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My take on the new eBay policies

February 5, 2008 in technology with 0 Comments

[ebay]

You can read the changes for yourself here.

Reduced listing fees

Pro Con
Of course, it’s cheaper to list products. Gallery pictures are now standard. What they didn’t say in the announcements is that they’ve jacked up the final value fee percent by 3%. That means that sellers make less money. Way to encourage your sellers, eBay!I like the option of not having a gallery picture. As a buyer, if someone doesn’t have a gallery picture, I’m usually not interested. It helps me weed through the listings.

Rewards for great sellers

Pro Con
Higher rated sellers float to the top of searches. Lower fees for Power Sellers. So what about those of us that aren’t Power Sellers?

Feedback changes

Pro Con
Three day waiting period for leaving negative or neutral feedback. Positive feedback percentage based on last 12 months of feedback. Sellers can no longer leave negative or neutral feedback. What about sellers leaving negative feedback as a warning to other sellers about deadbeat buyers? Feedback extortion does occur. How does this help in that situation?What incentives will the buyers have to complete the terms of the terms of an auction?

Overall I think eBay is doing an overall disservice to sellers with these most recent changes. Obviously it’s a money grab.

Spriglet #11 – Restore off-screen programs in Windows

February 4, 2008 in spriglets, technology with 0 Comments

move_window.jpgHave you ever had a program show in the taskbar as running, but not show anywhere on the screen? (I’ve only had it happen in a dual-screen environment, but I suppose it could happen with a single screen.)

Anyway. Alt-Space is your friend.

Hit Alt-space, choose Move and then use the arrow keys to move the window back to the visible screen.

Spriglet #10 – Hiding Taskbar Icons in Windows

January 28, 2008 in spriglets, technology with 0 Comments

taskbar1.jpg

If you are like me and often have a lot of apps open in Windows, here’s an easy way to get more room in your taskbar. If you’re wondering why my taskbar is dark gray, I’m using the Zune theme for Windows XP.

®= right-click, © = click, © © = double-click

taskbar2.jpg

1. ® on an empty place on the taskbar, © Properties

taskbar3.jpg

2. © Customize next to the “Hide inactive icons” checkbox

taskbar4.jpg

3. Note the Behavior column

taskbar5.jpg

4. Next to each “Hide when inactive” entry change it to “Always Hide”

taskbar6.jpg

5. © OK twice and you’re done. Voila. Nice, huh?

What’s missing from Wii Sports

January 7, 2008 in sports, technology with 0 Comments

Here are some things that I think can be improved in Wii Sports.

  • Stats! The message board is not a good place to view my personal best scores. I’d like to see a table of all Miis on the console and their best scores in each sport.
  • A way to turn off the strap warnings and things that slow the game down. I know they’re necessary, but once my Mii has acknowledged them, don’t show them again.
  • It would be cool if some functionality could be unlocked when you get to a certain skill level in all of the sports. I know bowling pros get a different color ball, but what about the other sports?
  • Tennis – when you’re not playing against the computer, there are some unhittable service returns. It’s not quite fair.
  • Baseball
    • It’d be sweet to pick the players on our team from our pool of Miis.
    • I know the minimalist nature of Wii Sports is what makes it cool, but some more action on the baseball players would be nice, especially fielding. For example, if you hit a line drive to first base, the fielder should step on the base.
    • It’d also be cool to be able to position yourself in the batter’s box.
  • Golf – If there’s one of the sports that a movement that is counter-intuitive, it’s golf. Maybe it’s that I don’t like golf in general.

Firefox Rise Up

January 7, 2008 in technology with 0 Comments

The Wii, unboxed.

January 2, 2008 in family, pretty darn cool, technology with 0 Comments

[wii]

I waited 2 months for this reaction. I was very excited about the Wii and so were the kids when they ripped off the wrapping paper… The pictures just didn’t capture the moment.

Some thoughts now that we have a week of Wii under our belts, er, straps.

  1. For me Tennis is the most fun out of all of the Wii Sports. I have some seriously sore upper body muscles. I’m up to a 590+ something rating, but I keep getting waxed by the computer. I need to find the right technique for that unhittable shot that my brother-in-law kept laying on me.
  2. Out of all of the Wii Sports, bowling got the most action. We looked up the Wii easter eggs online and were able to do the 91 pin training trick. That was pretty cool.
  3. My kids are fascinated with the concept of a Mii. I think they’ve created about 30 of them so far. All the family on both sides, friends — and the most recent additions — Chuck Norris and the cast of Charlie Brown.
  4. Wii Play is OK. My kids spent a lot of time fishing and blasting everything that moved in the shooting game. The Cow Race is cool and funny, but got old after a while. I couldn’t get anyone to really play the tank game with me. I thought it was fun.
  5. Now that I’m home I’ve set up the wireless features. Pretty sweet. Did the first update. I was a little surprised how long it took.

1/2 UPDATE: Finally got up to Pro status in Tennis. It’s much harder now. Still fun.

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