6/30/08
eBay: The Microsoft of Sales
I'm closing the eBay accounts I have and moving to eCrater, which is free and caters to sellers, not shareholders. eBay has become THE name in online sales, that's where everyone goes to find cheap stuff, and lots of it. But they recently changed their policy and have really hurt sellers by no longer letting them leave neutral or negative feedback. Instantly I started getting a lot of nonpayments, people trying to extort me, and other ridiculous scams. There are people just bidding on a lot of the same items and then only paying for the lowest one, and wasting the time and money of the sellers of all the others they don't pay for. The sellers who are harmed can't do anything to warn others, and the buyers will always have a 100% rating, while buyers can leave negatives for unfounded reasons, one I had was that I wouldn't send him a second item overnight for free. I had a lady open a claim because of a projector sold as-is, since it had no lamp. I stated all that clearly in the listing, and when she asked me questions about it I told her everything about it, such that it was the projector only without a lamp. She then complains that she didn't get a manual, lamp, AV cords, or speakers with it. I quoted the emails and explained to her that she had been informed of that. She files a claim, saying I misrepresented the item, and without contacting me at all eBay awards her a full refund. Now in any conflict resolution, you need both sides. I would have gladly shown them the emails, the listing, and anything else they wanted, but instead I was screwed. They helped her commit fraud. eBay is now trying to implement a policy that you can only pay with PayPal, which they own. That would further hurt sellers, because PayPal takes out fees on transactions, and wouldn't allow any other companies to compete. Sound like a bad deal for sellers? Yep. That's why I'm leaving eBay, never to return, even if they go back to how they were. They're losing a lot of their top sellers, and shooting themselves in the foot too.
6/25/08
Die fanboy
I recently saw this on an Endgadget forum:
"Futureshop/Best Buy sales people and other media journalists/self-proclaimed experts spread fear and propaganda. There's nothing wrong, or broken in Vista."
First off, let's assume their whole goal is to spread fear and propaganda. So Futureshop/Best Buy employees are there to get you to buy what then? That's all those places sell, computers with Vista. Let's also pretend a minute that all journalists, reviews, and people who know anything about computers are also in on this scam. Then why are there so many complaints from average users? Why are research firms calling it the worst OS yet? Why is it trashing so many people's computers and servers? Are those all lies too?
Die fanboy, Vista is a failure. Someday the patches might stop breaking the system and make it better, but why spend several hundred dollars on something that might work well down the line on very high end machine
"Futureshop/Best Buy sales people and other media journalists/self-proclaimed experts spread fear and propaganda. There's nothing wrong, or broken in Vista."
First off, let's assume their whole goal is to spread fear and propaganda. So Futureshop/Best Buy employees are there to get you to buy what then? That's all those places sell, computers with Vista. Let's also pretend a minute that all journalists, reviews, and people who know anything about computers are also in on this scam. Then why are there so many complaints from average users? Why are research firms calling it the worst OS yet? Why is it trashing so many people's computers and servers? Are those all lies too?
Die fanboy, Vista is a failure. Someday the patches might stop breaking the system and make it better, but why spend several hundred dollars on something that might work well down the line on very high end machine
The path splits and our hero walks the midline
Well, having no luck finding funding to get things started on me branching out on my own I have submitted an application to Purdue to get my teaching license and take some grad classes so I can decide if I want to do grad school or teach high school. I already have my BA, so I would just need some education classes. If I get in I'll be moving back to West Lafayette, what I've vowed I wouldn't do. But there aren't any chemistry jobs available unless you already have experience and I can't keep going without insurance, so I take that road. I also wanted to see what it would take at IPFW but they never get back to me, and it's a worse education there anyway so I'm counting them out.
I had to run home last night to put new brakes and rotors on the Lumina, they lasted 50k miles, so I'm pretty happy about that. The way it's holding up I might get another 150k out of her. I shouldn't have said that, that's bad luck.
I had to run home last night to put new brakes and rotors on the Lumina, they lasted 50k miles, so I'm pretty happy about that. The way it's holding up I might get another 150k out of her. I shouldn't have said that, that's bad luck.
6/23/08
Sad day
I woke up this morning, looked at the days joke on my George Carlin calendar, than heard on the radio he died. That's a bad way to start the day. RIP George, one of the best comics ever.
6/19/08
The state of the economy and why Nick might be better off staying in Mexico
Warning: I'm in a bad mood and some of you may not like everything I say, but I don't care. Boohoo. On with the show!
It's no secret the economy is falling apart. The stock market is dropping, jobs are being cut, gas is going up, and in turn the price of food and everything else is going up. Crime has skyrocketed around here, I watch the Michiana news stations (being a Michiana resident technically) and it seems all the stories are about robberies and murders now. A guy stole a girl's money from a lemonade stand and barricaded himself in his house. How much was it? $17.50. Two kids shot a guy and stole his bike. A bike! People are setting their SUVs on fire to get insurance money and buying hybrids. Comeon people.
Another sign things are going badly is when Mexicans start going home becuase they can make a better living there. There has been a lot of that lately, starting in the big cities where things are most expensive. In addition, people along the border are now driving to Mexico for gas becuase it's about half the price that it is here.
In Indiana Mitch Daniels, aka the idiot, is running for reelection and lying outright in his ads. I thought that was illegal, but maybe just immoral. He's talking about how good education funding is (it's the lowest it has been in decades, but he has always been a big supportor of private Catholic schools, so maybe that's what he means), how strong our economy is (unemployment is very high and the few jobs that come in don't employ a fraction of those leaving), and how everyone loves him (I haven't met anyone who does). Every time a business comes in he goes and shakes hands, as if he played a role in it. He's like that fish that clings to sharks, he grabs anything he can without contributing anything. A parasite. Indiana's educational system is weakening, the rich get tax cuts, and the middle and lower classes get screwed. He had wanted to do away with social services too, but there were enough Democrats in office to down that one. Neither party are moral, politicians are all sleazy and rich, but Democrats at least promote social services, education, and a more fair tax system. Republican politicians are so afraid of change and in love with the old systems they're trying to get back to the days where only the rich could afford a good education, which is what happens when you force public schools into debt. That will then turn all the poor kids and a lot of minorities into essentially slavery, working minimum wage and living their life in debt well below the poverty line. Gee massa, where's the plantation? At least the rednecks are getting their wish and the Mexicans are going back.
So I signed up for Monster.com to see what chemistry jobs are out there. Nobody wants an entry level employee, and Lilly has laid off so many people that they're getting what few jobs are there. Monster did have 3 jobs they said I was qualified for. A telemarketer, a rest stop attendant, and a waiter. Wow. Good thing I have a BA in Chemistry and was 3 classes from a BA in Psycholgy. As I said in the last post, I have a big plan on the burner, now I just need the funding to get up and running. I wish I was a trust fund kid, but if I did I would hate myself for inheriting money I didn't earn and using that to fund my lazy and self absorbed life. There's honor in working 11 hour days for $20k per year and no insurance or benefits, but it's not fun or easy either.
Ahh, I feel better.
It's no secret the economy is falling apart. The stock market is dropping, jobs are being cut, gas is going up, and in turn the price of food and everything else is going up. Crime has skyrocketed around here, I watch the Michiana news stations (being a Michiana resident technically) and it seems all the stories are about robberies and murders now. A guy stole a girl's money from a lemonade stand and barricaded himself in his house. How much was it? $17.50. Two kids shot a guy and stole his bike. A bike! People are setting their SUVs on fire to get insurance money and buying hybrids. Comeon people.
Another sign things are going badly is when Mexicans start going home becuase they can make a better living there. There has been a lot of that lately, starting in the big cities where things are most expensive. In addition, people along the border are now driving to Mexico for gas becuase it's about half the price that it is here.
In Indiana Mitch Daniels, aka the idiot, is running for reelection and lying outright in his ads. I thought that was illegal, but maybe just immoral. He's talking about how good education funding is (it's the lowest it has been in decades, but he has always been a big supportor of private Catholic schools, so maybe that's what he means), how strong our economy is (unemployment is very high and the few jobs that come in don't employ a fraction of those leaving), and how everyone loves him (I haven't met anyone who does). Every time a business comes in he goes and shakes hands, as if he played a role in it. He's like that fish that clings to sharks, he grabs anything he can without contributing anything. A parasite. Indiana's educational system is weakening, the rich get tax cuts, and the middle and lower classes get screwed. He had wanted to do away with social services too, but there were enough Democrats in office to down that one. Neither party are moral, politicians are all sleazy and rich, but Democrats at least promote social services, education, and a more fair tax system. Republican politicians are so afraid of change and in love with the old systems they're trying to get back to the days where only the rich could afford a good education, which is what happens when you force public schools into debt. That will then turn all the poor kids and a lot of minorities into essentially slavery, working minimum wage and living their life in debt well below the poverty line. Gee massa, where's the plantation? At least the rednecks are getting their wish and the Mexicans are going back.
So I signed up for Monster.com to see what chemistry jobs are out there. Nobody wants an entry level employee, and Lilly has laid off so many people that they're getting what few jobs are there. Monster did have 3 jobs they said I was qualified for. A telemarketer, a rest stop attendant, and a waiter. Wow. Good thing I have a BA in Chemistry and was 3 classes from a BA in Psycholgy. As I said in the last post, I have a big plan on the burner, now I just need the funding to get up and running. I wish I was a trust fund kid, but if I did I would hate myself for inheriting money I didn't earn and using that to fund my lazy and self absorbed life. There's honor in working 11 hour days for $20k per year and no insurance or benefits, but it's not fun or easy either.
Ahh, I feel better.
6/18/08
The Teaser: An Intro
Well, big changes coming up, I'll report them as they become official, but for now a teaser.
EONS, the OS I've been working on for almost a year now, is getting nice. I had a releasable 0.41, but thought better of it. I've since rebuilt it from the ground up, completely changed the focus, and it is no longer a Debian derivative. More on that through Tillamook Rage as it unfolds, though with that hint and the latest post on Rage you may have some ideas what is coming.
In other news they bass are really biting well, I've managed to pull in a bunch so far this year, if I liked fish I could have kept a bunch and eaten well.
I found this the other day, an old Meyers-Briggs test. I'm an INTJ, sound like me? Who knows.
360 days until W-Day. And no, not Werd Day, even though that would be cool.
EONS, the OS I've been working on for almost a year now, is getting nice. I had a releasable 0.41, but thought better of it. I've since rebuilt it from the ground up, completely changed the focus, and it is no longer a Debian derivative. More on that through Tillamook Rage as it unfolds, though with that hint and the latest post on Rage you may have some ideas what is coming.
In other news they bass are really biting well, I've managed to pull in a bunch so far this year, if I liked fish I could have kept a bunch and eaten well.
I found this the other day, an old Meyers-Briggs test. I'm an INTJ, sound like me? Who knows.
360 days until W-Day. And no, not Werd Day, even though that would be cool.
6/12/08
Worn out
I'm tired. And not normal tired. Burnt out, need a change, need a vacation tired. For the first time in a long time I wanted to go to bed and not get up for a while. Blah.
6/11/08
Do the evolution
I've been really busy lately, as usual, so here's the big update.
First and foremost I finally got around to installing Rockbox on my Gigabeat F40. It's awesome. I've been watching music videos, Family Guy, and Futurama on it for over an hour and the battery is still at full charge, so I'm impressed. Plus I played Doom on it, it's very nice. The next mod I will do to my faithful Gigabeat will be upgrading the hard drive to a solid state 60 at least, but that's a ways off.
My intern started recently, he's been doing well. He's gotten a lot of new marketing stuff done already, so we're trying to find more stuff for him to do.
I've started to look at chemistry jobs just to see what's out there. Problem is there aren't any entry level jobs, everyone seems to want people who already have 2 years experience at least. It doesn't matter what research I've done, or what my GRE scores are, they just want people who have been working in industry for a while already. Thanks economy, I love you too.
I've been working 10-11 hour days doing the contractor thing and then working another 3-4 on blog related work over at Tillamook Rage, we've got several big posts coming up. Jeremy also found out they have a new Ubuntu certification through LPIC, so if I have time I have something more to do. Woohoo!
Kelli and I are helping out with the pinewood derby at the Strawberry Festival in Wabash, should be lots of good strawberry related pastries and such, so that's exciting. Plus a car show.
As far as I know that's all the major stuff. Actually, after writing that sentence I realized I was going to get yelled at. I get married in 367 days and Kelli has pretty much everything planned. I just have to pick my last 2 groomsdudes and get my tux and we're good. We've bought Kelli's wedding ring and will be getting mine in a couple weeks. Hers is gold, so we had to get it before gold got any more expensive, mine's tungsten carbide, so there wasn't much of a hurry. I've picked out my nice white tux, so now I just have to go to MW and get measured and all that jazz I guess.
Peace homies, werd to your mother.
First and foremost I finally got around to installing Rockbox on my Gigabeat F40. It's awesome. I've been watching music videos, Family Guy, and Futurama on it for over an hour and the battery is still at full charge, so I'm impressed. Plus I played Doom on it, it's very nice. The next mod I will do to my faithful Gigabeat will be upgrading the hard drive to a solid state 60 at least, but that's a ways off.
My intern started recently, he's been doing well. He's gotten a lot of new marketing stuff done already, so we're trying to find more stuff for him to do.
I've started to look at chemistry jobs just to see what's out there. Problem is there aren't any entry level jobs, everyone seems to want people who already have 2 years experience at least. It doesn't matter what research I've done, or what my GRE scores are, they just want people who have been working in industry for a while already. Thanks economy, I love you too.
I've been working 10-11 hour days doing the contractor thing and then working another 3-4 on blog related work over at Tillamook Rage, we've got several big posts coming up. Jeremy also found out they have a new Ubuntu certification through LPIC, so if I have time I have something more to do. Woohoo!
Kelli and I are helping out with the pinewood derby at the Strawberry Festival in Wabash, should be lots of good strawberry related pastries and such, so that's exciting. Plus a car show.
As far as I know that's all the major stuff. Actually, after writing that sentence I realized I was going to get yelled at. I get married in 367 days and Kelli has pretty much everything planned. I just have to pick my last 2 groomsdudes and get my tux and we're good. We've bought Kelli's wedding ring and will be getting mine in a couple weeks. Hers is gold, so we had to get it before gold got any more expensive, mine's tungsten carbide, so there wasn't much of a hurry. I've picked out my nice white tux, so now I just have to go to MW and get measured and all that jazz I guess.
Peace homies, werd to your mother.
6/4/08
Jerry Yang is my Hero
Yes, I'm a nerd. My heroes are all nerds. But Jerry Yang and friends over at Yahoo just took the cake. When I read the latest news I literally jumped up and cheered.
Microsoft's attempt at a hostile takeover was idiotic at best. Stevie B huffed and puffed and in the end failed. That was a big win for Yahoo, and it showed Microsoft wasn't as all-powerful as everyone had generally assumed. Then the scum of the earth showed up, a man that makes Gates and Ballmer look like they belong on Blues Clues. Carl Icahn came in and bought up millions of dollars of shares and made it known he was going to oust the board and sell off Yahoo in pieces, destroying the company to net himself some cash. The "vulture investors" like him make me sick, they destroy good companies so they can make fortunes will doing no work and hurting millions of litte guys. It looked like all was lost.
Fortunately Yang had an ace up his sleeve, actually has had an ace up his sleeve for months now. Back when Microsfot threatened a takeover they passed an addition to their contracts saying that if anyone tried to take over Yahoo the employees would get a massive severence package if they are fired, leaves because they are unsatisfied with the takeover, or even if their job changes. Word on the street is they have a pact that if anyone tries to take control from Yang there will be a mass exodous, costing the company over $2 billion, which is over 400% of their annual income.
Icahn is furious and is demanding they take that part of the contract out. But Yahoo was smart enough to add another provision that the contract can't be changed if it will hurt employees, which that change definitely will. Icahn's retort was that he will fire them all for their insolence, which of course will cost them $2 billion and destroy their market value, essentially robbing Icahn of the $2 billion he has invested.
A story like this makes me smile to no end. Carl should back out now before he looks like anymore of an arrogant jerk.
Microsoft's attempt at a hostile takeover was idiotic at best. Stevie B huffed and puffed and in the end failed. That was a big win for Yahoo, and it showed Microsoft wasn't as all-powerful as everyone had generally assumed. Then the scum of the earth showed up, a man that makes Gates and Ballmer look like they belong on Blues Clues. Carl Icahn came in and bought up millions of dollars of shares and made it known he was going to oust the board and sell off Yahoo in pieces, destroying the company to net himself some cash. The "vulture investors" like him make me sick, they destroy good companies so they can make fortunes will doing no work and hurting millions of litte guys. It looked like all was lost.
Fortunately Yang had an ace up his sleeve, actually has had an ace up his sleeve for months now. Back when Microsfot threatened a takeover they passed an addition to their contracts saying that if anyone tried to take over Yahoo the employees would get a massive severence package if they are fired, leaves because they are unsatisfied with the takeover, or even if their job changes. Word on the street is they have a pact that if anyone tries to take control from Yang there will be a mass exodous, costing the company over $2 billion, which is over 400% of their annual income.
Icahn is furious and is demanding they take that part of the contract out. But Yahoo was smart enough to add another provision that the contract can't be changed if it will hurt employees, which that change definitely will. Icahn's retort was that he will fire them all for their insolence, which of course will cost them $2 billion and destroy their market value, essentially robbing Icahn of the $2 billion he has invested.
A story like this makes me smile to no end. Carl should back out now before he looks like anymore of an arrogant jerk.
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