1. A transportation system comprising:
a substantially enclosed conduit provided between a first geographic location and a second geographic location, the enclosed conduit being provided with a hydrogen or methane atmosphere; and
a vehicle dimensioned to fit within the conduit, the vehicle comprising a propulsion system coupled with a motor receiving power from at least one fuel-cell stack, the at least one fuel-cell stack configured to receive the hydrogen or methane from the atmosphere of the enclosed conduit through an intake located on the vehicle and to use the received hydrogen or methane as a fuel source for the at least one fuel-cell stack, the vehicle further utilizing a levitation system configured to support and guide the vehicle within the enclosed conduit.
2. The transportation system of claim 1 wherein:
the substantially enclosed conduit comprises a tube;
the vehicle comprising:
a substantially cylindrical body having an inside portion and an outside portion;
the propulsion system including:
a propeller assembly supported at an end of the outside portion of the cylindrical body, the propeller providing propulsion to move the vehicle within the tube; and
the levitation system comprising:
a guideway supporting and guiding the vehicle on a plurality of aerostatic gas bearings, magnetic levitation, or rollers.
3. The transportation system of claim 2, wherein the aerostatic gas bearings comprise porous materials through which passes a gas.
4. The transportation system of claim 2 wherein a guideway in the bottom portion of the tube defines opposing planar surfaces intersecting to define a V-shape, the aerostatic gas bearings further comprising a first set of aerostatic gas bearings and a second set of aerostatic gas bearings defining a second V-shape in substantial conformance with the V-shape of the guideway within the tube, the aerostatic gas bearings configured to levitate the vehicle above the bottom portion of the tube during operation of the vehicle.
5. The transportation system of claim 2 wherein:
the guideway within the tube includes magnetic material; and
the levitation system comprises magnets, wherein the magnets interact with a magnetic rail and levitate the vehicle above the magnetic rail.
6. The transportation system of claim 2 wherein the propeller is a contra-rotating propfan.
7. The transportation system of claim 2 wherein the propulsion system further includes a propeller assembly supported at an opposing end of the outside portion of the cylindrical body.
8. The transportation system of claim 1 wherein the at least one fuel-cell stack is a proton-exchange membrane fuel cell.
9. The transportation system of claim 1 wherein the atmosphere in the tube is provided at a pressure above ambient atmospheric pressure.
10. The transportation system of claim 1 wherein the atmosphere within the tube is maintained at or above 75% by volume total hydrogen gas or at or above 17% by volume total methane gas.
11. The transportation system of claim 1 wherein the vehicle includes a releasable coupler configured to couple the vehicle with a second vehicle, the second vehicle including a passenger compartment including a plurality of seats for passengers.
12. The transportation system of claim 1 wherein:
the substantially enclosed conduit comprises a tube;
the vehicle comprising:
a substantially cylindrical body having an inside portion and an outside portion;
the propulsion system including:
a propeller assembly supported at an end of the outside portion of the cylindrical body, the propeller providing propulsion to move the vehicle within the tube; and
the levitation system comprising a plurality of magnetic bearings.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
I claim:
1. A method for selling gift certificates andor store credits to one or more bidders on the Internet, comprising:
combining gift certificates andor store credits from two or more distinct sellers as a single item for auction, each gift certificate andor store credit independently having an undesirable value associated with each one independently, wherein each of the gift certificates andor store credits when combined represent a desirable combined value thereby rendering the combined value more usable at a single retail entity;
receiving, from or more bidders, at least one bid for the single item; and
selling the single item to a winning bidder, wherein the winning bidder receives the combined gift certificates andor store credits.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the two or more sellers’ gift certificates andor store credits are combined to approximate a certain predetermined value threshold.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein a value limit is set for winning bid for the single item, wherein the limit does not exceed the face value of each of the plurality of gift certificates and store credits and bids in excess of the predetermined value limit will be automatically reduced to the value limit.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the sellers will split the proceeds of the sale of the single item according to the respective percentages their respective gift certificate andor store credit contributed to the total value of the single item.
5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
providing proceeds from the sale of the one or more gift certificates andor store credits to the one or more sellers, wherein the proceeds is the sale price of the one or more gift certificates andor store credits minus a commission.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
receiving a payment from the winning bidder via a credit card.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined value limit is at a maximum equal to 99.99% of the face value of the gift certificate andor store credit.
8. A system for selling gift certificates andor store credits, comprising:
means for combining gift certificates andor store credits from two or more sellers;
means for receiving bids for the combined gift certificates andor store credits; and
means for selling the combined gift certificates andor store credits to one or more bidders.
9. The system of claim 8, wherein each of the two or more sellers will split the proceeds of the sale of the single item according to the respective percentages each contributed to the single item.
10. The system of claim 8, wherein the predetermined value limit is at a maximum equal to 99.99% of the face value of the gift certificate andor store credit.
11. The system of claim 8, wherein the gift certificates andor store credits are combined to approximate a predetermined whole dollar value.
12. The system of claim 8, further comprising:
means for deducting a commission from a selling price of the one or more gift certificates andor store credits.
13. The system of claim 8, further comprising:
means for verifying the authenticity of the one or more gift certificates andor store credits.
14. A method for auctioning a plurality of seller’s gifts certificates andor store credits to one or more bidders in an Internet auction, comprising:
combining the seller’s gift certificates andor store credits as a single item for auction, wherein each distinct gift certificate andor store credit is undesirable when alone since each distinct gift certificate andor store credit represent an undesirable amount alone but when combined represents a desirable amount for a bidder;
receiving bids for combined gift certificates andor store credit; and
selling the gift certificates andor store credits to a winning bidder.
15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:
receiving a payment from the winning bidder via a credit card.
16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:
deducting a commission from a selling price of the one or more gift certificates andor store credits.
17. The method of claim 14, wherein the limit is in the range of about 90% to 99% of the face value of the gift certificate andor store credit.
18. The method of claim 14, wherein two or more sellers can combine gift certificates andor store credits from a common entity and sell the combined gift certificates andor store credits as a single item.
19. The method of claim 14, further comprising:
validating the seller’s gift certificates andor store credits to verify that the gift certificate andor store credit is valid.
20. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of combining the seller’s gift certificates andor store credits as a single item for auction includes the step of:
approximating a predetermined whole dollar value with the combined seller’s gift certificates andor store credits.
21. An apparatus for facilitating a transaction between a buyer and at least one of a plurality of sellers, comprising:
a storage device; and a processor connected to the storage device, the storage device storing a program for controlling the processor; and the processor operative with the program to
receive a plurality of gift certificates andor store credits from two or more independent sellers for auction;
combine the sellers’ gift certificates andor store credits as a single item for auction since each of the gift certificates andor store credits do not have a desirable value independently;
receive bids for the combined gift certificates andor store credits;
receive payment for the combined gift certificates andor store credits; and
provide payment to each of the sellers of the combined gift certificates andor store credits.