roundup

After Amazon experienced some difficulties last week with its selling options in the Amazon Marketplace, it made me wonder if anyone decided to start selling some of their merchandise on eBay. If so, they would join thousands of others who are using the online auction site to make a few extra bucks. If that's your goal, check out some of these services for eBay sellers.

Auctiva Auctiva is a full-featured product that allows you to use a variety of templates and modules to help you sell products more effectively on eBay.

Auctiva is quite powerful. You can create side-scrolling galleries with pictures you upload to the site (you're allowed 1GB of storage), change the color of your listing page, and issue invoices. It won't help you determine if you're selling products that eBay users want, but it will help you easily manage your auctions. Admittedly, Auctiva is for active sellers, but at $9.95 per month for so many nice features, it's an affordable offering.

eBay Market Researcher Terapeek's eBay Market Researcher tool is a fine way to determine how to get the most out of your listing.

After you sign up for the site and choose a membership (it costs $24.95 per month or $197.95 per year), you can immediately start searching through the app's listings of eBay products. When you find the product you're looking to sell, it provides you with information on the item's average bid, how much the average listing makes, and how page design affected profits. The app even provides you with information on which day is best to list the product and end your auction. It's a powerful tool.… Read more

Twitter tanked Thursday. The outage, caused by a targeted denial-of-service attack, had ripple effects continuing into the evening. I wasn't able to post a tweet with a link in it.

I was reminded of an era not long ago, when it was more newsworthy that Twitter was up. In an homage to those less-stable days, I thought I'd outline some of the better alternatives we can take advantage of during those moments Twitter isn't cooperating.

FriendFeed is the first place to start when Twitter is down. Although it's designed to track updates to all your social networks, it's a fine communication platform itself. The site will let you chat it up about important topics, follow other friends' many social-networking updates, and more. It's an ideal alternative to Twitter.

But if you're looking for something a little more Twitter-like, there are several options. You can try out Plurk. It's a nice platform, but beware that there are very few users on the site. If people are updating their friends about their lives, they're not doing it on Plurk.

That said, it does provide a really neat timeline display and a unique way to spread your feelings. Instead of giving you full control over your message, it asks you to use one of several keywords, including love, like, wishes, hates, gives, and more. It's not bad.… Read more

TiVo announced Wednesday that subscribers will now be able to manually input a video podcast's RSS feed into their TiVo software to watch those shows through their DVRs. That means it's time to find out what your favorite shows' RSS feeds are. It also means you might want to expand what you watch, since another set-top box is bringing Web videos to your television.

But finding those shows isn't always easy. Realizing that, I thought I'd highlight online video podcast directories that will help you find shows you're really interested in. From professional content to amateur shows for niche audiences, these sites will help you find whatever you're looking for.

Before we get into it, I should note that iTunes is another fine way to find video podcasts. Simply click the "Video Podcasts" option in the software and you'll be able to search through shows.

Miro Guide: Miro Guide is a repository for video podcasts. The site is well-designed. It also has a nice listing of both popular shows and niche listings.

When you get to Miro Guide, you can immediately start searching for video podcasts. A show's listing page allows you to subscribe to the RSS feed, add its feed to Miro, so you can watch it on the site, or download it to your computer. If you're only looking for the feed, it provides that too. I was really impressed with Miro Guide. With so many listings, it's worth trying out.

Odeo: Odeo is one of the best podcast directories in this roundup. It allows you to search for both audio and video shows.

I was really impressed with Odeo. The site has one of the biggest listings of shows in this roundup. On topics ranging from technology to politics, you'll find a variety of video podcasts worth watching. When you pick a show you want to try out, you can opt to subscribe on Odeo's site, copy and paste the RSS feed to a service, like the TiVo, or watch it right on the site. You can even subscribe to the show in iTunes. You'll like Odeo. It's an extremely useful directory.… Read more

Flickr announced Tuesday that it has improved its search tool. The site's search results page now allows users to see small previews of photos and get details on those pictures without being forced to visit the individual photo page. It's a nice improvement.

But if you're looking for something a little different, these Flickr alternatives are worth checking out.

Bubblr Aside from the fact that it lets you search for photos by tag or user name, the real focus of Bubblr is to help you create a comic strip that you can publish for the Bubblr Archive.

When you search for pictures on Bubblr, it displays your search results next to the search box. From there, you can either go to the photo's respective Flickr page, or drag and drop images into your comic strip. When you create a comic strip, you can also add dialog bubbles to tell a story. When you're ready, Bubblr lets you publish your comic strip to its archive. I was pleased with how well Bubblr worked. Search was quick, dragging images worked beautifully, and the finished product was great.

Compfight Compfight allows you to search Flickr by tag or text. So, if you choose to find photos by the tags associated with images, simply input a keyword, and Compfight will do the rest. It displays several images matching the query.

If you're looking to search Flickr based on the text associated with pictures, Compfight will do that, too. In my experience, changing how you search will change the results quite substantially. When you click on an image, you'll be brought to its respective Flickr page. Thanks to a simple search box and little clutter, Compfight is easy to use. I liked it.… Read more

The economy is in a major state of flux right now. Although unemployment is still on the rise, the stock market is on the rise too as of late.

If you're one of those people trying to make sense of the markets, you might be happy to know that instead of jumping from site to site to get all your financial information, you can simply add some gadgets to your iGoogle home page. From currencies to commodities, iGoogle gadgets will satisfy any desire.

Commodities Market If you're looking to find a way to easily track the price of oil and natural gas, the Commodities Market gadget is for you. The gadget displays the major commodity indexes, including crude oil, natural gas, and even coffee. You'll see the price fluctuate as market factors change throughout the day. It's a great way to stay up on the commodity market.

Company Overview After you install Company Overview, you can input any company's ticker symbol and see an overview of its operation. You can also get company news, see key financial ratios, check out its financial performance, and even see who the company's key managers are. If you want to listen in on quarterly earnings calls, you can find all the information you need to join those calls in this gadget. Check it out.… Read more

Twitter might just seem like a social place to converse with friends, but it's actually much more. In fact, with the help of some Twitter services that help you either compare prices or the find the right product for any occasion, it has become an appealing shopping tool.

So, if you're looking to save some cash, you might want to check out these Twitter tools.

CheapTweet CheapTweet combs through Twitter to find the best deals, coupons, or sales, users are tweeting about. From there, it displays all those findings on its home page, allowing users to vote on the deals they like.

CheapTweet is the like the Digg of the cost-conscious Twitter world. The app lists deals on industries ranging from fashion and beauty to technology and entertainment. The most popular deals, as voted by users, are listed under the "Cheapest Tweets" option. If you're looking for new deals, CheapTweet lists those under "Newest Tweets." In either case, CheapTweet is a great way to find deals. But beware that because it has so few users, you won't find Digg-like voting tallies.

CouponTweet CouponTweet finds coupons from across the Web that Twitter users have tweeted about. Right from the site, you can claim your coupon.

After analyzing tweets, CouponTweet lists all the latest coupons on the site. Once you decide you want one, you can claim the coupon and be brought to the appropriate page to redeem it. The site lists deals on a variety of topics, including cell phones, travel, and tickets to sporting events and concerts. You can also search the site for deals you don't find on the home page.… Read more

Although Twitter is a tool that helps you connect with others around the world, what if you want to find some "tweeps" that live in your area? It's easier than you might think.

Twitter itself provides location information on profile pages, but that's not enough to help you find some locals. You're not going to sift through every profile to look at the person's location, after all.

That's why you need to check out the following sites and iPhone apps that will help you find folks who live nearby.

Happn.in Instead of simply finding tweeters close to you, Happn.in has you choose your area and see what the "trending" topics are there. So, if nearby users are discussing taxes or a local baseball team, they will be displayed as some of the more popular topics where you live. Under each topic is a listing of the latest tweets from people discussing those items. It's a neat idea, but beware that many towns are not included in the Happn.in listing, so it's a better service for people living in big cities.

Localtweeps Localtweeps asks you to input your ZIP code to add yourself to the service. When you input your ZIP code, it populates (but does not update) your Twitter stream with a tweet that includes your location. Your profile is then added to the Localtweeps directory, allowing people to find you based on where you live.

Because of the way Localtweeps adds users to its directory, you'll find that there aren't as many users as those in other services in this roundup. That said, it tends to be more accurate, since the people who join want to be located. So, although it sacrifices quantity, Localtweeps actually does provide some real quality. It's worth trying out.… Read more

Many people who use Firefox know that there are some really great add-ons for the browser that help extend its functionality. But it's not the only browser that does that. Apple's Safari browser also works with plug-ins that, like Firefox's add-ons, make the browser a little more useful.

Before we get into those plug-ins, I should note that since combined Safari market share is only about 8 percent in the browser market, there aren't nearly as many plug-ins for Safari as there are for Firefox, which commands more than 20 percent of the browser market. That said, I've found some that are worth trying out.

Cooliris Cooliris is a nice plug-in that displays videos and photos in Safari in a Cover Flow-like arrangement.

Aside from a beautiful design, Cooliris features a search box in the top right of the display that allows you to search for Google images, Hulu videos, Flickr pictures, and a variety of other multimedia content. You can bring one image to the front of the display or hold the left-click down and drag your way across the page. Cooliris helps you enjoy your browser in a different way. Check it out.

CosmoPod CosmoPod allows you to download videos from the Web, so you can view them in iTunes or on your iPhone and iPod.

CosmoPod's icon is placed in the Safari address bar. Whenever you get to a page containing Web video, you can click the CosmoPod button and the plug-in will automatically start downloading the video onto your desktop. You can even play the video while you download it. It couldn't be a simpler (or more useful) app, but be aware that it will set you back about $10 if you want to keep it after the free trial.… Read more

The housing market is showing signs of returning. According to a recent report, home prices have posted a small gain and economists are suggesting that the housing market might be stabilizing.

Realizing that, and especially considering that first-time homebuyers are trying to capitalize on the government's $8,000 credit, sellers might be more willing to sell their homes than they were last year. If you're one of those folks, you'll want to consult some services on the Web that will help you get the job done. From valuation tools to agent search services, you'll have everything you need to make a deal on your house.

But if your house isn't quite ready yet and you're looking for some design tips to make it more appealing to would-be buyers, check out this roundup I wrote recently helping you do just that.

Cyberhomes: Cyberhomes' main focus is home valuations. Simply input the address of your property and the site will tell you how much it believes it's worth.

But Cyberhomes does more than appraisals. The site also provides a listing of homes for sale in your area, where you can find "distressed" homes you might be able to buy on the cheap, and neighborhood information down to income and demographic data. It's a full-featured site.

Domania: Domania can help you see how your home compares with others that have already sold, which is helpful since most homes are valued based on a number of factors, including recent sales in your neighborhood. It won't tell you the value of your home, but since real appraisals are completed by comparing nearby homes that are similar to yours, Domania should help you find the sweet spot for pricing your home. I was impressed by the sheer number of houses it listed on the site. You should find just about any home sold in your area.… Read more