Did you know…?

At work the other day, a colleague and I were looking up something in Wikipedia originating from a query about the Malaysian legal system. I can’t recall the term for when you read a Wikipedia article and then suddenly, a dozen links down the track, you find yourself reading about a totally unrelated but equally fascinating topic. But anyway, that happened. I had wandered back to my office when a few minutes later I got a phone call. The voice on the other end of the line was audibly excited. Trembling even. (Okay no, I made that one up.)

“Did you know…” there was a pause.
“Yes?”
“Did you know… that there’s a Jewish autonomous region in Russia?! On the Chinese border.”
“Huh… really?”

Finding it genuinely interesting (for no other reason than it was so randomly weird), I scooted back to my colleague’s office to find them poring over the Wikipedia entry for the Jewish Autonomous Oblast. Which, it turns out, “was the result of Joseph Stalin’s nationality policy, which allowed for the Jewish population of Russia to receive a territory in which to pursue Yiddish cultural heritage within a socialist framework.” And only a couple minutes later we were Wiki-ing the difference between Hebrew and Yiddish.

But anyway, file this one under completely random (but kinda cool). I now resolve to use the word “oblast” in a sentence at some point in the future.

  8:11pm (GMT +10.00)  •  Miscellaneous  •  Tweet This  •  Comments (1)  • 

eBay forcing Aussie sellers to use PayPal and iPhone rumours

If you sell stuff on eBay Australia, you’ll know that eBay is going to make PayPal the only way vendors can accept payment aside from COD. eBay must have known the backlash they would have got from this, but decided the extra 3% or so in fees they’d reap from forcing the use of PayPal (which, of course, eBay acquired several years ago) would be worth it. They’re introducing it under the guise of “buyer protection”… but of course sellers will probably just pass on the transaction costs to buyers. The ACCC is now looking into the matter to see if it impinges on any competition laws. Pretty poor PR move by eBay in my opinion.

There are also rumours that the iPhone will be launched in Australia in June and will not be carrier locked. It hasn’t been mentioned in any articles, but I wonder if that’s because Apple reckons there’s an appreciable risk that the carrier locking arrangement may breach third line forcing laws?

  11:17pm (GMT +10.00)  •  Internet  •  Tweet This  •  Add a comment  •