Despite efforts by Apple and AT&T, scalpers are still getting their mitts on the new iPhone…

I saw this over at BetaNews, one of my favorite sites; and I just had to comment… The iPhone 3G is nearly sold out. If you don’t have one by now, it could be weeks, or months, before new Direct Fulfillment orders are fulfilled. In the mean time, desperate customers are turning to a tried and true alternative source – eBay.

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Were you able to get your bid in on the prototype McFly Nike shoes (as seen in the movie Back To The Future) that just sold on eBay? These were not the actual shoes worn in the movie though. They were a prototype around which seven different pair of production shoes were designed. The seller claims to have worked in the Nike design department and has the prototype shoe in his possession “because nobody else wanted it at the time”.

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Holy mother of all unpaid auction bids batman - it’s a $650 winning bid for ….. an iPhone 3G box and instructions. Most likely the “winning” bidder didn’t read the auction details - or maybe they’re collectors adding to their iPhone box collection. Amazingly the auction attracted 34 bids - starting at a reasonable .99 and progressing over the course of three days to the unbelievable price of $ 650.

iPhone Box - $650 via eBay

It’s been a while since I’ve seen a city up for auction on eBay. These things are always so tough to judge. Should you bid early. Bid late. If you’re like me and are a lazy eBayer - maybe you use the Buy It Now option. If you’re in the market for a city in New Mexico - you’re ship has come in! You can have this 11 parcel , 366.25 acre city for one easy payment of $5,000,000. eBay Mastercard will even let you defer it until January 2009!

The Entire City is up for auction.

You get two motels, gas station, gifts shops, restaurants,
RV-Park, opera house, post office, all dwellings.
You own the ENTIRE CITY!!!

Located at the entrance of Carlsbad Caverns National Park
which boasts more than 500,000 visitors per year.
Great opportunity to own a piece of old west history

Included in the auction are all the assets of the city, which include its water rights for 460 acre-feet of daily potable water usage. This amounts to 150,000,000 gallons per year from its three Artisan wells. As the only source of potable water for nearly 20 miles, this asset is truly significant as it is the life’s blood of the community. Previews are being held July 12 and 13th. More pictures and a link to the auction after the jump.

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UPDATE 6-18-08: This deal appears to have dropped from 35% to 10%. eBay currently has a promotion that offers up to 35% back on items purchased through the “Buy it Now” link for eBay auctions displayed on Microsoft Live Search and paid for via Paypal. The trick is you must go in via a special Microsoft Live Search link to be eligible. There are a bunch of terms and conditions and the maximum you can save on any one purchase is $250 - and you’re limited to using the discount a total of three times. To participate you need to locate one of the cash back ads on a Windows Live search - like this one (click on the eBay auction at the top of the page with the “Live Search cashback” icon). Tempted? Take a minute to read through this discussion thread on the deal web site Fatwallet.com for more details.

Link: eBay Cash Back Terms & Conditions
Link: Deal discussion via Fatwallet

Have you ever had to take pictures of something you were selling on eBay, but you kept getting a horrible glare from the flash  I have had this happen many a time, and I have even had to struggle with this when taking pictures of things I review.  Well, I will struggle no more now that I have the Digital Concepts Lighting Studio, sent to me from Sakar International.

As you can see by the picture, this is the smaller version of the studio suitable for taking pictures of smaller things like iPods, LED Headlights and Watches.  Continue Reading

Mike Cane just sent the link to a Register posting on something so bizarre that it must be seen to be believed: a 19″ laptop that folds over onto itself. I think you will agree with me that the first reaction to seeing this is something along the lines of “WHY?”

An intrepid eBay seller has posted a Xentex-brand prototype laptop that that has a hinge down the middle, allowing it to literally be folded in half. Although this won’t detract from the machine’s weight, and make the laptop twice as thick, the ability to ‘fold’ your laptop away is unique. - The Register

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I couldn’t help but chuckle when I read the title of Nick Denton’s “Eleven Ways the Internet Can Kill You” this morning; filed under “Webtards”, his choices used to make the point did live up to the hype. Included were the following items: YouTube, MySpace, FaceBook, pornography, SPAM, blogging, eBay, drugs, webcams, chat rooms and his number one item, which I will leave for you to discover.

Among the gems, item #6…Blogging.

At risk: Those already at risk of dying
Case 1: There’s a trick to making listicles like this: Put the weakest item in the middle. Unfortunately the New York Times spent an entire trend piece on the bogus idea of “death by blogging.” But Gizmodo editor Brian Lam tells me, “Only bogus to lazy bloggers. I did 75 hours this week and anyone over fifty would die doing that.”

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The HTC Universal is the device-of-a-thousand-names: i-mate JasJar, O2 XDA Exec, QTek 9000, SPV M5000, and HAL 9000 for all I know. It’s a hefty (10.2 oz/290 g), big (5.2″ x 3.1″ x 0.93″), hi-res (640×480 VGA), versatile (3G/GRPS, wifi, bluetooth, 1.3 Mp camera, Window Mobile 5), expensive ($1000 retail–go to eBay!) SmartPhone/PDA/convergent device with a clamshell design that hides a decent-sized keyboard and an interesting open, spin, and fold screen that converts it from a sort of micro-laptop form factor to that of a regular PDA.

Judie has already reviewed the Universal at The Gadgeteer, but poor Judie got the i-Mate version, which apparently has one of the world’s most boring unboxing experiences.  

I scored an O2 Exec on eBay, and whatever else these O2 folks do–and I’ve heard some bad stories from folks in the UK, alas–they sure made one cool package for this device.

First, understand that I’ve had the device for a couple of months now, so this is not a “fresh” unboxing, but rather a “recreated” unboxing. But that caveat aside, I think you will enjoy it.

Here’s the box as it comes shipped–a blue rectangular solid:

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