Swoopo TV auction screenshot

The site I stumbled upon is called Swoopo. It's an "entertainment shopping" site that at first glance, appears to be a fairly normal auction site with one exception: their prices are VERY low. I looked around the site and it's well designed and even gives you some fancy AJAX type real-time clocks showing time remaining on bids and other tidbits of information. I even found one particular Samsung 46" LCD TV I was interested in and the bid was only $132. Very interesting!

However, in the interest of figuring-out what's going-on, I didn't sign-up and bid. Instead I watched. And watched. And am still watching. Let's just call it the Neverending Auction...

That TV auction I found at 9:05pm on March 29, with only 30 seconds left to bid is STILL going right now, March 30 at 1:30pm. Every time someone bids on the TV, the time is extended anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes.

And therein lies the genius of Swoopo as a cash generator for its owners.

You see, the auction in question is a "penny auction". This means that every bid raises the auction only 1 cent. Of course, that means that with the bid increment only being a penny, people bid constantly, thus constantly adding time to the auction. It's always in a state of "almost done!" but never gets there.

No problem right? So the auction drags-on for weeks until the hard-end date of April 30 (yes, over a month after I discovered the auction - who knows when it started).

If you read Swoopo's site, you'll see that every bid costs the bidder 75 cents. So, to have your chance at the $200 TV, you raise the bid 1 cent and pay 75 cents in fees. Of course, since the price of the TV is now only 1 cent higher, there are dozens of other users ready to out-bid you, and they do, raising the bid price 1 cent and paying their 75 cents. And the process repeats ad nauseum.

So, let's stop and think about the money involved here. Just using the time that I discovered this particular auction last night when it was $132 and right now as I type this, it's at $208.20. Since each bid only raises the price one penny, we can thus calculate that there have been 7,620 bids just since I've been watching. 7,620 bids at 75 cents each is $5,715 in bid fees alone! And, the auction potentially has weeks to continue taking 75 cent bids!

Imagine if you're Swoopo. You could walk down to your local WorstBuy or any other store and paid the full retail price of $1800 to buy that TV and even if you sold it for the current $208.20 bid price, you'd still have pocketed over $4,000 in pure profit (again, remember that these numbers are just since last night - if the auction opened at $0.01 bid, the number is much higher)! And, it's very likely that the bid price will get driven-up another couple hundred bucks (minimum) thus adding several thousand more dollars in profit from people doing "entertainment shopping".

Anyway, this is genius level stuff from the Swoopo guys and one of those "wish I had thought of it" ideas. The penny auctions give the impression that it's cheaper and easier to bid, when in reality, it works against the bidder who has to constantly re-bid, at 75 cents a pop, to try to stay at the top of the penny pile. For every $100 the bid price goes-up, Swoopo makes $7,500 in bid fees. If that TV in this example goes to $500, sure it'll be a good deal for the winner, but Swoopo will have made more than another $18,000 in bid fees. They got the better end of the bargain IMO.

Oh how I wish I would have thought of that idea...

I've always been interested in video games. As a kid, I used to spend hours on my Commodore 64 playing games, typing games in from Compute's Gazette magazine, and even writing my own games. Writing games was a lot of fun but even for a kid with unlimited time, it takes a lot of effort and planning to do anything halfway serious, let alone a full-blown game.

Fast forward to today. Video games are a gigantic business totalling nearly $30 BILLION in the USA alone. It's a very serious business where entire teams of dozens of artists, programmers, sound creators, and associated business support people work together to create titles with often cost multiple millions of dollars. It's a big gamble and tons of work.

However, despite the corporatization (is that a word?) of the industry and the exponential complexity of the games, it's still a field that many nerds, techies, and artists dream of working in. I recently discovered a site with lots of information on careers in the game design field, including average salaries, resources, and tips and tricks of the industry. I figured that, even if you aren't actively seeking a position in this field, it would still be of interest to read about it since I did.

The main site is www.gamecareerguide.com.

Here is a director link to read the game industry salary report.

The Getting Started section has lots more information if you're wondering how jobs are divided, what schools or classes are available, etc.

I think the site has some pretty interesting information. If nothing else, it can give you something to think about while you sit in your small cubicle doing boring paperwork at a large corporate job. Well, at least that describes what I'll be doing.

I found a completely free online goal-tracking system that will be of interest to many people. Joe's Goals lets you easily create good and bad goals, to which you can assign a point value, and track how often you accomplish those goals.

The system uses AJAX (or "Web 2.0" as some like to call it) to create a very responsive, gmail like experience. The simplicity of the sytem is fantastic - so much so, that you might not realize the value potential of Joe's Goals when you first visit it. However, take a few minutes to create an account and a few goals, then begin checking the boxes as you do various things.

I've been using it for about a month to track exercise, eating fast food, drinking, spending, site updates and stuff like that and it's quite handy. Thus far, I have not gotten any spam whatsoever and the update messages from the site operator are short and infrequent. I recommend that you give this a try and see if it helps you keep track of your goals and targets.

If you're the kind of person who loves television, and I mean really loves television, this is for you!

With the new Direct TV Platinum package, you can have it all and then some. For a mere $625 per month, you can dominate your life with:

• Every Standard Definition channel
• Every High Definition channel
• Every premium movie channel (HBO, Cinemax, etc.)
• Every pay-per-view channel
• Every adult channel
• Up to 10 DVR boxes
• And of course, "concierge level service" 24/7

When you're looking to blow this kind of cash on television programming, you actually get to talk to a person - a real, live, human being. That's right - you don't get the usual run-around and long hold times - they call you! Who says that customer service is dead in today's businesses? It's not completely dead, it's just very highly priced!

So, go ahead and indulge... Fill-out their request form and get the ball rolling

The announcement that the yet unreleased Playstation 3 is going to cost $600 has been quite the talk of the gaming circles lately. Personally, I think that price is ludicrous despite the Sony president telling us all that it's actually "too cheap" The fact that it contains a BluRay drive, which is supposedly a major contributor to why it's so expensive, is about as much justification for me to spend $600 on a game console as buying a $250,000 Rolls Royce to get a woodgrain cupholder.

Alas, I'm sure all of the Sony/Playstation fanboys will be camping-out for weeks when the console finally ships and that's their perogative. For the rest of us, there are plenty of other consoles, both retro and new, which brings me to the story.

I'm sure that many of you readers once owned an Atari 2600, an Intellivision, or Sega Genesis. Obviously, back in the 1980's, there was no way even imaginable that 99.9% of our parents would have paid $600 for a game system, so the machines were centered around a much more reasonable $200 mark. But... what happens if you adjust the 1980's prices into today's horribly inflated US dollars? You get a much different story...

The Curmudgeon Gamer did just that. He calculated and graphed the prices of all of the production game consoles throughout history and stacked them up against today's seemingly unreasonable PS3. The results might surprise you. For example, that beloved Atari 2600 would cost $653 in today's dollars.

Of course, no matter how try to justify the PS3, it's still $600 and that's just simply way too much for a console that likely won't come with any games, and when you do buy the games, they'll probably be $60 each or more (I'm guessing more since the Xbox360 games are $60 and they don't use the hyper-expensive BluRay discs). In my book, that's simply a very, very poor value for the money. Give me another Atari 2600 from the local thrift store with a box of games for a total of $10 instead, or perhaps something more advanced like the wonderful 16-bit Sega Genesis! Then again, maybe all of those "Free PS3!" offers will come to the rescue for modern gamers...

The oil companies are constantly turning their pockets inside-out in order to appear sympathetic with consumers, all the while proclaiming that they do not make money from the increased prices and merely pass the costs on.

If that's true, why is Exxon about to surpass Microsoft, the most cash-rich non-financial company for the past many years or possibly longer? It's no secret that Microsoft basically prints money with software and has used questionable market tactics to gain their position at the top of the greed pile, so seeing Exxon rise so quickly recently should raise your eyebrows (and possibly turn your stomach at the sheer level of unadulterated greed).

Although a $3 billion cash gap remains between Exxon and Microsoft, Exxon is producing cash at a faster pace; its cash holdings could eclipse Microsoft's within a couple of months. In the first quarter, Exxon's total cash rose by $3.3 billion, while Microsoft saw total cash increase just $261 million.

So, the next time you see those poor oil companies talking about just how hard they work to keep things affordable, especially after they pay a CEO $400 MILLION to RETIRE, remember poor Microsoft and think how they must feel.

My Tivo is honestly one of the best things I've ever bought. I've often said that if it ever broke, I'd be at the store at 8:00am the next day to buy a new one. It has liberated me from having to watch shows at certain times and always has something I actually want to watch. I will never watch "live" TV again if at all possible.

Naturally, having such a profoundly positive experience with the Tivo made me want to share its wonders with friends and family. Like a good Tivo fanatic, I extolled the many virtues of the simple-looking little box to anyone who'd listen. I'd explain how it is so much more than simply pausing live TV, despite what the commercials explain.

Of course, the next logical question the person would ask is, "How much is it?"

Well, when I bought my Tivo, you had the option of paying $9.95 per month for service or a single $200 lifetime (of the box) lump sum. After a while, Tivo decided that the service was worth $12.95 per month, or $250 for the lifetime, and eventually $300. These are fees on top of your monthly cable bill and the purchase of the box itself.

So, upon hearing that it was going to cost $12.95 per month for service, most people immediately rejected the potential joys of never watching commercials or missing shows again. I understand. I avoided buying a Tivo for the same reason myself, even at the $10 per month rate. So, out of the dozens of people I explained Tivo to, only a couple have actually bought one (and they incidentally love it just as much). That's a pretty poor conversion rate and it's soley due to the monthly fees.

Today, however, I believe that Tivo just drove the nail into their own coffin. They upped the monthly fee to $19.95 per month.

Wow... I would not pay that much and I'm already sold on the concept. What are they thinking?

Now, for your $20 per month in a one year commitment, you get the Tivo box itself for free. It's a standard run-of-the-mill Series 2 - nothing special these days. That amounts to anywhere from a $40 to $100 value. So, for the first year, you just about break-even with the $20/month+free box vs. buying the box and paying the old $13/month rate.

But after that, you pay $240 per year for as long as you own the box!

Wouldn't a person simply pay the lifetime fee of $300 after the first year to at least limit hemhorraging of cash? Oh, I forgot to mention that Tivo eliminated the lifetime subscription in this train-wreck of a new pricing scheme.

So, while it was nearly impossible to convince people that Tivo is worth $13/month, I won't even bother trying now that it's $20/month. As an aside, buying the $100 box was never an issue (and you'd have to be really lazy to not find one for quite a bit less than $100) - it was always the monthly recurring fee, which to be honest, is all I'd worry about as well if I didn't have one.

Of course, in an attempt to make the fees seem more reasonable and also maybe grab your cash up front, Tivo has "discounted" monthly pricing if you pre-pay or commit to multiple-year contracts. So, if you're willing to sign-up for a 3 year contract, you will pay $610 over the period, a whopping $17/month. Pre-paying a lump-sum is a slightly more reasonable $13/month, but that'll cost you $469 all at once. Now, keep in mind that today's society seems to prefer the "installment plan" rather than paying large lump sums, even if it costs less. Just look at credit card use these days!

So, considering the resistance to paying $13/month on the old pricing plan, how many people would you expect to jump on-board for $20/month? My guess is nobody I know. Of course, the people I know tend to be a bit more financially responsible and will shy-away from monthly wallet milkings, so maybe the general public, who run an average credit card debt of $8,000 from month-to-month, will have less of a problem with this increase. I don't know. I do know that I will not be wasting my time trying to explain the values of Tivo to my friends because it'll be a total waste of time.

Now, if my Tivo ever breaks, I'll be looking at lesser alternatives (cable company DVRs generally suck but are much cheaper and will hopefully get better) or maybe I'll even build my own DVR using MythTV or some other software-based alternative. Sorry Tivo, at those prices, you've lost a loyal convert. My eyes have been opened to the wonders of Tivo, but I've not gone blind to the cost.

I expect that this move will have the opposite effect Tivo is hoping for. They are undoubtedly looking to increase revenue, but my thought is that it'll actually hurt their new sign-ups. Tivo has strugged financially since it's inception and I fear this could be the final mistake they make if things are not quickly changed.

What do you think?

Apparently, Zillow.com is raising some eyebrows around the real-estate circles. Using their site, you can get pretty detailed information on your house, general housing areas, appreciation graphs, and more. I'd guess that appraisers and other people who make a luxurious living off of the various scams involved with buying and selling homes might stand to lose the most if the info is accurate.

Well, maybe I should say that you don't get paid to do these fun things technically, but you can do them while at work which is the next best thing! For example:

Google lets you spend 20% of your time working on pet projects (1 day per week).

Pixar lets you do pretty much anything to your workspace that you like as well as having on-site Penn and Teller shows.

There are a total of 7 companies listed with the various perks for each. I love how they list Merck having cable TV in the cafeteria as a "signature perk". Not exactly the kind of "perk" that I'd choose to headline instead of the on-site auto service or bakery

I don't think that anyone reading this site is going to be ignorant about the current, legalized scam known as mail-in-rebates, so I'll skip the part about how they expect a certain percentage of people to forget, blah blah blah.

I'm not one of those people who forgets.

I also do not screw-up the rebates. I am meticulous about filling-out the forms and I copy everything, even the stamped envelope I send the form in.

That's why I get so upset when I get a postcard like this in the mail after 3 months of waiting (click for larger version) for a $10 Transcend DDR2-533 RAM rebate:

Notice how helpful this card is. The phone number, (000)000-0000, is probably not going to work - at least that's my guess. There are no instructions on what to do to remedy the (their) screw-up.

Checking the status of the rebate on the website says this:

The UPC symbol or proof-of-purchase tab you submitted is not valid for this promotion.

You will receive a letter or postcard describing this problem. The letter or postcard may have instructions on how to correct this error.

I like how they say "...postcard MAY have instructions..." - how very helpful also!

Essentially, they are telling me to FOAD and just lose the rebate amount.

Out of all of the years I've been doing rebates, I've only had one rejected (that shows how careful I am) and that rebate had a phone number that I called and surprisingly, got a HUMAN being who fixed the issue in about 2 minutes. I was pleased, or at least as pleased as I could be with having to waste a few minutes of my time to fix a problem that didn't exist on a rebate I shouldn't have had to file, but I digress...

Clearly, something needs to be done about these rip-off rebate companies as now, they don't even give a phone number to call. I went to their relatively worthless website and filled-out a "help request" form but I can't say that I'm expecting anything to come of it.