Will eBay Auction Skype?

3 Years ago, Skype was the hottest thing in town. Then the bidding started, and when it comes to bidding no one knows how to do it better then eBay, who, with plenty of woo ha, paid a modest sum of $2.6 billion for their new toy. But, a while later, eBay, who also own PayPal, realized, that its harder to integrate the technology into its auction business then they first thought, Skype has become the hot potato that no one wants, even the appointing of Josh Silverman as the new CEO in February did not seem to help, and now eBay is considering selling the VoIP provider. Skype is quite good actually, it allows free PC calling, and saved me a lot of money when I used it to call computers internationally.

Do Not Buy.com

I know that we don’t normally write about consumer issues in this blog. But I am so angry at this lousy web site, that I’ve decided to write my story.

I placed an order with Buy.com, it was a 3 user any- virus software for a very low price, when some time had passed and I still didn’t get the package, I tracked it on the UPS website and was surprised to find that it was already shipped. then I tried to contact Buy.com customer service, and I hate to say it, but sometimes you get what you pay for…The worst customer service ever. Shipped to the wrong address (I spoke to UPS and confirmed it) and then denied my claim saying that it was shipped to the right address. They don’t advertise their phone no. online, and when I finally managed to get a No. I waited over 30 minutes only to speak to someone who couldn’t give me any information regarding their claim department. She couldn’t even transfer me to the supervisor, because “She is too busy…”
So please be careful next time you want to buy from this site, they will take your money alright, but then you are all alone.

Parts of this post were also published on Yelp.

In Search of (The) Wii: Week 1

After a week of holding out hope of buying a Wii anytime in the near future, I’m spent. I know from my quest that I am not alone. Hell, I’ve run into a lot of the same moms desperately hoping to appease their whiny kids by waking up at ungodly hours and schlepping out to the nearest Best Buy, Target, Walmart, Circuit City and any other promised mecca just to secure within their tiny, tight grips a new Nintendo Wii bundle for a mere $250. Having wasted my Sunday morning high-tailing it to every electronics/technology superstore around and being met with the same bemused reaction ad infinitum from every salesperson, I’ve started to catch a bit of the anti-Wii. There’s only so much flaunting and teasing one company and one product, for that matter, should be allowed. With the new Playstation 3 valued anywhere from $400-$500 and XBox 360 at $350, game consoles are the hottest ticket around this holiday season and they don’t come cheap.

But not coming at all?

Conspiracy theorists and other people with way too much time on their hands aside, I’m not of the mindset that Nintendo is holding out on us, more that they simply haven’t manufactured enough Wiis to fill the supply end of their high demand. The fact that the search for the Wii has borne the brunt of every late night talk show (if there wasn’t a writer’s strike) and DJ’s AM joke doesn’t discourage me. If anything, it compels me to push on in my search. The reality being no one relishes healthy competition more than myself. I get that glazed, demonic look in my eyes and march to the possessed beat of a win-at-all-cost drum. But there is no winning with the Wii.

I’m self-defeated at the moment. Angry at Wii, at Bill Gates for his damn Xbox 360 (completely unrelated). Incapable to discerning if I even want the Wii so much anymore, or I just can’t stand to not finish something once I set my mind to it. I may be feeling anti-Wiiish at present, but much like the initial hurdle of running from mile 7 to mile 8 when training for a marathon, this might be more of a mental obstacle than anything else. I might wake up tomorrow with renewed hope, but for now I’ll stick with the odds of the Patriots beating the Steelers this evening. Those are odds which will more likely play out in my favor.

Jessica Seinfeld Would NOT Approve

Just when news circulates that all might not have been kosher with Oprah’s ecstatic endorsement of heiress Jessica Seinfeld’s new kid’s cookbook (the one that’s all about tricking your kids into eating spinach brownies) comes hubby Jerry’s latest corporate plug for Bee Movie at the hands of the nefarious, fast-food gluttonous empire. No, we’re not talking about GE…

Surely Jessica and the $$ Jerry sunk into Oprah’s deceptively delicious campaign would not approve of such a stint, even with the “billions served.” Afterall, arches whose very existence is not reliant on being botoxed, plucked, and tweezed are so not relevant.

Not Another Day At The Office

Tonight, at an earlier time then usual (8/7c), NBC will air the one hour season finale of my favorite TV show The Office.
On tonight’s episode, Michael, Jim and Karen compete against each other for a job opening in Corporate.So, to celebrate the event, here are a couple of quotes I found on a wonderful site that goes by the lovely name Quotes From The Office.

Michael Scott: Did you know that gay used to mean happy? When I was growing up it meant “lame”. And now it means a man who makes love to other men. We’re all homos. Homo sapiens.

A Post Where I Get In Touch With My Sentiments About Starbucks

I hate Starbucks. (Click on this link’s “Small, Medium, Large” toon to watch a brilliant satire on Starschmucks) I don’t drink their coffee. It’s too bitter, too burnt, too unkind. I often get lumped in with the Dunkin Donuts coffee drinkers at those annoying networking get togethers where the world is insultingly and coursely divided into DD vs. Starbucks people. Truth be told I don’t much fancy the double DDs either. Give me a good ol’ cup of generic diner coffee any day.

Starbucks ambiance gets me too. Everyone sitting at a table is trying to look so studious and disengaged from everyone and everything going on around them and yet they are all bound together by that recycled white paper cup and a feeling of mild superiority at not being at the adjacent Dunkin Donuts or the alterna-coffee bar across the street whose patrons would have equally heightened airs just more piercings and tattoos. Don’t even get me started on those people.

I’ve come a few time in the past week to this Starbucks, mostly because I’m lazy and it’s easy and I know I can get internet access. It’s around the corner from my work and a change of scenery from the public library. I really do like the library but feared my presence with laptop was too distracting for people there. re: I used to wake up all the bums when my cell phone would accidentally ring. I felt bad about this, but contrastingly was always a bit put out when one of them would be occupying an entire table and give me a look of “Don’t you dare think of sitting here.” Why does one person need with four seats?

I guess the above scenario makes Starbucks look not so bad. You can always find a table and most likely there’s always people to gawk at (like the two gay men who were on a “date” only one had a wedding ring on and the other didn’t and they didn’t act “married”) if you can manage to squeeze past the 30 yuppie adults and children waiting in line to get to a table.

Explain to me what business a 5-year-old has with a mocha frapamijiggy. Aren’t we always trying to calm them down at that age? And isn’t it a mild form of child abuse, at the very least ushering in the early onset of obesity? But then I look at the Bratz girl attached to the whining and her adult version Bratz mom and I don’t care much either way. Wasn’t it Madonna who proclaimed, “Cause I’m living in a material world and I’m a material whiny Brat?

Yeah, something like that…