I know that it has been ages since I have posted here and I would like to personally apologize for being such a closed book in 2011. So far 2011 has been an exciting year for me and I am looking forward to seeing where it goes. Here is what I have been up to:

Domaining. I am still involved in both buying and selling domains, but have been putting far less time into this venture. So far in 2011 I have been lucky enough to close a handful of mid $x,xxx (one was a 310 x return), so I have largely kept away from selling on forums. Two of these sales originated from my own custom landing pages (see SettlementExperts for an example). From here on, I will largely be a passive domain as I shift from a high-quantity, but low-profit focus to low-quantity, but high-profit sales.

GeekGold.com. In December 2010 I launched the website GeekGold.com with the purpose of sharing everything I appreciate regarding geek culture and technology. This quickly turned into a computer hardware-focused website and will probably stay that way. GeekGold has experienced rapid growth with the following number of unique visitors in recent months:

• January 2011: 397
• February 2011: 2078
• March 2011: 7307
• April 2011 (through April 25): 4615

In the near future, GeekGold will be undergoing a complete redesign as I am quite unhappy with how “bloggy” it looks right now.

MotherboardNews.com. Less than one month ago I realized that GeekGold was very much shifting from general hardware news to motherboard news. As a domainer I knew that I could have had a better domain so after much consideration I decided to use a recently acquired domain and MotherboardNews.com was born (I had also bought Mobo.org as an end-user, but decided against using it).

After spending a little over a week working on the design (WordPress + Thesis), I finally launched at the end of March. Similar to GeekGold, MotherboardNews has experienced very-welcomed growth with nearly 2000 uniques so far in April and over 8000 pageviews.

ColeMason.com. While this has been an ongoing project for a while, I finally have my professional website up and running. I am still actively looking for a full-time job in London, Ontario so I am hoping that this website will help me land a great position at a great firm.

So there you have it, 2011 has been a busy year for me, but I am very happy with how things have gone so far and I am eagerly anticipating what will happen in the remaining eight months.

Well, the time has come for me to raise some funds by flushing out a few of my better quality domains. For this reason, I have decided to list 8 domains in a featured auction over at Boxcar.com.

If you are a domain investor or know someone looking for quality domains, please head over to Boxcar and check out my auction!

It has been a while since I have written a telecom piece, but a recent experience with Rogers has left me with the desire to write an organized rant. Before I begin, I would like to say that all of the Rogers representatives I dealt with on the phone and in person were friendly, understanding, and easy to talk with. Because of this, I never had to raise my voice or get outwardly angry in any way.

The Pre-amble. When my girlfriend and I moved to London, Ontario back in August we signed up with Rogers on a 1-year term with the first three months being free. Yes, I understand that this was possibly the first mistake, but we Canadian’s have to deal with telecommunications term contacts all of the time. We signed up with a a local Rogers representative that acts as a liaison for out apartment building. For the first three months the service was excellent with no downtime and no issues.

The Problem. The local representative had put us on a premium (and unnecessary, for us) Internet plan that could be easily downgraded after the free three months concluded. We were assured by the representative that he would perform this task on our behalf and that we should expect a Rogers technician to come by with new hardware. As it turns out, the representative did no such thing. Countless emails and phone calls to him (Rogers support was reluctant to help us at first because it was a local rep that set up the account) yielded no response. Maybe he is no longer a Rogers employee or maybe he doesn’t like to deal with frustrated customers – I am not sure.

Anyways, after a few reluctant CSR’s I managed to get through to someone that understood our situation and was able to process the downgrades. The only catch was a long wait for a technician, but the CSR took care of that by saying that we could go to a local Rogers Plus to manually exchange the hardware. I was assured that the new hardware would be plug-and-play and should not pose any issues.

The Exchange. The next day I proceeded to go to the local Rogers Plus to carry out the exchange. After a short-wait in line I was greeted by a very friendly young woman that appeared to be relatively new to the exchange process. She took my old hardware to the back and brought up a new cable box, but had a concerned look on her face. I was advised that they were out of modems and that I would have to venture elsewhere. Not the biggest deal in the world, but I would have to venture to the other end of the city to find a store that actually had stock (yes, three stores in city greater than 350 000 people did not have modems in stock). She processed the cable box and gave me back the old modem to take to the new store.

It was at this point that either an experienced employee or manager stopped me and proceeded to give her grief regarding the new cable box as apparently both items needed to be exchanged at the same time. Back to the end of the line it was for me. When it was my turn again, the young woman attempted to return the new box, but the system would not allow her for some reason and after another awkward exchange between the other employee and the young woman I was sharply and indirectly told by the experienced employee that I should have called ahead and gone somewhere that had both items in stock. At this point the girl just gave me back the new cable box, old modem and advised that I go to the other store.

At the next store I  encountered no wait time and was quickly serviced by a very capably employee. He and his fellow worker cracked some jokes about the store I was at before and even went on to show me that they gave me an incompatible (and actually more expensive) cable box by mistake. After less than five minutes I was out of that store with the correct hardware and was again ensured that these items would be plug-and-play.

Plug-and-play. First up, the new cable box! Coax in. Power in. Hooked up to TV. Crystal clear cable! That’s right, no issue here! Now it was time for some delicious Internet. Coax in. Power in. Ethernet connected to laptop (always bypass a router to ensure service is working). Blink. Blink. Blink. No connection. Power cycle. Nothing. Hard-reset. Nothing. Tech-support time!

Tech support. There have been a number of calls to tech support, so let’s break this into individual calls. All of the techs I spoke with were super-friendly and understanding, so I won’t repeat that for each call. Also, I must say that I was only had to wait for a tech once (maybe 5 minutes) and was pleasantly surprised how how easy the Rogers automated system performed.

First call. Explained that I just received a new modem, plugged it in, and had no service. Tech performed the usual tests to ensure I had it hooked up correctly and he seemed to be impressed that I had all of the information (MAC, S/N, etc.) ready for quick communication. I was advised that the router was not properly provisioned (this will come up again…and…again…) so replication might take up to 24 hours, but usually occurs within a few hours.

Second call. After resetting the modem ever couple of hours with no luck I decided to call back (this was approximately 24 hours after the first call). This tech advised that improperly provisioned modems take 24 to 48 hours to replicate and that the previous tech was incorrect. I was advised that someone would call me when the issue was fixed so that I wouldn’t have to bother resetting the modem all day and night. Not happy, but my iPhone tethering had been tying me over and could do so for another 24 hours.

Third call. This was a quick one after 48 hours in hopes of ensuring my ticket would still be worked on. This tech was very apologetic but said that no work had been done yet. With the next day being Sunday I wasn’t overly concerned about a further delay as the cable was flowing with some football. At the conclusion of this call the tech advised that when the issue is resolved I should call billing and try to get a refund on the days without service. I had previously assumed I would be refunded for the time as well as credited for the inconvenience, but no, I would have to fight for credit.

Fourth call. 72 hours with no call and no connection. As a web-designer, gamer and online rental addict my tethering was quite limiting so my patience was wearing thin. Called again with a short wait before being connected with an amazing tech. He took the time to dig deep in hopes of seeing what was going on. As it turned out, my support ticket was still open, but the provisioning guys (I really don’t know who does what) had my ticket closed the day before because they saw no issues. Clearly this wasn’t true and I never received a call. At the conclusion of this call the tech took my number again and said that this time a tech would call WHILE they are performing the work on my modem.

Fifth call. With a new work-week starting I could no longer deal with tether speeds and bandwidth limitations. I called back to see if any progress had been made and if not ask for a technician to come by as soon as possible. Another great tech that dug into the previous tickets and provisioning issues to see that the ticket from before had ALSO been closed and that there were no issues with my modem. No call. No Internet. With this tech I was a little firmer with wanting service today as a new week was starting and the wait was starting to get ridiculous. This tech was very understanding and put me on hold a few times to find out what time a tech could get here. As it turns out the wait is more than two days, but my issue would be put in priority and a tech could show up anytime within the next day or two. At this point I asked if the modem could be faulty and asked if I could take it back and exchange it at the same store. The tech said that could be the best option as most likely the modem was DOA. Before the call ended the tech kindly provided the phone numbers of three local Rogers Plus locations where I could exchange the modem.

After the last call I proceeded to call these local stores to ensure a modem was in stock (as I ran into this problem before). As it turns out, none of the stores currently have stock. As I sat here pondering what to do I finally got an automated call from Rogers saying that my Internet issue had been fixed and that service was confirmed. Like a giddy child I quickly reset the modem in hopes of a solid cable light, but alas…blinking. No service. No Internet.

I have had a few piecemeal conversations with Rogers representatives on Twitter, but 140 characters is quite limiting. I will send them links to this post in hopes of receiving some sort of customer satisfaction, but my hopes are quite diminished. I have confirmed with billing that I can buy-out my current contract, but is the grass really greener on the other side? I will give Rogers the opportunity to make things right and sincerely hope they can do so.

I’ll keep you updated on what happens.

UPDATE: RogersElise has been in contact with me. Nice to see a responsive social media rep.

UPDATE #2: A Rogers technician came by today and after wanting to rewire the apartment I said that I thought it might just be a faulty modem. Somewhat reluctantly he replaced the modem and Internet access was back! As it turns out he did not have the correct information regarding the issue, so I am glad I was home to work through it.

UPDATE #3: I received a call from the Office of the President this evening (Rogers escalated customer service) by an extremely polite and discussion-oriented individual. We talked about what happened and a very apologetic Rogers representative offered to credit my account for the inconvenience.

While not having Internet access for almost five days is frustrating for someone working on the Web nearly 12 hours per day including weekends, all of the Rogers representatives were friendly and understanding of my situation. The issue seems to have been miscommunication on the technical side as none of the tickets submitted by those reps I spoke with were handled with care. Despite these issues I am quite happy with how Rogers made things right – by openly communicating the failures that occurred and offering incentive (nothing major, but that is besides the point) to remain a Rogers customer.

]]> http://ruraltechnocrat.com/2010/11/29/rogers-a-coherent-rant/feed/ 4 http://ruraltechnocrat.com/2010/11/23/ecop-carrillos-new-escrow-service/ http://ruraltechnocrat.com/2010/11/23/ecop-carrillos-new-escrow-service/#comments Tue, 23 Nov 2010 20:55:55 +0000 Cole http://ruraltechnocrat.com/?p=439

Potentially breaking news here. It looks like Francois Carrillo has just released a new domain escrow service – eCop.com! This doesn’t look like just any escrow service though, it provides flexibility among multiples parties and multiple scenarios all at an extremely low cost! Straight-up sales look like they cost $20 per action required by eCop (ie. $20 for possession + $20 for payment disbursement) or $25 for a non-possession-based escrow.

The coolest part of the new service is the flexibility in options. Leasing, swapping and complex sales can all occur with low fees of just $20 per action!

I am sure more details will be released soon as I only noticed the new site based on a banner at the bottom of Cax.com.

Congrats to Francois on another potentially great product!

Well, Bido has been back for a couple of weeks now. The media coverage was initially strong and the Bido team was consistently discussing their return publicly in forums and on their blog. For some reason, things have changed – everyone is quiet again. I understand the team is (hopefully) busy making changes, but the core audience/members would like to be kept in the loop. Here are a few of my observations from the last few days.

The Bido Blog. This was one of the features that Jarred initially discussed upon the return of Bido. The blog represents and outlet for the Bido staff to discuss new features, domains in auction and more. Posts were occurring every few days, but there has since been an 11-day silence.

Auction setup delay. In the past, Bido auctions were generally setup (after getting the votes needed) within a few hours and never more than 24 hours after the final vote was cast. I had a few domains get the required votes 3 days ago and have heard nothing. Perhaps the team is working on a revised auction schedule, but I haven’t heard anything.

Social interaction. Jarred has always done a great job addressing individual questions at the various domaining forums, but has remained silent over the past week. Also, the Bido Twitter accounts have remained largely inactive over the last week.

In 2009 and early 2010 I was one of the biggest Bido cheerleaders out there, but Bido will have to continue to improve to retain my attention. I sincerely hope that the lack of information over the last 10 days is due to some major changes, but it’s just hard not to think the worst.

Anyone else have any recent experiences or interactions to share?

UPDATE: My Bido auctions are now being setup so clearly their is some action going on. Hopefully Jarred posts to the Bido blog in the near future.

Well everyone, as some of you may know I have begun my job hunt after a smooth re-location to London, Ontario. There is a variety of industry present that should allow me to pursue my career in marketing, professional writing and data-analysis. In honour of this big life step I would like to take the opportunity to feature two of my older posts regarding my likes and dislikes of the hiring process and interview transparency.

Hiring Process – Likes & Dislikes I am sure that everyone has experienced poorly-executed interviews and other frustrations when it comes to applying to jobs. This article points out some of these frustrations (job fairs, late contact, no business card, etc.) as well as some of the great experiences I have had during the employment process (casual conversation, accommodation, etc.).

Interview Transparency Even after the application process is complete and an interview is granted, sometimes there are major disconnects between the applicant and the hiring firm. This article shows a few of thesis disconnects personally experienced as well as a few general issues that may arise.

Short update here, folks! The domain, Possible.com, that recently sold at Cax/PremiumDomains for $351,000 is now a developed site. I can’t quite say the sale was official as there has been ZERO major media coverage of this sale – perhaps that buyer wanted to keep it quiet, but it was sold in a public auction. My previous post on the sale got a bit of attention, but mostly from people thinking the sale was the result of a deadbeat buyer – doesn’t look that way now.

Anyways, the domain is now a developed psychic portal with the tagline “The World’s Leading Psychic Network”. Congrats to the new owner on the domain and developed site!

Any long-time readers of Rural Technocrat know that I was a HUGE Bido fanboy. I feel that I made a pretty good chunk of change through them and always loved the customer service they offered. When Bido shut down, I was absolutely shocked, but guess what…now they are back! While I haven’t blogged on the return of Bido yet, and don’t plan to (it’s old news now), I want to talk about Bido’s new scheduling arrangement.

Basically, Bido has decided to group gTLDs and ccTLDs by geo-location so that auctions are ending at ideal times in those time zones. This is a great idea in theory, but really, I imagine that there aren’t many people from Cocos Islands looking to by .CC domains at Bido. Now, if the idea was to move these less desirable extensions to obscure times in order to focus on North American/European ccTLDs and gTLDs, then I think it’s a VERY solid idea, but not without flaws.

First, the current auctions and live auction pages are full of .EU, .IN, .CC and other ccTLDs (disclaimer: I have submitted a couple of .CC domains myself). Many of these are decent quality with some  of them receiving bids at or above the Bido Price – so some ARE selling. The issue that I see is that better quality gTLDs are getting hidden amongst these more obscure extensions – this leads to my second and more relevant caveat.

Right now it appears that gTLDs make up maybe half of the upcoming auctions at Bido. With the current schedule layout, I was able to have a .CC auction setup for 3 days from now, whereas if I wanted to setup a gTLD auction I would have to wait until November 21st!! In the past I always viewed Bido as a quick way to sell domains. Auction setup was always very quick and generally you could find an available slot within 2 days. Waiting almost 2 weeks for your auction to start really doesn’t work for me. Perhaps I am just an impatient domainer looking for immediate results, but one friend of mine shares the same sentiment.

Before you think that I am bashing Bido’s new format, I’m really not. Jarred has been very open about taking the time to find a balance between domain quality and sales. This will take time and I think this scheduling experiment will help make Bido better in the future. A scheduling tweak that keeps ccTLDs to every 5 minutes in their time periods, but allows gTLDs to be auctioned every 2 minutes, instead of every 6, could be one of many solutions to the two issues I have presented. I am sure something is currently in the works and I am quite certain that Bido will continue to become better and better.

If you want to read some top-quality posts on Bido’s return check out the articles posted at the following sites:
FloName – Bido.com: Will they make it this time?
DotSauce – Bido Domain Auctions Are Back, But Will They Succeed?
ChefPatrick – Bido is Back!
MorgonLinton – Bido is Back!

]]> http://ruraltechnocrat.com/2010/11/08/bidos-new-scheduling/feed/ 0 http://ruraltechnocrat.com/2010/10/21/nightlife-net-auction-cancelled-by-seller-at-cax/ http://ruraltechnocrat.com/2010/10/21/nightlife-net-auction-cancelled-by-seller-at-cax/#comments Thu, 21 Oct 2010 17:55:19 +0000 Cole http://ruraltechnocrat.com/?p=416

Well, it looks like after Michael Berkens posted an article about the auction of Nightlife.net at BargainDomains/Cax the seller has cancelled the auction! Michael’s article pointed out that the domain, which met it’s $2,000 reserve in the last 24 hours, may sell for just 10% of what it sold for in 2008 ($20,000).

Francois was quick to comment that the seller has been banned and once again reiterated his zero tolerance policy when it comes to deadbeat buyers and sellers – good for you Francois!

Will this cancelled sale by a deadbeat seller affect any future sale of the domain?

Just this week I launched two minisites dedicated to educating users about how produce common symbols with their keyboard. So far, I have launched Copyright Symbol and Trademark Symbol. I look forward to bring similar sites to market and seeing how these sites move up SERPS and gain relevancy.