Slashdot 10-Year Anniversary Charity Auction for the EFF

As part of our 10-Year anniversary, we've decided to have a little charity auction, with the cash going to the EFF. The items currently up for bidding are 'Triton' (the big old tower case from the first x86 used to host Slashdot from Feb 11 1998 through much of 1999... picture is attached to the story if you're curious). A low numbered UID (3 or maybe 2 digits!) so you can win those stupid low UID pissing match threads. Your URL plugged in the story where we announce the auction winners. Oh the fame! The Slashdot Grab Bag: We're putting stuff around the office in a box- random t-shirts, hats, even an old Nokia NGage. The mystery box could contain anything that we stuff in the box before the contest ends... there's a picture of what we have so far attached. A copy of the watchmen trade paperback singed in Hemos's 1999 house fire. An @slashdot.org email alias (tasteful names only ;) The auctions will be running for like 10 days, and we'll post the results when they come up.

Triton currently has a couple of P2s in it that may or may not work, as well as a number of SCSI controllers that may or may not work. It also has a 300W power supply that may or may not work. Remember, you are donating to charity here... but these guts have been sitting in a closet for probably 5 years now. We don't have any idea what works.... the machine was originally hosted in our Holland office, but eventually was shipped to California for colocation. While there it got its guts replaced from dual P133s to dual P2s. After that, it flew back to Holland where it was a file server for a few years until we retired it

The grab box will at least contain some shirts. We have a crate of shirts- some given to us by random companies, others are mis-prints of various corporate things... I think we have some static stickers and hats... but there's no promises here... again... you're making a donation to a worthy charity here! The picture shows you some things that will probably be in the box including Nate's Nokia ngage, a collection of hats... we'll throw in a few of the 10-year anniversary t-shirts as well...

We're willing to sign the things if you think that makes it worth donating more. Or more likely not, if you think it's worth more without our childish scribblings on it. And bid high folks! This is for the EFF after all...

Only one question

[epiphani]

Why is there a framed picture of Vegita in the grab box?

Re:Only one question

[Anonymous Coward]

His UID is OVER 9000.

Re:

[neo]

9000? I thought the cut off was 5000.

Re:

[johnw]

No, no, no - the cut off is at 4000.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

NO! Kakarot has a UID of 122829!!! I'm no match with a UID of 106593! I have to train and get my UID to at LEAST 144322 to crush him!

Re:

[JDWTopGuy]

It's over nine THOUSAND!!!!!! ...dollars.

Paying for slashvertisements?

[IBBoard]

Your URL plugged in the story where we announce the auction winners.

Why not save your money and just do what others do - post a pure slashvertisement or an article that uses your blog (or similar website) that's filled with adverts and a link to the real news source as "TFA"?

Alternatively, why pay to see your server go down in flames when someone can post an article on Slashdot, Digg or one of the others and you can have it done for free?

Re:

[Evanisincontrol]

Your URL plugged in the story where we announce the auction winners.

Why not save your money and just do what others do - post a pure slashvertisement or an article that uses your blog (or similar website) that's filled with adverts and a link to the real news source as "TFA"?

Alternatively, why pay to see your server go down in flames when someone can post an article on Slashdot, Digg or one of the others and you can have it done for free?

Alternatively, why even host a charity event?

Re:

[paeanblack]

The case looks like a Supermicro SC750
http://arstechnica.com/reviews/1298/sc750a.html [arstechnica.com]

It's a nice case. Mine recently got its guts replaced for the umpteenth time in the past decade; it still houses my primary workstation. At (currently) $41 with free shipping, that's not a bad deal for a solid chassis.

Wrong season for Spring cleaning, no?

[Procasinator]

Good thinking, Slashdot, you can get rid of some of the clutter AND help out EFF at the same time!

Just one question

[truthsearch]

Have the shirts in the grab box been worn?

If a sports celebrity gives a worn jersey to a fan, that's cool. But an old sweaty shirt from a Slashdot admin isn't quite the same thing.

Re:Just one question

[Opportunist]

Hey, it's original CowboyNealSweat(tm).

Just be glad he didn't have the idea to bottle it and add it to the aucti... NO! Don't! I was joking!

Re:Just one question

[ScuttleMonkey]

Hah, you make a good point.

To the best of our knowledge none of these shirts have been worn and are clean and free of debris. Barring any errant burglars who broke in to wear our t-shirts of course.

Re:

[empaler]

(..) burglars who broke in to wear our t-shirts of course.

... and I've been bragging about it ever since...

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Have the shirts in the grab box been worn?

It all makes sense to me now... That's the part I've been missing!

1. Collect T-shirts
2. Wait ten years and sell them on Ebay!
3. Profit!!!

Hey, anyone want to buy some underpants?

Re:

[adminstring]

(Grampa and Bart pay a visit to Herman's Military Antiques.)
Herman: What's the password?
Grampa: Let me in, you idiot!
Herman: Right you are!
(Herman lets them in the store.)
Grampa: So, Herman, has the large-type edition of this month's Solider Of Fortune come in yet?
Herman: Uh, not yet. But, can I interest you in some authentic Nazi underpants?

And with that, the episode, and this thread, was Godwinned.

(from Bart the General [tv.com])

ah well

[stoolpigeon]

the low uid is already more than I can afford - but since it's going to a good cause I can live with that. I wonder what one would go for without a charity involved.

Me too

[Skyshadow]

Suddenly I find myself asking that exact same question.

Re:

[stoolpigeon]

I've tried searching all kinds of likely options in the users to find the original account I first created. No joy. Switching would be a lot of work anyway - I'd want to bring all my journal entries over. I wonder if the winner of this option can just get their uid changed on their current account.

Re:

[dch24]

I'm going to guess that the charity auction low UID has 3 digits and sells for less than $10,000 but more than $8,000.

Also, I guess if it weren't a charity auction, a 3 digit UID would sell for between $1,000 and $5,000, depending on how widely publicized the sale was. (So, if a front-page slashdot article mentioned it, $5,000.)

Reply with your predictions. We'll see who wins the fantasy UID betting [wikipedia.org].

Re:

[Petrushka]

No kidding. Here are the bids at the moment --

• Slashdot swag package: USD 213.50
• Plug your URL: USD 250.00
• Triton case: USD 227.50
• 2 or 3 digit UID: USD 1362.00

-- why am I not surprised?

Low UID?

[Piedramente]

Actually now that provides a comeback for those flaunting low UIDs.

Oh yeah? Well you *bought* yours!

Re:

[Opportunist]

Ffft. Just jealous that you couldn't afford it.

Though I guess it's gonna be a wee bit suspicious when it gets used too often (like, well, mine). I mean, when was the last time you've seen an ID with less than 5 digits?

Re:

[HoosierPeschke]

Here is the funniest one I've seen lately: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=313513&cid=20811281 [slashdot.org]

Re:Low UID?

[leoc]

I mean, when was the last time you've seen an ID with less than 5 digits?

Fairly often. :)

Re:

[Opportunist]

Showoff. :)

Re:Low UID?

[Tom Rothamel]

I agree. I see one all the time.

Actually, I'm wondering if there's a way to get a list of Slashdot users by UID.

Re:Low UID?

[dattaway]

I believe I waited three whole days to make an account. Now I am shamed with 3088.

Re:

[Jim Hall]

I believe I waited three whole days to make an account. Now I am shamed with 3088.

For shame! :-)

Hey, for once I win the "low UID" pissing match ... although barely! :-)

Re:Low UID?

[emj]

Yeah I remember thinking "I don't need no stinking login, I can be anonymous!". :-)

Re:

[juuri]

As long as we are flaunting silly numbers that mean nothing, how about old internic handles?

cf21 here, last time they mattered they were up in the tens of thousands.

Re:

[alexandre]

I tried to ask this on the CmdrTaco hometown party thread... i was actually wondering how many of the low UIDs (<100, ha!) were still active? (logged-in in the last year let's say...)

Re:

[David Rolfe]

Holy shit! I usually don't see anyone posting below mine!

My hat goes off to you sir. And further, sort of back on topic...

Currently the auction for the "low UID" is about $3k. I'm wondering if the auctioned UID is going to be low enough that I should bid to protect my smug sense of superiority. Wink wink. Will the "low" UID be lower than 38, or 16?!

Re:Low UID?

[BiloxiGeek]

http://slashdot.org/zoo.pl?op=check&uid=666 [slashdot.org] The Anonymous Coward is Satan in disguise!!

Re:Low UID?

[bamf]

I mean, when was the last time you've seen an ID with less than 5 digits?,

Now :)

Re:

[strredwolf]

Seconded here.

DAAAMN! A UID lower than me!

Re:

[megaditto]

Means nothing. Who do you think added the toenail clippings to the Chips and Dip?

Re:

[alexandre]

Don't worry, he's an amateur ;-)

Re:

[David Rolfe]

I swear I'm only doing this once in this discussion. Booya!

You and Mr. 16 up there are the only two 2-digit-club members I've seen thus far.

Re:

[eln]

I'm sure that's why they're making it secret. There's already been at least one slashdot UID auctioned on eBay, and the buyer was mocked mercilessly for it for quite a while as I recall.

Of course, even if this one is secret, given that very few 2 and 3 digit UIDs still post regularly, if the winner posts regularly at all (and what would be the point otherwise?) they'll be found out in fairly short order.

Re:

[rodent]

I guess I had better post to keep mine off the list.
Although I do read /. each and every day.

Re:Low UID?

[yalsaif]

That's just nice. Now seniority doesn't matter. Only the rich can have a low uid. We need to do something about this. Damn CmdrTaco! VIVA LA REVOLUCION!

Re:Low UID?

[elrous0]

As poor as I am, I'll just have to hope I can live long enough to be able to brag about having a six figure UID.

Re:Low UID?

[Stamen]

I'm with ya. We should form some sort of 6 digit UID group. Then actively ridicule anyone who posts with either less than or more than 6 digits. If you do something long enough, people will actually start to think there is something to it.

vi or emacs? Who cares, are you a 6 digiter? That's the question.

Re:

[truthsearch]

I say we ridicule anyone with an ID over a quarter million. Surely joining in the prior millenium should distinguish one.

Re:

[Stamen]

Doh! Like any good group, it gets torn apart from the inside. And to think you're a 6 digiter; I expected more from you, I really did.

Re:

[freakmn]

It's been done before [slashdot.org]. I think they could make quite a bundle with a rewrite of the code that has AC = UID #666 internally, and sell off #666. On second thought, perhaps that would seem much like jumping the shark.

Re:

[bzipitidoo]

Change the contest! I met someone with a 5 digit UID. As I'd already lost the totally unfair, boring, predetermined outcome UID contest, I asked him how many submissions he'd had accepted. Score: me 1, him 0.

Maybe Slashdot will make an amusing little change. No more UID's displayed anywhere. After the auction, of course :). Be just like declaring Pluto isn't a planet a year after launching a probe on a 10 year mission to explore Pluto, the last unexplored and most distant planet.

Swag box

[BiloxiGeek]

First bid! That was a lot easier than getting a first post!

What,

[antifoidulus]

no boudoir photos of cowboy Neal up for auction?

One other question

[TheCycoONE]

How exactly do you bid on these items?

Re:One other question

[sherpajohn]

e-Bay - all the items in the article are links to the e-Bay auction for that item. Low UID is already over $350(US). Wow.

Re:

[stoolpigeon]

click on the link for an item and it should be pretty clear.

If I win...

[Rob T Firefly]

..and I promise to pay extra, will you keep the N-gage?

Nice business...

[arhar]

That could be a great business model guys - sell a few low-numbered UID's a month, with each selling for $1000+ (the auction has been running for only 1 hour and the price is already $300 with 14 bids). If you do turn it in one, I demand my share of profits, and a low-numbered UID... preferrably 0, or 0, kthxbye.

Re:

[arhar]

Uh that should've been a "0 or less than 0".. yeah, yeah, should've hit the "preview" button

What!

[Anonymous Coward]

you failed in your attempt to /. eBay???!!!!!!!

triton

[ArcadeX]

I have that same casee, was a pain to carry to lan games... anyone want to bid on an almost exact replica?

The Mystery Box

[Anti_Climax]

The Mystery Box could contain anything that we stuff in the box before the contest ends...

A boat's a boat but the mystery box could be anything... even a boat! You know how much we've always wanted one of those.

We'll take the box.

Re:

[PlatyPaul]

Kuni has something to say about that [youtube.com]....

How 'bout selling the 10-year t-shirts?

[macklin01]

How about selling 10-year t-shirts for $15-$20 each, with $10-$15 to EFF? I know I'd buy one, and I'm sure the demand would result in a much larger contribution to EFF than a single grab box, etc. -- Paul

Well, I got outbid, fast

[jdavidb]

I saw the story in the mysterious future and bid about $30 on the low UID, the email address, and the URL display. It wasn't any time till I got outbid on a couple, so I upped my bid to about $75. Then I left my desk for a minute, came back, and the story was live and the bids were up to $300! Except for the URL display, which is still hovering just a little over my bid. I'd've thought that was the most economically valuable.

Re:

[Kjella]

I think Microsoft should put in a bid - just to see the spontanious outbidding by nerds who don't want to see slashdot plugging Microsoft on their anniversary day. Hell, you could probably get a buck each from half of slashdot for that.

Shipping

[phatscum]

Will you ship outside the US?

Re:Shipping

[ScuttleMonkey]

Yes, we will ship outside the US with some obvious exceptions.

If deeppenguin asks us to ship the Triton case to the South Pole we might not be able to get corporate to cover the bill. :)

With any specific questions feel free to contact us at anniversary@slashdot dot org.

Re:

[dargaud]

Shipping to Antarctica [gdargaud.net] is basically the same as shipping to NZ / Australia / South America if you use the normal post office. It then gets carried by the relevant polar organization onto the final destination. Of course a dead server case might raise suspicion, although if the fans are working it might be worth it: when I was last there during the winter 3 out of 4 of my stash of backup drives died out and almost all my fans on tens of boxes. Power outages that drop the temperature by a hundred celcius in m

Low ID's

[strredwolf]

Well, then. That gives me like a coin-flip chance of saying "You, mister over #532! You young wipper-snapper! You had to buy that low-id! I got mine the ol' fashoned way, when the 'net was young, dialup was king, and AOL came on floppies!"

well my UID will still be lower than yours

[anewsome]

top that.

Re:

[alexandre]

Oh, so you're the one that was slowing down my registration form! i see! :D

Re:

[anewsome]

never thought about that. i don't post as much as i used to but i do read slashdot multiple times a day, every day. so i'm probably not going to sell it but i would trade it for a copy of CS3.

"Copy" of CS3?

[Mostly a lurker]

Done. (I live in Bangkok where such copies are easy to come by.) Of course, the legal cost is all yous!

Obligatory

[dankasfuk]

Lois, the boat is just a boat but the mystery box could be anything...it could even be a boat!

the office in a box

[wiredog]

Wasn't "Office-in-a-box" one of those "1. 2. 3.??? 4. Profit!" thingies that went down in flames at the end of the dot com boom, taking the retirement funds of thousands of grey haired grannies along with it?

Can I put something in?

[cvd6262]

I'll donate my "Sounds of Slashdot" CD (which include Debian 2.0) to the auction. I got it in a boxed set at Linux World in '99 or 2000.

For those of you who haven't heard it, it's some dance mix Rob put together (or something).

Re:Can I put something in?

[strredwolf]

Rip the CD man, rip the CD!

Low uid..

[Improv]

I am amused at the thought that low UIDs are valuable.. It's not like one can buy being an old-timer...

Re:

[Tipa]

Maybe not, but I know I only registered so I could change the sorts of stories that got full text on the front page. For years and years, I just read and posted anonymously...

So a low UID would actually give people who did similarly the (geekly) acknowledgment they feel they deserve!

Re:

[808140]

I agree (I would never purchase a uid). But it is worth noting that while having a low uid implies that you're an old timer, being an old-timer does not necessarily imply that you have a low uid. Lots of folks on Slashdot have claimed (no doubt some minority of them honestly) that they've been around for a long time and simply refused to register back in the day, for example.

So who cares, right? The problem I suppose is that much of Slashdot seems to think that having a low uid and being an old timer are

Whats so special in low uids?

[kju]

Really, i don't get it. I was reading slashdot someday in the morning when user registration was announced. I created an account and now i have a fairly low uid. So, wow, but still, whats so special about it? It does not make me any wiser or more important than any other user of slashdot. While, yes, it feels cool to have been with something like slashdot for such a long time, but past is past. Buying in on a low uid is just faking oneselfs identity.

Re:

[Rob T Firefly]

Like anything in the world ever, it's only "worth" what someone somewhere is willing to trade for it.

Re:

[vrmlguy]

Hey, I'll give you a dollar a digit for yours!

Re:

[Skyshadow]

So, wow, but still, whats so special about it?

To sum up basic economics: Anything that people can't have has value to the people who can't have it.

Re:

[xanthines-R-yummy]

I don't get what's so special about it either, but someone in my situation might be willing to buy one: I visited /. for the first time sometime in 1997 when my roomate called me over said "Some dude made this website called "h-t-t-p colon forward slash forward slash slashdot dot com!", isn't that hilarious!? However, I never signed up until whenever the 600k UID's were being used up. So, as someone who's been reading /. for the better part of a decade I still have a pretty UID. A lesser man than I, may fee

Re:

[rhizome]

Really, i don't get it. I was reading slashdot someday in the morning when user registration was announced. I created an account and now i have a fairly low uid. So, wow, but still, whats so special about it?

It's a historical tradition from the olden days of UNIX. I'm sure to this day there are still university students who want low uids for their shell accounts and will cadge and barter with the SAs in order to trade down.

E-mail address

[c0d3h4x0r]

Dibs on "[e-mail]"

Re:E-mail address

[Walking The Walk]

Nah, I want "[e-mail]"

Try telling that one to your friends over the phone!

No shipping outside the US?

[NoseyNick]

No shipping outside the US? Why not?

Re:

[ScuttleMonkey]

That statement was mainly to protect us against someone from crazy-mccrazytown on the moon from buying the item and sticking us with the shipping costs.

We will more than likely ship outside the US, just contact us directly to work out the details and get it cleared.

FYI: Tax Deductions on Charity Auctions

[schmiddy]

I found myself googling this, so thought I would share with potential bidders.

Short version: you might have a hard time deducting any money you spend on this charity auction, unless you can show the amount you paid was purposely above fair market value -- according to The IRS [irs.gov]. I'm not sure how you'd come up with a 'fair market value' for e.g. an @slashdot.org email address.. but I guess it could be done.

Cheers and happy bidding, remember it's for a good cause

Re:

[ScuttleMonkey]

Several bidders have written to ask about the charitable donation credit thing.

Unfortunately, the way that MissionFish.org (eBay's charitable works branch) handles the tax credit is all done auto-magically. So, when I asked if we could pass the tax credit on to the winner of the bid giving them both the item and the ability to do the tax write-off I was given the big "not a chance" answer. :(

So we greatly appreciate your bids, as I'm sure the EFF will as well, but we are unable to pass the tax credit

1337

[Javi0084]

Auction off UID 1337!!!

Oh... the URL...

[xtracto]

Your URL plugged in the story where we announce the auction winners.

Hi, I am doing a chip-in money collection to win the link plug in order to put the goatse man! imagine putting goatse *in the homepage* of slashdot, that would be hilarious teehehe.

I assume that the editors agree to put *any* kind of link. I won't be surprised if one of those online casinos actually won the auction.

Re:

[sootman]

Your URL plugged in the story...

Well, if anyone needs something "plugged in", it's him.

Primeness?

[Kandenshi]

Ah, but will the 2/3 digit UID be prime? That'd add a bit more value to it for me. I suppose a UID like 380 would be nice enough, but I'd probably prefer one like 389(even with its *slightly* lower "stupid low UID pissing match thread" winning potential)

Really, with incomplete information about the number I can't make an informed decision on how much money to try and waste.

What is the shipping policy...

[r_jensen11]

for the UID? Just thought I'd ask, since that seems to be the most important part of the auction.

Low UIDs pissing contest?

[alexandre]

What do you mean low UIDs pissing contest? I never did that! i swear! oh... wait... :P

(So who's inactive account is going to have to be declared the first dead and resurected /. account? :)

Funny

[MadJo]

Triton is apparently worth less than a /. Swag package.

As of this writing, the scores are as follows:
2000 Low /. UID
760 Yourname @ /. dot org
457 Plug your url
305 /. Swag Package
252 Triton
51 The Watchmen

Re:

[kju]

Oh to the contrary! "Anonymous Coward" is actually one of the oldest user "accounts" on slashdot. It must be worth millions on ebay. Maybe even more then uid 1 because Anonymous Coward clearly is much more involved with slashdot than CmdrTaco given the amount of comments made by Anonymous Coward.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you insane? I'll never sell my account!

Caveat Emptor

[paulthomas]

"You can do this [xkcd.com] 1 in 30 times and still have 97% positive feedback."