E-Scribe News : a programmer’s blog

About Me

PBX I'm Paul Bissex, and e-scribe.com is my consulting business. I build web applications using open source software, especially Django. In the '90s I did graphic design for newspapers and magazines. Then I wrote technology commentary and reviews for Wired, Salon.com, Chicago Tribune, and lots of little places you've never heard of. Feel free to email me.

Book

I'm co-author of "Python Web Development with Django", an excellent guide to my favorite web framework. Published by Addison-Wesley, it is available from Amazon and your favorite technical bookstore as well.

Colophon

Built using Django, served by Apache and mod_wsgi. The database is SQLite. The operating system is FreeBSD, on a VPS hosted at Johncompanies.com. Comment-spam protection by Akismet. Vintage topo imagery from the Maptech archive. The markup engine is Markdown.

Pile o'Tags

ajax apple blogs browsers business design django ebay fp fun google hardware haskell intellectual property iphone javascript linux media mercurial mobile open source os x oscon oscon2007 palm php programming python rails rants reading risks ruby site spam textmate the well tips tools unix vcs web development web frameworks webservers wmassdevs writing

Stuff I Use

Akismet, bitbucket, del.icio.us, Django, Emacs, FreeBSD, Git, jQuery, LaunchBar, Markdown, Mercurial, OS X, Postfix, Python, Review Board, S3, SQLite, TextMate, Ubuntu Linux

Spam Report

At least 96060 pieces of comment spam killed since January 2008, mostly via Akismet.

Selling beat-up stuff on eBay

unmint

Despite my periodic criticisms of eBay (1, 2, 3) I remain a devoted user. One thing it's great for is selling things that require a lot of explanation -- because, unlike with a tag sale or classified ad, you don't have to repeat that explanation to every potential buyer. You write it up once and eBay does the rest.

I'm pretty tough on my hardware, so when I sell things the "explanation" is often a laundry list of defects.

The trick for me in writing up these items is to be completely candid. I lay out every flaw. I make it sound worse than it is. I attempt to be funny.

My number-one goal when selling stuff on eBay is to have a buyer who feels like he got what he paid for.

With that, I present: the Palm Tungsten T, Mad Max style with Super Fun-Pak.

Update: Sold! Final price $29.32, plus shipping. Not a bad deal for either party.

Sunday, January 8th, 2006
+ +

Some related posts: The Palm Foleo • Stupid eBay tricks • My Palm TX runs Windows 98

Post a comment

Thanks for reading! Please note: Your comment will not appear until approved, which may take a few hours or more. Spammers will be torpedoed.


(Will not be shared)

(Optional)