neverforeverdotnet

Over on TheeCakeScraps (via BoingBoing), this guy gives us the rundown on how much profit is likely turned by a single laptop auction on swoopo.com. Going through the mechanics of the site, I can’t help but draw parallels with local baby tatarah.com - only difference being that here “single highest bid” wins over “highest bid” - which is the case on Swoopo.

An auction for a laptop that says on the auction page, and I quote, “Worth up to $1,399.99″ The winning bidder, as stated on the site, placed 2020 bids. That is $2,020!! And the auction page proclaims “Savings: 0%” when it really should read negative! So Swoopo made like $600. BUT WAIT! The auction started at $0.00 and finished at $3,353.85. Now read that again. They were already up $600 from the winners bids alone. The winner sucker still had to pay $3,353.85 because that was the price of the auction. Okay, so Swoopo walks away with a cool $4,000 pure profit. (Like a bad TV commercial) BUT WITH THERE’S MORE! Remember that bids are placed in 15 cent increments. That means that if the auction finished for $3,353.85 you take that divided by $0.15 which equals $22,359 in bids!!!! That brings total profit to $22,359 (bids) + $3,353.85 (auction) -$1,399.99 (retail cost of laptop, probably not their cost) = $24,312.86

You feel lucky today?

Gary :: Oct.06.2008 :: General, All the news that's fit to print, Good readin' :: No Comments »

…have some fun reading through the entire collection of the Zodiac Killer’s letters.

Gary :: Jan.16.2008 :: Good readin' :: No Comments »

Pundits pithily and wittily describe the difference between a liberal and a conservative. “A conservative is a liberal who has been mugged. A liberal is a conservative who has been arrested.” “Liberals don’t believe they deserve anything they own. Conservatives think they’re entitled to everything they’ve stolen.” Or as Marvin Gottlieb of the Dayton Daily News puts it, “a liberal is someone who frets that somewhere, somehow, somebody is getting screwed. A conservative is a person who frets that somewhere, somehow, somebody is getting something for nothing.” British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli once remarked, “A Conservative government is an organized hypocrisy” while poet Robert Frost described a liberal as a man so broadminded he wouldn’t take his own side in an argument.

Link.

Gary :: Dec.28.2007 :: General, Good readin' :: No Comments »

Brilliant, isn’t it?

…which reminds me, I’ve not yet finished my copy of Gödel, Escher, Bach. Remember stopping somewhere after the discussion of the self-destructing record player.

Gary :: Sep.27.2007 :: Funny, A thousand words, 1337, Good readin' :: No Comments »

The Onion, once again displaying their finest.

Gary :: Jul.26.2007 :: Funny, General, All the news that's fit to print, Good readin' :: No Comments »

The CIA recently declassified an assload of papers under the Freedom of Information Act. While some of these go pretty far back, it’s still an interesting read nonetheless… if you’re into this kind of thing. Some of these have had their TOP SECRET classifications struck over with a pen like it really doesn’t matter at all.

From a subsite:

The CAESAR, POLO, and ESAU Papers

Cold War Era Hard Target Analysis of Soviet and Chinese Policy and Decision Making, 1953-1973

This collection of declassified analytic monographs and reference aids, designated within the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Directorate of Intelligence (DI) as the CAESAR, ESAU, and POLO series, highlights the CIA’s efforts from the 1950s through the mid-1970s to pursue in-depth research on Soviet and Chinese internal politics and Sino-Soviet relations. The documents reflect the views of seasoned analysts who had followed closely their special areas of research and whose views were shaped in often heated debate.

Linky.

I’ll let you know if I find anything interesting. You do the same.

Gary :: Jun.27.2007 :: A thousand words, Good readin', Crypto, Stifle me, stifle you :: No Comments »

An anonymous poem posted on lampposts and bus stops near a murder site in the UK has proved invaluable in helping the local police track down the killer of a 32 year-old man.

The unusual literary work suggests a racially-motivated crime, and even goes as far as to name the killer (name replaced by XXX in the copy released by police.)

Anonymous

The full story.

Gary :: Mar.28.2007 :: A thousand words, 1337, All the news that's fit to print, Good readin' :: 3 Comments »

I can’t attest to all the flicks but they’ve got some real damn sad ones in there.

Armageddon was a top choice. Nothing quite like seeing 25 hockey players putting their hands over their faces at the same time to cover the tears. I’m getting weepy just thinking about it.

The sequence near the end of Big Fish where Billy Crudup FINALLY reconciles with his dad (Albert Finney) right as his father’s dying. He narrates his final story as if it were one of his father’s tall tales. The only reason my girlfriend at the time didn’t notice I was crying was because she was crying too.

Cry me a river.

Gary :: Mar.18.2007 :: Good readin' :: No Comments »

I am pretty sure I have blogged about this amazing songwriter more than once in the past, but I think she deserves another mention. For those of you who don’t know who she is, you’ve probably heard her compositions at some time or another. In fact, she’s so prolific you can’t not have heard her songs before.

For starters, you might recognize:

• “Because You Loved Me“, recorded by Céline Dion, later by Clay Aiken, from the film Up Close & Personal
• “Blue Eyes Blue“, recorded by Eric Clapton, from the film Runaway Bride
• “By the Time This Night Is Over” by Kenny G. ft. Peabo Bryson
• “Can’t Fight the Moonlight“, recorded by LeAnn Rimes, from the film Coyote Ugly
• “Can’t Take That Away (Mariah’s Theme)“, written with Mariah Carey, recorded by Mariah Carey
• “Could I Have This Kiss Forever“, recorded by Enrique Iglesias & Whitney Houston
• “Don’t Turn Around“, recorded first by Tina Turner and later by Ace of Base, Bonnie Tyler, Neil Diamond, Luther Ingram and Aswad
• “For You I Will“, recorded by Monica, later by Tata Young
• “Have You Ever“, recorded by Brandy
• “How Do I Live?“, recorded by both Trisha Yearwood (from the film Con Air, Oscar nominee) and LeAnn Rimes
• “I Could Not Ask For More“, recorded by Edwin McCain and Sara Evans
• “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing“, recorded by Aerosmith, from the film Armageddon
• “I Turn to You“, recorded by All-4-One, later by Christina Aguilera
• “I’d Lie for You (and That’s the Truth)“, recorded by Meat Loaf
• “If I Could Turn Back Time“, recorded by Cher
• “I’ll Never Get Over You (Getting Over Me)“, recorded by Exposé, Bellefire and MYMP
• “Look Away“, recorded by Chicago
• “Love Will Lead You Back“, recorded by Taylor Dayne, later Johnny Mathis, Patti LaBelle
• “Saving Forever For You“, recorded by Shanice
• “Some Hearts“, recorded by Carrie Underwood
• “Spanish Guitar“, recorded by Toni Braxton
• “The Saddest Song I Ever Heard“, recorded by For Real
• “There You’ll Be“, recorded by Faith Hill, from the film Pearl Harbor
• “Un-Break My Heart“, recorded by Toni Braxton, later Il Divo, Johnny Mathis
• “When I See You Smile“, recorded by Bad English, later by Clay Aiken

The complete list from Wikipedia here.
Her official site is here.

Gary :: Feb.03.2007 :: Music, 1337, Good readin', w00t! :: No Comments »

…according to this guy, who also happens to peg Jan 23rd as the suckiest day of the year.

Checking my calendar, it turns out that Jan 23rd was the day I reported back to work after an MC on the 22nd, and still feeling sick. He’s spot on.

What did YOU do on the 23rd?

Gary :: Feb.02.2007 :: General, Good readin' :: 2 Comments »