A salesman tried to fleece a money exchanger in the United Arab Emirates by using an identity card bearing the picture of Hollywood heart-throb Brad Pitt

Um, okay. Because Brad Pitt totally looks Jordanian, really. Man, crooks are stupid…

Google tests Web buying system

“It’s not like PayPal at all,” Schmidt said when asked about “GBuy” during a New York meeting hosted by Conde Nast’s new Portfolio business magazine.

“It makes no sense for us to go into businesses that are occupied by existing leaders,” he said. “We want to solve new problems in the payments space.”

Why not? Given how many of us are thoroughly frustrated with Paypal and given that there is no other service doing exactly the same thing - there’s more than enough room for competition. Please. Give us P2P payment options without the bullying.

“Google management is getting off on a technicality” in saying its purchasing system differs from PayPal, said RBC Capital Markets analyst Jordan Rohan of Schmidt’s remarks. “A merchant-to-consumer payments system, that’s close enough.”

Oh, please. If that’s all it takes, then any website that allows sellers to accept payments from buyers is just like PayPal, and I’m sorry, but no. Amazon and ClickBank and all the other online merchant account services have a ways to go before they cover all the flexibility that PayPal offers. I liked PayPal, until they drove me up the wall, and now I’d give almost anything not to have to go back to them, but if Google’s payment system isn’t going to be a competitor, I may have to go back to PayPal anyway. Too many freelance and telecommuting jobs insist on paying via PayPal only.

In a research note last week, Rohan wrote that Google was likely to launch such a service by the end of the month, saying there was no reason it could not expand to consumer-to-consumer transactions like many PayPal payments.

When? This is what I want to see; when can this come about? If Google doesn’t choose to expand to this, then it doesn’t matter if there’s no reason they can’t; they won’t.

Ebay tests Skype calls for customer service

Adding voice-calling and text messaging to the traditional e-mail-based interactions between auction participants was a prime motivation offered by eBay officials when it acquired Skype last October in a deal worth up to $4.2 billion.

Starting on June 19, sellers will be able to embed simple “Skype Me” icons alongside product listing to allow users to contact them using a new feature of eBay called “Ask a seller a question.” The feature is free and designed to allow people to answer quick questions before completing specific purchases.

Interesting. I initially thought this was just about adding Skype as a method for users to contact customer service. That would be a beneficial twist for most online companies, actually: Skype, FWD, AIM, YIM, MSN, ICQ… Free communication with an actual person, instead of form email that goes who knows where or long distance phone calls (when you can actually find a phone number to call!). Don’t know what legal issues would be, dealing with a business use instead of a private user, but it’s time for this.

Atari posts narrower loss as cash dwindles

The money woes for Atari, which again warned there was “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue as a going concern, come amid a move to new video game console technology that has sidelined some buyers and hampered U.S. game sales.

…

Am I the only one who didn’t realize Atari was still around? I thought they folded years ago.

Newspapers fight back against online classifieds

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - For the past decade, newspapers have seen their help-wanted advertising under siege from online rivals. Now, as the Internet begins to eat into automotive and real estate classifieds as well, newspapers are fighting back.

Good luck with that.
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