Free Software Linux

Adobe AIR, a downloadable platform for running web-friendly apps on any operating system, is still pretty fresh on the market, but it already has a healthy number of applications in development or...

Windows/Mac/Linux (All platforms with Java): JBidwatcher, a cross-platform, open-source eBay sniper application, is now available in a well-tended 2.0 beta release, with a few new tweaks and a...

Windows only: Online payment service PayPal rolled out a service a few months back that lets you generate and use single-use credit cards in order to make PayPal payments at sites you might not want...

Free eBay search tool Auction Bloopers does the exhaustive work of finding slight misspellings and typos in and around every word you type in, throwing them all into the online auction giant and...

Whether trying to win bidders on eBay or attract eyeballs on a tutorial or craft site, the best way to stand out is with an attractive, detail-showing picture. Photography tutorial site Photojojo...

Readers of this blog will know that I am fascinated by the analogue/digital divide, and how the passage from one to the other causes all sorts of interesting problems: Question: Why is eBay requiring sellers of digitally downloaded goods to list their items in the Classified Ads format? Answer: Most items that require digital delivery, once created, can be very easily replicated. This ease of replication creates the opportunity for sellers to list thousands of the same item in an attempt to manipulate the Feedback system. It also creates a perception that even legitimate sellers of Digital Goods are manipulating the Feedback system. This dynamic -- real and perceived -- undermines trust across the entire marketplace. We understand that digital goods, by themselves, are not the cause of Feedback Manipulation, but clarity of policy and ease of enforcement require all digitally downloaded items to be offered via the Classified Ads format.

Windows and Mac: Free auction analyzer Auction Inquisitor is like having a paranoid uncle who checks anything you're looking to buy online, searching through publicly available information in a way...