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Toyota RA4 EV - yes it's an SUV but the NiMH batteries are supposed to last 100,000 miles, maintenance free; and it gets 126 miles to the charge; and it has all the creature comforts. I think it's kindof ironic all this high-tech stuff is being put in an SUV. Just think how much better the range would be if they'd put the same powertrain in a sports car with good drag coefficient and low frontal area. But, as far as I can tell this is the best new EV that you can actually buy right now. Only in California, unfortunately. I presume for charging it uses the GM paddle system like your EV1 but haven't confirmed that.

You could just get a used one on ebay; I was very tempted to bid on this but decided to wait on an electric for now. Here's an electric S10 pickup. I test drove one of these once; it's a lot like an EV1, same technology in a pickup. Supposedly you can buy these in California too, but I'm not sure whether new or used. Otherwise they tend to show up as surplus from electric-company fleet programs now and then.

How has your service from GM been? I was tempted to buy one of these S10s but I figured GM has been acting like they want to forget that they ever had electric cars, so what are the chances of getting good service 5 or 10 years from now? And these things are too complicated to fix yourself, probably. Whatcha gonna do if the inverter fails? AC drives are not common in conversion EVs, and tend to be rather pricey.

Finally, if you're not on the EV mailing list, you should be. You will get a ton of good advice there; most of the subscribers are hard-core electric vehicle hobbyists who build their own conversions at home.

And congratulations on having a brain and being willing to put up with all the stupid naysayers out there, or the ones who keep repeating the same tired old objections about powerplants using fossil fuels (nevermind that they do it so much more efficiently than even the best IC engine) or "why don't you connect a generator to the wheels and make your own electricity." I'm always surprised how otherwise seemingly-smart people will laugh at you when you mention something about electric vehicles. Every new technology has to have its pioneers. And in the long term the earth isn't giving us much choice about switching away from fossil fuels anyway. This is why I do not advocate hybrid vehicles. You can conserve gas with those, but I think in any conceivable future there will always be some alternative way to generate electricity, so maybe electric cars are here to stay in one form or another.

But at least Speilberg doesn't go overboard on the merchandising. The injection-moulded plastics industry is still trying to unload Jar Jar Binks merchandise, or at least recycle it into something useful. (You can't even sell the stuff on eBay.)

On the brighter side, Lucas cancelled plans for Episodes 7, 8, and 9.

Yahoo has seen the light and has stopped their auction services in every country except America. Where do the send the traffic? eBay of course.

Yahoo Japan still runs auctions at http://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/.

Ironically, eBay has shut its doors in Japan. They link people to an auction site called http://www.bidders.co.jp.

Selected commentary:

"Hopefully they will replace the paypal [employees] with the nice eBay people." -pictureman1

"Not sure how I feel about this one. I think I'm leaning towards not happy here. Billpoint has been so easy to use/accept." -luvs-to-read-2

"Will PayPal change and put in place security for sellers against chargebacks as Billpoint has? Will PayPal demand now that everyone be verified and charge a fee to everyone thereby forcing it to be a business type venue as it should be? Will PayPal now quit freezing folks accounts and tying up there funds on a whim without just cause?" -ishipfree.biz

What will happen to eBay Payments (Billpoint) users?

"eBay Payments (Billpoint) will continue to function as a provider of online payment services until the acquisition is finalized around year-end 2002. At that time we plan to phase out eBay Payments (Billpoint) as we integrate PayPal into our platform. Since a majority of eBay Payments (Billpoint) users already use PayPal too, the transition will be quite simple for them. For eBay Payments (Billpoint) users who have never used PayPal, we will work closely with them to make sure that the transition happens in the most user-friendly way possible."

FAQ
Original announcement
Discussion #1
Discussion #2

What will happen to eBay Payments (Billpoint) users?

"eBay Payments (Billpoint) will continue to function as a provider of online payment services until the acquisition is finalized around year-end 2002. At that time we plan to phase out eBay Payments (Billpoint) as we integrate PayPal into our platform. Since a majority of eBay Payments (Billpoint) users already use PayPal too, the transition will be quite simple for them. For eBay Payments (Billpoint) users who have never used PayPal, we will work closely with them to make sure that the transition happens in the most user-friendly way possible."

FAQ
Original announcement
Discussion #1
Discussion #2

What will happen to eBay Payments (Billpoint) users?

"eBay Payments (Billpoint) will continue to function as a provider of online payment services until the acquisition is finalized around year-end 2002. At that time we plan to phase out eBay Payments (Billpoint) as we integrate PayPal into our platform. Since a majority of eBay Payments (Billpoint) users already use PayPal too, the transition will be quite simple for them. For eBay Payments (Billpoint) users who have never used PayPal, we will work closely with them to make sure that the transition happens in the most user-friendly way possible."

FAQ
Original announcement
Discussion #1
Discussion #2

What will happen to eBay Payments (Billpoint) users?

"eBay Payments (Billpoint) will continue to function as a provider of online payment services until the acquisition is finalized around year-end 2002. At that time we plan to phase out eBay Payments (Billpoint) as we integrate PayPal into our platform. Since a majority of eBay Payments (Billpoint) users already use PayPal too, the transition will be quite simple for them. For eBay Payments (Billpoint) users who have never used PayPal, we will work closely with them to make sure that the transition happens in the most user-friendly way possible."

FAQ
Original announcement
Discussion #1
Discussion #2

What will happen to eBay Payments (Billpoint) users?

"eBay Payments (Billpoint) will continue to function as a provider of online payment services until the acquisition is finalized around year-end 2002. At that time we plan to phase out eBay Payments (Billpoint) as we integrate PayPal into our platform. Since a majority of eBay Payments (Billpoint) users already use PayPal too, the transition will be quite simple for them. For eBay Payments (Billpoint) users who have never used PayPal, we will work closely with them to make sure that the transition happens in the most user-friendly way possible."

FAQ
Original announcement
Discussion #1
Discussion #2

or here, since the link you gave is closed already

And what if I buy my xbox used?

Chinese Philosopher's stone auction

This reminded me of a watch I had long ago...It was a PDA/Organizer Computer Watch. It actually had a version of GW Basic in the rom, and 256k of RAM, I believe. Here's a british version on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item =941378559

There's one on Ebay for auction.

There's one on Ebay for auction.

the watch has become a bit of a rare item to find.

tell that to this guy who's selling one for 200 bucks.

You can buy one here.

Foiled again. Here I was preparing some smarmy comment about how many people would be driven to search for the watch on eBay ... guess I'll have to think up a crackpot post claiming that rvrtrader is none other than TheGreatOrangePeel, queuing the story on /. to boost bids ... oh, wait, did I type out my thoughts again?

here

This is my favorite slimline PC. Supports P-III 1ghz+, costs under $300 barebones.

Company site
A friendly ebay dealer
Config for Linux

Heck, from the looks of the photo [cnn.net], that could be a piece of dried dog poop.

Plenty of people on eBay selling that too. And people are bidding on it!

BTW, I have this 1MB 8" floppy and I have no idea what is on it (besides knowing that it is probably a stream of ones and zeros)

Why not gamble a dollar on this fella and see if you can gitter hooked up, eh? It's worth a shot!

Your recopy as needed scheme is only good if you realize at the time the technology changes that you might need the data in the future. If you don't realize that you need it until 5 years later, you're SOL.

actually, maybe not, that is what eBay is for... if I can get an 8track player, a Victrola, a Sinclair ZX-80 or an Atari 2600, surely it is reasonable to assume that someone will have DVD/CD readers available in 20-30 years.

Your recopy as needed scheme is only good if you realize at the time the technology changes that you might need the data in the future. If you don't realize that you need it until 5 years later, you're SOL.

actually, maybe not, that is what eBay is for... if I can get an 8track player, a Victrola, a Sinclair ZX-80 or an Atari 2600, surely it is reasonable to assume that someone will have DVD/CD readers available in 20-30 years.

Your recopy as needed scheme is only good if you realize at the time the technology changes that you might need the data in the future. If you don't realize that you need it until 5 years later, you're SOL.

actually, maybe not, that is what eBay is for... if I can get an 8track player, a Victrola, a Sinclair ZX-80 or an Atari 2600, surely it is reasonable to assume that someone will have DVD/CD readers available in 20-30 years.

Your recopy as needed scheme is only good if you realize at the time the technology changes that you might need the data in the future. If you don't realize that you need it until 5 years later, you're SOL.

actually, maybe not, that is what eBay is for... if I can get an 8track player, a Victrola, a Sinclair ZX-80 or an Atari 2600, surely it is reasonable to assume that someone will have DVD/CD readers available in 20-30 years.

Your recopy as needed scheme is only good if you realize at the time the technology changes that you might need the data in the future. If you don't realize that you need it until 5 years later, you're SOL.

actually, maybe not, that is what eBay is for... if I can get an 8track player, a Victrola, a Sinclair ZX-80 or an Atari 2600, surely it is reasonable to assume that someone will have DVD/CD readers available in 20-30 years.

Want the Atari 2600? How about that and everything else made since then? I stumbled across this auction. Holy cow.

... supported Atari. Don't believe me? Look here: Solaris for the Atari 2600

Which is an laudable accomplishment. Ebay has just changed their My Ebay page (see reactions here, sprung on users without any warning and it's awful. Perhaps a copy of this book should be sent their way.

What you would hear 30 minutes before their web development team is fired:

"The network connection to the conference room is down, but we're setting you up with a 56K modem for your presentation."

My thinkpad 600E has three mouse buttons.

laptop with 3 mouse buttons

Two red buttons (right, left) and one center button. Kicks ass in X.

Will you be able to set up a doctor's appointment for organ removal and simultaneously list the spare kindey for sale?

I find that prospect likely. Afterall, Ebay does provide you with the necessary (unused) tools.

I wonder how they are managing to legitimize expensing the health care coverage of their "employee's" when the "employee's" are basically users on their website... Does eBay pay those who auction their goods? Obviously the auctioners make money for eBay, but what are the direct (from eBay) rewards to the seller?

Many companies have independent contractors that are not employees, but qualify for benefits. You see this a lot in insurance sales, consulting agencies, legal firms, etc. I think this is wonderful for eBay to not only be this creative, but also to help maintain their position as the best .com auction site.

here you go.

Thats right, straight from the world of Nabisco clerks to the desk of an executive, fierce and fast and slighly refurbished tablets for under $300 and these execs can do things on them like they could 5 years ago. Hey like run project! Which they can't understand anyway. And cruise porn on their couch.

Gotta wonder about these tablets....the $3000 one will just be on ebay in 3 years for $300, they just don't upgrade and don't handle well. I just want a mini-monitor wall designed out of a bunch of Clie's ducktaped together. 5x5 Clie's makes a table PC--just get the screen driver going...actually that would be wild a Palm monitor wall...sad like Palm Art.

eBay Auction

eBay Auction

Tablet PCs make good near-wearable computers (i.e. see this webcam).

Not having to deal with the weight and required protection of a keyboard is a big win. You can wrap them up in neoprene with a see-through thin plastic window and use a stylus to interact with the screen.

We specifically don't have $500 bills anymore. The Treasury stopped circulating them in 1969. They were not all destroyed and are still legal tender, but at this point they're worth more than face value to collectors.

They are so rare and would come under such scrutiny, that counterfeiting $500 bills would be silly.

Too bad somebody couldn't sell me any on ebay.

... or at least, it was supposed to be.

Take a look at eBay's components and test equipment sections sometime. For the price of a decent HF station, you can outfit your shack with better equipment than NASA had when it launched the Voyager probes. If you can't think of something interesting to do with all that stuff, it's time to turn in your license and take up birdwatching. :)

The Amateur Radio Service's underlying charter emphasizes the advancement of the radio arts and sciences, and for a long time, that was what hams did. Things slowed down for awhile when Heathkit went away and the Japanese started commoditizing the radio business, but those things happened a long time ago. The truth is, you can do more fun stuff with ham radio now than at any time in the past.

... or at least, it was supposed to be.

Take a look at eBay's components and test equipment sections sometime. For the price of a decent HF station, you can outfit your shack with better equipment than NASA had when it launched the Voyager probes. If you can't think of something interesting to do with all that stuff, it's time to turn in your license and take up birdwatching. :)

The Amateur Radio Service's underlying charter emphasizes the advancement of the radio arts and sciences, and for a long time, that was what hams did. Things slowed down for awhile when Heathkit went away and the Japanese started commoditizing the radio business, but those things happened a long time ago. The truth is, you can do more fun stuff with ham radio now than at any time in the past.

you don't have to pay the MS tax. I recommend MWave. I purchased components from them for my new system and they were excellent. Also, eBay is a great place to find hard drives and SCSI cards.

If you want a mobile webcam that works on CDPD today, check this out.

Well, let's take the disney land analogy that another poster used. Would I sue Disney if I were riding the Snow White ride and got run over by oncoming traffic, I think most people would think I could sue.

But it's an analogy that is just as silly as the ford one - it all comes down to what the customer expectations are for the product and how they jive with what Microsoft is willing to provide.

Microsoft requires users to dial into their servers -- not servers owned by the game's publisher. This is a big sticking point with some of the software companies because it violates the "don't let anyone get between you and your customers" rule of business. Since it's microsoft-certified software, microsoft hardware, and a microsoft network, you'd think you were in a safe area. But, microsoft can't control everything (even its own employees), so there could be problems. This disclaimer (at the risk of making another silly analogy) is like McDonalds saying "we're not responsible if we spit in your food and you get sick".

click here if the snow white link expired

Well, let's take the disney land analogy that another poster used. Would I sue Disney if I were riding the Snow White ride and got run over by oncoming traffic, I think most people would think I could sue.

But it's an analogy that is just as silly as the ford one - it all comes down to what the customer expectations are for the product and how they jive with what Microsoft is willing to provide.

Microsoft requires users to dial into their servers -- not servers owned by the game's publisher. This is a big sticking point with some of the software companies because it violates the "don't let anyone get between you and your customers" rule of business. Since it's microsoft-certified software, microsoft hardware, and a microsoft network, you'd think you were in a safe area. But, microsoft can't control everything (even its own employees), so there could be problems. This disclaimer (at the risk of making another silly analogy) is like McDonalds saying "we're not responsible if we spit in your food and you get sick".

click here if the snow white link expired

is there anywhere (hell even in VCD) that you can find the _original_ 1990 short?

Why don't you check for yourself?

if VHS becomes rare, competition will go down and prices, up

Exactly! Look at the sky high prices on 8-track tapes these days due to decreased competition. But seriously, you're ignoring the fact that competition goes down due to decreased demand.

So maybe mummy and duddy don't buy a new computer every six YEARS then.

I've given away 8 or 10 pentium 200+ in the last 2 or 3 years and know of several people who have done the same. Flea markets, garage sales, etc. have lots of use pentium machines for under $50. I really think the comlaint about i686 compiled distro/whatever is really getting stupid. If you really want to use your sub-pentium then compile for a week and go on with life, find an older distro and update the parts you need or just hunt down a slightly better machine. How reliable is that old 386/486 going to be anyway and how long will it last?

Here's the pentium ebay page. Happy hunt for all you out there in need of a cheap upgrade.

but how well will theMoCap Boxing sim stand up to the activator and a good fighting game?