KAZEY JOURNAL

Well thats some good news, i just hope it comes free, and easy to use. And not forgetting the ability to merge with any bank account globally.

And besides i love the competitive world. You have my support Google, Go for it
Source: WALL STREET JOURNAL

Google Inc. this year plans to offer an electronic-payment service that could help the Internet-search company diversify its revenue and may heighten competition with eBay Inc.’s PayPal unit, according to people familiar with the matter.

Exact details of the search company’s planned service are not known. But the knowledgeable people say it could have similarities with PayPal, which allows consumers to pay for purchases on Web sites by funding electronic-payment accounts from their credit cards or checking accounts. Some consumers like PayPal for the security it offers, since it allows them to share their banking or credit-card numbers only with PayPal without having to divulge the information to merchants.

Spokespeople for Google and PayPal declined to comment.

For Google, Mountain View, Calif., a payment service could represent a significant expansion beyond online advertising, which generated 99% of its $3.2 billion in revenue last year. Online-payment providers typically generate revenue by taking a commission on each transaction.

Depending on the exact details, Google’s move could potentially threaten eBay’s successful PayPal service, which generated $233.1 million, or 23% of eBay’s revenue in the first quarter. PayPal has been widely adopted by buyers and sellers on eBay’s auction marketplace as a way to pay for purchases. Recently, eBay has been trying to expand PayPal’s presence as a payment system for other Web sites. In the first quarter, 71% of PayPal’s revenue came from eBay auctions, the company says.

“It could be a pretty big negative for eBay if it happens,” says Safa Rashtchy, Internet analyst at Piper Jaffray. Mr. Rashtchy said he believes Google is also working on a classified-listing service, which also would compete with eBay, San Jose, Calif.

The moves would highlight the growing rivalry between the two Internet companies, even while eBay itself is a big buyer of Google’s online ads. For example, many eBay sellers now also sell through their own Web sites, to which they attract shoppers by buying search-related ads on Google.

Google has offered a hint that it might set up an online-payment service. Its Web site says the company will eventually allow consumers to pay to view videos online. But Google to date has not provided any details of any payment-service plans. Google currently accepts credit-card payments for some services, including advertisements and customized research.

Rumors about a new Google payment service escalated following a panel discussion at a Piper Jaffray Internet conference on Thursday. At the conference, Scot Wingo, chief executive of ChannelAdvisor, a Morrisville, N.C. e-commerce consulting firm, said he believed the payment service would be launched soon. In an interview, Mr. Wingo said he based his statement on questions from retailers with which his company works. Mr. Wingo said the retailers have asked him whether ChannelAdvisor would support the service, which some believe goes by the code name Google Wallet.

During the discussion, Patrick Byrne, president of online retailer Overstock.com Inc., recalls saying, “Yes, this Google Wallet sounds like it might be great. But is all this public yet?” In an interview, Mr. Byrne says he has not had any “substantive discussions” with Google about a payment service.

Beyond a possible additional revenue stream, an electronic-payment service could give Google more insight into the effectiveness of its core advertising service. Google might be able to better track whether users who click on search-related advertisements make purchases from the advertiser.

Hum didnt know that my Universities library website was that cool. Well Multimedia University of Malaysia (which is the university where i study) won the 1st prize in the the Malaysian Library Website Competition. The panel of Judges consisted of Mr. Edward Spodick (Hong Kong University of Science & Technology Library), Ms Ruangsri Jullajinda (Chulalongkorn University, Centre of Academic Resources), Ms Debbie Fang Bi-Ling (Tamkang University Library), and The NUS Team National University of Singapore Libraries . Futher informations can be obtained here http://asia.elsevier.com/htmlmailings/Special-Issues/websiteresults.htm#Prizes .

Congratulations CITS (Center of Information Technology Services ) for a job well done. By the way you guys really need to work on the main university site, it kinda sucks, compare to the previous one

Well i was actually doing my laundry today, and i was thinking what the hec, i mean this is indeed laziness in disguise, cos they were actually just 3 pairs of socks i was washing :P. hehehe . yeah i know. well so as i was saying, i was too lazy, and besides do i even have a bucket? argh havent bought one this semester. poor me. hehehe.

I know i am lazy. yeah yeah. and by the way i am kindda back online, but not fully because this semester is a bit hectic . And hum i forgot some stuffs at home in KL . hum well its all good.

Hum this is what i got today when i tried listening to lauchcast radio.

Now does it mean i have to pay this month to continue listening i wondered.

So I clicked on the “What do i get now?” link.

Now this is what they said

You can listen to 600 songs per month for free without any special restrictions. After 600 songs in a month, if you still want to listen to the free service, you’ll experience the following restrictions:

* No customized radio

* No song skipping * Low (mono) audio quality only

You can bypass all of these restrictions with LAUNCHcast Plus.

Hell nah i aint paying $2.50 a month to listen to a radio, besides i can just stick to my collection, i just use yahoo launchast when i was something different ;). But i dont customize nor really use the skip stuff, besides the low(mono) audio quality i wonder how its gonna sound. Well i had to check it out. So I clicked on the “continue on the limits” link.

Well there it went starting with the “Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang” by Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg. Well it didnt sound bad well Thank you yahoo for allowing me to continue enjoying the free stuff, because i got no dime for your bank account hehehe

SIREN OUT TO SNARE….........

WORRIED SOUL:

I’ve been married for 10 years and love my wife very much. We have two beautiful children. Six years ago, i helped my wife’s sister solve some problems involving her ex-boyfriend. After a few outings, I learnt that she was in love with me, so we had sex.

Then she married, but was not happy with her husband. She began phoning and asking me to meet her. My wife found out and we fought. Now sis-in-law has been sending messages asking me to be her secret lover.

I think I’m in love with her. But I love my family too, and don’t want to let my wife know about our past affair.

Confused

THELMA :

If you love your wife and children, you should not even be thinking of your lover. Your spouse is already aware of your past affair. Think of her pain and anguish should she find out that her husband and her own sister have continued the betrayal. (more…)

Yes Heart And Soul. I would be updating this section weekly with atleast a minimum of three relationship related problems from a section of a local newspaper. I dont really think i need permission for that, because this is just for fun. This is for you guys and ladies out there to learn from the advise given by the professional. Today, i would post 4 problems and the response from Thelma who happens to be the love doctor.

I do not give any warraty on accuracy, usefullness, fitness of any particular purpose or other assurances as to the opinions and views of the section. Its just an interesting Sunday Section and i taught it would be nice if i could share on my blog.

I was in the write post section of this blog in the admin area, and i was just thinking, what is it that I could blog about today, that might be a little bit, different , something about me, or something about what I was using, I couldn’t really think of anything,
suddenly the alarm of my clock, started blinking, breakfast time I supposed, looked at the time by the watch and it was 8:00am . Of course , I could blog about my wrist watch I taught, and here we go.

I am actually not really a fan of wrist watches, but I happen to have quite a few in my possession. Although they are more of a fashion equipment to me, rather than a time keeping instrument, because most of the time I just peak at my cell phones screen to check the time. I think I am more used to that. My favorite watch is a Casual Classic Black Watch with a Metal Band and Full LCD Ana-Digi Display (Casio Brand) So what is really the capability of this Casual Classic Watch.

Well I can point to one particular feature I like about it, I don’t have to look for illumination for me to check the time by my watch at night , The illumination is automated once I change the degrees of my hand to a wrist watch glancing mode, and auto switches off automatically after I reposition my hands. Quite cool han ? yes I know. But by its manual there is a lot of crap, which most of them I really do not understand up till now. Told yeah not really a fan, but its just more a fashion stuff. Well if you are really curious of the features below is the specification, and by the way you could take a proper look at it
HERE

When it comes to credit card transactions or other transactions that involves the use of some third party payment methods a lot of policies are really questionable especially in an environment victimized by a lot of fraudulent activities. Why raise the issue? You might ask, it’s not something worth talking about you might emphasize. But I would say why not raise it? Nigerians are going to be issued credit cards Do you know what that means?

Well I am not saying that it would be that easy for you to get that credit card or they shouldn’t be issued, because i am sure the banks are working towards ensuring that those credit cards are very difficult to obtain, through some specially crafted requirements for such an environment that is Nigeria that is. But the question I would like to ask is what about the merchants? You and me? Yes the merchants!!
Are they protected the same way? How does things like verification provides a secured and safe transaction in instances where the owner still has his card and you are offering real-time services??, or in the other case you have already shipped the item after verifying the validity of the card? What about chargeback policies, how merchant friendly are they?

Now all this questions? I keep asking a lot of people, but up till now I really have not gotten a very helpful answer even from a friend that works with interswitch Nigeria! Many of Nigerians, as in the elites or even the aspiring ones who would like to use credit cards in the future for transactions tend to not understand those policies and in fact the poor Nigerian merchant that would probably be the victim?

As a merchant, why are you in trouble or likely to be a victim of great loss. One reason mainly because all your transactions are subjected to tight rules governed by chargeback policies. Ah I forgot to mention what chargeback’s are.

A Chargeback is a payment dispute initiated by the cardholder with their credit card issuing bank. The amount of the disputed transaction is immediately withdrawn from the merchant’s bank account, and the merchant can dispute the chargeback with proof of purchase, signature, proof of delivery, etc. A chargeback fee is usually assessed to the merchant on top of the actual transaction. That is actually besides the fine the Credit companies actually charge the merchant after reaching a certain limit of having chargeback’s besides even the likelihood of losing their merchant license.

Now the duration within which a chargeback can be called for is? 60 days! Surprised yes averagely 2 months, in which the cardholder can get his or her money back. And also not forgetting the 1 month after the shipment rule, which means after you have actually shipped the product, you as a merchant, have to pay back the cardholder if the product was not delivered to the card holder.

Back to the main issue in question, what is really the problem? Stolen unreported credit cards! You might say it’s the credit cards or the issuer’s problem, but the real truth is, it is your fault as a merchant!! Says the law that governs merchant accounts!

So why should I accept Nigerian issued credit cards? One thing to know is that although Nigerian Police can be very helpful, when it comes to fake shipment addresses what happens to you? And why should the merchant go through all the hassles? So can the credit card really be of much use? If you ask me for my honest opinion all i would say is “Lets just stick to our Bank-In or Bank Transfer Method” or maybe merchants can use the “Ship Only to Billing Address”, that is minimizing the usage of the card itself. But apart from that i would say I leave it to you guys to answer.

When it comes to customising open source scripts from ecommerce websites, to accounting systems, to fit into
any template designed the complexity in most of them is worth talking about. I was recently customising a new template for oscommerce using sts template
system which enables you to use defined variables to show content in an html format, well it took me averagely 24 hours to customise the style, boxes, session links and headers and footers to match what i needed. What i
realised is that at the beginning it looks difficult, but when you relax and see the patterns of the codings, and read
all the documentation, everything looks standard. But then again proficiency is needed in terms of knowing the language
such as php and also even cascading style sheets for the outlook.

Presently i have customised and tweaked oscommerce and phpcoin to the extreme of it, and i am quiet satisfied with the output.
An example of the phpcoin tweak i did is located at http://www.nairahost.com/orders/ and for the oscommerce you can
view it at www.ikejavillage.com. Also going to do for my blog, but for wordpress isnt really a big deal, because its quite straight forward.Well i guess thats what triggered the starting of Naijadesign fully, but i am still
looking for graphic designers to help with the design, so that i can concentrate on the coding. And also not forgetting i am looking for clients, so if you happen to be interested in my work, just drop me a mail.
So i am really back to web design kindda. hehehe. I would also try to start entering tutorials on customisation techniques for this scripts.