These days, media giants such as AOL, Yahoo, Hulu and YouTube have some heavy competition in their midst. Amazon has started placing preroll ads within original series pilots that are available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant. The company is currently collaborating with several advertisers on future video campaigns. Amazon users can share which TV pilots they wish to see promoted to series as distributed on Prime Instant Video. Geico is slotted as the presenting sponsor for the

company’s “pilot season.” As a portion of the agreement, Geico will have 15-second TV spots streaming prior to episodes, as well as banners on landing pages.

Only series pilots are available for free to Amazon users. A subscription fee is required to access further episodes.

Amazon’s most significant efforts in the field of video advertising began late in 2013. Consumers who viewed the first few episodes of particular television shows through the Kindle Fire were shown a variety of video advertisements. In order to bolster their activity, Amazon has collaborated with major TV networks to offer advertisements during many of their shows.

Last month, Amazon shared details about a new deal with FreeWheel, a video ad-tech company. The company will now begin playing commercials before how-to videos and movie trailers on the site. According to industry insiders, the partnership is intended to draw the company closer to providing more videos for advertisers over the next 12 to 24 months.

The online video market has proven to be a valuable one for many retailers. The national research organization eMarketer estimates that U.S. businesses will devote $5.75 billion on video advertisements in 2014. At this time, YouTube holds about 20 percent of this burgeoning market. Based on their latest endeavors into video marketing, Amazon hopes to take a big chunk out of the number in the near future.

Q: What is an essential tip for acting success?

A: Stay on time. Films and television shows cost quite a lot of money to produce. If an actor is just a few minutes late for a paid gig, the director, producer and the entire crew will be extremely disappointed and could question their choice of actor. If an actor shows up after a scheduled audition time, the casting director will be concerned about an ongoing issue of tardiness.

On that note, show business runs on irregular hours and extended workdays. Without the endurance and positive energy necessary to withstand a long day on the set, an actor will find success impossible to attain.

Q: What kind of schedule can be expected?

A: For an actor in the television or movie business, a 9-to-5 schedule is just not feasible given the nature of the work. Most actors must rise before dawn to ensure they are fully prepared for the day and can arrive at the set on time. In theatre, the call time might be 10 a.m. because the actors work well into the night. The long, intense hours required mean that actors will spend roughly half their lives with co-workers.

Be cordial and respectful to all people involved with the production to maintain harmony on the set. Establishing a negative attitude in the beginning stages of a job will have a noted impact on the rest of the staff.

Q: How else can actors improve their routines?

A: Always be clean and well groomed. It should go without saying, but bathe regularly and have fresh breath. Anyone with poor hygiene will earn a bad reputation and miss out on future acting opportunities. Complaining regularly is also a sure way to cause tension on the set. Some actors in show business choose to complain about the realities of the job – the food, the director, fellow actors, costume assistants, dressing rooms, lack of work, long hours, the script and almost anything else. Being labeled a complainer can damage the career of even the most talented actor. Word does get around.

When the term ID theft was first coined in the 1960s, it meant simply to pretend to be someone else. Now, with the Internet creating a world of faceless interactions, identities can be both assumed and created.

Clone and conceal

One way the tech-savvy persona thieves are crafting new “lives” is by cloning the image of another, thus concealing him- or herself from the virtual world. These people may, for instance, steal profile pictures from unsuspecting connections on social media sites like Facebook. Once they have enough “evidence” they are real-world friends with a select individual, they then befriend others with a mutual connection. These new acquaintances are typically subject to fraudulent newsfeed, solicitations for donations, or other manipulations, usually garnered from heart-wrenching posts, playing off their sympathies.

Criminal ID theft

Criminal ID theft can begin online using the “clone and conceal” methods to capture another’s personal information, photos and other data. In these situations, the perpetrator uses the victim’s name, address and other credentials when arrested for an unrelated crime. This type of ID theft can have long-lasting effects on the individual whose name was cited in official criminal records and, in some cases, on the Internet.

Synthetic ID theft

The main victims of synthetic identity theft are typically financial institutions and retailers. This variation of identity fraud often combines a real person’s Social Security number with a fictitious name and birthdate. The person creating this new identity will usually apply for credit and, when granted, intentionally default on their payments. In some cases, the person whose Social Security number was used can have his or her credit negatively affected.

Child identity theft

A recent but growing problem is the practice of tarnishing a child’s as yet unused Social Security number to establish lines of credit to buy expensive items or obtain a fraudulent driver’s license. The biggest downside of child ID theft is that it can go undetected until a child becomes of age and begins to apply for credit on his or her own. A study by the Carnegie Mellon CyLab estimated that more than 10 percent of children are victims of ID theft.

Aside from using the Internet to obtain information, criminals may also rummage through personal rubbish in a practice known as dumpster diving, obtain public records in a completely legal fashion, or actually follow a person to observe his or her password, credit card information, or pin numbers. While there is no guarantee that any particular individual will not become a victim of identity theft, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission stresses that guardianship of personal information is the most effective intervention strategy.