The Raspberry Pi, everybody’s favorite $25 PC, has finally gone into beta, and some of those beta boards are up for auction by the company on eBay. It is a $25 PC though, that’s the selling point; how much could it possibly go for? Oh, I don’t know, how about $2,714 (£1,750), and that’s with 5 days remaining. For all of you who are screaming “That is missing the point!” right now, there are a couple of mitigating factors that make this all make a little more sense. First of all, these are limited edition, man. Haven’t you ever taken a class in Economics? Also, 100% of the purchase price is going to the Raspberry Pi Foundation, devoted to promoting the study of computer science, so it’s for a good cause.

Yesterday, a group of nine of the biggest online companies took out a full page ad in the New York Times to voice their concern over two pieces of legislation in congress that could greatly affect the way America uses the Internet. In the letter, Google, Facebook, Mozilla, Zynga, eBay, Twitter, Yahoo, LinkedIn, and AOL ask that their point of view be heard regarding the Protect IP and the Stop Online Piracy Act.

As you may be aware, Kmart accidentally started selling some copies of the much awaited Modern Warfare 3 yesterday, ahead of its November 8th release date. The mistake was discovered pretty early on, and the sales were stopped, but there were still a number of copies that managed to make it out into the wild, and what happens when a commodity like this becomes available in a very limited quantity? eBay-ing, and lots of it.

Much as how Doc Brown proclaimed that if one is going to make a time machine out of a car, why not make it out of a classic, if you’re going to convert a conventional car into an electric one, you may as well use a 1980 Dodge Omni.

The Omni, whose soul characteristic is that it was a sporty-ish car that has not aged well, was never intended to be an electric car. However, Texas company Jet Industries took delivery of 19 Omnis in 1980, added a 23-horse power DC electric motor, and rechristened them the Jet Electricia. Oh, and it runs on 20 brand new lead-acid batteries — 15 in the trunk, and five in the front. Despite having never been sullied by a conventional engine, the cars are still marred by terrible 1980s automobile design.

And now you can buy one for the shockingly reasonable price of $3, 383 on eBay. The car in question has apparently spent several years in an Indiana museum, with fewer than 3,000 miles on its odometer. If you’re an obscure car collector or a fan of boring 80s cars in gunmetal grey, this is a must-have.

The Main Street Fairness Act, which would establish a national standard for sales tax on items purchased via the Internet, has now been introduced before congress. The bill, which we’ve discussed before, would not only ensure that states get their cut of commerce within their boundaries but also do away with the “use tax” — an estimated account of online purchases that (let’s be honest) taxpayers rarely report. But consumers might see some changes in the prices their used to paying online.

According to PC Magazine, Amazon has supported for the bill along with other major retailers. They quote Amazon CFO Thomas J. Szkutak during their second-quarter earnings call, saying:

“I think in terms of the sales tax issue in total, the way you should think about it, we support a federal simplified approach, as we have for more than 10 years,” Szkutak told analysts. He reiterated that Amazon thought that the tax issue was a “federal” one and that Amazon continued to work through those issues.

Amazon’s support of the bill may seem surprising, since the company has frequently fought efforts at the state level to collect taxes on Internet purchases. This could indicate that the company believes that some kind of tax deal will eventually be reached, and would rather have one law to contend with than a patchwork of laws in each state.

Julian Assange is worth $1,735. While that isn’t his net worth, it is what he’s going for these days. Time spent with the founder of the now infamous WikiLeaks is going for $1,735 on Ebay. Embattled in legal struggles related to a Swedish rape case in addition to defending the actions of his controversial company has drained both the company and Assange of funds. So, he is selling himself on the auction website.

More specifically, Assange is selling spots at a luncheon with himself, followed by a seat at a Frontline Club conversation with himself and Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek where the two will discuss the impact of WikiLeaks on the world and in the future. Currently the seventh of eight spots at the event is going for $1,735 on Ebay in Britain. According to Ebay, 100% of the proceeds from the sale of time with Assange will go to WikiLeaks.

The identity of Banksy, one of the most prolific street artists in the world, is being sold on eBay. Banksy has famously kept his name a secret for a number of years, even while directing a film, so to be ousted over the internet — assuming the sale is not a scam — seems blasphemous. The bidding has nearly broken past the one million dollar mark, and will end Wednesday evening.

The seller claims that he has matched the prices of Banksy’s sold artwork with UK tax records, and is quite certain that his findings are completely legitimate. Banksy’s website states that “Banksy neither produces or profits from the sale of greeting cards, mugs or photo canvases of his work. He is not represented by any of the commercial galleries that sell his paintings second hand and cannot be found on facebook/twitter/myspace etc.”, so the seller’s assertion seems shady at best.

The winner of this auction is the only person I will ever share this information with. The piece of paper will say his name, nothing more.

It’s also possible that Banksy himself is selling the information (or pretending to) as some sort of social statement, but if not, lets hope that the buyer keeps the mystery alive.

(eBay via Reddit)

A retired Navy doctor named Bob recently put an old watch for sale on eBay, starting at $9.95 with no reserve price. Within days, the price shot past $30,000, eventually settling at $66,100, the price for which it ultimately sold. The reason: The watch was an ultrarare Rolex Submariner Ref 5510, a model popularized by Sean Connery in the James Bond films.

eBay user harpel is willing to part with an entire trailer full of sorted Lego pieces for a minimum of $20,000. From his listing:

Let’s cover what is here in this lot. Well, first of all every theme you could ask for. And pretty much every piece Lego has made. I spent years separating and organizing 1000′s of lbs of Lego. I weighed everything in their containers and it all came to around 1158 lbs not including the metal cabinet with Lego instructions.

Yes, you heard that right. He even kept the instructions.

Styleite:

Last week, Styleite wrote about an invite we received to an event hosted by Google and headlined, “High Tech Fuses With High Fashion,” which led us (andevery other invitee) to believe that the web giant was launching some sort of fashion e-tailer. Today, WWD confirms the news via several sources privvy on Google’s plans.

From what we can tell, it sounds like Google is taking a page out of ShopStyle and Polyvore’s book. The site will allow users to “create and share their own personalized shop by selecting style preferences and the looks, brands and items they love” (Polyvore), while linking out to a pre-existing e-tailer like Saks,ShopBop, or Yoox for purchase.

>>>Read more at Styleite.