Hot desk

I *know* that the point of this desk is to allow differently-abled operators to use a computer. But I defy anyone not to think it would be cool to not need to get out of bed to check their auctions.

saddam.com for sale on eBay

Internet Explorer version 7 has popularised internationalised domain names (web addresses in scripts other than the Latin abc) by allowing Internet users to access Internet domain names in their native language. Domains such as the Arabic domain have been given a boost in desirability as Internet Explorer 7 allows them to be viewed in the native script. American English has dominated the Internet so far but now other languages will gain importance and Arabic along with Chinese is likely to be the most influential.

International Registrar idncyclopedia.com have chosen this week to auction on eBay the Arabic equivalents of Bush.com (بوش.com), Saddam.com (صدام.com) and America.com (الأمريكية.com). Jesse Lee owner of the site says

This is the right time to auction these domains, the increased popularity and awareness of IDNs is important, not only to developers but also to people throughout the world who have been forced to use English online, rather than their native language. These sites have amazing potential for development, the historical importance of these domains makes them highly sought-after commodities, regardless of any perceived controversy.

Non Latin alphabet domain names are incredibly important. In the week following Saddam Hussein's execution these three could fetch the most money for the seller, but the importance of Internationalised domain names could be overshadowed by the political overtones. For the seller the timing is right, but non-latin scripts deserve greater attention than as the legacy of an execution.

eBay listings

The end of the year is a time for writing random lists of stuff, and far be it from us to break with tradition. Here's a list of some of our favourite lists from the last few days:

Bayraider.tv bring us their top thirty celebrity auctions of 2006: some astonishing tat there.

eBay didn't quite make law blogger Eric Goldman's top ten cyberlaw developments of the year, but the eBay v. MercExchange case did make the runner's up list.

Jaanus from Skype give us his highlights of 2006, which has certainly been an amazing year for Skype.

Brad Schepp's top ten resources for eBay sellers is a brilliant exercise in looking like you're giving away 'Powerseller secrets' without actually saying anything useful at all. Anyone thinking of writing a book on their eBay experiences next year might want to note this technique.

For the geeks among us, the Board of Wisdom has the top ten geek sayings: "I would love to change the world, but they won't give me the source code."

And finally, Wired's wild predictions for 2007... call those wild? Check in over the weekend for TameBay's predictions for the next year: you'll have read it here first.

Ships sail to repair the Internet

As 2006 draws to a close not many of us give much thought to the Internet being pretty reliable. Sure there may be the odd blip with your own phone line and occasionally websites may not be available, but what of the Internet itself? A salutatory reminder came this week with the earthquake near Taiwan

Up to a dozen fiber-optic cables cross the ocean floor south of Taiwan, carrying traffic between China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, the U.S. and the island itself. Chunghwa Telecom Co., Taiwan’s largest phone company, said the quake damaged several of them, and repairs could take two to three weeks.

It's a common occurrence for communication cables to be severed, but the great thing about the Internet is that there are so many cables offering different routes for data to travel that Internet users generally don't notice any problems. In this instance however so many cables were severed that Taiwan lost almost all of its telephone capacity to Japan, mainland China and the United States.

eBay posted an announcement on the US site to warn users involved in transactions with Asia and Australia may experience a delay in communications with buyers and sellers from those regions.

To fully restore service cable laying ships will have to dredge the cables laying on the sea bed and raise them to the surface for repair in a process that will take up to two weeks to complete. Four ships are en route and should be in position by Tuesday to commence repairs.

Yule log on

What are you doing reading this - haven't you got anything better to do, on this of all days?, asks the BBC. Actually, I'm being terribly Christmassy even though I'm online. I've used SkypeOut to call my sister. I was going to call my parents, then realised they'd be in church, so I checked their church's website to find out when their service would be over so I could call back when they were home. Later (when I've figured out the time difference!) I'll be Skyping my brother in Canada.

And I've emailed some people too: I think an email on Christmas day says "I'm thinking of you, but I don't want to interrupt your family day by calling you", the perfect thing for friends I'm not going to see, wherever in the world they might be.

Because I'm now a grown up and don't "need" gifts wrapped under the tree, the entire world has given me Amazon vouchers, so I spent a jolly hour this afternoon choosing my presents.

I listed a bunch of new stuff last night, and I've had eBay orders today :-D I've also had one guy mail me to whinge that something he ordered last Wednesday hasn't arrived: and I managed to avoid sarcasm in my reply to him: good for me, that deserves an extra mince pie.

I think it's crazy to ask us to avoid the internet on Christmas day. I've no doubt that eighty years ago, the concept of telephoning at Christmas seemed odd and alien, but now, the internet is as much a part of our lives as the telephone is, and just as unavoidable.

But now, I'm going to turn the computer off and go and watch some television. As the man said, happy Christmas to all, and to all, a good night.

"8000% increase" in phishing

Banking trade body APACS has announced that there were 5,059 phishing incidents in the first six months of 2006. January to June 2005 saw just 312 reported incidents. APACS security chief Philip Whitaker said that the increase was largely down to better detection, but the FSA has said that it is "very concerned" about banking scams.

Boo Hoo Tube

If you needed yet another reason to want to be a fulltime eBay seller...

Drunken antics at office Christmas parties are increasingly being filmed and posted on the internet. ... Clips included a woman complaining about her boss, who, unknown to her, was standing directly behind, said Viral Video Chart.

Another end of year list

eBay is the fifth most popular site on the internet. According to Seeking Alpha, eBay's unique visitor numbers are exceeded only by hits on Yahoo, Google, AOL and MSN. eBay is one of only two ecommerce sites in the top ten, way ahead of Amazon at number ten.

Paypal, who were in the top twenty last year, have fallen out, though their site traffic has actually increased.

Manchester: one big hot-spot

Manchester could become the biggest free wireless internet hotspot in Europe under plans unveiled by the city council. The network, inspired by projects in San Francisco and Amsterdam, would cover 90% of Greater Manchester and reach up to 2.2m people.

Skype in your Second Life

Skype Journal reports that you can now add Skype links to Second Life. I daren't start playing this because I know it would very rapidly take over my First Life: after all, I'm the person who had to apologise for being late for work because they'd sat up all night playing Monkey Island.

WWW: what women want

Women will drive online shopping this Christmas outspending men for the first time, according to internet research firm Nielsen Net Ratings. Outspending men by just £7 but, in my experience, getting a lot more for her money, the average woman has probably just shopped a bit smarter, like doing her shopping on eBay :-D With UK internet usage up 10% to an average 11 hours a week, and some of the high street's best known names making schoolboy errors with their websites, this feels like a great time to be an eBay seller.

Virtually a millionaire

Ailin Graef has been playing an online game called Second Life for the past two years and become a real life millionaire. Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. There's a digital continent, teeming with people, entertainment, experiences and opportunity. Ailin Graef or as she is known in Second Life "Anshe Chung" has been playing since 2004 and built up a vast property portfolio.

Players of Second Life can buy areas of game land, for either in-game or real money. Anshe Chung earned an initial stake by selling custom avatar animations when these were a new feature of Second Life, and using this money she successfully became involved in the emerging market for land. Anshe Chung now owns several full servers worth of land, which she develops and sells on to other users at a profit and has amassed a fortune to the tune of 300 million Linden dollars the currency of Second Life.

What's the point you may ask? I'm beavering away listing and selling on eBay... what's the interest in a game? Well the answer is Linden dollars can be exchanged back into real money and at about L$275 equal to US$1 Anshe Chung in Second Life makes Ailin Graef a millionaire in Real Life!

Two in five Brits on broadband

The Guardian technology blog points out that three-quarters of those who are online in the UK are now on broadband. This is great news: obviously, the faster the internet, the more usable and flexible it is, and the more frustrating it isn't. And as designers, we can finally begin to abandon that old, annoying question: "how's it going to load on dial-up?"

But as the Guardian rightly say, without absolute figures for internet usage, the statistic has limited application. According to the EU's statistics office, 57% of Brits use the internet at least once a week, with 63% of all households having internet access available. (Figures relate to the first quarter of 2006.)

While not the most-connected nation in Europe (that prize goes to Iceland, with a massive 84% of their tiny population online), 42.75% of Brits now on broadband is fantastic news for the UK's ecommerce industry.