Headline CNET News: On eBay, misspelling in ads often spells cash

On eBay, spelling matters. Some people deliberately misspell items when they search eBay, looking for common misspellings. If you can find, for example, a “labtop computer”, you can buy it for a fraction of the cost if the seller had correctly spelled it, since you have so much less competition from other bidders. It is not uncommon for people who search for misspellings to then turn around and re-list the items, with the correct spelling, and sell the item for the usual price, making a nice profit on the deal.

For example, a jeweler bought a box of watch “gers” for $2 and then sold the watch “gears” for $200. Another person has purchased three “Compact” (i.e. “Compaq”) computers for a “pittance”.

Jim Griffith, whose official title at eBay is dean of eBay education, teaches 40 to 50 seminars a year around the country. Although the auction house flags common misspellings online, Mr. Griffith said, the most common question he gets is, “When will eBay get a spell checker?” His answer? “You go to a store called a bookstore, and you buy something called a dictionary.”

I’ve heard of a bookstore and a dictionary (and also a spell checker). I even know where to find an online dictionary. But I’ve never heard of a dean of eBay education, so I guess I have a lot to learn about eBay. At least now I know that since I’ve got all those MP3 files, I better start looking for my “iBod”.

According to Walter Russell Mead in the Opinion Journal:

Historically, the Democrats have been America’s war party. Bob Dole got into trouble during his 1976 vice presidential campaign when he denounced World War I and World War II, along with Vietnam and Korea, as “Democrat Wars,” but most of America’s foreign wars began with Democrats in the White House: add the Mexican War, the Cold War and the War of 1812 to the Democrats’ count. Republicans, even including the Federalist and Whig predecessors to the GOP, could only claim the Spanish American War and the Gulf War before the War on Terror and George W. Bush.

“Vote for a Republican,” people used to say, “and you get a Depression. Vote for a Democrat, and you get a war.”

I never heard anyone say that. How can you check things like that to see if they are true?

Walt has an interesting way of expressing himself.

In fact, the mainstream Democratic candidates are mostly noticeable for the very small differences between their proposals and the foreign policies of the Bush administration. Looked at carefully, it is more style than substance: They would be nicer to the U.N. and to the Europeans than President Bush was, in the hope that this would bring more support for U.S. foreign policy.

But what if, in office, they kiss the frog and it doesn’t turn into a prince? What if Jacques Chirac, for example, continues to oppose American foreign policy even if President Kerry or President Edwards tries to be nicer to him?

Interesting imagery there. “Kiss the frog…Chirac, for example.” I think I’ll pass on that. Besides, I’m too busy ripping my CDs.

The National Review reports that Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal have just published their 2004 Index of Economic Freedom.

The top ten nations this year are as follows:

1. Hong Kong
2. Singapore
3. New Zealand
4. Luxembourg
5. Ireland
6. Estonia
7. Great Britain
8. Denmark
9. Switzerland
10. United States

In 2001, the US was number five, and in 2003, the US was ninth.

The US scores well on monetary policy, property-rights protection, and banking and finance. But cost of government is where we score badly.

This is an arbitrary index, so what does it matter? Well, the purpose of the score is to rate a nation’s economic freedom. And the nations that score better have a higher economic growth rate and per-capita income.

Among countries dubbed "Repressed," the Index found average per-capita income in 2001 at $3,316. For "Mostly Unfree" states, the equivalent figure was $3,535. Per-capita incomes rocketed to $13,027 for "Mostly Free" nations, then nearly doubled to $26,036 for the 16 countries the Index calls "Free.

Headline Wired: Pay Service Turns CDs Into MP3s.

Nova Spivack wanted to put his entire 1000+ CDs on his new iPod, but he didn’t want to spend the time ripping them to MP3 format. So, he sent his entire collection of CDs to RipDigital, a company that converts your CDs to your digital format of choice, for a dollar per CD. So, Nova spent over one thousand dollars to convert his collection.

Nova isn’t alone.

Dick Adams, one of the company’s three co-founders, said the service has been growing in popularity since its launch in December.

“We’ve been overwhelmed with orders and scrambling to keep up,” he said. “It’s been fabulous.”

Adams said the company initially targeted DJs, radio stations and institutions like hotels and libraries. Adams said they hoped for demand from audiophiles and collectors, but were surprised by the reaction from consumers.

“There are a lot of people out there who have more money than time,” said Adams. “Most people don’t roll their own cigarettes, and a lot of people don’t want to do this themselves.”

I think I’ll just “roll” my own MP3s and spend the grand on something else. Maybe I’ll buy an iPod….

There is an interesting quote in the Opinion Journal article we discussed a few postings ago.

Rep. Tom Feeney, a Florida freshman and former state House speaker,… points out that he can proudly say "I may be the only person in America who voted for George W. Bush five times for president in 2000"–in the Republican primary, as a convention delegate, in the November election, as a state legislator voting to seat the Bush electors in the disputed 2000 recount, and a presidential elector.

I wonder how many people in St. Louis, Chicago, and Dade County Florida (notorious places for voter fraud) can say the same about voting for Al Gore in 2000?

Headline WebMD: Hard Water May Protect Against Heart Attacks

Headline Telegraph: Radio 4 halves number of Today journalists

Headline Opinion Journal: Bush’s Looming Political Deficit: Conservatives grow restless with big-spending Republicans.

As this report on the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) shows, I’m not the only Conservative dissatisfied with the big spending ways of President Bush and the Republican Congress.

Bush and his advisors are aware of the growing problem, and part of the State of the Union speech was aimed to quiet the Conservatives by throwing them a few bones. One of Bush’s proposals is to limit discretionary spending increases to 4% or less for the 2005 budget. However, non entitlement spending is up 36% since Bush took office. Bush has yet to take a stand against the wasteful spending of the Congress and veto anything.

What bothered CPAC attendees most is that while they don’t expect much from Congress in the way of spending restraint, the Bush administration continues to be in partial denial over the problem. Vice President Dick Cheney didn’t mention spending at all during his address to CPAC delegates. The Bush White House has proposed what it claims is a near-freeze in nondefense controllable spending next year, but its long-term plan is to merely cut the deficit in half over the next five years.

This is not a good sign. Bush and the Republican Congress continue to increase spending. Worse yet, they are increasing the size of government. But, believing that conservatives can’t go anywhere else, they are only concerned with trying to win the unwinnable vote of the liberals by spending more than the liberals ever were able to spend.

Headline AP: Break-Dancers Perform for the Pope

VATICAN CITY - In an unusual spectacle at the Vatican, Pope John Paul II presided Sunday over a performance of break-dancers who leaped, flipped and spun their bodies to beats from a tinny boom box.

The 83-year-old pontiff seemed to approve, waving his hand after each dancer completed a move, then applauding for the entire group. He watched the performance from a raised throne.

“For this creative hard work I bless you from my heart,” he said….

“Artistic talent is a gift from God and whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste this talent, but must develop it,” John Paul said.

But this leads to the questions: Is Sabbath break-dancing Sabbath breaking? If Sabbath break-dancing is Sabbath breaking, shouldn’t Sabbath break-dancers break the Sabbath breaking break-dancing habit?

John Piper has an extended quote from George Mueller in his sermon from 4 January, 2004 that I thought is worth sharing. For those of you who might not be familiar with George Mueller, he was a 19th century pastor who founded and ran schools and orphanages. He is remembered for not telling people the need for money and food for the orphanages, but rather praying and asking God to provide. There are wonderful stories of how God providentially supplied meals at the last moment, sometimes after they prayed over their empty plates.

We have, through the goodness of the Lord, been permitted to enter upon another year–and the minds of many among us will no doubt be occupied with plans for the future, and the various fears of our work and service for the Lord. If our lives are spared we shall be engaged in those: the welfare of our families, the prosperity of our business, our work and service for Christ may be considered the most important matters to be attended to; but according to my judgement the most important point to be attended to is this: above all things see to it that your souls are happy in the Lord. Other things may press upon you, the Lord’s work may even have urgent claims upon your attention, but I deliberately repeat, it is of supreme and paramount importance that you should seek above all things to have your souls truly happy in God Himself! Day by day seek to make this the most important business of your life. This has been my firm and settled condition for the last five and thirty years. For the first four years after my conversion I knew not its vast importance, but now after much experience I specially commend this point to the notice of my younger brethren and sisters in Christ: the secret of all true effectual service is joy in God, having experimental acquaintance and fellowship with God Himself.

But in what way shall we attain to this settled happiness of soul? How shall we learn to enjoy God? How shall we obtain such an all-sufficient soul-satisfying portion in him as shall enable us to let go the things of this world as vain and worthless in comparison? I answer, This happiness is to be obtained through the study of the Holy Scriptures. God has therein revealed Himself unto us in the face of Jesus Christ.

In the Scriptures, by the power of the Holy Ghost, He makes Himself known unto our souls. . . . [Therefore] The very earliest portion of the day we can command should be devoted to the meditation on Scriptures. Our souls should feed upon the Word. . . . This intimate experimental acquaintance with Him will make us truly happy. Nothing else will. . . . In God our Father, and the blessed Jesus, our souls have a rich, divine, imperishable, eternal treasure. Let us enter into practical possession of these true riches; yea, let the remaining days of our earthily [sic] pilgrimage be spent in an ever increasing, devoted, earnest consecration of our souls to God. (George Mueller, A Narrative of Some of the Lord’s Dealings with George Mueller, Written by Himself [Muskegon, Mich.: Dust and Ashes Publications, 2003], pp. 730-732)