HP Forum Archive 15

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Another Great Coburlin Deal Message #1 Posted by I, Claudius on 24 Nov 2005, 11:06 a.m. Buy It Now for $229 and you can be the proud owner of this for parts quality machine: http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-11C-Scientific-Calculator-with-Case-Manual_W0QQitemZ5831018142QQcategoryZ58039QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem And for just $329 you can have a Buy It Now 15C with a bad key: http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-15C-Scientific-Calculator-with-Case-Manual_W0QQitemZ5832868211QQcategoryZ58042QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Edited: 24 Nov 2005, 11:20 a.m.

Re: Another Great Coburlin Deal Message #2 Posted by Namir on 24 Nov 2005, 12:16 p.m., in response to message #1 by I, Claudius I am a bit confused so pleaase bear with me! Is Cobubba ASKING to be paid or is he wlling to PAY THE STATED AMOUNTS so you can hall the piece of trash in the auctions?? In either case, you will get a mouse instead! That's morphing for you!!! Edited: 24 Nov 2005, 12:18 p.m.

Re: Another Great Coburlin Deal Message #3 Posted by inaki on 24 Nov 2005, 4:06 p.m., in response to message #1 by I, Claudius The question is: is anyone buying these items ? Coburlin is selling at these prices for months so I guess someone is buying. Edited: 24 Nov 2005, 4:07 p.m.

I'd guess.... Message #4 Posted by Vieira, L. C. (Brazil) on 24 Nov 2005, 4:32 p.m., in response to message #3 by inaki ... that it is easy to do business like this. Find a couple of friends anywhere in the US and have a fair arrangement with them: (Coduba all the way) "I announce an item and you all go higher and higher bids all along; at the moment a duck gets into the circuit, you all leave the trail and let the duck alone. Otherwise, have any of you won because no duck was in, I'll send you a payment order in the corresponding value, from someone elseīs bank account. Or we can arrange another item so the one amongst you that won the last one will announce this so-called new item and I'll bid back till I reach the previous itemīs value. Well, if a duck falls in this time, better for us! He, he, he... All of the ducks around will think: 'If these guys pay so much money for these items, they must be special!' And we will rise their prices till no one else buys them, so we can reduce them a bit so the circle closes on itself. And for as long as we keep doing it smoothly, the closer to reality it will be." Any other idea? Cheers. Luiz (Brazil) Edited: 24 Nov 2005, 4:35 p.m.

Re: I'd guess.... Message #5 Posted by Namir on 24 Nov 2005, 5:03 p.m., in response to message #4 by Vieira, L. C. (Brazil) Luiz, Several years ago I came to realize that my life should revolve around two simple principles--love myself (and others)and respect myself. Part of this principle that applies to this website is enjoying the information about programming that other fine folks post here. Also, it's using that information to develope and improve on algorithms and/or programs in various languages and for various machines and OSs. Right now, I am having fun (re)learning how to program in RPL and especially for the HP-49G+. I hope to submit some of these programs to Dave Hicks for publishing. I hope that folks on this web site can emjoy them too. As for Cobubba's rambling about hs auction ... I COULD NOT CARE LESS! So I say let's focus on sharing our love and dedication for algorithms, RPN. RPL, and other development tools. Life is too short to be wasted it on idiots. Namir

Could not agree more... Message #6 Posted by Vieira, L. C. (Brazil) on 24 Nov 2005, 10:05 p.m., in response to message #5 by Namir ... and Namir, thanks for calling me back. Sometimes you hear so much noise that you feel compelled to cry out loud as if you need to hear some sound coming out of your own mouth. Thanks again. About your programs, I'll surely enjoy reading the listings. You see, programmable 'anything' behaves the way programmers want (when they know how to) without physically changing. This is beautiful, whatever language or paradigm we use ('ll stop here before starting new daughter-threads...) Cheers. Luiz (Brazil) Edited: 24 Nov 2005, 10:31 p.m.

Re: I'd guess.... Message #7 Posted by Peter Geiser on 24 Nov 2005, 5:27 p.m., in response to message #4 by Vieira, L. C. (Brazil) Well, it's pretty simple. He just bought a HP80 in good working condition, in original hard case, with manuals etc. for USD 51. Nobody else was willing to buy at that price. Too bad (and yes, I also missed the auction :-( If you mourn that you didn't buy, you can now buy it from Coburlin for USD 349 adn USD 475, respectively. It's plain business: Coburlin buys low and sells high. You could have bought the hp80 for USD 60 (or 70, or whatever Coburlin was bidding), and now (try to) sell it for USD 500. It's your free choice. Whether someone buys or not, that is another question. As for buying at Coburlin's prices: depending of your goals, it may actually be a very good deal. If you are very short of time, and get paid by the hour as a consultant or a lawyer, it may be worth not spending several hours for an inexpensive machine, but rather shell out the big bucks and get the goods delivered immediately. Again, it's a matter of personal preference (although not mine.) Best regards Peter

Re: I'd guess.... Message #8 Posted by blurdybloop on 25 Nov 2005, 2:47 p.m., in response to message #7 by Peter Geiser It isn't just "buy cheap and sell dear." It's everything else that he does. He evidentally has considerable social engineering skills to convince people to sell to him without allowing the auction to run its course. It's one thing if the seller was foolish and posted a ridiculously low BuyItNow price; it's quite another when he talks a naive seller into setting such a price or to close the auction early. He cheats. Many of us have noted how he changes his auctions at the last moment to a cheap mouse in order to avoid paying the listing fees for his overpriced items. I wouldn't be surprised if he also cheats the IRS and the California Franchise Tax Board. Someone should alert these agencies that he may not be reporting all his profits. Last (and least) he openly states his contempt for the community. Pissing into the community well pollutes the water for everybody else. Draining the well of much of its clean water before pissing into it makes the pollution worse. Even if the well renews its water and presently becomes clean again, there is only so much abuse that it can take. Coburlin is a well-pisser. He undercuts the good will that is necessary for any hobbyist community. I've seen too many hobbyist communities die because of well-pissers; or worse, they react by becoming closed secret communities with nearly-impossible barriers to entry. MOHPC is a wonderful resource to defend the well and its water. Nevertheless, I see the bad signs. The moment we stop caring that someone is pissing in our well is the moment we stop caring about newbies. Hopefully, this particular well-pisser will eventually move on and piss in someone else's well.

Re: Coburlin Reveals Himself Here Message #9 Posted by I, Claudius on 25 Nov 2005, 9:33 p.m., in response to message #8 by blurdybloop In reading the ad I found I found one phrase interesting: his description of the item being "worned" shows at least some lack of education. His admitted disdain for engineers and his pricing seems to be almost revenge oriented. Yet, he seems to have enduring interest in old HPs. I think Coburlin is one of those who failed to become an engineer, indeed, probably failed to get any sort of degree. So, he strikes back with an almost bizarre series of eBay sales of overpriced junk. Life is crazy sometimes... Edited: 25 Nov 2005, 9:34 p.m.

"Coburlin-gua" Message #10 Posted by K on 25 Nov 2005, 10:27 p.m., in response to message #9 by I, Claudius Quote: In reading the ad I found I found one phrase interesting: his description of the item being "worned" shows at least some lack of education... Another characteristic of "Coburlin-gua" is the omission of conjunctions: For example, battery contacts are described as "clean shiny" instead of "clean and shiny". Of course, all of his calculators "work great as shown", even though only a static display can be shown in a photo, giving very limited evidence of functionality. -- KS

Re: I'd guess.... Message #11 Posted by Coburlin on 27 Nov 2005, 1:10 p.m., in response to message #8 by blurdybloop Quote: I wouldn't be surprised if he also cheats the IRS and the California Franchise Tax Board. Someone should alert these agencies that he may not be reporting all his profits. So buy one of my mice and report me to the IRS, see where it gets you.

Re: I'd guess.... Message #12 Posted by Cobubba on 27 Nov 2005, 1:33 p.m., in response to message #11 by Coburlin That's my "good" twin talking. Don't believe a word he says! Edited: 27 Nov 2005, 1:33 p.m.

How many people have bought items from Coburlin Message #13 Posted by Chris Dean on 29 Nov 2005, 1:39 p.m., in response to message #12 by Cobubba Although everybody berates this person but how many people in this 'community' have purchased items from him? I am no lover of, excuse me, 'well-pissers' but he did bid on one of my items which I did not consider to be junk. Edited: 29 Nov 2005, 1:40 p.m.

Re: How many people have bought items from Coburlin Message #14 Posted by I, Claudius on 29 Nov 2005, 2:27 p.m., in response to message #13 by Chris Dean You got a Coburlin bid? That and a buck will get you a cup of coffee at 7-11. Let me guess, he was his typical low-bid self...

Re: How many people have bought items from Coburlin Message #15 Posted by Chris Dean on 29 Nov 2005, 2:33 p.m., in response to message #14 by I, Claudius It was a low bid and then no more!

Re: How many people have bought items from Coburlin Message #16 Posted by coburlin on 29 Nov 2005, 4:00 p.m., in response to message #14 by I, Claudius Many people find my bids worth taking. It just you calculator nuts that get annoyed. I can live with that.

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