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Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology

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348 online investingThe close <strong>and</strong> growing ties between virtual worlds suchas Second Life <strong>and</strong> “real” world society raises many legal <strong>and</strong>even social issues:• Should income made in the virtual world be taxable?• If residents <strong>of</strong> a virtual world make contracts with oneanother, are they enforceable? If so, who has jurisdiction?(See cyberlaw.)• Is the virtual world itself subject to national laws,or might it eventually acquire a form <strong>of</strong> sovereignty?(Already a few nations have “virtual embassies”within Second Life.)Meanwhile, representatives <strong>of</strong> major companies rangingfrom Micros<strong>of</strong>t <strong>and</strong> Google to Second Life’s Linden Labs haveproposed making online identities <strong>and</strong> avatars “portable” sothat a person could use them in his or her online games <strong>and</strong>virtual communities (see virtual community).Further ReadingCastronova, Edward. Synthetic Worlds: The Business <strong>and</strong> Culture <strong>of</strong>Online Games. Chicago: University <strong>of</strong> Chicago Press, 2006.Jennings, Scott. Massively Multiplayer Games for Dummies. Hoboken,N.J.: Wiley, 2005.Rice, Robert A., Jr. MMO Evolution. Morrisville, N.C.: Lulu.com,2006.Terdiman, Daniel. “Tech Titans Seek Virtual World Interoperability.”CNet News. October 12, 2007. Available online.URL: http://www.news.com/Tech-titans-seek-virtual-worldinteroperability/2100-1043_3-6213148.html. Accessed October13, 2007.v3image. A Beginner’s Guide to Second Life. Las Vegas, Nev.: Arche-Books, 2007.online investingAs with shoppers, investors have increasingly been attractedto the interactivity <strong>and</strong> ease <strong>of</strong> online transactions. In additionto allowing stocks to be bought or sold with just a fewclicks, online brokers (also called discount brokers) chargemuch lower transaction fees than their traditional counterparts,typically less than $10 per trade.Some online brokers, such as E*Trade, Scottrade, <strong>and</strong>TD Ameritrade, were established as Internet brokers. However,traditional brokerages such as Charles Schwab <strong>and</strong>Waterhouse have also opened online discount brokerages.In addition to fast, inexpensive trading, many onlinebrokers also <strong>of</strong>fer a variety <strong>of</strong> resources <strong>and</strong> tools, includingstock quotes <strong>and</strong> charts, research reports, <strong>and</strong> screeningprograms to help investors pick the mutual funds orindividual investments that meet their objectives. For moresophisticated investors, some brokers <strong>of</strong>fer simulations fortesting investment strategies <strong>and</strong> programmed trading,which will execute buy or sell orders automatically dependingon specified conditions.Online brokers can specialize, seeking customers whowant to make frequent trades but do not need other support,or investors who are interested in obtaining IPOs (initialpublic <strong>of</strong>ferings) <strong>of</strong> up-<strong>and</strong>-coming companies. Somebrokers may emphasize mutual funds <strong>and</strong> cater to retirementaccounts, while others might <strong>of</strong>fer government or corporatebonds, foreign stocks, “penny stocks,” or more exoticinvestments.The interactivity <strong>and</strong> low transaction costs in onlineinvesting may encourage people to become involved inhighly speculative penny stocks, options, day trading, foreignexchange markets, <strong>and</strong> other areas that are not suitablefor most individual investors. While there is a great deal<strong>of</strong> useful information available online, it is a good idea tobegin by discussing investment goals <strong>and</strong> potential riskswith a trusted financial adviser.TrendsSince trading fees have gone down about as far as theycan go <strong>and</strong> still allow for pr<strong>of</strong>itability, online brokeragesare increasingly competing by <strong>of</strong>fering distinctive features<strong>and</strong> enhanced customer service. In the course <strong>of</strong> rapidexpansion, service has become somewhat uneven: A 2006J.D. Powers survey found that 41 percent <strong>of</strong> investors hadencountered at least one problem with accessing theiraccounts or executing a trade.Besides trying to improve reliability, online brokersare also branching out by <strong>of</strong>fering financial planning <strong>and</strong>other personal services for their larger investors, <strong>and</strong> someare opening retail outlets where people can actually see abroker.Further ReadingChoosing a Broker. Yahoo! Finance. Available online. URL: http://biz.yahoo.com/edu/ed_broker.html. Accessed October 17,2007.Davidson, Alex<strong>and</strong>er. The Complete Guide to Online Stock MarketInvesting. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Kogan Page, 2007.Krantz, Matt. Investing Online for Dummies. 6th ed. Hoboken, N.J.:Wiley, 2008.Parmar, Neil. “Finding the Best Broker.” SmartMoney. July 10,2007. Available online. URL: http://www.smartmoney.com/brokers/index.cfm. Accessed October 17, 2007.online job searching <strong>and</strong> recruitingIn the old days, people found jobs by word <strong>of</strong> mouth or byreading newspaper classified ads. While word <strong>of</strong> mouth (orat least e-mail) can still be very useful for finding job leads,increasingly both employers <strong>and</strong> job seekers are turningfirst to a variety <strong>of</strong> online sites. (Indeed, as <strong>of</strong> mid-2007 onelarge site, Monster.com, claimed to have more than 73 millionresumes in its database <strong>and</strong> 42 million job seekers permonth.)There are a number <strong>of</strong> large sites that list thous<strong>and</strong>s<strong>of</strong> jobs at any given time. Examples include Monster.com,JobCentral, <strong>and</strong> CareerJournal (from The Wall Street Journal).Meanwhile, many <strong>of</strong> the “career classifieds” fromnewspapers have been replaced by postings on Craigslist,which has a number <strong>of</strong> regional sites <strong>and</strong> covers buy/sell,apartment rentals, <strong>and</strong> other types <strong>of</strong> ads as well (seecraigslist).In evaluating a job site it is important to get a feel forthe kinds <strong>of</strong> jobs <strong>of</strong>fered <strong>and</strong> the target audience, such aspr<strong>of</strong>essionals, recent graduates, white-collar or service-

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