Boredom-Fueled Blog » ebay

Random Googling While Bored

jacob — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:55:14 +0000

Googling while bored can lead to some pretty funny “Google suggestions” – the words in the drop-down tab that appear after you begin typing (try typing in “i am”). It just so happens that I was bored and Googling randomly today (a lethal combination), and I came up with some suggestions that I thought were pretty funny.

I like this one, because as you read down the line, it seems like Google and eBay have a rivalry, and the Google search engine is getting more and more hostile towards eBay.

At first glance, it would seem that Google hates Jay Leno as much as they hate eBay, but then there is some random thing about Leno being “angry that the unemployed are selling tickets for his free show”… which (although probably illegal) is not a bad idea for making money in this economy.

This next one is kind of weird because it lists four things about Ringo Starr, and none of them are true.

On this last one, Google finally gets something right. Ebay is not “too expensive.” Jay Leno is not “a jerk.” Ringo Starr is definitely not “dead.” But Joaquin Phoenix is definitely “weird,” “insane,” and “nuts,” but I’m not sure if you can actually describe what he does as rapping.

Me vs. Technology

jacob — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 17:58:36 +0000

This is the account of a true story involving me, eBay, Beatles vinyls, and a computer. Before reading this, you need to know my reasoning and little obsessive foibles: yes, of course, I could just buy the CDs, but that’s simply not the same to me… and no, you don’t need to have album artwork on your iPod- it’s not required, but it would seem unfinished if I didn’t have the album artwork. I’m just kind of weird like that…
So recently I have been buying Beatles LPs off eBay. I enjoy listening to them on a turntable, but that’s not very convenient for long car trips or jogging, so I decided to convert the songs to .aiff files so I could play them on my iPod.
August 21: For my first attempt I decided to use “Simon and Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits.” Things seemed fine. I put my personal favorites from the album onto my iPod, added the album art work, and everything seemed fine.
August 27: As luck would have it, several days later the computer developed a “malicious virus” and had to go to the computer ER. When I got it back, the image program I primarily used, Picture It! 9, was no more!…
September 1: Then I recorded the “Let It Be” album. Sound quality seemed fine to me, but I could not figure out how to add album artwork without Picture It! 9… Oh, well, I guess, but then the real problem occurrs… read on…
sometime in Mid-September: Eventually, I got around to recording “Sgt. Pepper” and the main vocal track of the title song was missing. For a moment, I feared that I had accidentally purchased the karaoke version of the album (and even thought that I could make a lot of money on such a rare item). Soon I realized that it was because I was recording a stereo track in mono… but the me of two months ago didn’t own an RCA stereo mini (or even know what one was).
So let’s recap: where does this leave me? No album artwork, worthless sound quality.
Early October: Time to fight back. First off, album artwork. After many failed ideas and a time-wasting call to iTunes support (“Yes, we have determined we can not solve your Apple iTunes problem”), I figured out what to do…
So, I put the songs from the record to a computer, from the computer to a CD, from the CD to a different computer, and from the different computer to my iPod. Yes, it’s a lot of work for album artwork… but I still have to worry about the sound quality problems.

Mid-October: I buy an RCA stereo mini cord… it works. Sound quality still sounds a bit fuzzy and a click once in a blue moon, but that’s to be expected when you’re using a cheap program and old records.
November 2: I have decided that the next time I come upon spare cash, I’ll be buying the Beatles CDs… just so that I’m not bothered by those clicks and fuzzy background effects. The way I figure, this way works the best – I get the old school vinyls (which I prefer), and I get the new age hipster CDs, which offer better sound quality… so pretty much, this whole thing could’ve been avoided.

ebay – Through My Eyes

jacob — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:16:53 +0000

I’ve recently gotten really into ebay. And I know that it’s been consistently very popular for a long time, but I just started getting into it because it’s one of the very few places where I can buy Beatles records. This is the account of my ebay experience so far.
When I started checking out ebay frequently about a month ago it seemed like a very big and scary place. So much happening all over. But I was there to buy one thing – the “Let It Be” album. I found a pretty good one for a good price. There was no picture so it got overlooked by many people, I assume. I was very nervous. It had four hours left on it. Since there was no picture I had to contact the seller and ask if it was the album or the single “Let It Be.” Fortunately I soon found out it was the album, and I nervously bid on it, not thinking that I’d have a chance. Four hours later I was shocked to find I’d won it. So I decided to begin pushing my luck.
Now I was searching for any Beatles album not caring which one as long as it was in good condition. I found “Sgt. Pepper” for a good price and bid on it. Eventually I won that too. Two in a row. I’d heard other things about ebay – how you rarely win the thing you bid on. So I started thinking that I was some kind of ebay genius- like I beat the system or something.
About a week later, I found the soundtrack to the movie “Help!” and “Rubber Soul” being sold together for a very reasonable price. I bid on it, feeling very sure of myself. In the last seven seconds I lost it. ebay had betrayed me; how could I lose? I sulked for a while, but I really wanted more records.
So, earlier today, I opened ebay and typed in “beatles lp” (Time: ending soonest), and I found that the White Album was being sold for five bucks plus shipping and ending in three minutes. I hurried to bid on it. When I won, I got this strange sensation. A few days earlier, a bid had been pulled out from under me, and now I had taken something away from someone who maybe really wanted that even more than me. It’s a strange feeling.