A Novel Million Blog
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Unseasonably cold
Looks like the Queen has decided that I'm not too bad after all and she's welcomed me into her community. Yeah, I'm getting citizenship. Pretty happy about this- having an EU passport definitely offers many options.
And I've finally got hold of a PR person. We had a little chat last week, and we'll see what the go is next week. Together we are getting ready for world domination! ¶ 12:22 PM 0 comments
We've been getting some terrible weather here in NZ. It actually rained in Nelson for about 2 1/2 days straight last weekend (which is highly unusual for a place that is normally sunny). This brilliant weather also happened to coincide with a 3-day weekend, which made it more satisfying that I had to do work (as per usual).
Looks like the Queen has decided that I'm not too bad after all and she's welcomed me into her community. Yeah, I'm getting citizenship. Pretty happy about this- having an EU passport definitely offers many options.
And I've finally got hold of a PR person. We had a little chat last week, and we'll see what the go is next week. Together we are getting ready for world domination! ¶ 12:22 PM 0 comments
Monday, October 23, 2006
Bonjour mon petite copaines
Back again. I haven't written for a while, but there hasn't been much to talk about re. the website. I'm trying to get in touch with a PR firm in windy Wellington, but haven't had any replies to my couple of emails, and haven't found time to call yet (that's this week's task).
I've been really busy at work. I've been making nice photos with bacterial DNA. I've now got just over 1 year left before my thesis is due in. I've got a pretty good idea of what I need to do between now and then and it's not going to be easy to get it all done in that time. I'm already working silly hours (I have been for a few years now) but I suspect that the term silly hours is going to get redefined by me in the next year and a bit.
Oh yeah, going back a week or so now, I finally took my car in to get a road certificate. I had been putting it off for fear of large expenses to satisfy the criterion. Well, it wasn't as bad as I feared. My car still failed, but not for the things I thought it would. So it's currently got no certificate until I get the handbrake and rear license plate light fixed. Hopefully they are easy things to do.
...And the latest on the Trademe saga. Well, I still think they are a bunch of wankers, but I haven't had much time to think about them recently (and it's not like I really want to waste my time thinking about them anyway). I actually started up another Trademe user account (I think they were probably monitoring my regular account and pulling any auction I listed). On this new account, I re-listed an auction for a sticker for my website. It went through un-checked!!!! This just proves how ridiculously inconsistent they are. They have a rule that states you cannot sell anything to do with websites, or promoting websites- but my sticker auction was selling a sticker saying WWW.ANOVELMILLION.COM . Really stupid stuff and I just think they are a bunch of idiots that somehow made a lot of money and now have the power to be idiots to their customers.
¶ 6:41 PM 0 comments
Back again. I haven't written for a while, but there hasn't been much to talk about re. the website. I'm trying to get in touch with a PR firm in windy Wellington, but haven't had any replies to my couple of emails, and haven't found time to call yet (that's this week's task).I've been really busy at work. I've been making nice photos with bacterial DNA. I've now got just over 1 year left before my thesis is due in. I've got a pretty good idea of what I need to do between now and then and it's not going to be easy to get it all done in that time. I'm already working silly hours (I have been for a few years now) but I suspect that the term silly hours is going to get redefined by me in the next year and a bit.
Oh yeah, going back a week or so now, I finally took my car in to get a road certificate. I had been putting it off for fear of large expenses to satisfy the criterion. Well, it wasn't as bad as I feared. My car still failed, but not for the things I thought it would. So it's currently got no certificate until I get the handbrake and rear license plate light fixed. Hopefully they are easy things to do.
...And the latest on the Trademe saga. Well, I still think they are a bunch of wankers, but I haven't had much time to think about them recently (and it's not like I really want to waste my time thinking about them anyway). I actually started up another Trademe user account (I think they were probably monitoring my regular account and pulling any auction I listed). On this new account, I re-listed an auction for a sticker for my website. It went through un-checked!!!! This just proves how ridiculously inconsistent they are. They have a rule that states you cannot sell anything to do with websites, or promoting websites- but my sticker auction was selling a sticker saying WWW.ANOVELMILLION.COM . Really stupid stuff and I just think they are a bunch of idiots that somehow made a lot of money and now have the power to be idiots to their customers.
¶ 6:41 PM 0 comments
Friday, October 13, 2006
TradeMe hypocrites
The content and the item in this listing is not suitable to sold on the site. TradeMe reserves the right to remove other items that are not on our Banned and Restricted items lists if they are considered offensive or are in breach of our terms and conditions.
In case you couldn't read the picture in my previous post, I was basically selling stickers that said the following :
So there you have it, a simple sticker got pulled off TradeMe. Maybe I just hang out with the wrong crowd, but I've seen some pretty slanderous stickers before. I think that's the whole point of stickers, they say something shocking, and mine were really just telling the truth- the fact that TradeMe has inappropriately banned me from selling 50 words. They were innocent and legitimate auctions selling 50 words. Because TradeMe continually gave me nonsense reasons for pulling my auctions I was led to sell stickers instead. And now I can't even sell stickers! These guys really need to go to business school to see how to run their own! ¶ 6:49 PM 0 comments
Well well well. Not too many surprises that TradeMe continue to be assholes to me and not let me list anything at all- not even stickers. Both my auctions got pulled yesterday. The reason I was given is as follows:
The content and the item in this listing is not suitable to sold on the site. TradeMe reserves the right to remove other items that are not on our Banned and Restricted items lists if they are considered offensive or are in breach of our terms and conditions.
In case you couldn't read the picture in my previous post, I was basically selling stickers that said the following :
TradeMe wouldn't let ANovelMillion.com sell 50 words!!
They made up reasons why they wouldn't let him sell them, but none of them were valid and they contradicted themselves and other auctions that were allowed to run.
So, I bought this sticker instead to decorate my windows with.
So there you have it, a simple sticker got pulled off TradeMe. Maybe I just hang out with the wrong crowd, but I've seen some pretty slanderous stickers before. I think that's the whole point of stickers, they say something shocking, and mine were really just telling the truth- the fact that TradeMe has inappropriately banned me from selling 50 words. They were innocent and legitimate auctions selling 50 words. Because TradeMe continually gave me nonsense reasons for pulling my auctions I was led to sell stickers instead. And now I can't even sell stickers! These guys really need to go to business school to see how to run their own! ¶ 6:49 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Fun for the 3 hours it lasted
Your listing for WINDOW STICKER- JOIN THE REBELLION! Listing no. 73582970 has been withdrawn. You may not be aware of this, but it is a breach of our terms and conditions to use a listing purely to promote your business, products, or services on the site. You need to have specific items for sale in your listing.
Hmm. I wonder what TradeMe thinks a sticker is if it is not a specific item. I can't believe that an auction that is titled "window sticker" gets pulled because the auction is not selling anything!!! I think these guys must be on some serious drugs at the TradeMe offices. Anyway, I started another auction- this one is selling computer stickers. Here's the link:
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=73629071&ed=true ¶ 11:52 PM 0 comments
Yeah, a few hours ago I listed the same auction twice on TradeMe . One listing was in the car decal section, the other in the retail business section. One of the auctions (the one I didn't provide a link for) has already been cancelled by TradeMe. The reason this time is as follows:
Your listing for WINDOW STICKER- JOIN THE REBELLION! Listing no. 73582970 has been withdrawn. You may not be aware of this, but it is a breach of our terms and conditions to use a listing purely to promote your business, products, or services on the site. You need to have specific items for sale in your listing.
Hmm. I wonder what TradeMe thinks a sticker is if it is not a specific item. I can't believe that an auction that is titled "window sticker" gets pulled because the auction is not selling anything!!! I think these guys must be on some serious drugs at the TradeMe offices. Anyway, I started another auction- this one is selling computer stickers. Here's the link:
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=73629071&ed=true ¶ 11:52 PM 0 comments
My new Trademe auction
So, I've listed my latest auction selling stickers instead. We'll see how this auction is treated by them. Considering there are other auctions selling t-shirts which have both "Jesus" and "porn" printed on them, it will be interesting to see what reasons they can come up with as to why selling my stickers is inappropriate.
Maybe, I should just give up on my website, and produce a new line in stickers! Anyway, you can check out my auction here http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=73582510 It will be finishing in 7 days time. It's hard to see this picture, but if you check the link to the auction it has a better resolution photo.
OK, I still haven't heard anything from Trademe regarding why they wont let me sell 50 words on their confused auction site.
So, I've listed my latest auction selling stickers instead. We'll see how this auction is treated by them. Considering there are other auctions selling t-shirts which have both "Jesus" and "porn" printed on them, it will be interesting to see what reasons they can come up with as to why selling my stickers is inappropriate.
Maybe, I should just give up on my website, and produce a new line in stickers! Anyway, you can check out my auction here http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=73582510 It will be finishing in 7 days time. It's hard to see this picture, but if you check the link to the auction it has a better resolution photo.
¶ 7:21 PM 0 comments
Monday, October 09, 2006
Catch up time (plus 50 words added !!!!!!)
Well I've finally got a few hours break, and have just tried to work out why a $200 refund from the tax department got turned into me owing them $1500 when I got my tax return back from them. I think I've sussed it, but it still needs to go through the process to get it rectified.
I think I might also take my van down to get it's road certificate today. If you remember, I've been really hesitant as I think it's going to need things fixed (which means $$ spent). I don't know how long I've been walking around, but I think it's been about 2 months! Fingers crossed.
I might also look into the PR stuff a bit today. I spoke with someone last week who gave me some great advice and a bit of direction as to what the whole thing is about and where to look to find someone appropriate for me.
I haven't yet heard back from TradeMe since I last wrote asking clarification as to their bullshit non-legitimate reasons for canceling my auctions. Nevermind, I've got a few ideas up my sleeve and will probably implement them in the next few days....keep watching to see where this goes.
And lastly.......the latest 50 Words has been uploaded to the Word Story. Enjoy. It seems to be a little departure, and gives opening for something new to happen...no prizes for guessing what internet address the author had initially incorporated into their entry!
¶ 12:37 PM 0 comments
I'm just having a monday morning off to catch up with some stuff. I would have done it on the weekend, but I had to work a weekend shift at our research hatchery facility. In fact, I would have done it the last few weeks, but I haven't had time to fart.
Well I've finally got a few hours break, and have just tried to work out why a $200 refund from the tax department got turned into me owing them $1500 when I got my tax return back from them. I think I've sussed it, but it still needs to go through the process to get it rectified.
I think I might also take my van down to get it's road certificate today. If you remember, I've been really hesitant as I think it's going to need things fixed (which means $$ spent). I don't know how long I've been walking around, but I think it's been about 2 months! Fingers crossed.
I might also look into the PR stuff a bit today. I spoke with someone last week who gave me some great advice and a bit of direction as to what the whole thing is about and where to look to find someone appropriate for me.
I haven't yet heard back from TradeMe since I last wrote asking clarification as to their bullshit non-legitimate reasons for canceling my auctions. Nevermind, I've got a few ideas up my sleeve and will probably implement them in the next few days....keep watching to see where this goes.
And lastly.......the latest 50 Words has been uploaded to the Word Story. Enjoy. It seems to be a little departure, and gives opening for something new to happen...no prizes for guessing what internet address the author had initially incorporated into their entry!
¶ 12:37 PM 0 comments
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Case 001: ANovelMillion vs Trademe
For those of you not in the know, Trademe is a pathetic New Zealand version of Ebay. It is actually something of a local success story in this country with mega-company Fairfax recently buying the website for $700million!!
Anyway, Trademe has it's wires crossed in so many ways....they are a true picture of disorganization and hypocrisy. Why am I angry? They have pulled about 4 of my auctions selling "50 words"- 3 of these being pulled in the last week.
Yes, that's right a supposed success story in New Zealand actually fails to embrace similar local entrepreneurial ideas.... and for reasons that are hypocritical, non-consistent and non-existent. I actually don't think they even know why they are canceling my auctions, they just have a "vague" feeling that they are inappropriate. They are not inappropriate and have actually been running on Ebay at the same time. In fact, Trademe are so disorganized that the email letters I receive to tell me that my auctions have been cancelled actually derive from a defunct email address. What this means is that when I reply to these letters to state my case and ask why my auction was cancelled I get the following:
The support@trademe.co.nz e-mail address is no longer used.
What a joke! Yes, you are entitled to sell a potato crisp shaped like a love-heart on this bullshit site, but not 50 words. The first reason it was pulled was apparently because I was promoting my website:
Your listing for 50 WORDS FOR SALE Listing no. 72715863 has been withdrawn.You may not be aware of this, but it is a breach of our terms and conditions to use a listing purely to promote your business, products, or services on the site. You need to have specific items for sale in your listing.
This reason was given to me and is in total contradiction to the fact that real estate companies use this website to sell their houses on, and also numerous other listings that give reference to "check out our website to see the rest of our catalogue".
Anyway, I toned back the auction description and made it more of a novelty auction selling "50 words". Basically whoever wins the auction is buying 50 words... simple. The next time my auction was pulled was apparently because I was selling something downloadable (let's try out another reason to cancel one of his auctions!)
Your listing for 50 WORDS FOR SALE Listing no. 72715027 has been withdrawn. I am sorry but we do not allow the sale of eBooks or downloadable media on the site. We classify an eBook to be any item or product that can be delivered electronically. This includes but is not limited to:
* Backup or copied software, CDRs or DVDRs
* Copies of software or programs that the buyer downloads or has acces to download from a website.
* Music and video files that you can deliver through file sharing software.
* Downloadable or electronically delivered eBooks.
* The sale of a URL or web address where are member can download or obtain copies of information.
* Electronic books (ebooks), or other information sourced from the Internet,produced in a printed version that is sold outside distribution or copyright laws.
* Electronic invites
To this bullshit reason I found my way through a maze of processes to be able to respond to them. I not-so-happily stated that I was not selling anything downloadable and I didn't think that this was a valid reason to pull my auctions. The last email I have received states that the "new real reason" that my auctions are pulled is because:
As the final product will be web based we will not allow the sale of your 'words'.
So the latest new reason is that Trademe doesn't allow sale of anything that they vaguely describe as "web based". Again, what a joke! They have a specific section selling website domain names, another with website businesses for sale, and then auctions I found with people selling internet orientated products. Trademe truly has no consistency or reason for canceling my auctions, and are a pathetic attempt at an internet auction site.
¶ 8:49 PM 0 comments
What a bunch of absolute incredible wankers!
For those of you not in the know, Trademe is a pathetic New Zealand version of Ebay. It is actually something of a local success story in this country with mega-company Fairfax recently buying the website for $700million!!
Anyway, Trademe has it's wires crossed in so many ways....they are a true picture of disorganization and hypocrisy. Why am I angry? They have pulled about 4 of my auctions selling "50 words"- 3 of these being pulled in the last week.
Yes, that's right a supposed success story in New Zealand actually fails to embrace similar local entrepreneurial ideas.... and for reasons that are hypocritical, non-consistent and non-existent. I actually don't think they even know why they are canceling my auctions, they just have a "vague" feeling that they are inappropriate. They are not inappropriate and have actually been running on Ebay at the same time. In fact, Trademe are so disorganized that the email letters I receive to tell me that my auctions have been cancelled actually derive from a defunct email address. What this means is that when I reply to these letters to state my case and ask why my auction was cancelled I get the following:
The support@trademe.co.nz e-mail address is no longer used.
What a joke! Yes, you are entitled to sell a potato crisp shaped like a love-heart on this bullshit site, but not 50 words. The first reason it was pulled was apparently because I was promoting my website:
Your listing for 50 WORDS FOR SALE Listing no. 72715863 has been withdrawn.You may not be aware of this, but it is a breach of our terms and conditions to use a listing purely to promote your business, products, or services on the site. You need to have specific items for sale in your listing.
This reason was given to me and is in total contradiction to the fact that real estate companies use this website to sell their houses on, and also numerous other listings that give reference to "check out our website to see the rest of our catalogue".
Anyway, I toned back the auction description and made it more of a novelty auction selling "50 words". Basically whoever wins the auction is buying 50 words... simple. The next time my auction was pulled was apparently because I was selling something downloadable (let's try out another reason to cancel one of his auctions!)
Your listing for 50 WORDS FOR SALE Listing no. 72715027 has been withdrawn. I am sorry but we do not allow the sale of eBooks or downloadable media on the site. We classify an eBook to be any item or product that can be delivered electronically. This includes but is not limited to:
* Backup or copied software, CDRs or DVDRs
* Copies of software or programs that the buyer downloads or has acces to download from a website.
* Music and video files that you can deliver through file sharing software.
* Downloadable or electronically delivered eBooks.
* The sale of a URL or web address where are member can download or obtain copies of information.
* Electronic books (ebooks), or other information sourced from the Internet,produced in a printed version that is sold outside distribution or copyright laws.
* Electronic invites
To this bullshit reason I found my way through a maze of processes to be able to respond to them. I not-so-happily stated that I was not selling anything downloadable and I didn't think that this was a valid reason to pull my auctions. The last email I have received states that the "new real reason" that my auctions are pulled is because:
As the final product will be web based we will not allow the sale of your 'words'.
So the latest new reason is that Trademe doesn't allow sale of anything that they vaguely describe as "web based". Again, what a joke! They have a specific section selling website domain names, another with website businesses for sale, and then auctions I found with people selling internet orientated products. Trademe truly has no consistency or reason for canceling my auctions, and are a pathetic attempt at an internet auction site.
¶ 8:49 PM 0 comments
Thursday, October 05, 2006
The silent treatment
It's just been one of those things; real life getting in the way of a good blog- you know what I mean! Do you? I'm not sure that I do. Just babbling shit again.
The biggest news (as far as the site is concerned) is that there is another 50 words on the way for the Million Word Story. I actually had the entry sent to me today but it had an internet address contained within it (which is against my rules for the stories.....if you've all read the Terms and Conditions page). Anyway, I've just replied to the author and it's a pretty minor thing to adjust, so it should hopefully be back to me and uploaded to the story in the next day. Yes!! It's been a long time coming.
I still haven't had a chance to speak to a PR person yet. I've had a few emails with one, but a phone conversation is needed as nothing much was exchanged in the letters. Hopefully I'll get some time to call tomorrow as I seriously haven't had a chance at all this week, and it's already thursday night- this week has just flown by at the slow pace of continuous hard working days. So much to do at the moment.
PCR work is fun. I like gel electrophoresis- it's like where science and art meets! Hmm, sounding a bit dorky at the moment, but compared to a bacterial loop and agar plate, there really is something slightly more satisfying in printing off a glossy photo. ¶ 11:18 PM 0 comments
Can you all hack it? It's that classic psychological method used to manipulate others, and I'm not sure what I'm trying to manipulate, but I've seriously gone silent on the blog front recently.
It's just been one of those things; real life getting in the way of a good blog- you know what I mean! Do you? I'm not sure that I do. Just babbling shit again.
The biggest news (as far as the site is concerned) is that there is another 50 words on the way for the Million Word Story. I actually had the entry sent to me today but it had an internet address contained within it (which is against my rules for the stories.....if you've all read the Terms and Conditions page). Anyway, I've just replied to the author and it's a pretty minor thing to adjust, so it should hopefully be back to me and uploaded to the story in the next day. Yes!! It's been a long time coming.
I still haven't had a chance to speak to a PR person yet. I've had a few emails with one, but a phone conversation is needed as nothing much was exchanged in the letters. Hopefully I'll get some time to call tomorrow as I seriously haven't had a chance at all this week, and it's already thursday night- this week has just flown by at the slow pace of continuous hard working days. So much to do at the moment.
PCR work is fun. I like gel electrophoresis- it's like where science and art meets! Hmm, sounding a bit dorky at the moment, but compared to a bacterial loop and agar plate, there really is something slightly more satisfying in printing off a glossy photo. ¶ 11:18 PM 0 comments
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Daylight savings
Needless to say, I haven't written a blog for a while. But I'm back and will try to write a few in the near future. I'm thinking about looking into some PR help. I really don't have any experience in it, and it has been a bit of fun and learning during these first 3 months, but I really do need an expert to help get me out to the masses. I've been meaning to talk with someone about this for a while, but just haven't had the time. But this week, I'm going to get around to it.
I had also suggested that there was going to be a new entry in the Character story a week or so back. Obviously it's not uploaded yet, but I'm still trying to work out what's going on with it. Nothing definitive to add yet.
And today is the first day of daylight savings. I love daylight savings. It brings back memories of being young and hanging out down at the beach- you could muck around for ages and it was still only 10pm. Hi Fish. ¶ 8:03 PM 0 comments
I am still here, ticking and alive...although still trying to get back to normal after a really hectic couple of weeks at work. I've been running a few experiments at the same time; one of them required me to return to work late at night, while the other just ensured that my days were spent acting like a madman trying to finish everything. So all in all, not only were the days long, but they were pretty fast-paced. I'm pretty relieved that it's over and now I get to chuck in a bit of data to the computer and see what it all means!
Needless to say, I haven't written a blog for a while. But I'm back and will try to write a few in the near future. I'm thinking about looking into some PR help. I really don't have any experience in it, and it has been a bit of fun and learning during these first 3 months, but I really do need an expert to help get me out to the masses. I've been meaning to talk with someone about this for a while, but just haven't had the time. But this week, I'm going to get around to it.
I had also suggested that there was going to be a new entry in the Character story a week or so back. Obviously it's not uploaded yet, but I'm still trying to work out what's going on with it. Nothing definitive to add yet.
And today is the first day of daylight savings. I love daylight savings. It brings back memories of being young and hanging out down at the beach- you could muck around for ages and it was still only 10pm. Hi Fish. ¶ 8:03 PM 0 comments
