Following up on my post from last Monday about What the Crap is Microsoft Thinking?, we read in the news this morning that Yahoo! has formally rejected Microsoft Corp.’s $44.6 billion takeover bid. Apparently many analysts expect Microsoft to raise its offer to $12 billion to entice Yahoo to sell. Yahoo is believed to want a bid of at least $56 billion, or about $40 per share.

Again…what is Microsoft thinking? I guess that’s one way to make (and spend) WebMoney?

Apparently Yahoo! is fighting back too! News out on the net says Yahoo Opening Up Talks With AOL as well as outfits like Google and Disney. It seems Yahoo!’s lifespan is to be short lived and for some reason they don’t want to get in bed with Microsoft!

Just like last week, I took another break from the InterWorld last night to watch LOST…Wow! Just like last week’s post What Happened On Lost: The Beginning of the End, I’m gonna try to give you an update about season 4 Week 2′s installment entitled Confirmed Dead. My daughter was all pumped when she saw the title because she though we’d finally find out who was in the coffin from last seasons Through the Looking Glass episode. But alas, we did not.

Instead we found out that those Confirmed Dead where in fact the passengers and crew from Flight 815. We even saw pretty dramatic video as Remote Operated Vehicles or ROVs combed through the wreckage. Good enough in fact for “officials” to be able to identify the bodies of at least the pilot (although thats in question, more later). Now is it just me or…If the wreckage is so deep that it can’t be recovered (as they said) shouldn’t the bodies be crushed by the weight of the water?

We also met the four members of the “rescue” team from the freighter. First is Daniel Faraday, played by Jeremy Davies, he’s the one we’ve seen over the past couple of weeks saying, “I can’t really say rescuing your people is our first priority…” Daniel is some kind of physicist (so he says). Also of note, he’s been added to the regular list of actors in the credits. I presume that means we’ll see a lot more of him.

Next we meet Miles Straume, played by Ken Leung, some kind of ghost whisperer and definitely trigger happy wanna be mercenary. You might remember him from the first Rush Hour movies as the freaky blond haired henchman. Anyway, both of these guys were found by Jack (Matthew Fox) and Kate (Evangeline Lilly).

Next we meet Charlotte played by Rebecca Mader. (I knew I recognized here from somewhere, she was on another show I liked called Justice!) Anyway, she’s a pretty head-strong anthropologist with some kind of knowledge or connection with Dharma. We know that because she shows up on an archeology dig in Tunisia and finds the skeleton of a polar bear with a Dharma collar and seems to recognize it. She runs into Locke and company (including Ben) and hangs with them at least through this episode.

Finally, we meet Frank Lapidus played by Jeff Fahey. Simply, Frank is a drunk (albeit pretty good) pilot who was supposed to be the pilot on flight 815. We know that because he said so in his flashback where he questioned the identification of the actual pilot from Flight 815.

Now for the big news. No, we don’t find out any other members of the Oceanic 6 but we do find out what the “rescue” team’s primary objective is. They are on the island to get Ben! We also find out that Ben knew they were coming because (he says) he has a man on their ship! What the crap?!?

We also find out that the creepy black dude, (told Hurley his name is Matthew Abaddon) that visited Hurley in the Santa Rosa Mental Hospital is behind the “rescue.” Naomi is shown talking with him where he insists that there are no survivors from flight 815. Does he say this with such authority because he arranged for the fake ship to be at the bottom of the ocean? Hhmmm…

Finally, we also know from creepy black dude’s conversation with Naomi that the four members of the “rescue” party were specifically chosen for a purpose, and that they are to go to the island and return, all of them, safe and sound. Her job was to protect them…guess she should have thought about protecting herself!

All in all a pretty good episode. Certainly laid the groundwork for future episodes. I’d recommend a watch! Stay tuned to jtrigsby.com for more updates…only eleven more episodes this season!

Got a theory or an answer! Share it with us in the comments below!

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Just because you don’t have a brick and mortar store front doesn’t mean opening an on-line store is any easier!

Well, it’s time for part 2 in the series about how to live and, more importantly, work IN the Internet. Last time we talked about getting the basics covered, email, website, etc (see How To Work In the Internet – Part 1). And as promised, this time we’re going to go over eCommerce and making a little scratch with an on-line store!

Getting Started…the EASY way!

Without a doubt, the easiest way to get involved in eCommerce, or selling stuff on-line, is eBay! You can sell anything there, honestly! You can even sell your car online at eBay! Now I know many of you don’t want to sell that out of your garage, but I bet there is something in there you can let go of…isn’t there. Whether its your garage, closet, storage unit, where ever – go take a look around, pick something out, and sell it! Before you know it, your on-line, ecommerce empire is up and running!

The up-side to using eBay to get started is that you don’t have to build anything. The website, bidding engine, buy it now engine, PayPal (see below), they are already there and working. It’s easy. Oh, and most importantly, they have the traffic! No real need for you to try to drive potential shoppers to your site, eBay does plenty of that for you!

There are two downsides to eBay. First, there may be some “stigma” to “only selling on eBay” kind of like, “oh, you don’t have a store, you just do garage sales?” If that kind of thing bothers you then you should look elsewhere as soon as possible. Me, I don’t care. I’ve know plenty of wealthy folks who got that way selling junk at garage sales. This is no different except we’re doing it on-line.

The second downside to eBay is that they have to make their money too, and they do that off the seller. eBay charges a variety of fees when you list your product for sale, whether it sells or not. The charges are usually small but they obviously cut into your profit. For that reason you might want to upgrade to your own store.

Click & Mortar, sans Mortar

After you’ve sold a few items on eBay, you may want to consider upgrading to an Internet Storefront. There are several options to do this and again we’ll start with the easy one. Again, eBay has an offering for you, from beginner to expert, they’ve got you covered. You can use this link to find out just how easy it is to open a storefront on eBay.com . The type of store you choose will be dictated by how big a part of your income you want this to be.

As with regular eBay auctions, a regular eBay store is an easy way to get all your products on-line and up for sale. If you don’t have or don’t want to spend a lot of time on your Internet Storefront, this would be a good option for you. If you’re ready to go up against Wal-Mart and Target, then you will want your Own Web Store at Your Own Web Address!. ProStores – yet another eBay company – has what you need.

If the eBay store doesn’t sound appealing to you, how about another giant of the Internet, Yahoo!? They have several options to choose from and you can use this link to compare web hosting packages from Yahoo! (BTW, you may want to find out What the Crap is Microsoft Thinking? if you’re leaning toward the Yahoo! option. Still a good option, you just need to know.)

Show Me the Money!

No matter which method you choose the most important part of having an on-line store is getting paid! Most options offer you a variety of choices but two are leading the pack, PayPal and Google Checkout.

If you go the eBay route its almost a no brainer, go with PayPal! After all, it is an eBay company and integration is tight and secure. After you get your PayPal account setup, you can even get a PayPal Debit Card to have quick access to your proceeds!

If PayPal isn’t for you then there is always the monster of the Internet, Google. You can use this link to .

Both options here will require a little setup and they both exercise a great deal of security in dealing with handling your money. It will be a hassle but VERY MUCH worth it in the end. So suck it up and drive on!

And That’s About It

All that’s left is to choose your weapon, find something to sell, and get after it. Good Luck!

Do you have an online store? Leave a link in the comments below and we’ll come check it out (i.e. FREE ADVERTISING!) Have questions? Comment below and if I don’t have the answer, the community here will. Oh, and don’t forget to subscribe to the feed to keep on top of whats going on here on jtrigsby.com!