not hallmarked or you have to pay for 24K gold rate instead of 22K. “Reduced gold price per gram” could mean higher making charges or non-hallmarked jewellery. In such cases, we may end up paying the same amount with or without special offers.

Tips:

1. Always buy BIS hallmarked gold jewellery. Check for the BIS hallmark on the inner or back side of each of the pieces you are buying. Hallmarking does not cost you any extra money.

2. Make sure to weigh each of the pieces separately.

3. Make sure you pay only for the purity of the Jewellery not always for 22K gold. I mean don’t pay 22K gold price for 18K gold. Get the latest gold prices for 24k and 22k here.

4. Negotiate to reduce the wastage charges to 8 - 12 %. Wastage may be more depending on the design.

5. Make sure to get the full price when you are exchanging 22K gold jewellery. Don’t pay any melting or usage charges for exchanging gold. Exchange rate for stones may be lower.

Don't compromise on the Quality or Cost of your Gold Jewellery.

Read an an interesting article Buying Gold Jewellery? - Know the facts first ! from Premkumar Masilamani.

Add comments to share your views and experiences of buying gold..

Indian MICROMAX CANVAS A1 Andriod One vs Xiaomi Redmi 1S

Another Redmi 1S flash sale is over in few seconds disappointing 3 lakhs of Xiaomi fans. 3,50,000 people have registered for the sale and only 40,000 phones were available for the weekly sale. Looking at the current trend, it may nearly take another 6 to 10 weeks for some one to win this phone. 

Don't be disappointed? If you don't want to wait so long, there is another alternative: "MICROMAX CANVAS A1 ANDROID ONE". In terms of its features and price "MICROMAX CANVAS A1 ANDROID ONE" is a serious competition for Redmi 1s. More over Micromax is an India company. 

Watch the interesting Andriod One ad below:

Model	Android One	Xiaomi Redmi 1S
Display	4.5 inch, FWVGA	4.7 inch, HD
Processor	1.3 GHz Quad Core MediaTek MT6582	1.6 GHz Quad Core Snapdragon 400
RAM	1 GB	1 GB
Internal Storage	4 GB, Expandable up to 32 GB	8 GB, Expandable up to 64 GB
OS	Android 4.4.4 KitKat	Android 4.3 Jelly Bean
Camera	5 MP/ 2 MP	8 MP/ 1.6 MP
Battery	1,700 mAh	2,000 mAh
Price	Rs 6,399	Rs 5,999

As per the The Mobile Indian "Though there is a Rs 500 difference between between both handsets, each has strong side. The Canvas A1 promises great software experience, pleasing design and quick future update. Meanwhile the Redmi 1s bags the cake with HD display, powerful processor, great camera and decent battery. However, we did note that the Redmi 1s would get really warm after clicking several images or gaming. The Android One family of handsets deliver pure Android experience while the MIUI based Redmi 1s has several optimizations included inside." Read the detailed review from The Mobile Indian here.

Amazon is providing 2000 Rs amazon coupons, free 8GB memory card and 10% cash back on SBI credit and Debit cards. In addition, Free software upgrades and app downloads for 6 months on the Micromax Canvas A1 Smartphone, applicable for Airtel users.

Buy an "Andriod One" mobile to experience the latest android features. 

An era of Coursera - Learn World’s Best Courses Together with 9 Million Others for Free

If you could learn something new, what would it be? What's the next thing you want to learn?

At some point, most us would have wanted to learn something new and interesting. There is a lot of content online on various topics but it is not really an instructor led course. It does not matter if you are a student or working professionals, enroll in a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) to start learning your favorite course in a structured manner together with lot of people across the world.

I have joined Coursera in 2012 to complete a course on An Introduction to Operations Management from Wharton, University of Pennsylvania. This is one of the best platforms for online courses.

Coursera is an education platform that partners with top universities and organizations worldwide, to offer courses online for anyone to take, for free. Currently (Sept 2014) this site has over 9 million users from different parts of the world in 748 courses from 110 institutions. All these courses are "accessible for free”. Few courses are offered in signature track to earn a Verified Certificate from the University. Coursera app is available on iOS and android.

It offers interesting courses in different areas of Business & Management, Computer Science, Economics, Education, Engineering, Math, Law, Medicine, Humanities, and Social Studies. Some of the top universities which offer courses on Stanford University, Princeton, the University of Michigan, the University of Pennsylvania, Duke University and Ohio University.  The lecturers for all of the courses have a great experience in teaching.

I really like the way courses are organized. The teaching methodology is quite different and is really effective. Typically each course has start date and will be of 6 to 10 weeks length. Each week 3 to 6 short video lectures will be posted along with quiz or assignment for that week. This gives us enough time to understand the content and also participate in discussions to clear the doubts. As there is a huge participation from different parts of the world, discussions are quite lively and provide lot of learning. Sometimes there is a final assignment or quiz depending on the instructor. On successful competition of the assignments within the deadline, users get a statement of accomplishment certificate.

Course content is will managed. Each course has a page for managing the course material, lecture notes, quizzes, assignments and discussions. Even after the course closure, users can access the course archive to go through it in a self-organized course schedule, but without any statement of accomplishment. Here is how a statement of accomplishment looks like..

In my opinion, it’s a great platform for online learning which provides one of the best alternatives to class room learning. Not only that you get to attend the best lectures from the top lecturers but you can network with likeminded people around the world.

Start with your first online course at Coursera.

HOW TO GET BEST PRICES WHEN SHOPPING ONLINE ?

Where do you usually buy a Mobile or Microwave Oven or Laptop ? Thanks to Flipkart for the recent revolution in the Indian e-commerce industry. Now a days, I purchase most of the stuff Online. Previously we were skeptical about shopping online. Flipkart has changed this with their Customer friendliness, Quality and Timely deliveries.           

Does this mean we will always buy products from Flipkart? NO.. not really there are lot of online sellers out there who provide the best deals..(Amazon, eBay, ShopClues, Snapdeal, Tradus, Jabong ...) This is just the beginning of online shopping era..there going to many more players and it's going to be a price war. How do we get the best of all these Online Shopping Sites?

Recently I came across a site called BuyHatke which has helped me to buy an Mi 3 in a flash sale which got over in 2.4 sec. It's a great site.It is India’s first dynamic price search and social recommendation engine. This platform dynamically grabs results from various online shopping portals and provides the best deal to customers across the entire range of product portfolio. It currently has 40 very credible and exhaustive e-commerce stores that provide the best deals and products online.

BuyHatke has a Chrome extension which can compare prices and track them while you shop at Flipkart, Amazon and others. It automatically shows you the price comparison, Price history and applies coupons. You don't have search different places to get the current coupons; this can be done in a single click by the BuyHatke plugin before the payment process.

Unfortunately BuyHatke andriod app is not available in Google Play. But there is an app for itunes.

There are other sites & apps like MySmartPrice, PriceDekho, Compare India. The best compare site so far is BuyHatke.

Start with the easy price comparison and apply coupons by downloading the buyhatke chrome extension from here.