Author: Serkadis

A lot of readers noticed that we’ve been running advertisements for BigDeal, a website that lets users pay to bid on low priced items. In addition to running the ads, BigDeal also created a special cobranded version of their service at techcrunch.bigdeal.com. That page used our logo (with the permission of our sales team), and we received a percentage of revenue generated from that site.

We’ve now ended that relationship and have removed all BigDeal ads from our site. And we have asked them to take down the cobranded version of the service at techcrunch.bigdeal.com.

BigDeal offers a service that is completely legal, and is backed by very well known venture capitalists. On the surface we shouldn’t have any issues with working with them.

But the service is, in my opinion, at best misleading and at worst little more than a scam. Users are encouraged to bid for items, and are told that the “winners of guaranteed auctions get a huge discount, typically 65%-90% off retail.” But the way the service works is extremely complicated. In fact a few of us here at TechCrunch debated exactly how it worked for a half hour after reading the tutorial, and never quite understood it. It took winning an auction and then actually buying the item to understand just how unattractive the whole scheme is.

If your service is so complicated that users have to be mislead to use it, it’s probably not all that great of a deal.

Users must pay $0.75 every time they bid, and to win an auction generally requires quite a few bids. In one auction I won yesterday I had to bid 12 times to win. I spent $9 for those bids. Others bidding against me also paid $0.75/bid, and there were at least 25 total bids on that item. That’s $18.75 in revenue to BigDeal, with no costs.

After the auction, all the money from the bids is gone. Vanished. Poof. That’s the confusing part of the “deal.” Even as the winner, I then had to pay the price I bid for the item, on top of all the bids. Plus shipping. The losers get the option of buying the item at normal retail plus shipping, and can use their lost bids as part of the price. But BigDeal’s retail prices range about 25% higher than the same items on Amazon, so there isn’t much of a deal there.

Confused? That’s the point. At the end of the day, as the auction winner, I paid $19.84 for an item I can get for as little as $25.70 (new) on Amazon. That’s not much of a discount. And the losers would pay $41.99 for the item if they wanted it, plus shipping. That’s 63% MORE than the Amazon price.

BigDeal makes much out of the other side of their service, which lets users get gift cards at a variety of merchants for whatever they’ve spent on bids. But those gift card sales are set up so that only 25% of the price can be paid in credit. So if I spend $100 on bids and I want to convert that to gift cards, I have to shell out another $300 for them. That’s not much of a deal, either.

BigDeal is very similar to other services like Swoopo, and there’s no reason to call them out specifically. I have no real problem with the service other than the extremely confusing tutorial which I believe misleads people into thinking that the service works differently than it actually does.

But I don’t want to send TechCrunch users to that site to potentially waste money on something they don’t understand. And I don’t want our brand associated with theirs on techcrunch.bigdeal.com. So we’re ending the relationship. And we will donate any money we’ve received from them to charity.

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The popular British touring car driver and television presenter Jason Plato, said he believes the current BTCC racing series is just as strong as in the competition’s glory days from the 1990s. The 42-year-old joined the British Touring Car Championship back in 1997 for the Williams-Renault BTCC team and became champion in the 2001 edition.

The Briton revealed for Autosport he believes the current lineup and regulations for the series allow for both better performances from private teams and … (read more)

FYI: FOX News correspondent Sarah Palin and her revirginized teen daughter Bristol allegedly earned a whopping $100,000 to pimp out their infant sons in the Jan. 25 cover of In Touch Weekly.

Article Tags: Himalayan Glacier Data

A WARNING that climate change will melt most of the Himalayan glaciers by 2035 is likely to be retracted after a series of scientific blunders by the United Nations body that issued it.

Two years ago the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a benchmark report that was claimed to incorporate the latest and most detailed research into the impact of global warming. A central claim was the world’s glaciers were melting so fast that those in the Himalayas could vanish by 2035.

In the past few days the scientists behind the warning have admitted that it was based on a news story in the New Scientist, a popular science journal, published eight years before the IPCC’s 2007 report.

It has also emerged that the New Scientist report was itself based on a short telephone interview with Syed Hasnain, a little-known Indian scientist then based at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.

Click source to read FULL report from Jonathan Leake and Chris Hastings

Source: timesonline.co.uk

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Article Tags: Pachauri Conflict of Interest

Millions of pounds of British taxpayers’ money is being paid to an organisation in India run by Dr Rajendra Pachauri, the controversial chairman of the UN climate change panel, despite growing concern over its accounts.

A research institute headed by Dr Pachauri will receive up to £10 million funding over the next five years from the Department for International Development (DfID).

The grant comes amid question marks over the finances of The Energy and Resources Institute’s (TERI) London operation. Last week its UK head called in independent accountants after admitting ‘anomalies’ – described as ‘unintentional’ – in its accounts that have prompted demands for the Charity Commission to investigate.

Click source to read FULL report by Robert Mendick

Source: telegraph.co.uk

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Avatar’s Sigourney Weaver hosted Saturday Night Live for the second time in a quarter century this week.

The actress joined the rest of the SNL cast in poking fun at the sci-fi flick in a sketch during the show. The skit satirized Avatar’s theme with a gag about mating rituals of the film’s blue alien speicies The Na’vis.

Article Tags: CO2 Level

When it comes to sustainable living, the city beats the country hands down: a family in a house in a new eco-village in Street, Somerset, which has solar power, rainwater collection and a sophisticated warm-air recycling system, has a bigger carbon footprint than a similar family living in a Victorian terrace house in Battersea.

In fact, the London household produces almost a ton less carbon dioxide than its Somerset counterpart.

While London’s housing stock may be old and draughty, it is so densely built that neighbours share walls and ceilings, and therefore heat; and the city is so compact that most residents walk or take public transport to work, the shops or on a night out.

Click source to read FULL report

Source: dailymail.co.uk

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Tonight Show staffers are furious that they’re facing unemployment in a wrecked economy while boss Conan O’Brien walks away from the fiasco with $30 million, insiders close to NBC tell The New York Post’s Page Six Column.

“The production team feels betrayed,” a source said. “They don’t understand why Conan couldn’t have just agreed to move the show to 12:05 a.m. and see how things turn out, which would have allowed them all to keep their jobs. But his ego got in the way.”

Nearly 200 members of O’Brien’s production team, who uprooted their lives to move from New York to Los Angeles for the show last year, are losing their jobs and livid that they’re been overlooked as Conan negotiates his way out of the network he’s called home for 16 years.

“They all uprooted their lives and their families’ lives to move to LA for him, and now they feel like they have simply been forgotten,” the insider said. “There are 200 people losing their jobs while he walks off with a payoff worth $30 million. The mood on set and backstage is dismal.”

Facelift fanatic Joan Rivers loves Hollywood leading ladies Julia Roberts and Sarah-Jessica Parker — because they have “balls” just like her.

“People like Julia Roberts and SJP come straight up to me with balls and say, ‘Say it to my face’ and ‘Tell me the truth’. They’re not scared of me like the others.”

Joan will once again unleash her acid tongue as the official Red Carpet Fashion Critic at tonight’s 2010 Golden Globes.

Article Tags: BBC, Headline Story, Met Office, Paul Hudson

A BBC weather forecaster has suggested that the Met Office’s super-computer has a ‘warm bias’ which has stopped it predicting bitterly cold spells like the one we have just endured.

Paul Hudson said the error may have crept into the computer’s climate model as a result of successive years of milder weather.

His claim was rejected by the Met Office but other experts said there could be flaws in the system, which was first developed 50 years ago.

In a blog, the BBC Look North presenter writes: ‘Clearly there is the rest of January and February to go, but such has been the intensity of the cold spell…it would take something remarkable for the Met Office’s forecast (of a mild winter) to be right.

Source: dailymail.co.uk

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In case you weren’t aware, Mobile-review’s Eldar Murtazin is somewhat of a living legend around these parts. The Russian-borne phone guru manages to get his hands on an ample number of then-unreleased devices and juicy scoops — but this time he might’ve just outdone himself with some apparent hands-on time with Windows Mobile 7. Here’s what he’s saying: the OS has been built on scratch, and none of the old WinMo 6.x apps worked. There’s “a lot of horizontal movements, a lot of additional info by clicks… for WM users it will be a great step ahead. For market it’s a copycat of Android 3.1/3.2 [sic] or iPhone.” No direct comparison to Zune HD, except to say that it’s a simpler UI than what he was seeing here, and also no clue on the kernel underneath. Still, the lack of legacy compatibility is either a huge bummer to the fan base, or if not that then Microsoft is preparing for a two-platform WinMo world. Then again, this is a purported early build, so who knows what’s bound to change before the final release. There’s a lot of other details if you’re willing to check his feed, or just head over to WMPoweruser for the abridged / “good parts” version. Boy, February just can’t come soon enough.

Early Windows Mobile 7 build given some hands-on time, incompatible with previous WinMo apps? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 17 Jan 2010 03:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Robert Pattinson is set to swing into action to replace Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man 4, according to a report out of the UK. But the Twilight hunk will have some stiff competition from fellow young stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Zac Efron.

Moviegoers were devastated when it was announced that former Spidey star Tobey Maguire, 34, would be hanging up his cape. Last week, Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios said they will delay the fourth film in the hit superhero franchise by one year and return in 2012 with a new story, new director, and cast. A new prequel will see Peter Parker back in high school.

The Twilight hunk is reportedly the top choice of Columbia executives to star in the film, Britain’s The Mirror said Sunday.

A source tells the tab: “The buzz in Hollywood is all about R-Patz as the hot, young thing being lined up to fill Tobey Maguire’s shoes. It would be a hard act to follow as fans were traumatised at the news Tobey was going. His mild-mannered portrayal as Peter Parker and the transformation to Spider-Man kept millions of fans in the cinemas for the box-office smash. He also had great chemistry with Kirsten Dunst, who plays love interest Mary Jane.”

Does Pattz really stand a chance with Efron and Gyllenhaal also in the running? “I don’t know what the chances are to be honest. I assume they’re pretty slim. It’s a long-shot but if it came down to it, it’d be a dream come true. What young actor wouldn’t?”

More drama for has been hit the set of the CBS comedy Two And A Half Men – a death threat on actor Jon Cryer sparked a security scare for the show on Friday. Producers upped security following a “significant” threat, and chose to cancel a planned taping before a live studio audience, according to TMZ.com.

The scare comes less than a month after series co-star Charlie Sheen was arrested Aspen following a Christmas Day knife fight with his wife Brooke Mueller.

Jenni “JWoWW” Farley wants to help you be a standout during your next Saturday night out at the club.

The star of MTV’s reality smash Jersey Shore is launching her own line of “sexy and sophisticated” ladies clothing. Oh brother….As fans of the Shore have seen, Jenni’s super low-cut club tops are all the rage with guidettes. The tops often place’s the busty brunette’s implants on full display and viewers spend the next 30 minutes of the show praying it doesn’t shift a little too far to the right. Well, if shirts with little fabric that leave little to the imagination are your thing, you can add one of Jenni’s designs to your collection by heading over to the JWoWW website.

“This exclusive line will be limited and custom made to your body type…. Remember you don’t want to be that person at the club that see’s [sic] someone else wearing the same thing…” Jenni writes.

Jenni also has modeling gigs available for customers: “Ladies, if you purchase one of these shirts and would like to be on my website, take a picture of you in the shirt and send it to [email protected]!!! And you can be the model!!!”

We get our fair share of headphones around these parts so coming across the these new ankit headphones was certainly a treat. They are  ergonomically designed with enhanced noise isolation and have g-bass technology. They also come in extremely cute or edgy 3D metallic design – “Stay True,” “Break Away,” “Naughty Naughty,” and “Forbidden.” The packaging is also quite impressive and also a bit Ed Hardy-esque. However one thing Ed Hardy or rather Christian Audigier wouldn’t do is plant a tree with every purchase and ankit will. Pricing and availability is TBD but I can’t wait to hear how that g-bass feels. 

This year’s NAIAS hosted not only premieres for passenger vehicles, but for military use as well, with the new Clandestine Electric Reconnaissance Vehicle (CERV) being displayed by the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC).

This CERV is an all-wheel drive diesel hybrid electric vehicle developed by Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc. in partnership with TARDEC’s National Automotive Center (NAC), with funding support from the US Special O… (read more)

One of these men is the new Conan The Barbarian. Stargate Atlantis star Jason Momoa (AKA Lisa Bonet’s Baby Daddy) and Kellan Lutz of The Twilight Saga are being considered to play Conan the Barbarian in the upcoming remake under Nu Image/Millenium.

Deadline Hollywood reports that both men are up for the leading role in an upcoming remake of the 1982 film, which originally starred California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as the title character. Director Marcus Nispel is stepping behind the camera for the project, which begins filming in Bulgaria March 15.