Comments on: eBay

eBay

baylink — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 18:06:38 -0800

Who wants to own an aircraft carrier? Possibly the best geek gift ever, if you're Bill Gates or someone. Note especially the *category*...

By: baylink

baylink — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 18:09:32 -0800

Spotted at Boing Boing -- does anyone know why that site is occasionally replaced by a full page sunflower graphic that's a link to Plastic.com?

By: ElvisJesus

ElvisJesus — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 18:24:53 -0800

My birthday is Jan 22 ... I'm just sayin'

By: SisterHavana

SisterHavana — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 18:44:30 -0800

5 people have bid on it so far..

By: dejah420

dejah420 — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 19:53:48 -0800

Ok kids, I say we take this show on the road. MetaFilter on the High Seas!

By: zedbends

zedbends — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 20:07:03 -0800

This is (was) HMS Vengence. She's the ship on which the Japanese signed the surrender of Hong Kong during WWII, and there's an appeal to try and save her and turn her into a museum/memorial.

By: alumshubby

alumshubby — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 20:15:07 -0800

HMS Vengeance (also known as the Argentine Navy's Minas Gerais) displaced abt 14 - 17k tons. Just for comparison purposes, an Essex class US fast carrier of similar vintage displaced about 10k tons more, while a modern Nimitz bird farm displaces around 102k tons.

By: MiG

MiG — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 21:04:27 -0800

also known as the Argentine Navy's Minas Gerais Actually Brazilian.

By: SpecialK

SpecialK — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 21:28:34 -0800

Hopefully, no one named 'L. Bob Rife' is going to bid. We don't have a metaverse set up yet. </snowcrash>

By: adamgreenfield

adamgreenfield — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 21:46:03 -0800

That's one teeny-tiny CVA.

By: Jimbob

Jimbob — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 21:50:49 -0800

Purchase it. Load up with party-goers at 2-grand a pop. Take it out to international waters, and have one big-ass mofo house party on deck. I'm sure someone could make it profitable.

By: bshort

bshort — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 21:54:28 -0800

Baylink: I think you're seeing Carl's site. He runs Plastic, and apparently hosts BoingBoing.

By: dhartung

dhartung — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 22:18:43 -0800

The Russians have sold a couple of decommissioned carriers to concerns in China. The Minsk became a Shenzhen theme park called Minsk World, and last year China also completed the sale of a larger, newer carrier called the Kiev went to Tianjin and became a floating casino. Some ultra-suspicious China watchers were concerned about the People's Liberation Army Navy (yes, that's its real name) jumpstarting a carrier program, especially when an uncompleted hulk from the last days of the Soviet era, the Varyag, was finally sold to another Chinese firm and allowed to pass through the Bosporus [photo]after tense negotiations. (The evidence at this date seems to indicate that capitalism is, indeed, trumping militarism.) Meanwhile, who's actually buying an ex-Soviet carrier to be retrofitted ... as an aircraft carrier? India's navy, that's who. Non-superpower navies actually have quite a bit of "slightly shot at" ships.

By: nthdegx

nthdegx — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 00:16:23 -0800

Well, I do need somewhere to park my F15...

By: Dreamghost

Dreamghost — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 01:17:56 -0800

Well, I do need somewhere to park my F15... How Many Pepsi Points Do I Need To Get One Of These?

By: alumshubby

alumshubby — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 04:52:40 -0800

Well, I do need somewhere to park my F15... Better place that puppy aboard with a pierside crane - the landing gear's definitely not up to an arrested landing like Navy aircraft are.

By: nthdegx

nthdegx — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 05:55:22 -0800

I was expecting some sort of technical retort, although I predicted it would be the prohibitive length of an older carrier. Maybe that isn't the case. :/

By: XQUZYPHYR

XQUZYPHYR — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 06:09:27 -0800

Better place that puppy aboard with a pierside crane - the landing gear's definitely not up to an arrested landing like Navy aircraft are. Scratchy should have tied Itchy's tongue with a square knot. Jesus.

By: Dantien

Dantien — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 07:07:00 -0800

Shouldn't we all pitch in a couple o' bucks and secede from the union? Metafilter World? Much better than Sealand. I hereby announce my candidacy for lifetime resident DJ of the new country.

By: reverendX

reverendX — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 10:00:23 -0800

Dantien: sure! at the current bid price of $6 mil, divided by the # of metafilter users, that's only $349.45 each. For a spot on an aircraft carrier!

By: troutfishing

troutfishing — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 22:57:48 -0800

Sold! Can we stock that new MetaCarrier™ with domesticated penguins?