Blog of Jon Wright

You think the holidays are hectic? Talk to an eBay Power Seller about the next few weeks, and the realization will dawn: You don’t know hectic.

These people are turning their living rooms into inventory centers, diving into Dumpsters for spare boxes, stuffing cars and closets with packing peanuts, checking for e-mail every free minute and racing to the post office nearly every afternoon. That’s on top of the shopping, decorating, party planning and holiday stress that afflicts everyone else.

Asked how she was planning to spend the next few weeks, Sheryl Williams of Pillager, Minn., who sells porcelain figurines on eBay, replied, “In a panic.” She said that if people were to walk by her house next week they would “see me with the door hanging open in the dead freezing cold, trying to get the packages out.” For the full story go to ebay sellers do the holiday sprint

U2 singer Bono strode onto stage at Apple Computer’s iPod release party last month with his trademark swagger and sunglasses, along with words of praise for the company and its music products.

In the online music business, where top artist exclusives are the subject of bitter competition, this was a singular coup. On the eve of a major record release, U2 was freely giving Apple the rights to use its first single in an iPod commercial, was lending its brand to a new version of the music player, and giving the company first crack at selling its new single and album online. Bono and guitarist David “The Edge” Evans even played a few tunes together at the release event. Read more

Microsoft has announced what it hopes will be a new attack on piracy. The company has decided to give away software to those who bought machines with fake copies pre-installed.

Microsoft will be offering anyone who’s “unsure” about whether they’ve got dodgy software the chance to have it checked out by Microsoft, with the promise that if it does turn out to be counterfeit, they’ll replace it. Read the full story at CNET