Miscellany

The 10 funniest Mac vs. PC YouTube videos

You've probably seen the "'I'm a Mac.' 'I'm a PC.'" commercials produced by Apple. If you've got some time to waste, check out these YouTube parodies.

zunePhone

We can't authenticate this ad as being genuine Microsoft, but we like it. Watch the YouTube video.

New techniques for saving failed projects

Officials at Nepal's state-run airline have sacrificed two goats as a possible solution to technical problems with one of its Boeing 757 aircraft. Read Michael Krigsman's blog article.

Fake ad: iMacs are “Vista-capable”

Enjoy the joke.

Welcome to 1984, folks

Welcome to 1984, folks. It's been a bit delayed, but we're getting there. Read Andrew Keen's blog entry.

About Dell Service

Although not the main focus of our business, we do a number of computer repairs, and have found Dell to be the most difficult to deal with, including internal procedures that don't work, being required to waste a long time running useless tests from their own proprietary diagnostics that give less information than we already knew before we called in order to get a replacement part shipped, no clue about what parts were used in a system with a known Service Tag (serial number), and unintelligible accents. Read Dan Kusnetsky's blog on his next business day contract turning into a week and a half.

Sony's Burning and Exploding Batteries

There are plenty of good reasons HP passed Dell as the #1 computer vendor, but Dell never expected Sony to supply batteries that ignite and explode, a fiasco that could cost Sony half a billion dollars. This Washington Post article reports a fire that started in flight on a UPS cargo plane that landed safely, a laptop that burned up a family heirloom 1966 truck, and other incidents.

The Inkjet Investigation

The following was seen on Slashdot. We do not vouch for its accuracy.

Are original inkjet cartridges really worth the high cost? Do third party refill inks do as good a job? This article looks at printers from Epson, HP, Canon and Lexmark, with a combination of original inks and the top selling third-party options, using a whole host of different papers. A panel of printer users judged the output in a blind test - the printer manufacturers may not be happy with the results!

The Internet for Good

Yawa Aziaka, a hardworking but uneducated entrepreneur in Togo, needs a loan to buy chickens and feed to expand her poultry business. This will enable her to better support her four children and two foster children. She will repay the loan in 15 months. If you could change her life with a $25 loan, would you?

Well, now you can.

Kiva, a San Francisco-based start-up, is using technology to connect small-stakes lenders around the world with impoverished entrepreneurs in developing countries — a feat that’s helping to change the nature of microfinancing and global giving itself.

Read about it in the Computerworld article Click and change the world: Microfinance for the masses and the Editor in Chief's column Giving a Chance.

The Internet for Good – Closer to Home

A straight-A pupil whose favorite subject is social studies, Frida DeSantiago dreamed of attending a national youth leadership conference in Washington.

The Chicago 12-year-old knew her parents, both restaurant workers, could not afford the airfare and hotel costs. Frida began selling candy bars, hoping--against all odds--that she could cajole enough family and friends into helping her raise the $1,000 fee.

Frida's wish came true weeks after her social studies teacher posted her story on the Chicago section of DonorsChoose.org, a unique Web site that has generated more than $1 million in donations for hundreds of Chicago Public Schools.

Abbott and Costello Buy a Computer

After you've invested, take a break and read this masterpiece, which Google finds on quite a few web sites. The author deserves a gold star.