Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Trading Trade Me?

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  • Lyndon Hood,

    This is quite possibly the geekiest sentence I have seen in my life.

    You can buy - or rather, people can - doormats with
    'There's No Place Like 127.0.0.1'
    written on them.

    Admittedly - thankfully? - I had to guess what that one was about.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1115 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    'There's No Place Like 127.0.0.1'

    Ohhh, that's funny on just one level. But funny nonetheless.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    No, Robyn still wins.

    There are at least a decent number of people who know what 127.0.0.1 is. Memorising RGB codes, that's true, er 'class'.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    As for shipping from the US - it's not that much if you know your postal shizz.

    However, with the falling exchange rate, it's really easy to go over the $400 limit and be hit with tax and duty. I guess it's better with a back street eBay vendor who can be schooled to put "Gifts - $50" on the customs form.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    Also,in IPV6 "there's no place like ::1"

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Stephen Judd,

    Memorising RGB codes

    What? Memorise? What's to memorise? One sees a value for red, green, and blue, and it is a simple mental operation to take the three hexadecimal values and convert to a colour.

    One of my workmates was a bit crook a few weeks ago and sent around a message reading "At home sick with #b3770099 coloured bile."

    I thought it was a bit dodgy having 4 hex numbers in there, until someone pointed out that the last one was the alpha channel indicating transparency...

    ... now that's geeky.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock,

    Whenever I am selling something collectable it goes on ebay US without a thought.
    The only site to sell 'proper' stuff (that you can mail).

    As for shipping from the US - it's not that much if you know your postal shizz.
    Likewise from here to there.

    It sounds like you are mostly selling, and mostly fairly compact lightweight items. If that's a correct assumption, then I suspect it makes a difference.

    I am almost exclusively buying, and most of the objects I look at are generally fairly heavy and bulky (e.g. auto parts). On a lot of US Ebay auctions, they specifically state 'will not ship overseas and don't bother asking' (or similar). It gets a bit wearing after a while.

    In one way it's understandable. I've tried to sell some stuff on TM without success that I've seen snapped up in the US on Ebay. Because the items are fiarly bulky, I really, really don't want to faff around with packaging and posting to the US. And why would someone over there buy it from NZ when they can get it locally?

    Like I said originally, the market over here is just that little bit too small to sustain a good turnover of some specialist interest items. Australian Ebay seems to be the same

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Try adblocking everything and/or uninstalling flash. A lot of those animated ads grab CPU.

    True that. In the past the problem at the Herald site has been with DoubleClick's ad-serving code, which conflicted horribly with Safari in the Mac and some other configurations.

    "Rich media" ad creative in general is a problem. It just tends to break things.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Litterick,

    I bought Bishop Berkeley's doormat on TradeMe. It says "there's no place."
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    I'll get my coat.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1000 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Beard,

    Memorising RGB codes

    I saw a t-shirt the other day that read:

    "Roses are #FF0000
    Violets are #0000FF
    All of my base
    Are belong to you"

    I suppose that to some people, that will be the most romantic thing they have ever heard.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report Reply

  • Mark Harris,

    Ah, you mean
    http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/gear/6806/


    My sister gave me this one for my last birthday:
    http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/gear/69e3/

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Has no-one put Trademe up on TradeMe yet?

    Sorry dude. I just assumed you would.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    And, rather appropriately, one of our customers walked into our shop wearing this:

    http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-apparel/unisex/generic/8f52/

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    WTF!

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • rudi tee,

    "At home sick with #b3770099 coloured bile."

    alpha channel.. thats awesome! that's total design meets code geekiness. hex me baby.

    Robyn, i'm surprised you didnt remember #cccccc and then #eeeeee the lightest legal grey you could have back then for subtle designy type design stuff whilst busy making pages under 50Kb.

    Grey Lynn • Since Oct 2008 • 2 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    . . . eccentric warehouse filled with monumental components that drive city infrastructure, such as huge transformers, pumps and heavy-duty other really grunty things that look like they came from under the road . . .

    Sounds like the bastard who caused the blackout of '98.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    I recognize the jokes on the t-shirts, and I have begun to LOL, OMG!

    I'm just glad to see them turning up outside of 'ones I have had shipped her and put on my friends'. xkcd has cheaper shipping than thinkgeek. I'm just sayin'.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Mark Harris,

    xkcd has cheaper shipping than thinkgeek. I'm just sayin'.

    That you know that is testament to ... something.

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report Reply

  • Geoff Lealand,

    Great new season of Media 7 tonight. The extended format seemed less rushed, with time for all to have their say--and we got to see the audience (several times!)

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report Reply

  • Rachel Prosser,

    Nobody I talk to ever seems to understand what Yellow is doing.

    Thats because you don't speak the language of the black gloves:

    "umm-bid-dlbb-lee-doo-bee-deeb-ly-deebly-dum-diddle" says it all really.

    Christchurch • Since Mar 2008 • 228 posts Report Reply

  • Rachel Prosser,

    oops "That's"

    Christchurch • Since Mar 2008 • 228 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    Ye gods & little fishes! I cant find *any* dictionary entry for "umm-bid-dibb.lee-doo.bee" etc.. What is *wrong* with my dictionaries?! All 143 of them??(Not including Klatch.)

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    I did not previously realize that thats is a nonexistent word.

    Oh, but it isn't. I could say for instance that if you use to many thises or thats in a sentence, it's bad style.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Josh Addison,

    I bought Bishop Berkeley's doormat on TradeMe. It says "there's no place."

    See, I get that one, as well as the geek jokes. Finally my MA in Philosophy is earning its keep.

    Onehunga, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 298 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    That is remarkable. I did not previously realize that thats is a nonexistent word.

    These days I figure, so long as it's clear, does it actually matter? It's so common to break all the rules of grammar now, and being pedantic is so damned time wasting. Fair enough if you're writing in a newspaper because they have their own standards, or in a school essay, since they're trying to teach 'good' English. But in a blog? Picking people up on grammar is a pretty lame way to fail to engage the meaning. If it's unclear, just ask for clarification. I'm extremely tolerant of shitty spelling and grammar because I just want the ideas, and I don't think only perfect English speakers/writers have important points to make. OK, it takes longer if they're so poor that the meaning is hard to get. But consider that it also takes longer when you're just pissing people off by being a pedant, and ignoring what they're saying, demanding conformance to standards that are actually pretty arbitrary. People spoke perfectly good comprehensible language well before dictionaries and grammar books were ever invented. Some of the best ideas of all time were expressed completely ungrammatically, and some of the best written art, too. Shakespeare would never have got one play past a proofreader. Language bureaucrats seem to be more about shutting people and ideas down than making things work better, IMHO.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

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