A number of the major online dating sites already perform background checks, including eHarmony and Match.com. If the bill passes, eHarmony will simply add the text that is required to the pages seen by members from Illinois zip-codes. The information is already included on their Terms & Conditions page anyway.

Of course, this would not be foolproof.  A man recently accused of sexually assaulting two women he met on a dating site has no criminal record and would still have been allowed on the site without any problems. In fact, some members of the Illinois legislature said that they would not support the law unless it required sites to use the most thorough background checks available and others are concerned that the new measures would allow people to drop their guard.

So the message seems to be fairly clear- no matter whether or not the law passes (if you live in Illinois), be cautious. This kind of legislation can help to make dating sites into safe environments, but it’s up to the users themselves to keep their eyes open and use common sense.

He spoke about job creation and specifically tax benefits for companies that move production back to American soil. Besides supporting start-ups and creators of small businesses, the speech also addressed the issue of fair trade practices and making sure that U.S. businesses are on a fair legal footing to take their share of the international market. President Obama also talked about investing in the creation of alternative energy sources.

So what does this mean for us as consumers?  For those of us who are secure in our jobs, the impact may be fairly subtle. The price of fuel and energy resources may be the kicker for us. If oil prices are high, then shipping and manufacturing costs go up and the expense is usually passed on to the consumer. That’s in addition to the more obvious cost of electricity for your house and gas for your car. That means that taking the usual bus to the mall to buy the exact same toaster and then coming home and making an identical piece of toast to the one you made a year ago, will cost more than it used to.

These added costs are even paid by companies who are strictly online. Whether they need tons of electricity to keep servers running or just have to pay to keep the office lit and buy some coffee for the break-room, their added costs will also be reflected in the price of their products.

For some people however, the impact could be much more direct. More jobs in the country means it’s more likely that you’ll have one. It also means that you can expect higher wages, since employers know that workers are less desperate to stay in a mediocre position.

All of this is reflected in consumer confidence polls, such as those conducted by Gallup and Bloomberg. They can give a good picture about how much Americans will be willing to spend in the near future and can give you a hint as to whether other consumers are planning their spending the same way you are.

So no matter how you plan to vote in November or where you think the economy is headed, be sure to stay on top of the news. Since you’re here, I can be sure that you’re a responsible consumer who likes to do your research before making a purchase. Although it might make no difference in your decision about which product to buy, it’s always good to have a view of the bigger picture.

Google, as well as some automobile companies such as Audi and BMW, are working to develop the technology for self-driving and self-parking cars. Using sensors, radars, cameras and GPS, these cars would do everything that a human driver could do behind the wheel, including pass slow moving cars, stop at 4-way stop signs and regulate its own speed.  There are even plans to allow cars to better communicate with each other, which would help to prevent traffic jams. My favorite part of all this is that it would save us from the effects of rubbernecking.

Of course, there are still plenty of kinks to work out. The cars would rely heavily on GPS, which can be tampered with by hackers. There is also a concern that although the autonomous vehicles are meant to share the roads with human-driven cars, they may be too polite to compete. For example, these cars could easily get caught at stop-signs, which often just rely on people being considerate and reading each other’s “body language.” Human beings often bend the rules and it will be no small task to teach computers how to deal with that.

The legal challenges are just as complex. It is unclear who would be held responsible for traffic accidents and damages and how the police would enforce traffic laws. However, driver-less vehicles are already legal in Nevada and legislation has been proposed in Florida and Hawaii as well.

I have no doubt that once these are commonplace, none of us will think twice about entrusting our safety to vehicles on auto-pilot. But how long will it take for us to get used to the idea? I for one, am looking forward to it.

Fortunately for us, Google is going out of its way to make the transition easy. For example, Picnik now has a tool called Picnik Takeout, which allows you to quickly download all of the pictures you have saved on the site or copy them all straight into your Google+ account. Picnik seems positive about the change, saying that their tools will continue to be integrated into Google tools like Picasa and that the Picnik team will still be working to create more great editing tools, just not for their own site.

So, at least for Picnik, this is a win-win situation. Company employers get to continue their work and Google doesn’t have to invest in a separate company.  But what does this mean for consumers?  There are definitely advantages to having all of our favorite sets of tools integrated into one giant system. It means that everything should automatically compatible, for starters. Interfaces will probably all be similar making it easy to learn to use new tools and programs. On the other hand, do we really want everything we use to be in the hands of just one company?

Ignoring the technical side of it (which I don’t really know much about anyway), I’m torn. Weigh in and let me know where you stand on the issue!

Some problems with this immediately jump to mind. When I did an internship, one of the great things that I took away was an idea of how an office worked. Although I was given small, basic level assignments as befit an intern, my supervisors made sure that I was also given insight into the project as a whole and the way the business was run. I was allowed to sit in on meetings that weren’t strictly relevant to me and listen in on conversations with clients, even if I wouldn’t be working on their projects. It was those things, just as much as the work I did, that taught me about the field I was thinking of entering. I just don’t know if you can get those things over the phone and from scheduled video conferences.

Once again however, the question depends on the purpose of an internship. Learning about the field before you enter it is the primary goal for some interns, but not all. Others simply want to build up their resume before entering the job search. This does that, since after even a virtual internship a student can prove that they have handled certain tasks.

Another option is to combine virtual internships with another kind of training. Columbia University for example, provides time management and virtual communication training so that students can get the most possible out of their virtual internships.  Some companies take on regular summer interns, but allow students to continue the work throughout the year from home or college campuses. These students have been able to get a look inside the company and can also add a consistent job to their resume and sometimes even get hired full time by the company once they have finished their degree.

At the end of the day however, even a straight-up virtual internship has advantages, primarily for students who may not be able to afford commuting or living far away from their home or dorms. Although this may not be the ideal internship, it is still better than what would have otherwise been available. Virtual internships are also an opportunity for adults who may already be supporting a family, to learn about a new field or set up their resume for a career switch without leaving their jobs.

Bottom line, I think I have to chalk up another point to modern technology. It’s important to be careful not to confuse an in-house internship with a virtual one. The advantages are not the same and serve very different purposes. But they even the playing field. When the job market is tight, every advantage is important to job seekers and those advantages can come at a cost. I can’t argue with a resume booster that requires nothing more than hard work.

66% of the group surveyed still used the internet to research their purchasing decisions ahead of time and to compare prices before going out to shop, but in the end they still left their computers to head for the fitting rooms.

Target is taking advantage of this tendency by launching a series of “pop-up boutiques”. Specialty stores will be starting to sell their wares in Target for six weeks starting in May. They will sell everything from clothing to candy and baked goods. This is in addition to the selection of Apple products that will be available at twenty-five Target locations.

Target is following the footsteps of other discount stores, such as Kohls and J.C. Penny partnering with high-end designers. In the past, Target has also sold goods from fashionable designers but this will be the first time they are opening a separate store-within-a-store for the boutiques.

To be honest, I’m not sure what I think of the concept. I get overwhelmed enough even when I know what I’m going in for. However, I recognize that I’m a bit of a nervous shopper (it’s one of the reasons I can really appreciate review sites) and probably Target’s primary goal isn’t to improve my personal comfort level. I appreciate the reasons for shopping in person and so I’ll continue to do so and while I’m there I may just check out this candy store. Those caramel creams did look really tasty.

Wikipedia will be following the steps of other big sites, like Reddit, and blacking out the English version of their site on Wednesday in protest of the legislation. Many people are concerned that while the bill is meant to protect media producers from having their content used illegally, it will in fact harm sites whose content is user-generated, including things like Wikipedia and YouTube.

Another big step for SOPA’s opponents came when White House representatives spoke up. Although the administration did not officially take a stance on SOPA, it did imply concerns about some recent legislation’s risk to cybersecurity and say that it will oppose any law that could create censorship.

California congressman Darrell Issa, who opposes SOPA, said that members of congress will need a lot more education about the way the internet works before there will be any serious legislation. He also says that he had understood that the bill would not be brought to a vote unless there is consensus.

As law-abiding consumers, this legislation would probably affect us primarily through the service providers who are threatened by it. SOPA would hold them responsible when other people posted pirated content on their servers. That means that besides media sources and web sites, web hosting providers could get in trouble over this, which is why the internet world was taken aback by Go Daddy’s original support.

So even if you’re not sure what this has to do with you as a consumer rather than provider of media, be sure to stay informed about the issues.

Some of the consumers had spent days traveling to Beijing for the Apple store’s 7am opening time. There were over 1,000 shoppers lined up outside when the doors did not open on time. The crowd quickly became rowdy and starting fighting and throwing eggs at the store windows, eventually attacking a security guard. Concerned for safety, Apple decided to cancel sales for the day.

In fact, Apple stores in Beijing and Shanghai will not be selling the iPhone 4S at all in the meantime. Consumers will be forced to order from the online store or to buy from authorized resellers. Some people who had been turned away from the closed doors of the Apple store, did manage to get their iPhones from other retailers soon after.

I tend to not be the first in line for new tech. First of all, I hate crowds. More to the point however, is that like many of us here at Consumer-Rankings.com, I like to have ALL of my research done. My preference is to have analyzed the data, read the reviews, made tables and most importantly: Waited for someone else to dive in first and test the waters.

At this point however, I’d like to open up the floor to the audience. Have you ever waited in line before opening time for the newest gadget? What was it or what would it be if you ever were to do it? This is your chance to tell us your stories and to prove yourself a truly serious techie.

Alright, the Department of Homeland Security may not be the most unlikely but it’s definitely at the top of the list. The information was announced by Ticonderoga Ventures Inc., a sponsor of the iDate Super-Conference. Tom Miller, chief of communications for the DHS United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT) will be speaking about deceptive dating tactics in a panel discussion on January 24^th. The session is meant for the operators of dating sites to help them prevent fraud.

Mr. Miller is an expert and this appearance is just part of a larger campaign called “Stop. Think. Connect” meant to promote online security.

I for one, find it encouraging. It is nice to know that dating security is in the hands of such authorities on online safety. As it is, dating is an experience to make even the most confident person feel vulnerable and it is comforting to know that someone else is providing protection from fraud. All online daters have to worry about is finding Mr./Ms. Right.

Of course, even with the help of experts like Mr. Miller, it’s worth doing some research yourself. Check online for warnings and safety tips and don’t be shy about reporting anything suspicious to the site’s operators. They all offer some form of personal support and can give you advice if you’re not sure how to proceed.

This is also a place where Consumer-Rankings.com online dating privacy and security reviews can come in handy. There we list the measures that each of the top sites lets you take to protect your privacy, including hiding your profile and location, blocking members and contacting other members from hidden numbers.

Read up on each one before making your choice and between your own precautions and the efforts from experts, online dating can easily be both safe and fun!

Although tech giants like Apple and Google have the resources to get attention for new products at any time, CES is still going strong with a record number of exhibitors and 20,000 new products on display this year. CD players, HD tvs, Camcorders and even the game Pong all got their start here.

Journalists see this as an opportunity to get a feel for the upcoming trends- a way of visualizing the future of technology. Check out tech writers this week and you’ll see observations on this year’s CES offerings, analysis of new directions and predictions for next year.

Unfortunately for me however, I can’t go. In fact, CES is only open to people who work in the consumer electronics industry. Therefore most consumers, and therefore most of this blog’s readers, won’t be heading off to Las Vegas to get some ideas for next year’s holiday gifts. While this means that we can’t see what’s there on our own, it does mean that any great expectations we have for the year’s technological breakthroughs won’t have to be disappointed just yet. As far as I know, in some near-forgotten corner of the Las Vegas Convention and World Trade Center, there sits an inventor with a prototype of my flying jetpack on the table in front of him.

Ok, maybe a jetpack is a bit cliché. But this is a great opportunity to dream about how far technology can take us this year and hope that if it isn’t at CES this year, it will be there next year.