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A quick search of eBay shows that potions are still for sale. For example, here is a love potion (the listing includes some vaguely NSFW images). They say, "I am happy to bring to you a special cast potion that me and the covens that joined us brought forth on Samhain/ Halloween night! [...] This is a guaranteed powerful mix to get you the results you need." That's pretty clearly a magical potion. With a guarantee!

Browsing the metaphysical section also brings up vast quantities of magic items -- 41,706 items under "Crystal Healing", for example. There's also orgone protection for your cell phone and a dust that attracts money. I'm curious -- has eBay banned the sale of magical services -- curses, etc. -- but not magical items? Or are these listings just slipping through the cracks? If it's just services that have been banned, then the complaint in TFA about holy water being sold is completely specious. And even if some physical items have been banned, the continued presence of lots of orgone accumulators and healing crystals suggests that eBay isn't working from purely pro-Christian motives. (Yes, I know about the category of natural magic that can in theory be squared with Christian belief. I don't think eBay is capable of being that subtle.)

And take heart, magic users -- a search for the word "grimoire" turns up 24 pages of items. Even if they've banned the sale of curses, no reason you can't still roll your own!

You actually can buy Magic Cactus on ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-BEST-ALL-NATURAL-BUTT-booty-ENHANCER-BIGGER-big-CULO-grow-ass-FAST-RESULTS-/110935007409?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19d43de0b1

Holy water, et alia have no form of guaranteed effect or power whatsoever. None. Any religious-affiliated individual who makes such a claim should be reported to his/her superior, if they have one, and if they don't, should probably be ignored. A magic spell that "make your partner desire you with lust & pasion.only you . spell" 9sic] is, I would say, slightly more assuring of a definite effect. Which, given it won't work, is most likely the source of the problem for eBay. They don't care if you offer a blessed item that is simply "blessed", with no promise of some particular effect.

Holy water is still for sale http://www.ebay.com/itm/Blessed-Holy-Water-4-fl-oz-118ml-/110919177479?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19d34c5507

Sounds like a case of "who backs up your magic?"

Holy water is still for sale http://www.ebay.com/itm/Blessed-Holy-Water-4-fl-oz-118ml-/110919177479?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19d34c5507

Antique-Double-Sided-School-Student-Chalk-Board-Slate-Vintage

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Double-Sided-School-Student-Chalk-Board-Slate-Vintage-House-Kids-Lined-/200805561955

Prototype of the Notepad application:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Childs-Primitive-Wooden-Slate-Schoolhouse-Chalk-Board-School-Chalkboard-/170895205376

Antique-Double-Sided-School-Student-Chalk-Board-Slate-Vintage

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Double-Sided-School-Student-Chalk-Board-Slate-Vintage-House-Kids-Lined-/200805561955

Prototype of the Notepad application:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Childs-Primitive-Wooden-Slate-Schoolhouse-Chalk-Board-School-Chalkboard-/170895205376

First flew in 1959. Reached Mach of 6.04 at one point. Had a pilot in it, not just a drone.

In 1959, service stations provided service (even gave out free maps), women dressed like women, and 4-wheel drive vehicles were used as 4-wheel drive vehicles.

X15 was a technology demonstrator like the X51 but with the former, you can get an autograph (though not sure of this ebay item but you get the idea),
http://www.ebay.com/itm/X-15-Test-Pilots-Neil-Armstrong-6-Autographs-Print-/160631385970

If you have a smartphone, you don't even have to spend near $60. Just check ebay for ELM327. Here's one that I got for $13 shipped:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310371228800&ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:US:3160#ht_4937wt_922

then, download Torque on your Android phone (I hear that iPhones don't allow this kind of Bluetooth pairing, but I don't have any personal experience), pair it to the Bluetooth module, and you have a $13 OBD-II reader. You can read stats from your car, you can read check engine codes (Torque gives you a text description, and supplies a link to search the web), and clear the check engine light. IMHO, for $13 everyone should keep one of these in their glove box. It's worth it to me if I save one trip to the auto store to get the free reading/clear code just to know that my gas cap was loose.

Quick note: I bought 2 of these from the link above. They both worked great, but they both have the same Bluetooth ID. It may have issues if you try using multiple of them in close proximity. But you get what you pay for ;) It may be an unregistered Bluetooth device, but it works for my uses.

Challenge accepted.
Windows 3.11 available separately.

Challenge accepted.
Windows 3.11 available separately.

If you're into vintage hardware, why not just buy the real thing?

Excuse the blatant advertising, but I for one am actually making a living from making and selling 3-d printed things.

What you may ask? Would you belive model train parts?

  http://www.shapeways.com/shops/tebee?sort=newest

and selling them on the dreaded Ebay too http://stores.ebay.com/tbmod

Back in 1995, VR gaming had a brief surge.

I had a pair of Virtual i-o I-glasses that had a head tracker and resolution of 640x480 per eye, and cost less than $500 new.

What does Occulus bring to the table that wasnt already tried and failed back then? (in a much neater/lighter glasses-like package too I might add).

No gamer will take Occulus seriously with a resolution of only 640x800 per eye.

Even 17 years ago, my I-glasses with their similarly low res 640x480 seemed too crappy to use seriously, compared to the my monitor with its res of 1280x1024.

These days people are completely used to full HD 1920x1080. its become the defacto bare minimum spec for any kind of gaming display these days.

17 years later from I-glasses, still the best that can be done is 640x800 per eye? If so Occulus is dead in the water. To appeal to hardcore gamers, as a minimum it needs to be up around 1920x1080, if not better.

I'm not in any way associated with this auction but if you just wanna see what I-glasses look like:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VIRTUAL-I-OS-IGLASSES-THESE-ARE-THE-ORIGINAL-1995-GLASSES-USED-ONLY-TWICE-/200799140740?pt=US_Video_Glasses&hash=item2ec08fbb84#ht_1314wt_1139

Here's the real deal, it's worth any extra pennies over haynes

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2002-Chrysler-CONCORDE-Service-Shop-Repair-Manual-Set-OEM-FACTORY-DEALERSHIP-02-/400310648085

(yeah, I know, I know... reusable code and design pertain rather to software engineering than to computer science, but anyway)

I'll make this short and sweet.

I got mine here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230774446127&ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:US:3160

It is the most amazing and beautiful screen I've ever owned, and I've actively been a computer geek for 34 years. It arrived in 2 days. There are no dead pixels. I've used it for hours daily since mid-April with no problems.

Have a nice day.

1080p = 1920x1080. That's 4937 pixels per dollar.

This monitor is $310 for 2560x1440, and comes with free shipping from Korea. That's 11,891 pixels per dollar.

I'd say you were ripped off pretty badly.

Floppies are for the faint of heart, I would record your meeting onto an 8-tracks audio cartridge and put hit in the chest without any other form of protection.. You should learn to take risks. 8-track players are still available for nothing on e-bay: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1311&_nkw=8-track+player&_sacat=0

My first laptop was a Zenith Z-181 which I got for cheap (unlike this one, what are they thinking...) at one of those computer dump markets which used to be held quite often back then. The thing still works, but it is currently in storage for lack of usable floppies (it has two 720K 3.5" 'flip-up' drives), time and interest. Its dark-blue-on-light-blue screen (or the other way around if that was preferred) felt strangely familiar, coming from a Commodore 64. Even though it has been surpassed in almost every sense by later portable machines, I have yet to use a laptop with a better keyboard. And yes, that does include all those Thinkpads which I've acquired over the years.

Since they forgot to put it in the summary

Anyway, the auction already ended with a sale. Also, shipping on it was 1000 euros. Pretty ridiculous, but I suppose it would take quite a few boxes.

What makes it worse is the snes is so out of date that the real console with games and controllers sells for less than a raspberry pi in the first place.

Uh, sorry mate, but that's not correct.

Why would you buy a Yugo if for $10 more you can own a Lexus?

Because one may no longer drive a Lexus?
Or, just as a statement, Yugos may become fashionable again? (those bastards with disposable income... one can't predict what they'll have in mind next).

Or perhaps can anyone name a national bank who has allowed them to get a debit card that doesn't do this?

You must be in Europe. In the US, most cards still don't have this functionality. Right now, this vulnerability seems to be limited to MasterCard nfc cards, not Visa nfc cards (and yes, the Mastercard nfc specs are supposed to be different from the Visa nfc ones, not that I've even seen the Visa ones, so I can't confirm that for a fact).

Your other option could be to use an NFC-phone to pay for things. Contrary to the popular opinion on slashdot, I believe that most nfc phones are actually much more secure than the leather/plastic wallet you might already be carrying.

And if you don't trust either of those options, there are always those faraday cages envelopes you can buy on ebay. Those will work for sure.

PayPal is not the only payment option on EBay. However many sellers accept only PayPal because it is the easiest way to manage things.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/pay/methods.html

And Paypal has never charged me as a buyer a transaction fee. As a seller, yes, and outrageously so, but not as a buyer.

The date is incorrect. The ebay auction referenced in the article was originally posted June 7, 2012.

You can find lots of various computers on Craigslist. I will not argue that point. I will argue that they will not be identical, though, and building a beowulf cluster from such machines is all but impossible. Even the trouble of contacting hundreds of craigslist sellers and meeting them in person would push the cost well above $50 each (considering time as money).

But, I have to admit, I did not RTFA well enough. If you follow the trail of links, you finally arrive here I've removed the part of the URL that generated advertising revenue for the person making the article.

The Windows CE netbook in the article is available now, and is available in large quantity (1200+ have sold already). It does not have a hard drive, but still meets the criteria that I established in my post above. I guess I have to now eat my words.

I saw this same (or very similar) model on sale at the local CVS.

I'm pretty sure this is the Sylvania netbook that appeared in 2010 for $99 at CVS. Reviewers were not kind about it, but the novelty of buying a $99 computer at a drug store was sort of fun. It's no surprise that 21 months later it's dropped under $50.

These little craptops have always intrigued me, and it's just a matter of time before someone puts out one in the under-$100 range that's not entirely terrible. There's this guy that is available new from lots of ebay sites (I chose this one at random and am not endorsing it). It runs Android 2.2 and sports 256 mb of RAM. I haven't seen any kind words about it and from the specs it's likely still terrible, but you're starting to approach something respectable. It's not that far from being a 7" version of the Efika MX SmartBook, which isn't a world beater by any stretch, but which is light and fanless and runs Linux and sort of harks back to what was fun about early netbook.

Interesting, and inbelievably cheap - not just becasue of the Windows license fee; no idea how much they pay for that. It's Windows CE so linking to the normal Win7 retail prices doesn't make sense.

OS: Windows CE. Never worked with that, no idea on the interface. Should include a browser, assume IE. But what version for WinCE?

Storage: not mentioned. Is this a "true" netbook as in can only do web browsing and web apps? Price could imply no local storage indeed, other than for the embedded OS. The ebay listing has no details at all. They are selling, shipping US only.

Install other OS? Well if no external storage, good luck with that.

Install applications? No mention about this. No external storage could be an issue there.

Form factor looks like the EEEPC 701 series, that's not too bad. It has a higher screen resolution. I like the overall idea. I'm still regularly using that EEEPC, almost exclusively for web browsing. It's sitting on the dining table, quick to grab, small enough to not be in the way too much, light enough to move around with one hand.

I've been using these for several years (on my 2nd pair). http://www.ebay.com/itm/Plantronics-Audio-645-USB-Gaming-Headset-Chat-PC-MAC-/370527962583?pt=US_Computer_Headsets&hash=item56453005d7#ht_2020wt_1265 They are cheap, real comfortable on the ears, have a good mic, USB or Stereo jacks, volume and mute on the cord. I have a spare in my cabinet for when this pair breaks (which they all do based on how I use them). By the way, great job to all the knuckleheads who immediately derailed a simple question into politics. ugh.

Ebay has inexpensive stereo microscopes resembling this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/20x-Stereo-Microscope-for-Gem-Coin-Stamp-PCB-Hair-/140757697961?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_203&hash=item20c5d005a9 I have a similar one that I got new for around $40. The magnification is a modest 50x, and it has fairly short focus length and depth but it serves well for electronic and mechanical repair and minor surgeries (splinters, hang nails)

2560 x 1440 is a wee bit cheaper though: https://global.ebay.com/search/?Query=2560+1440

Yeah, the one I had didn't even HAVE a built-in light. Still worked reasonably well. Something like this would probably be a good bet:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Leica-E-Leitz-Wetzlar-Lab-Microscope-with-Wood-Case-/320918955069?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ab842a43d

Everything you basically need, good optics. You'll need a light, but honestly a desk clamp and a decent LED light will do fine. Not too pricey and you can get good results without too much fiddling. Should be fairly rugged too.

You aren't kidding.

Aside from being a rip off relative to imports it doesn't change the DPI which was the biggest reason for the gripe. Most people really don't need or want a big screen TV sitting 20 inches from my face. For my office where extra screen real estate is helpful I solved problem with 3 - 23.1" 1080p displays for a fraction of the price. But, the DPI is still just under 100. It is frustrating that I can get a super sharp, crisp display in a handheld but when I want to gawk at something on my desktop there's no chance of getting anything north of 100 DPI. Even laptops are easily had with 130 - 170 DPI. Everything for the desktop is fuzzed with anti-aliasing to overcome the low DPI. It's really hard on the eyes, especially for people like me that stare at text all day. Give me a nice 24" panel with a DPI somewhere north of 200. In other words, how about a nice 10MP display, that doesn't have a 50ms response time, nor a $12,000+ medical diagnostic display price tag.

Here you go

For a plastic case, just buy a project box large enough for your needs and cut out a section large enough for the screen. You can easily find these by searching the electronic component section for "project box".

Good Luck

$3.99 with free shipping.
In the UK we can get them for a quid.

I don't see this cheaply made devices having a DAC (or ADC) worth spit, but I knew $17 was a little high. Maybe the extra $13.01 buys you something that will last long enough to listen to the whole of the first song you play with it?

Here's a Tetris watch on Ebay and there are other types like Pac Man, Donkey Kong, etc. Geeky, retro and pretty unique.

You're absolutely right.

    The only time you're going to see otherwise is if you have a commercial service with reliability spelled out in the contract. The whole CDR thing is nice. I pay for 500 Mb/s, they don't provide 500 Mb/s, I can bitch and get reimbursement for time that it isn't available. They'll jump through hoops to resolve it or lose some serious revenue.

    One residential customer, one of many, with "best effort" spelled out in the contract, they don't care much if the contract is lost. More importantly, there's usually a binding contract for a period, which they did not violate. So a month into the contract, they aren't servicing as expected, you're SOL. You still owe the term of the contract or the penalty described in the contract for early termination.

    The only way they care is if there is an embarrassment. Blog it, talk about it, make lots and lots and lots of noise. Then they might just do something. Not necessarily though. They may also sue.

    The best choice is probably to consider other options. The range with wifi, using narrow beam high gain antennas and amplifiers is pretty good. Then he just has to figure out how to get high enough to get line of sight to somewhere that he can get service. It's not rocket science, but it does take a bit of science. :)

    There are FCC restrictions to consider. I won't give further advice since I'm not an expert, and haven't had to do it lately. I'll just say that I've had good luck going miles with easily available consumer grade gear, and a strong signal at both ends. The hardest part was making sure I got the right connectors for the devices I already had.

    Here, here are a couple hints. :)

You're absolutely right.

    The only time you're going to see otherwise is if you have a commercial service with reliability spelled out in the contract. The whole CDR thing is nice. I pay for 500 Mb/s, they don't provide 500 Mb/s, I can bitch and get reimbursement for time that it isn't available. They'll jump through hoops to resolve it or lose some serious revenue.

    One residential customer, one of many, with "best effort" spelled out in the contract, they don't care much if the contract is lost. More importantly, there's usually a binding contract for a period, which they did not violate. So a month into the contract, they aren't servicing as expected, you're SOL. You still owe the term of the contract or the penalty described in the contract for early termination.

    The only way they care is if there is an embarrassment. Blog it, talk about it, make lots and lots and lots of noise. Then they might just do something. Not necessarily though. They may also sue.

    The best choice is probably to consider other options. The range with wifi, using narrow beam high gain antennas and amplifiers is pretty good. Then he just has to figure out how to get high enough to get line of sight to somewhere that he can get service. It's not rocket science, but it does take a bit of science. :)

    There are FCC restrictions to consider. I won't give further advice since I'm not an expert, and haven't had to do it lately. I'll just say that I've had good luck going miles with easily available consumer grade gear, and a strong signal at both ends. The hardest part was making sure I got the right connectors for the devices I already had.

    Here, here are a couple hints. :)

I was wondering if anyone selling reactors on ebay (not legal but so is selling human kidneys, which someone always post), I did find a Lionel at only $269.95 (C-9 Factory New - Brand New), http://www.ebay.com/itm/LIONEL-24294-NUCLEAR-REACTOR-/160558274893

But if you can't buy it, then gotta make it as this "fusioneer" as described in "Extreme DIY: Building a homemade nuclear reactor in NYC" http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10385853 (though I have doubts as the experts at Lawrence Livermore been talking for 50 years they should have in 10 years able to demonstrate electric power production from a fusion reactor.) But I guess having a fusion reactor working or not in the basement would be pretty cool.

Actually multi-LED units are dirt cheap, so I'm still curious what's wrong with them.

Just wait a year or two longer.
Right now you can pick up this for around $60 http://www.ebay.com/itm/HTC-G1-T-Mobile-Black-Fair-Condition-/380435251569?pt=Cell_Phones&hash=item5893b54171#ht_1342wt_1159

It has WiFi, BlueTooth, Camera, touchscreen, Keyboard, GPS, and compass. It also runs A version of Linux "Android" but you can use c for it. One wonders how long it would take to get a version Ubuntu or MeeGo running on it.
Another option would be the HTC HD2 but they are still over $200 but already run Windows Phone 6.x, WP7, Ubuntu, Meego, and Android.
As new devices get bought these will come down in price. I am giving my Sister in law my Evo 4g because I got a Galaxy Nexus. The Evo has an HDMI out so all you really need is a Bluetooth keyboard and software to make an little desktop.
Of course the issues of working drivers will be with use for a while but even that may pass over time.

More like feared...

The smaller number of different models increases the liquidity of the used market, which is good for stabilizing prices, and also has an effect on depreciation. You can actually sell almost any 24 month old apple laptop for half what you paid for it.

Actually, a 2008 unibody macbook 13" (current models have "pro" moniker) still sells for ~$500-$750 on ebay [1]. I have one I bought new at the time for $1300... that's about 40 month old machine, and with OSX lion upgrades, modern SSD and memory upgrade it's as usable as a new one.

[1] http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=macbook+13+unibody+2008&_sacat=0&_odkw=macbook+13+unibody+-pro

Given that you can still buy a battery for every iriver device ever created, I'm going to just go ahead and call you out as an apple fanboy. 30 seconds of searching on ebay would've provided the battery you just couldn't find.

Even at 2560x1440 I'd have to pay more for a single monitor than for a 680 GTX

No you wouldn't. I mentioned this monitor earlier in the discussion... I'm not trying to sell them, by the way, I was suprised at the cheapness. Most of the consumer feedback with them has been good, too.

This is a 2560*1440 monitor for $320. The early ones had higher quality internals, and could actually run at 100hz at that resolution. They're shipped direct from Korea.

People saying they're running on maximum settings, without mentioning the pixel count are being disingenuous. The above monitor pushes over 3.5 million pixels. 1336*768 is about 1 million.

Bitcoin mining is barely profitable now. Bitcoin "difficulty" self-adjusts so that the number of new Bitcoins created per unit time remains constant. Currently, that number is about 6*50*24*30 = 216K bitcoins per month, worth about $900K/month. Every few years, the number of coins created per unit time drops, so that eventually there will be a fixed number of coins, 21 million. Around the end of 2012, half of all Bitcoins that will ever be created will have been created, and the production rate drops in half, according to a schedule built into all the programs that accept Bitcoins.

All Bitcoin "miners" are thus in competition for a fixed and declining amount of revenue. Many have already dropped out, as can be seen from the hash rate statistics. In areas with high electricity costs, even running existing hardware doesn't pay. Buying new hardware in bulk was popular in early 2011, but not any more.

Of course, if you can find some sucker to provide a GPU and pay for the power, the economics looks better. Hence the Bitcoin trojan. The concept of a VC-funded Bitcoin trojan is a bit much. Putting in $500K to suck money out of the system might pay off in the short term, but it's not something that can grow. If you put in $5M, you'd be competing with yourself for a finite revenue stream. Also, running a background GPU job on anything that isn't plugged in will produce some very angry users as their batteries die.

If you think mere rarity will make Bitcoins grow in value, go on eBay and see what collectable stuff from the Franklin Mint (once a big maker of "collectables") goes for.