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This is traumatic. I'm already quite pi$$ed that every time I transfer money from my bank account to paypal it takes 3-5 business day for my founds to appear in my PP account even if the money is taken the very next day from my bank account (obviously they earn interest out of my money) and now they want to hold the sellers funds for 21 days? Outrageous! Why aren't there any decent laws in the US to protect consumers against greed corporations like this one? This stuff doesn't happen in the EU, I tell you that much. Follow the link for more info: http://forums.ebay.com/db1/thread.jspa?threadID=1000710887&tstart=0&mod=1212270911461

Seriously, what's a game console doing in the server room? There are no other alternatives? No leftover hardware (PIII-almost-anything, P4-anythinbg at-all, Athlon-ditto) more than capable of doing the job?

The article was replete with references to the lack of respect management had for the proletariat IT staff, blahblahblahblahblah. Feh.

Labeling equipment in the server room is crucial. How about a decent label if, for no other reason, after a fire or some other event, you can contact the functional owner(s) and inform them of the survival or demise of their precious server.

Pitfall was my favorite

Patriotic Women will have sex with you for this!

Increased sales!!!

Patriotic Women

There seems to be a collectors market for old infocom stuff at least: On ebay an Infocom Starcross game (Apple II version) still in shrinkwrap is currently at $611!!! I used to have one of these back in the day and I made a motorized flying toy out of it. Doh. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230253373809

Just a quick search on ebay shows that there's not a lot of interest. Don't know if you'd have luck at a comic con or something similar. While I agree that they're cool, I think that's mostly from a fond-memory kind of thing and not something that could be turned into something financially tangible. That and my wife would kill me if I offered to buy them ... ;)

There's no way Autodesk is going to let this ruling stand unappealed, and if the appeals court rules against them again, there will be a cavalcade of software companies prepared to flood the Supreme Court with amicus briefs on their behalf.

Actually I doubt it. Other companies allow ownership to be transfered. Take for instance Adobe, Adobe has a Transfer of Adobe License [pdf] form the seller fills out when they transfer software to someone else, whether giving it away or selling it. Just as this guy sells AutoCAD on eBay others sale various Photoshop and CS versions. And Photoshop is the leading photo editor photo pros use, whereas AutoCAD has a number of competitors.

Specifically, the Lifebook P-1120 or similar. These run a transmeta processor (and so won't be the fastest kids on the block), but they come with wireless and are easily powerful enough to browse the web, run Doom, etc. I used one of these as my main computer for a couple years.

Review of the P-1120:

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/fujitsu-lifebook-p1120-crusoe/4505-3121_7-7589509.html

You can get them on Ebay for under $200:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Fujitsu-Lifebook-P1120-w%2F-Spare-Battery_W0QQitemZ110253486087QQcmdZViewItem?IMSfp=TL0805171070a18304

The machine was pretty durable in my experience--it survived a lot of rough handling in a college student's backpack.

look for
Toshiba libretto
Closed it has the dimensions of the VHS video tape. (without port replicator (Port replicator is the predecessor of the docking stations))

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=toshiba+libretto&category0=

It is, however quite expensive.
With eee you get much more bang for your buck.

Mine has got Pentium processor 90MHz. I used it for reading e-books.
If you set the harddisk to stop after certain inactivity time (mine was set to 2 minutes) the notebook makes about as much noise as a calculator.
If you connect 8GB CF card instead of harddisk you can have dream machine.

If you want to have something even MORE minimalistic look for HP Jornada pocket PC.

I own several Dell Latitude C400s and I think they are the greatest laptop ever. Lightweight, very sturdy, USB, PCCard, internal wifi card, no internal drive and best of all, a 6 hour add-on battery pack is out there if you can grab one when they show up. Plus lots of other pros, Get one.

Personally, I was a fan of Compaq's m300. It was a subnotebook, about 12 inches with a MEU (media expansion unit) that doubled as a docking station. The last gen I used was a 500MHz with 1GB of RAM. The 9cell (i think it was 9-cell) battery would give me about 6 or so hours on full brightness. The MEU (which is the size of the notebook and just as thick - so instead of a 1" thick machine, you'd have one about 2.5") you could put a CD-ROM/DVD-ROM and an extra multibay battery - giving you another 2 hours or so.

I used one from 2001 to about 2004 as my primary machine, had no issues and the entire laptop was a magnesium alloy, so it could take a beating if need be.

You can still get them on ebay for under 200 bucks

Powerbook G4s go for about $600 on Ebay and that sounds like a fair price and it is indeed better than you will get for all but the very best Intel based laptops from the same time period. Battery life is excellent, the screen is good and they are not too heavy. The author seems to be looking for something smaller and would probably not like the optical drive.

Here's a 110ct, something along what youre asking for: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150248931102

Heres a u105, something more up-to-date: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170217846018

I dunno, they were always perfectfor me. I especially loved them when I interfaced it with an ol' oki900. ahhh.. the AMPS days...

Here's a 110ct, something along what youre asking for: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150248931102

Heres a u105, something more up-to-date: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170217846018

I dunno, they were always perfectfor me. I especially loved them when I interfaced it with an ol' oki900. ahhh.. the AMPS days...

Not only at the SUNY system. The University of Missouri sends all their surplus items (IT, medical, physical plant, etc) to their central disposal service, who places them on ebay. http://stores.ebay.com/University-of-Missouri-Surplus

The state of Oregon uses eBay to offload all of it's old and surplus equipment. To check out their store: http://stores.ebay.com/Oregon-Surplus-Property

I don't know how Illinois does it, but being in the State University of New York (SUNY) system, I can tell you that our surplus stuff ends up on ebay if it can't find new homes through our property management:

nyssurplus-albany

FWIW, that office actually handles (at least) state schools, prisons, and mental hospitals. Some interesting stuff gets sold through that group, to say the least...

If you're looking for a nice Megaminx Puzzle to play with, checkout PuzzleProz

eBay has 2 listings for the needed floppy drives, here and here, but they aren't cheap.

eBay has 2 listings for the needed floppy drives, here and here, but they aren't cheap.

Especially since you can find the whole Amstrad 6128 for 20 Euros.

Just the drive (got an old AT style PC) here: Ebay!

Wow! Just how much is it worth to you?

$285.14?

Seems a bit pricey to me but your nostalgic millage may vary.

Yep here it is on ebay: lot of 1000 stolen govt laptops only a few bids so far!

I'm going to give you a beer if this auction sells for over $100. Just like Google, you have no intention of buying it, but you want the beer, so go ahead, bid $100 and wait for someone to outbid you and get a free beer. Maybe after this exercise you'll understand that when you bid up you can actually win the auction and be stuck with the goods. Google had balls.

Have you considered looking here?

For those that prefer to just buy one that uses a bike:
http://www.econvergence.net/electro.htm

You can find all sorts of power inverters on eBay: http://electronics.listings.ebay.com/Parts-Accessories_Power-Inverters_W0QQfclZ3QQfromZR11QQsacatZ58020QQsocmdZListingItemList

I actually buy from the lowest ebay seller. I get the same cartridges every time regardless of seller, so they must be all coming from the same factory, the Amazon cartridges look the same also from the picture. Look for the best price + shipping combination, as some sellers charge shipping based on each cartridge rather than sets.

Here's more info on the qualitatitive differences, from one of the ebay sellers: http://reviews.ebay.com/Canon-BCI-3eBK-amp-PGI-5-Pigmented-ink-Dye-based-ink_W0QQugidZ10000000003634448

I doubt they can keep the laptop. For instance the cases where people's cars are searched at the border only stand up if the car is returned in the same condition it was taken. To what extent this is enforceable is a different issue (See this eBay auction for an Audi A8 that the Border Patrol cut open and welded back together, badly: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Audi-A6-QUATTRO-1998-A6-AWD-QUATTRO-RUNS-GREAT-NEEDS-WORK-NO-RESERVE_W0QQitemZ280218241772QQcmdZViewItem - if this is a wet-climate or salt-in-winter car then expect massive internal rust to commence shortly. But I'd hate to try and sue for "just compensation".)

The Border people have no obligation to work speedily, but they aren't to take all day either. For instance in the case where a man had drugs in his gas tank his defense that he had a privacy interest in his gas tank was specifically denied. I think this was 9th Circuit, too. Also, the court ruled that the fact that the search took a few hours (they had to wait for a mechanic to show up) didn't matter in this instance, presumably because of reasonable suspicion.

I think that in the court's mind laptop == gastank == no privacy interest. If it's at the border, or falls under the "extended border" then they can search it without "reasonable suspicion."

The really scary question is, I think, P2P software on the searched laptop. Say someone you know has a 2nd-hand computer, or borrows one, that has P2P and let's say that software has been pwned or the machine pwned. Let's say the malicious "owner" uses the machine to distribute porn, or, god forbid, child porn. Now you are truly in DEEP SH*T.

If they can get you for distribution (P2P!) then you'll be looking at serious serious federal time. Do you think you can prove, or afford to prove ($$$), the ages of the teen models in your pr0n cache? This outcome is more scary to me because it increases the danger to the technologically clueless, the older generation who have no idea how their machines work and might have allowed something to happen unwittingly. (Click here!)

How would you like your Dad or uncle to face what effectively amounts to a life term because he didn't know what was on his pwned machine and he then gets busted for distribution?

How will the courts handle this case? Possession is a per se violation. There is no scienter requirement as I understand it. So if you've got it, you're screwed. If the p2p software has a nice list of people you've shared your stuff with then you're toast.

Some of the cases in the caselaw were easy - the person set up Kazaa to share into certain folders, etc., but I doubt the courts will give an easy listen to people who didn't obviously optimize their settings so as to maximize their distribution of the bad stuff.

As a matter of laptop policy: Just Don't Surf Pr0n On Your Laptop. Or, keep a machine at home for private use. Oh yeah, encrypt it with truecrypt or similar ... twice ...

Name is good, it has plenty of games, you may have trouble finding out whats worth playing/not worth playing because there are so many, overall its a great emulator.

Mupen64+ is also a good nintendo64 emulator for those of us on linux. I hear ps emulators are fairly good to but, i think you cant go wrong with arcade classics (NAME) and N64 (project64/mupen64) as N64 games are more multiplayer orientated. (f-zero X, mario cart, micro machines), hell i even used to play with a non-geek girlfriend.

An important factor would be the controllers, as a fan of Xboxs original large controllers, i choped up 2 of the cables to make xbox - usb cables, (its a fairly trivial task). you can also get usb converters for xbox/ps controllers, or buy a couple of wii controllers and a bluetooth dongle. There may also be good pc controllers, but i never found any.

For arcade games, phones + bluetooth, (i bound anyremote, to 16 random keys but there are probably other ways of doing it), will also do nicely.

Also a DS emulator works quite nicely with a laptop touch pad, but its only 1 player.

Ebay is your friend. ($152.50 as of now)

Buy that fucker! Don't have enough money? I'll nag CmdrTaco; I live in the same area as him.

And you should actually take glittalogik's idea seriously - the Slashdot Launch Party. :)

NorthWest Airlines DOES have a web address where you can get your luggage back:

http://www.ebay.com/

FWIW, the Western Union auction payment system that got killed off when EBay aquired PayPal was called BidPay. Apparently EBay still supports escrow services through www.escrow.com but they don't really make it as obvious or as easy to use as PayPal.

Yahoo business Skype stock price chart

Ebay skype acquisition completion press release, October 14 2005

the system needed in a car could be significantly smaller

It could be, but you have to remember that there is next to zero insulation in your car. The metal and glass frame is sucking in heat from the outside quite fast, if a unit is too weak, it'd never keep up.

Google isn't helping a lot here (I've been looking for 15 minutes or so) but I found this posting (ignore the guy who wants "colder freon") from 1995 stating that car ACs are 3 to 4 tons http://www.yarchive.net/ac/humidity_removal.html which is in line with what my father told me when I was a little kid. Ebay says "The average factory installed auto A/C unit is rated at 1-3/4 ton." http://reviews.ebay.com/Frequently-Asked-Auto-A-C-Questions-Part-2_W0QQugidZ10000000000932442

"One ton" of air conditioning power is 12,000 BTU/hr, which wiki (sorry, too lazy to do the math myself) claims is 3517 watts (not counting the inefficiency in converting electrical watts to actual heat transfer, meaning actual power required to get one ton of AC is higher). Central AC seems to average about 3 tons, based on the prevalence of that number in example calculations like this one.

Based on these numbers, your window unit is significantly weaker than a car AC system.

Invoices can be sent via snail mail, but this isn't always done, and thankfully more and more companies are noticing there are online alternatives to dead tree accounting practices -- In eBay.com's case, invoices are available through the "Seller Account" link from "My eBay"

If you're logged in, this link will take you where you need to go, although you may need to adjust the URL for the appropriate country (or you may not, eBay tends to have semi-intelligent redirects)

Ebay policy prohibits sale of stolen items and parts of a F-14 are obviously stolen if on Ebay. So, consequence one will be removal of the auction. Consequence two is, that now Ebay has the IP-Adresses of those people and they properly will give it to the military. They better used Tor or live in a country far far away.

This behavior is IMHO incredibly stupid. If you manage to steal such items, one would think that you also manage to sell them somewhere else than on Ebay.

Then you're probably not paying attention. Normally eBay requires a credit card, associated PayPal account, or some form of prepaid account before allowing you to sell.

ebay.com's pricing table gives you a breakdown, if you're not clear. Rules may vary depending on country, I'm from Canada, the fees are slightly different, but similar.

But, sadly it seems that you're hanging out with a new crowd these days and you've changed, I can't put my finger on it, but you're somehow different. It seems like you don't really care about me anymore, and you don't seem to have coped very well with some of the new people in town.
I'm sorry to say it, after all of this time, but I'm seeing someone new they're so much quicker and dealing with each individual companies policies still feels easier than dealing with your friend paypal.

I'm sorry it couldn't work out between us.
Signed,
The Internet.

No bad sectors!

It was only released last month (though it's been in beta since last June) but there are already some significant apps like ebay desktop. For loads more, of varying significance, see here. Also, I can shameless plug mine

Get one now on eBay

Here's one available for purchase right now. You can read more about the concept on this collaborative electronic encyclopedia page. I heard flying busses are also available.

you're going to be better off using regular old gels to change the colors of your lights.

That used to be true. Many LED fixtures now provide as much light as filtered PAR lights. As a bonus, there is no IR and UV contamination. Gel's tend to be fairly wide in their response, so some artistic shots with very saturated colors can't beat LED fixtures for rich color. For example, take the original story and look at the red/green room. Conventional gel's can't produce that stunning color. Good effects can be had with off the shelf DMX 512 LED wash lights. Controllers are getting dirt cheap with many under $150 that can control a dozen multi-channel RGB fixtures.

http://www.music123.com/Chauvet-DMX-40B-DMX-512-Controller-801517-i1176897.Music123?source=ZWWRWXGB

Here is a 6pack of PAR RGB LED fixtures for under $100 each.
http://cgi.ebay.com/6-x-LED-RGB-Par-CANS-DMX-Oboard-1300-Lux-15m-0S-H_W0QQitemZ300207441774QQihZ020QQcategoryZ29944QQcmdZViewItem

I am regularly amazed at how voice-recognition wonks complain about ambient noise and do their damnedest to solve the problem with software when there's perfectly adequate hardware for the job. Sorry for the link, this is specialist equipment and I couldn't find a Wikipedia entry - perhaps I should write one.

*My opinions are my own*

doesn't work, people just don't leave feedback then. Likewise with double-blind, people just won't leave the feedback in case the other bozo left negative.

eBay is on the right track, what is wildly reported is the removal of leaving negative feedback by sellers, this is so buyers and sellers will use the dispute system and safe payment methods instead of just burning bridges. What is underreported is that buyers or sellers that become suspended, their feedback left for you disappears. So if someone decided to create an account, or if someone's account was compromised, bought stuff from you and then never paid, even if they left negative feedback for you, they get suspended, and the negative feedback disappears. http://pages.ebay.com/services/forum/new.html

eBay members under-report real site violations, but over-report violations when they stand to personally benefit. Take changes in selling polices. The minute a new policy goes live, the first few sellers in which action is taken on, then turn around and report all their competitors for the violation, which in turn do the same. Reporting site violations is not a tool to beat other sellers with, and frequently new sellers feel they have been singled out (never the case) for this violation.

By real site violations, things like accepting cash by mail, or reserving the right to remove early. Which are violations that tend to show up frequently on the site.

Add into that sellers who sell obvious fake womens accessories and dvd's, people who are duped into buying this stuff, rarely leave negative feedback, and hence why these sellers are still on the site. The buyer then is hesitant buy stuff from eBay because of this one bad experience.

So by making these changes, buyers should be more willing to honestly leave feedback, and in doing so, kick off the people selling bad items and services.

As for the listing inflation issue, it's a bug. Anyone claiming otherwise needs to remove their tinfoil hat.