My Internet Notebook

eBay is challenging all you developers there to develop cool applications using their now free web services API.

The ideas listed by ebay looked pretty interesting:

Category/vertical search (re-mix eBay to help people find things more efficiently)

drag & drop UI components for search results page: Offer eBay user the ability to customize their UI for the features they want to use
item ticker/screensaver for eBay
search for eBay items widget
widgets or gadgets
toolbar-like mini-apps
calendar view of members’ eBay activities
auto-Add to Watch List: Allow members to specify advanced search criteria that automatically adds items to their Watch List
low-priced items portal that allows free listing
search personalization
search for eBay items over IM
seller tool to add streaming video to their listings
taxation invoicing tool for eBay sellers
eBay Motors: Find vehicles locally
eBay Motors: Find similar types of vehicle (search for Accord, also show Camry; search for one minivan, see others with more listings)
eBay Motors: Show vehicles and their corresponding Parts & Accessories in compelling layout
Web mash-up (re-mix eBay with another Web service)

eBay Motors: historical pricing data (e.g. show Kelly Blue Book prices along with listings pricing)
eBay Motors: Show consumer reports or government safety ratings along with vehicle listings
Search across multiple shopping sites (Froogle/Yahoo Shopping/Amazon, etc.)
Multi-platform (integrate eBay with PayPal, Skype, Outlook, GNOME, TiVo, etc.) applications

integrate with POS systems to deliver full inventory tracking for our seller’s online and offline world
VoIP enabled Ask Seller a Question
accounting package plug-ins: Quicken/Quickbooks for eBay sellers
Firefox plug-ins
demographics targeter: sellers can enter in target buyer demographics and receive recommendations on start and end time/auction duration, etc.
Apple Dashboard widget
lister application written on Mozilla in XUL and AJAX
eBay Affiliate Editor Kit Flash Ad module
eBay Alerts enabled on Skype

Well, that’s an easy thing, if you have the high status of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California.

The news media had extensive reports on how Arnold and his supporters financed the trip. The tax-exempt California Protocol Foundation, which is affiliated with California Chamber of Commerce, solicited contributions of up to $50,000 from business donors. Jim Hawley, California director and general counsel of TechNet, a prominent Silicon Valley advocacy group, sent direct email to high-tech companies to ask for donation to the Foundation. Allan Zaremberg, president of the chamber and the Protocol Foundation.

Margita Thompson, Schwarzenegger’s press secretary, said that the Protocol Foundation will underwrite most of the trip cost, while business members of the delegation will have to pay for their own expense, which is peanut if you consider that meeting with Chinese state official will coup big returns in the future.

Members of the California Commission for Jobs and Economic Growth have donated about $665,000 over the past year for economic development efforts such as the Japan and China trade missions, according to Mark Mosher, its executive director.

Do you have ties to anyone mentioned above?

Many non-profit organizations do not have the IT expertise and resources to develop & maintain their ‘business applications’ that are central to their operations. A Salesforce.com or Micrsoft ‘Live’ would be a perfect way to go for them.

Here are some of the features a small to medium sized non-profit would require:

• Web hosting – every organization needs to have a web front
• Accounting – general ledger
• Accounts – Sister non-profit organizations, partners etc.
• Contact management – donors, volunteers, sponsors (personal, corporate), receipients
• Project management – funding projects
• Fund management – donations (cash v.s. non-cash),
• Campaign management – track and manage fund-raising campaigns
• Marketing function – newsletter, etc.
• Analytics – reporting
• Offline, Mobile – sync

And how big of an impact this offering will have? According to Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project, The nonprofit sector is a major economic force in the world.

In the 26 countries for which we have assembled data, nonprofit organizations as of the mid-1990s accounted for: (1) $1.2 trillion in expenditures;
(2) 31 million full-time equivalent workers, or 6.8 percent of the nonagricultural workforce