Archive for December, 2008
- AuctioneerTech year in review - 31 December 2008
It’s time for a little year-end housekeeping. With all of the top lists being created regarding the previous year, we couldn’t help but join in with a top list and a review of everything we’ve done so far. Here are our top six posts that we like.
ATS designation - Auction Technology Specialist for auctioneers
Today is [...] - Vote for the Crunchies - 30 December 2008
Image by magerleagues via Flickr
No, we’re not talking about breakfast cereal. The Crunchies 2008 is a set of awards given to the top technology companies, products and ideas in a given year. The awards are sponsored by GigaOm, VentureBeat, Silicon Alley Insider, and TechCrunch. Last years winners included Facebook, Digg, Tesla Motors, Hulu and the [...]
- Mint tracks your finances automatically - 29 December 2008
Image by magerleagues via Flickr
We’re QuickBooks fans. That is to say once a year, usually after the first or second extension on taxes, we spend a day or two entering all the checks and deposits from the entire previous year. About six months ago, we stumbled onto a service called Mint. Having used it religiously [...]
- Foxit Reader gets new version, typewriter tool - 28 December 2008
Image by PiPiWa via Flickr
Now that PDF is an ISO standard and no longer an Adobe product, it has value for some types of content distribution. We’ve mentioned the benefits of using Foxit Reader for all your PDF viewing needs in two articles and a podcast. Foxit is faster than Adobe Reader and takes up [...]
- Auction Podcast milestone - 1000 listens - 27 December 2008
The Auction Podcast has reached its first milestone. We’ve recently rocketed past 1000 listens to the series. Indeed, according to Wordpress plugin Podpress, each of the first five episodes has over 100 listens.
When we first started the podcast, the goal was a weekly release. We have some exciting plans for the podcast series in 2009, [...] - BOINC lets your idle computer help science - 26 December 2008
Image via Wikipedia
In this time of giving and over the course of the next few weeks that begins the new year, many of us may be looking for was to give to good causes. As many of us may have difficulties giving financially during these times, we look to alternative ways to help others. If [...]
- Purple Wave unveils grouped extension system for equipment auction - 24 December 2008
We discussed back in September how Internet bidding has been referred to as eBay style or static bidding, and we’ve explained why those are bad descriptions for this type of bidding. Features like automatic extension and staggered ending make most modern Internet only auctions nothing like eBay and they certainly are exciting and dynamic enough [...]
- Activist disrupts auction - 23 December 2008
Image via Wikipedia
Red Green and Blue recently posted an article about an activist who wrecked havoc at an auction by the Bureau of Land Management. The bidder essentially ran up the price on several tracts to knock out other bidders, while having no intent to actually purchase the properties himself.
We all have difficulties with bidding [...] - NoScript add-on provides security in Firefox - 17 December 2008
Image via Wikipedia
Bad things lurk on the interwebs. Viruses are marginalized by Antivirus software, but most Antivirus software doesn’t protect against malicious websites. Websites can phish and clickjack. They can display an invisible button that infects your computer on top of another button that says “download this antivirus software”. There are actions that can be [...]
- Video marketing must account for playback quality - 16 December 2008
Image via Wikipedia
Video can be a fantastic marketing tool. The same video can convey a sense of incompetence if not distributed correctly. Ignoring the difference between an expensively-produced video and simple footage captured with a camcorder, both of which can be effective and important as components of marketing campaigns, the way a video is delivered [...]
- NAA releases Auction Answers, NAA Auction Newsroom - 16 December 2008
The National Auctioneers Association has recently posted Auction Answers on its home page. The document is a PDF with answers to many common questions, such as “What is the auctioneer really saying?” and “Why sell at auction?” Auction Answers originated in partnership with USA Today and its semiweekly feature, Auction Showcase, which advertises auctions from [...]
- New York auctioneer implements unique payment arrangements - 15 December 2008
The Maine Antique Digest is running a story about Al Cardamone of Mooney’s Auction Service. According to the story, Mooney’s recently sent out a bulk email announcing a prepayment program in which prospective bidders can exempt themselves from the buyer’s premium, as well as obtain a $7.00 concessions coupon at each auction they attend, by [...]
- Mahalo introduces human-generated answers to questions - 15 December 2008
Mahalo is an interesting search engine. Relying more on people than algorithms, Mahalo has a staff that builds pages for common search results. When auser submits a query that doesn’t match one of the prepared pages, Mahalo returns search results from many popular search engines - including Google, Yahoo and MSN - allowing the user [...]
- Website should emphasize auction calendar - 11 December 2008
I’ve seen many auction websites. I’ve seen good sites and bad sites. I’ve seen pretty sites and ugly sites. The good and the pretty aren’t usually the same sites. Some of the most attractive websites I’ve seen are some of the worst functioning websites. Some of the best auction websites look hideous. While it’s important [...]
- Never use letters in advertised phone numbers - 10 December 2008
Image via Wikipedia
I’ve recently seen a fair amount of advertising with phone numbers listed with letters instead of numbers. Listings like 555-SOLD are fine, so long as you also list the digits associated with the letters. My Treo, and many other smart phones like Blackberries and iPhones, doesn’t have a way to associate numbers with [...]
- Auction Podcast Episode 13 - Dual agency, Internet and absentee bids - 7 December 2008
Image by bhenak via Flickr
You’re listening to the AuctioneerTech Auction Podcast. Today is Saturday, 6 December, 2008. auctioneertech.com – Technology, auctions and auctioneers – auction tech for the auction industry
Hello and welcome to the thirteenth episode of the AuctioneerTech Auction Podcast, my name is Aaron Traffas. In this episode, we’re going to discuss Internet and [...] - Accessible websites, more RFP ideas - 1 December 2008
The example RFP for website construction posted last week mentioned a little about web standards and user agents, but after further reflection it seems we need to examine further the importance of an accessible and usable website and add a few more requirements to the proposal.
An accessible website is one that can be viewed on [...]
