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Buy 1,950 'Star Wars' action figures in one fell swoop on eBay

Happening now, in a galaxy in which you are in... It is a period of online commerce. Action figures, arising from an auction, will be won by a top bidder in a first victory against the Galactic eBaypire.

You may have some "Star Wars" action figures left over from childhood. You may even have a bookshelf full of figures. You probably don't have 1,950 of them, but eBay seller ranchoobiwan does. You can buy them if you're brave enough to jump into the auction fray.

The loose figures range from vintage collectibles from 1978 all the way through toys manufactured in 2011. Most still have their original accessories. Money raised from the sale will go to support Rancho Obi-Wan, a nonprofit museum dedicated to "Star Wars" memorabilia.… Read more

Name your own price for a THQ game bundle (PC)

Got plans this weekend? Cancel 'em.

The Humble Bundle folks have put together what is arguably the best game bundle ever. It's called the Humble THQ Bundle, and it comes with six top-rated action/strategy games -- plus a seventh if you beat the average purchase price.

I'm going to start with that bonus game first, because it really kind of defines the whole bundle. It's Saints Row: The Third, which scored an 8.5 on GameSpot when it debuted just one year ago. Price if purchased from Steam: $39.99. Average bundle price (at this writing) … Read more

Uber faces new legal challenge, at home in San Francisco

It looks like Uber has yet another legal hurdle to surmount, this time on its home turf in San Francisco.

The popular ride-summoning startup, which has recently dealt with regulatory challenges in Washington D.C., New York, and Chicago, is now being sued in San Francisco by the city's cab drivers, who are claiming unfair business practices.

The fast-growing service, which allows customers to use smartphones to arrange transportation in several U.S. cities, announced last month that in the San Francisco market it was testing out a taxi service option within the Uber app, alongside its existing sedan … Read more

Drift HD Ghost action cam packs problem-solving features

With Drift Innovations' Drift HD Ghost, you can add one more action cam to the increasingly crowded market. But at least this one's a little more than another "me too" model.

Not the wide blocky design of camcorders like the GoPro, the Drift HD Ghost has a slimmer and longer body, like the iON Air or Sony Action Cam. Though the shape makes it less ideal for chest mounting, it is better for POV mounting on the side of goggles, masks, and helmets. The shape also gives it room for a built-in Gorilla Glass-protected 2-inch LCD for … Read more

Neil deGrasse Tyson locates Superman's home planet

Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman's home star system! Thanks to astrophysicist and geek all-star Neil deGrasse Tyson, Krypton has been located within the known universe.

Tyson teamed with DC Comics to track down a Krypton-like system that matches hints from the comics. He found a fitting red dwarf in the constellation Corvus (the crow) in the southern sky, a mere 27.1 light years from Earth. … Read more

Sony PSN hacking lawsuit dismissed by judge

A California district judge has dismissed a handful of charges that plaintiffs brought against Sony, including negligence, restitution, and unjust enrichment in its handling of a PlayStation Network data breach last year.

Several lawsuits were filed against Sony PlayStation Network in the wake of a major security breach of the personal data of more than 75 million customers in April 2011.

On Friday, Judge Anthony Battaglia of the U.S. District Court in Southern California ruled that one of those class action suits is invalid, according to Courthouse News.

When the attack happened in 2011, more than 75 million customer … Read more

Watchdog calls eBay's user policy 'underhanded'

A consumer rights group accused eBay of making it tough for users to pursue litigation against the company and said the auction site operator's new user policy goes against the company's "commitment to openness."

Public Citizen, which called eBay's new user agreement "underhanded," takes issue with a section in eBay's policy that details how eBay and users' will handle legal disputes. In the agreement (scroll down to the section about legal disputes), eBay says that all claims that arise against eBay should be "resolved exclusively through final and binding arbitration," … Read more

Lawsuits over Facebook's IPO flop to be consolidated in NY

Facebook's wishes have been granted, at least for now. The dozens of lawsuits brought against the social network over its bungled initial public offering have been consolidated and will be heard before one federal judge in New York, according to Reuters.

Approximately 50 lawsuits have been brought against the social network, some of its underwriters, and the Nasdaq exchange. Earlier today, a panel of federal judges ruled that all of these cases will be collected throughout the U.S. and transferred to U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet in Manhattan.

According to Reuters, Facebook said that it was pleased … Read more

Pandora defeats privacy suit over Facebook integration

When Pandora was sued for alleged privacy missteps following Facebook integration, it was headline news, with one report saying the Internet radio company had stumbled "into the minefield of privacy lawsuits that are blowing up all over the tech industry." Even the Federal Trade Commission was dragged in.

But that minefield was a dud: A federal court has now tossed out the lawsuit, ruling that no "actual injury" was caused by the April 2010 partnership between Facebook and Pandora that allowed users to tie their accounts together.

The suit claimed violations of an obscure pre-Internet era … Read more

The environmental pitfalls at the end of an iPhone's life

SHENZHEN, Guangdong province, China -- A young man, wearing a short-sleeve, white, button-down shirt, is looking at my 32-gigabyte iPhone 4S.

The man, sitting at a small stand in front of the massive SEG Electronics Market here, surfs to the settings page on the device, looks at the model number to determine where the phone came from. He sees it's a locked device. He notes there aren't any scratches or dings, and that it seems to work just fine. It should. I bought it last October, when the 4S first went on sale in the United States.

He … Read more