eBay insights tool

For the past 8 years i have been purchasing stuff from eBay. The worlds famous auction site had made me saved significant amounts of money for items I which at time could only wish for in the brick and mortar I live close to shops around.

Although eBay came with its own challenges due to the geographical location of Vanuatu example sometimes shipping takes longer than anticipated. This had not discouraged me to purchase from them. Over 90% of stuff i purchase online are from eBay. This had encouraged most of my friends and families to purchase stuff on ebay through my ebay account.

Why I chose eBay is because it is reliable, they protect sellers and buyers from miscellaneous frauds and errors by introducing eBay Buyer Protection program, they have a rating scheme which rates users both buyers and sellers. I now had decided to try something new, I decided to start selling stuff on eBay instead of being a purchaser I want to try out being a seller.

Today while searching for ideas on how to start the question of what items are performing better on ebay and how should i know about them. I stumbled upon this guy http://andrewminalto.com/ who i believed gave some very informative stuff about researching on ebay to find the right performing niches etc. One tool he mentioned was TeraPeak.com. I am eager to try it out and see if it works to my needs.

 I performed some tests on the TeraPeak tool and it looks interesting, running quick through some features of the tool , it can filter the performance of a certain product by typing the keyword. Again it provides performance of the product typed by sell through rate, the average price, how many listings are there for you to compete agains, it gives the items offered.

Example below is the screen-shot of the keyword "phone" , from 1st Jan - 31st March 2015 the 1.9 million phones were listed and of that 693,000 were sold.

These information would give a potential seller the idea of what kind of market he/she is entering into and make informed economical decisions. Example he or she could sell stamps rather than phones, stamps total listing was 96,000 and successful once which were sold was 29,000.









I will not get into the details since it is a new tool for me and I will be traialing both Terapeak out and the selling process for eBay, at least get that ball rolling. Cheers

Tracking cyclone East of Vanuatu

Just today it finally dawned on me that I need to get prepared for this cyclone/hurricane whatever.
I was scouring the internet for something such as an interactive cyclone tracking map.

Well It already has a name tropical storm PAM, the name Pam sounds like a cute name (Pamela or whatever) but sure this PAM is getting some momentum and getting dangerous.

Some forecasts predict wind speeds up to 120kts while others are more conservative. According to computer generated models the storm is forecast is to drive between Vanuatu and Fiji .

What should one do to prepare for cyclones?

  • Have the house ready for the cyclone (install shutters).
  • Store rations in a safe place inside the house (shops will be closed)
  • Get candles (chances of electricity power cut)
  • Get enough food supplies to last during and after cyclone
  • Have a portable radio (working on batteries)
  • Have a cyclone tracking map to follow the storm's progress and whereabouts
 
There are available websites to track cyclones/storms, here is one http://tropic.ssec.wisc.edu/#

Another site which does the job neatly is this one https://www.windyty.com/






 

Android virus & malware on the rise

There are benefits that follow once something becomes popular and widely common in terms of gadgets and software, companies all over are trying to get the best market share, obviously it is good for the profit but could there be some negative aspects ? Remember when Microsoft was still the monopoly at the desktop OS market the virus targeted towards its OS Windows was the highest.

As technology trends towards portable ways for communication more people access email, facebook, twitter and other online services through their mobile phones rather than the traditional dektop computers.

The operating system market saw Android taking lead with 27% over IOS (Apple) running along with 19.5%.

Market share for Mobile OS

An increased in the amount of malware and virus targeted towards phone handsets running Android Google's OS has correlated with the increase of Androids market share.

According to Kaspersky news on their site ninety nine percent of all mobile threats were targeted towards Google's Android operating system running on phones.

As of the second quarter of 2012 the graph from kaspersky indicates a sharp increase in malware/virus.


 
Kaspersky graph on Malware levels

Search for business software became easier

Google search can give you all sorts of useful information, but sometimes you don't really get your intended search results which might be due to your incapability to properly add some filters or some sites which are not indexed in google's search results for unknown reasons. Unless you have some know how on adding somewhat advanced search filters on google's search but finding a software for your specific business or needs can be hard.


There are few services online which go through the lengthy process to index, categorize and review those informations. Some form of an online directory for business and the guys at Capterra they are one of those online services which did a smart way to find business.

Capterra categorizes most of the business from ranges of online accounting services to retail services, even farming softwares if you have a farm and need a software to manage your farm's resources (employee, assets, crops, animals).  You could be a doctor running a clinc and don't have a software to manage your basic business needs search their you could find that.

All softwares are categorized to ease the navigation in the site but you could search the site also to find your needs.

Capture network traffic to and from your PC

Having an linux distro (ubuntu in my case) it is easier to monitor traffic inbound and outbound from my pc and also other pc's connected on my network . There are softwares/applications which does that for you in a graphical user interface but I like to do it in the geeky way.

There applications such as Wireshark and ethereal but one i suggest  is TCPDump.

TCPDump comes pre-installed in your Ubuntu machine therefore accessing it will be from your terminal, just type tcpdump and it starts capturing traffic.

You have to know what interfaces are up and running on your PC/laptop. To do this just run # tcpdump -D which should show ethernet connection, wireless connection, loopback, and any. Normally if you are not using wireless choose ethernet interface which is eth0 OR eth1 depending on how many network cards the PC has.

You can give it some filters such as # tcpdump -c 10 -i eth0 which will only capture 10 packets.

If you have many people on your network and you know their ip address, somehow you got nosy and wanted to see what websites they are visiting just run tcpdump and add these filters to capture traffic from their specific ip address. Example if their ip address was 192.168.0.4 you would type # tcpdump -i eth0 src 192.168.0.4 and slowly you will see their traffic.

Later you can save your capture traffics to a file which later you can retrieve just run # tcpdump -w 1st.pcap -i eth0 file -w means write, 1st.pcap is your captured file and -i eth0 is the interface you capturing from.

You should try it out, its fun. Get more infor from the TCPdump site www.tcpdump.org/

 

Track any flights anytime anyware

As long as you have a specific flight number you can do that.

This company in Houston does all the hard-work for you.

What you need is an internet browser type in the address http://flightaware.com/ and you can monitor the specific flight you choose. You will be informed on when the flight should arrive and the departures.

There are apps for it in iTunes if you have an iPhone or iPad. Android user can access it via Google Play Store. This is good for those who are travelling often or have connectiing flights and need to check their connecting flights status. A convienient free service for travellers and saves time and resources.

Airline flight faults real issue

Flying has become quite unsafe , with  headlines of flights crashing or flights unexplained disappearance makes me wonder , especially with these Asian airlines.

Malaysian airlines (#MH370 & #MH17) and recently Air Asia #QZ8501 and recently #D7172 , luckyily that flight returned safe before anything worst could have happened.

Could we feel safe anymore flying... ?

Definetly hope so according to ICAO (International Civil Aviation Authority) one of their general responsibilities under their site http://www.icao.int/secretariat/Pages/ro-responsibilities.aspx stated they are responsible for "aviation security" and these responsibilities are again delegated to each regional representatives of the ICAO.

Interesting Bible site

I thought I'd share this bible site because I found it to be helpful www.openbible.info/topics
How helpful did I find it? example if I were to look for all bible verse which fall under certain categories I just search for that category, or in that context "label" and there it is.
If you were to preach a sermon researching the topics for your sermon would be easy when using openbible.info .

sorry I posted this via my phone therefore couldn't edit the screen-capture image file below.

Ebay taking too long to settle resolution

Two months ago I bought an SJ4000 action camera at EBay AU$65 (VT6,500) .

 I just got interested in these action cameras and decided to buy that specific camera.
Normally it takes 2 - 3 weeks for items to arrive. I was hoping to recieve that camera before the festive period (Xmas). However it took longer than expected, the seller even put an estimate delivery date around 05 Dec 2014 - 23 Dec 2014. I also had higher expectation for that specific item because it is located somewhere in Singapore according to the items listings.
I am in the process of getting refund through the ebay resolution center which handles complaints from sellers and buyers. Ebay's buyer protection program has a good reputation and this is why I have been using ebay in the past 8 years.
The seller claimed to have sent the item via Swiss post which he provided a tracking number. I contact him and he stated the item had  already been sent. In the ebay resolution center I raised a case and they are dealing with it.
Unfortunatley they are takin too long to handle the case.

I thought eBay might have handled this faster , instead it is still dragging.

I also raised refund complaint on twitter towards PayPal via the direct messages. I requested paypal intervene and see what is going on maybe the ebay resolution is too slow. Paypal also handles complaints for refunds since all payments at ebay are done via the payment method PayPal. Waiting for Paypal respond to my queries.

What have I learned from this
  • Do not accept items from sellers who ship items on free postages instead use paid services like Fedex or DHL or EMS which are reliable unlike free shipping
  • Do not place much trust on top rated sellers since their business are sometimes too big and only one or two person handles the logistics and other issues 
The case is still pending decision from ebay.

Crack WPA WPA2 Wireless

Time naya hemi 01:48 lo moning mi white page lo internet nau mi decide blo ritem wan post ya saposi u wandem crackem password blo wireless network blo neighbour blo u hemia hemi wan easy way blo crackemm ikat fulap method, samfala usum sam nara methods mo applications bei mi prefer hemia fastaim.

Saposi u runnem wan linux OS long PC blo u or laptop hemi shud be isi. Sposi u stap usum windows u save runnem linux long wan virtual machine blo folem method ya.

  1. Sposi u kat wirless card lo PC blo u hemi gud, normally evri  laptop shud kat internal wireless card lo olketa finis.
  2. installem  aircrack lo linux machine blo u (linux ikat fulap distro) bei lo sake blo demonstration ya mi runem lo wan komputa wei Ubuntu operating system hemi instal lo hem.

ikat sixfala samting blo yumi mkem blo karem paswod blo wan wireless AP (acces point)

  1. installem  aircrack lo ubuntu komputa blo u
     
    apt-get install aircrack-ng
  2. yu finem mo identifyem netwok interface (oltaim bambai hemi wan wlan0 or wlan1 etc) blo karem paswod blo hem.
    $ iwconfig

    hemi shud kivim wan nem olsem blo showem sei u kat wan netwok card

    wlan0     IEEE 802.11  Mode:Monitor  Frequency:2.437 GHz  Tx-Power=20 dBm

    Onem netwok card ya

    airmon-ng start wlan0
  3. Naya u identifyem netwok BSSID wei u intres lo hem blo crackem paswod blo hem

    airodump-ng wlan0
      
    taim wei u runem comand ya hemi kivim ol infomation wei bambai usful lo nekis steps espeseli channel # wei bambai u usum lo example daun hemia nau.







    Channel # 6 bambai yumi usum lo step 4

  4. Lo step naya bambai yumi sniffim mo capturem ol pakets wei ie exchange bitwin laptop blo u wtem SSID ya, oli recomendem blo u mas kasem (capturem) 5000 pakets olsem

    airodump-ng -c 6 -w data-capture 00:11:95:9F:FD:F4 --ivs mon0

    switch -c hemi minim channel afta u putum namba blo chanel ya wei hemi 6 (refer lo step 3) switch -w hemi blo writem wanhm u capturem iko long root or Home directory blo ubuntu machine blo u. data-capture hemi minim sei u capturem BSSID ya nau iko long file lo root blo u. File ya nau later on bambai u crackem wetem air-crack.

    switch --ivs hemi blo filterem nomo ol ivs packets. IVS oli stap usum wetem secret key taim blo data encryption. So yumi wandem hemia nau.

    mon0 hemi wan alias blo wlan0 bei lo promicious mode (taim hemi stap sniff mode) mas jensem nem wlan0 iko mon0  sposi no bamabai ikat conflict mo capture bambai no wok gud.

    Ok while airodump-ng ie stap run lo wan terminal openem wan niu terminal afta mekem step 5
  5. Naya injectem sam pakets blo yumi kasem wan "WPA Handshake"

    # aireplay-ng -3 -b 00:11:95:9F:FD:F4 -h 00:13:02:30:FF:EC mon0 

  6. Nauya yumi crackem WPA key wei ie captured fnis

     # aircrack-ng -w /root/nmap.lst WPA2-01.ivs

    Hemi depend lo paswod blo BSSID ya bei sposi wan soft wan bambai kwik taim nomo hemi shloud kivim WPA key blo u

                             KEY FOUND! [ 4E:6F:E9:7E:55 ]

    hemia andap ya nau passod 4E:6F:E9:7E:55.

    Phew naya 2:37 lo morning slip ie jas kik gud ya nau.