In ur portals, sexin ur cubes

First of all if you don't have Portal, go get it.  Buy it or Steam it or -ahem- Torrent it so you know what the hell I'm rambling about.

Then you too can be slightly scared of GLaDOS, who is, I swear, Majel Barrett on acid.  And you can share my love for the Weighted Companion Cube.  And I do wuv you, Cube, you stay true even when I'm not sure which way is up any more.  Portal's schtick is this: it's a first-person puzzler with no weapons or monsters.  Yay!  Instead you've got a portal gun.  It shoots two interconnected holes.  In one, out the other, and your relative momentum is preserved.  Cue using gravity to accelerate (because you sure aren't Lara in the athletics stakes) and many other sneaky tricks. 

It's such a simple idea with such a far-reaching impact that it tweaks how you start to look at space.  Ever go climbing or open-water swimming?  You know how, afterwards, you look at buildings or stretches of water as different terrain instead of barriers?  Like that. 

Cube love is going bonkers out there.  Hardly surprising when the only other contact you have in the sterile lab environment is that damn computer and her promises of cake.  Valve have been startled into making Cube plushies for Christmas. 

That can only mean one thing: Cube slash.  Rule 34, ladies and gentlemen, no exceptions.

Almost 5am and I'm stuck with some sliding platforms (my nemesis in all games!).  Wait for me, Cube.  I'll be back, but I need sleep first. 

How to win on ebay?

I've just lost the third auction in a row for a relatively high-value collectible item; in each case the sale ended in a last-minute bidding war between two bidders.  First one I lost, I was foolish enough to leave the auction alone for the last ten minutes.  Second, I and the other bidder both sniped at one minute, at the same amount, but he beat me by three seconds.  Tonight, I fat-fingered the keyboard with twenty seconds to go and while I was reading the "huh? doofus" message, the clock ticked out from under me.

Is there a good technique for winning this sort of auction?  Maybe put a high-value snipe in place using AuctionSniper, just in case it gets squirrely in the final moments?  I'm loath to just put a high bid in as these items have arbitrary value: they're worth what people will pay.  In tonight's auction the item went up £220, 30%, in the last half hour.

Your wisdom will earn beer if I get lucky.  Honest.