Into the Void

In case you missed the article, my team won the best project award last semester in CS4380, DBMS I.  Our reward for winning was having dinner and beer with the professor at the Flat Branch Bar and Grill (of course, we are all 21+).  I must say I had a very good time.

I wasn’t sure what drink to order, so I just had what Dr. Shyu had.  While we waited on our food we talked and watched Mizzou play KSU in basketball (the game had just started when we got there).  It turns out Dr. Shyu is quite the basketball fan, and his competitive spirit definitely showed.

All in all it was a great experience and a very fun evening.  I have a great deal of respect for Dr. Shyu, as do all the students and Engineering faculty at MU.  I hope that someday I will have a chance to sit down and talk with him again.

Today I received another mass email from Bill Cobb, President of eBay. This can only mean one thing: more fees! Bill Cobb has only been President of eBay for like a year now and he’s already made about a billion fee adjustments. It’s funny too, because I thought that eBay was already making tons of money. True, their stock price hasn’t gone up five thousand percent like it has in recent years, but isn’t eBay rich enough? Shouldn’t they stop screwing over their user base (pretty much everyone) simply because they have the market power to do so?

This is why I hate Bill Cobb. I’m sure there’s pressure on him from stock holders and other executives to increase the share price, but couldn’t he have thought of a better solution than raising fees again?… The fees are getting out of control too. After the insertion fee, final value fee, and PayPal related fees, you end up paying like 12% or more! For most sellers, that results in slim or non-existent profit margins. Many companies have stopped selling on eBay for this reason.

So just for fun, I sent a reply to his email:

“We know pricing is a critical issue for our sellers. We stand behind our decision to increase final value fees…”

Why is that Bill… did you need another jet? I think you should be cautious about raising fees in the future. Your brand name will only stretch so far. You keep testing sellers, someday your dynasty will fall. Oh, and [expletive deleted]! 

I expected to get a canned response, and here it is:

It sounds as though you are upset. You have some questions about our recent increases, and it also sounds as though you feel that eBay is no longer very secure. I’d like to begin to address each of these concerns below.

The fee increases will go towards improving eBay - expanding customer support, developing features, advertising, security, and other aspects.

I understand you feel eBay is no longer a safe place to trade. I’m not sure what you are referring to, specifically; however, you can get information by going to the eBay home page, and clicking on the link called, “Security Center”, found at the bottom of the page.

Thanks again for writing.

Michael C. D.
On behalf of Bill Cobb,
President of eBay North America

What more can I say?… I still use eBay for the same reason everyone else uses it: everyone else uses it. This is why I think it’s dangerous for eBay to continue raising fees. There’s nothing special about their website and software, so if they continue to piss off sellers then someday there may be a revolution. When that day comes, put me on the front line so I can shoot Bill Cobb.

Apple could learn a thing or two from Creative when it comes to digital music players. I’ve tried every iPod make and model to date… the original, the mini, the nano, the shuffle… and I’m stunned by how people consider these top-notch audio players. The construction, battery performance, sound quality, all suck.  Plus look at the featureless Shuffle… My friend recently purchased one for US $130 and it lasted about 2 days before “sad-podding”. The fact that it broke is beside the point though… I was more amazed by its lack of features.  The Shuffle is expensive yet it lacks essential features like a display or FM radio tuner.
 
The Shuffe’s competition is Creative Labs’ Zen Nano, with all of Shuffle’s features, plus a back-lit LCD display, FM tuner, mic input, and durable casing.  The Zen Nano user interface is simple and intuitive and all of its functions can be quickly accessed.  The firmware is easy to upgrade, backed up by an excellent recovery mode feature in case something unexpected should happen. Zen Nano doesn’t bitch about nonsense like DRM either, or require bloated PoS apps like iTunes and Quicktime to be installed.  I don’t even use the Creative software that comes with the player because it’s unnecessary… just plug the Zen Nano into USB and it mounts as a removable flash drive.  Then you can just drag-and-drop your files… any type of file!  Now that’s thinking different.
 
For those wondering, this post was inspired by a friend of mine who recently purchased an iPod Shuffle that broke after a couple days.  He said Apple Care technicians were mean, difficult, and totally incompetent. Plus they wanted to charge him a restocking fee to return it!  The good news is that he bought a Creative Zen Nano *Plus* from Wal-Mart last week (US $120), and he’s extremely satisfied.  It’s smaller than the iPod Shuffle and yet it has equal storage capacity and higher SNR (which is good).  Plus it has all the bells and whistles Apple forgot to include in the Shuffle.  So if you’re in the market for a compact digital music player, then I highly recommend getting the Zen Nano instead.

24 is a show on Fox about an FBI-like agency called CTU (Counter Terrorism Unit) that defends the nation against terrorists with the help of renegade agent Jack Bauer.  I started watching 24 in its third season.  I was instantly hooked in by the non-stop action and technology theme of the show.  24 is now in its fifth season, and I watch it every week as soon as it’s done recording.  Jack Bauer (Keifer Sutherland) makes the show truly exciting, but all the characters keep you engaged with twists and turns around each corner.  The terrorist bosses are always very sinister and captivating as well.
 
Probably the best thing I have to say about the show is that it seems more like a movie production than television.  Everything in it is very polished.  If you haven’t seen it yet you’re missing out.  For me, it’s the only thing good about Monday.