Coming further up-to-date, the Scottish Item Club has a telling analysis of the Scotland's jobs market over the downturn so far.

BBC: Stands Scotland's economy where it did?

The latest analysis and forecast from the Item Club Scotland points out there are other telling comparisons closer to home.

BBC: Making up lost ground

Item 26: Newspapers must not have a hidden motive when expressing opinion or news analysis.

UNESCO: Communication and Information

Item 18: Newspapers must be just when making references to any party in its editorial or analysis.

UNESCO: Communication and Information

Analysis of all the items found revealed that pieces of plastic were the most commonly dropped item with bits of rope next.

BBC: Volunteers scoured beaches for rubbish

To identify the most interesting goods on the site, the researchers on the Discover project wrote an algorithm that measures factors including how much people interact with a listing (clicking on it, returning to it, forwarding it to friends), seller history (the seller is known to offer interesting things) and textual analysis (a longer seller's description of the product indicates more passion about the item).

FORBES: Magazine Article