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5 Ways to Cash In on Cyber Monday

You don't need to get crushed by the crowds on Black Friday to find the best deals before the holiday season. Shopping for a better deal is just a click away on Cyber Monday, the first Monday after Thanksgiving, which is one of the biggest online shopping days of the year.



According to comScore, online spending on Cyber Monday reached $887 million in 2009, an increase of 5 percent from the previous shopping season. To help you navigate these online deals and steals, here are five ways to beat the crowds and cash in on Cyber Monday:

1. Join the Retailer's E-mail List

The stores you love to visit often have a website for surfing too. If you shop at a store frequently, go to the retailer's website and join their e-mail list for special online deals, coupons, and fliers. Most stores will send out Cyber Monday deals before the big day to give loyal customers and savvy shoppers a glimpse of what's on sale. But before you give your e-mail address to a dozen stores, I highly recommend creating a separate e-mail account specifically for online shopping so your inbox won't be filled with clutter.

2. Search for Secret Coupons

Online shoppers can save even more on Cyber Monday by searching the Internet for secret coupons and promotional codes. To do this, launch your favorite search engine and enter the retailer's name and the words 'coupon code' into the search. Depending on the size of the retailer, you may find many discount codes to enter into your online shopping cart. If you're lucky, you may also find a code for free shipping.

[See Top Cyber Monday Holiday Shopping Deals]

3. Make a Gift List

Be like Santa by making a list (and checking it twice) before shopping for sales. Shopping without a holiday gift plan is not only a danger to your budget, but your sanity. So give yourself some cheer and start a list--with anticipated costs--so you can target your shopping on Cyber Monday.

4. Track Your Holiday Spending

Snagging a deal on your daughter's present or finding something affordable for that special someone can be a rush, but don't forget to keep track of how much you spend this holiday season. There is no sense in celebrating a great deal today if you're going into debt with big bills to pay off in January.

Tracking all your holiday spending, not just your gift-giving costs, can show how the small expenses add up to big dollars. Things like wrapping paper, baking supplies, decorations, drinks, and flowers may seem insignificant on their own, but once added up can total hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars a year for one single holiday.

[See Black Friday Sales are Early and Online]

5. Check the Return Policy

Filling your online shopping cart and clicking "buy" at checkout doesn't give you the opportunity to ask a human about an exchange or return policy. So if you buy a few gifts on Cyber Monday, make sure you find out each store's holiday return policy--just in case you need to ship something back.

Kerry K. Taylor writes at Squawkfox.com, a blog where personal finance and frugal living are sexy, delicious, and fun. Kerry is the author of 397 Ways To Save Money: Spend Smarter & Live Well on Less.

Facebook closer to winning 'face' trademark

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Facebook will be awarded a trademark for the word "face," pending some action from the social network, according to court documents filed Tuesday.

As first reported by TechCrunch, The U.S. Patent And Trademark Office has sent Facebook a Notice of Allowance, which means the government will award the social networking site the trademark under certain conditions.


The type of application Facebook filed requires the company to provide a sworn statement that it intends to use the trademark on products. The company will have to file that "Statement of Use," and then it will have to use the "in commerce" before it has actual legal claim to the word "face."

Patent lawyers had been skeptical that Facebook would be granted the trademark to such a generic word.

But once Facebook completes the paperwork and uses "face" in commerce, the USPTO will grant the trademark for: "Telecommunication services, namely, providing online chat rooms and electronic bulletin boards for transmission of messages among computer users in the field of general interest and concerning social and entertainment subject matter."

In August, Aaron Greenspan received an extension of time to file an opposition to Facebook's "Face" trademark attempt. Greenspan is the president and CEO of Think Computer, the developer of a mobile payments app called FaceCash. He would not comment on whether he did file an opposition to the "face" trademark."

Greenspan, a former Harvard classmate of Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, claimed he had a hand in developing the social networking giant. The case was settled last year.

Facebook has also waged wars against sites using the word "book." In August, Facebook sued start-up site Teachbook.com -- which claims it is merely a teacher's community. The social networking giant also forced the travel site PlaceBook to change its name to TripTrace this past summer.

North, South Korea exchange fire; 2 marines killed

INCHEON, South Korea – North and South Korea exchanged artillery fire Tuesday after the North shelled an island near their disputed sea border, killing at least two South Korean marines, setting dozens of buildings ablaze and sending civilians fleeing for shelter.

The clash, which put South Korea's military on high alert, was one of the rivals' most dramatic confrontations since the Korean War ended, and one of the few to put civilians at risk, though no nonmilitary deaths were immediately reported. Fifteen South Korean soldiers and three civilians were injured and the extent of casualties on the northern side was unknown.

The skirmish began when Pyongyang warned the South to halt military drills in the area, according to South Korean officials. When Seoul refused and began firing artillery into disputed waters, albeit away from the North Korean shore, the North retaliated by bombarding the small island of Yeonpyeong, which houses South Korean military installations and a small civilian population.

"I thought I would die," said Lee Chun-ok, 54, an islander who said she was watching TV in her home when the shelling began. Suddenly, a wall and door collapsed.

"I was really, really terrified," she told The Associated Press after being evacuated to the port city of Incheon, west of Seoul, "and I'm still terrified."

South Korea responded by firing K-9 155mm self-propelled howitzers and dispatching fighter jets. Officials in Seoul said there could be considerable North Korean casualties. The entire skirmish lasted about an hour.

Each side has threatened the other against another attack.

The escalating tensions focused global attention on the tiny island and sent stock prices down sharply worldwide. The dollar, U.S. Treasury prices and gold all rose as investors sought safe places to park money. Hong Kong's main stock index sank 2.7 percent, while European and U.S. stock indexes fell between 1 and 2 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 165 points in afternoon trading, or 1.5 percent.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who convened an emergency security meeting shortly after the initial bombardment, said that an "indiscriminate attack on civilians can never be tolerated."

"Enormous retaliation should be made to the extent that (North Korea) cannot make provocations again," he said.

The United States, which has more than 28,000 troops stationed in South Korea, condemned the attack. In Washington, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called on North Korea to "halt its belligerent action," and said the U.S. is committed to South Korea's defense.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned North Korea's artillery attack, calling it "one of the gravest incidents since the end of the Korean War," his spokesman Martin Nesirky said. Ban called for "immediate restraint" and insisted "any differences should be resolved by peaceful means and dialogue," the spokesman said.

The supreme military command in Pyongyang threatened more strikes if the South crossed their maritime border by "even 0.001 millimeter," according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

South Korea holds military exercises like Tuesday's off the west coast about every three months.

A statement from the North said it was merely "reacting to the military provocation of the puppet group with a prompt powerful physical strike," and accused Seoul of starting the skirmish with its "reckless military provocation as firing dozens of shells inside the territorial waters of the" North.

Government officials in Seoul called North Korea's bombardments "inhumane atrocities" that violated the 1953 armistice halting the Korean War. The two sides technically remain at war because a peace treaty was never signed, and nearly 2 million troops — including tens of thousands from the U.S. — are positioned on both sides of the world's most heavily militarized border.

The exchange represents a sharp escalation of the skirmishes that flare up along the disputed border from time to time. It also comes amid high tensions over the North's apparent progress in its quest for nuclear weapons — Pyongyang claims it has a new uranium enrichment facility — and six weeks after North Korean leader Kim Jong Il anointed his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, as the heir apparent.

"It brings us one step closer to the brink of war," said Peter Beck, a research fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations, "because I don't think the North would seek war by intention, but war by accident, something spiraling out of control has always been my fear."

Columns of thick black smoke rose from homes on the island, video from YTN cable TV showed. Screams and shouts filled the air as shells rained down on the island just south of the disputed sea border.

Yeonpyeong lies a mere seven miles (11 kilometers) from — and within sight of — the North Korean mainland.

China, the North's economic and political benefactor, which also maintains close commercial ties to the South, appealed to both sides to remain calm and "to do more to contribute to peace and stability on the peninsula," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said.

Stephen Bosworth, the Obama administration's special envoy to North Korea, said he discussed the clash with the Chinese foreign minister and that they agreed both sides should show restraint. He reiterated that the U.S. stands firmly with its ally, South Korea.

Gen. Walter Sharp, commander of U.S. forces in South Korea and the U.S.-led U.N. Command, said in a Facebook posting that the U.S. military is "closely monitoring the situation and exchanging information with our (South Korean) allies as we always do."

Yeonpyeong, famous for its crabbing industry and home to about 1,700 civilians as well as South Korean military installations. There are about 30 other small islands nearby.

North Korea fired dozens of rounds of artillery in three separate barrages that began in midafternoon, while South Korea returned fire with about 80 rounds, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said. Naval operations had been reinforced in the area, the JCS said early Wednesday, declining to elaborate.

Two South Korean marines were killed and 15 injured, it said. Island residents fled to some 20 shelters on the island and sporadic shelling ended after about an hour, according to the military.

The Koreas' 1950s war ended in a truce, but North Korea does not recognize the western maritime border drawn unilaterally by the United Nations at the close of the conflict, and the Koreas have fought three bloody skirmishes there in recent years.




South Korea holds military exercises like Tuesday's off the west coast about every three months.

In March, a South Korean warship went down in the waters while on a routine patrolling mission. Forty-six sailors were killed in what South Korea calls the worst military attack on the country since the war.

Seoul blamed a North Korean torpedo, but Pyongyang denied responsibility.

___

Kwang-Tae Kim reported from Seoul. AP writers Seulki Kim, Kelly Olsen and Foster Klug in Seoul and Anita Snow at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Secret U.S. Spy Satellite Named "The largest satellite in the world"

This story was updated Nov. 22 at 1:28 p.m. ET.

A huge unmanned rocket carrying a secret new spy satellite for the United States roared into space Sunday (Nov. 21) to deliver what one reconnaissance official has touted as "the largest satellite in the world" into orbit. ?

The giant booster ? a Delta 4 Heavy rocket ? blasted off at 5:58 p.m. EST (2258 GMT) from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida carrying a classified payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. [Photo of the spy satellite's dazzling night launch]

"This mission helps to ensure that vital NRO resources will continue to bolster our national defense," said Air Force Brig. Gen. Ed Wilson, commander 45th Space Wing, after the successful launch.

The satellite, called NROL-32, launched after a series of delays from technical glitches. The most recent glitch, a pair of faulty temperature sensors, thwarted a Nov. 19 launch attempt.

The exact purpose of the new spy satellite NROL-32 is secret, but one NRO official has hinted at the huge size of the reconnaissance spacecraft.

[Related: First ‘alien’ planet from another galaxy discovered]

In a Sept. 13 address at the Air Force Association's Air and Space Conference, NRO director Bruce Carlson, a retired Air Force general, told an audience that this Delta 4 Heavy rocket would launch "with the largest satellite in the world on it."

For comparison, in July 2009 a satellite called TerreStar-1 ? touted as the world's largest commercial satellite ever built ? launched into space atop an Ariane 5 rocket. TerreStar-1 is 15,233 pounds (6,910 kg) satellite equipped with a huge 60-foot (18-meter) antenna. Last week, the SkyTerra-1 mobile communications satellite launched with its own giant antenna, one that is about 72 feet (nearly 22 meters) across.

The Delta 4 Heavy rocket is the United States' biggest unmanned rocket currently in service and has 2 millions pounds of thrust, making it the most powerful liquid fueled booster available today. A Delta 4 Heavy rocket stands 235 feet (72 meters) tall and is actually made up of three boosters, each called a Common Booster Core, arranged in a line to give it a three-column appearance.

[Related: Mysterious missile trail stumps Pentagon]

The rocket is built and launched by the United Launch Alliance, a partnership between Lockheed Martin and Boeing. It made its first flight in 2004 and is capable of launching payloads of up to 24 tons into low-Earth orbit and 11 tons toward the geosynchronous orbits used by communications satellites.

Tonight's launch marked the fourth launch of a Delta 4 Heavy rocket and the second satellite launch in three months for the NRO. An Atlas 5 rocket launched the NROL-41 reconnaissance satellite on Sept. 20.

In his address last month, Carlson said that the current plan for NRO satellite missions ?"is the most aggressive launch campaign that the National Reconnaissance Office has had in 20 years, almost a quarter of a century."

Carlson went on to say that new satellites are vital for the NRO's mission, and are needed to replace older satellites before they fail.

"The other thing I can tell you is these are very important, because they all go to update a constellation which is aging rapidly," Carlson said last month according to an NRO transcript. "We bought most of our satellites for three, five, or eight years, and we're keeping them on orbit for ten, twelve, and up to twenty years."

"Now when I buy something people complain about how expensive it is, but nobody ever complains when it's time to die and it keeps right on ticking," Carlson added. "Some of these guys are like the Energizer bunny and they have really done marvelous work."

OnLive introduces gaming console for high-def TV

(CNN) -- OnLive, the gaming-on-demand company, introduced a new game console on Thursday it says will offer "awesome quality and state-of-the-art specs" for high-definition televisions.

The console, which is available now for pre-order and ships in early December, sells for $99.

OnLive CEO Steve Perlman says one of the "micro-console" setup's big selling points is how easy it is to install.

"Beta testers have reported going from opening the box to playing a game in under 3 minutes. I kid you not," Perlman said in a blog post Thursday. "And after that first installation, from power-on to game start is as little as 15 seconds."

Launched in the United States in June, OnLive uses acloud-computing system, meaning games are stored on remote servers and delivered online when players call them up.

Until now, players used personal computers to play the games.

The new product comes as gaming companies continue moving toward cloud computing instead of selling hard copies of individual games.

At the E3 gaming expo in June, OnLive announced it was making 23 popular console games, including "Assassin's Creed II," "Batman: Arkham Asylum" and "Mass Effect 2," available through its subscription service.

Gaikai, another cloud-based gaming service, rolled out this year and Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Gaming made a splash by entering the space as well.

Perlman also announced OnLive will be offering a flat subscription rate for users to play all the games in its library.

"This is a big day for OnLive," he said in the blog post. "It's the culmination of more than 8 years of hard work by many people, both at OnLive and at our partners, to realize a dream that so many people said was impossible."

LinkedIn CEO: We're adding a new user every second

SAN FRANCISCO (CNNMoney.com) -- LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner spilled some new statistics Wednesday highlighting the business networking site's rapid global growth.

LinkedIn is adding one new user per second, Weiner said, and about half of all new accounts are created overseas. China and Brazil are the fastest growing regions. The site now has 85 million users -- and the latest 1 million signed up within the last nine days.



"On our site it's not about passing the time, it's about saving time," Weiner said at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. "So we're not looking at the time spent on the site. We have a pretty traditional way of measuring [user engagement]."

That approach to building and serving a member base is very different from Facebook's, conference moderator John Battelle pointed out. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg boasted Tuesday that half of all Facebook users visit the site every day.

"People tend to lump us in with Facebook and Twitter," Weiner replied. "But we're three very different things. Facebook is massive in scale and scope. Twitter is a public communication forum, but if I'm following you, you're not necessarily following me. LinkedIn is, simply, a professional network."

While Facebook users may "friend" people they barely know, and Twitter users can follow celebrities they've never met, LinkedIn pushes people to connect only with people they know well. Those social connections typically track one of three close relationships, Weiner said: personal, family and professional.

"The difference between social sites and business networking can be said in two words: keg stands," Weiner said.

"Or it could be bong hits!" Battelle replied. "Look at Michael Phelps."

"Well, I guess that's the difference between the East and West coasts," Weiner laughed.
0:00 /2:53The brains behind LinkedIn

Battelle continued to press Weiner for his thoughts on other companies, focusing on the Web search field. Weiner, who was once an executive at Yahoo, said simply: "I don't think the game is over, that it's [Bing] or Google and that's it."

Weiner admitted LinkedIn has lagged behind Facebook and Twitter, especially in building connections to external sites. For example, a Facebook user can "recommend" a CNNMoney article, and a Twitter user can tweet the article link to followers. LinkedIn has only recently begun cultivating such connections. (CNNMoney added a LinkedIn button to its stories last month.)

"We want to work wherever our users are, so we need to push out our connectivity," Weiner said. "We're investing in our APIs so we can get that service to our users. They want it."

Weiner also mentioned LinkedIn Signal, a product the company announced in late September that is still in beta but will go public in about a month. Signal adds Twitter-like capabilities to LinkedIn, letting users view and search status updates in real time.

Like most tech CEOs at the conference, Weiner stayed mum about the possibility of an IPO: "You don't necessarily have to go public to get to the next level."