http://meetup.ebid.net/showthread.php?t=133081

You can also find information and links there for a couple of special purpose charities that need your support – they are providing “first in” and “immediate need” support and relief.

Gaz

I’ve just revisited the PayPal blog and it now contains the statement -

**Early response from eBay Foundation includes a special gift-matching program for global eBay Inc. employees making charitable contributions to organizations providing rescue and relief efforts in Haiti.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all families and people involved.

The highlighted change in the quote above was NOT in the original blog post, which is available verbatim in the BuildaSkill forums via the link near the top of the main article above. This is how the end of the original blog post appeared yesterday -

**Early response from eBay Foundation includes a special gift-matching program for global eBay Inc. employees making charitable contributions to organizations providing rescue and relief efforts in Haiti.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all families and people involved.

Looks like I not only hit a raw nerve with syndicating this article, it also looks like someone at PayPal caught what it said?

Gaz

The money bookers have increase the fees of 2010 and the fee change will be applied to your account settings automatically and without any inconvenience or additional administrative burden at your end.

Great information and if you’re in the market for a new laptop, you might want to factor these into your comparison lists before committing your Christmas Gift Vouchers.

Also, I don’t mind waiting a few extra hours to get a good authorization because if anything they’re probably doing some extra fraud checks on the buyer/billing info to make sure everything is kosher. I’d rather be safe than sorry.

Google Checkout notifies me I have a payment by email. I log in and process or charge the card. Click one button. If there is a risk factor my dashboard tells me what it is, may be an unverified address. If the charge is rejected I am told. I have never had a delay like you said. Once the charge is accepted or processed the money is in your GC account, you can ship. No different from having it in your PP account. At that point your dashboard says OK to ship.

Within 48 hours the money will be sent to your designated bank account. This is the main difference from PayPal. PayPal keeps it and uses it until you ask for a withdrawal. A PayPal transfer takes from 4 to 6 days to arrive in my account, PayPal blames my bank for this. A Google transfer takes 24 to 48 hours. Same bank, hmmmm.

From the buyers side payment with Checkout is sign in, one click and done. No faffing around wanting to debit my bank account, asking if I am sure I want it on my credit or debit card, no little moral lectures about using a credit card and three screens later I can tell them I am sure I want to do this. One click, done.

Following an automatic Windows Live update in late October, this same issue has surfaced again following somehow getting the system working fine again and for a long period.

To my shame as a network tech, I did not document what I did to resolve the problem originally, such was my joy at getting it working, however, I vaguely remember that jiggery-pokery inside Microsoft ISA Server and IIS were required, as was extensive rejigging inside Exchange Server. Additionally, new SPF text entries in the DNS at our online domain hosting were needed, and the primary DNS zone from them pulled into our LAN DNS server for each domain that our Exchange server was representing locally.

I’m not looking forward to re-resolving this.

So much so, that I’m biting the bullet and have applied for a fixed line with fixed IP from our ISP (but have to wait several months for it due to capacity restrictions cross-country), as well as investigating how to establish our own linux based server with all the appropriate goodies we get from our hosting service, as a gateway / DNZ server for the LAN. If I can achieve that, then I’ll rebound the middle digit to Microsoft and use the Exchange Server for internal mail handling only.

Age and experience has dissolved any tolerance for prattishness of the type displayed by mega-corps that sell products for small businesses, then try to modify and control how those small businesses operate.

I work for myself so that I am not under the control of mega-corp graduates who lack basic common sense.

Gaz

And most importantly – who will write the first book about the demise of eBay? It can’t be too much longer until books about eBay’s downfall start appearing on the bookshelves, virtual and real.