Dell laptop explodes at Japanese conference

I love listening to all the so called 'computer experts' that are always recommending Dell to their friends, and buying Dell for their employer. You know the type, the typical MCSE know-nothings that are sure they know everything because they can turn their own computer on fairly consistently. Even more annoying is the fact that so much of the public actually believe these guys know their own butt from a hole in the ground.

Well, I'm going to stop trying to contradict these guys. Apparently buying Dell is nature's way of weeding out some of the stupid before they breed as yet again Dell has made a product that can fail so spectacularly it can kill you. Not only is this story scary, but read the title of the three linked stories at the bottom of the article.
Dell recalls 22,000 batteries
Dell recalls a million faulty AC adaptors
Dell notebook adaptor fault: Not many killed

"Not many killed" ?!?!? What the #$*&%?
Nice.


Dell laptop explodes at Japanese conference

SGI announces largest SMP Linux.

I've said for some time, the best general purpose OS is Linux, and the best Linux by far is SuSE.

BIOS: The Quality Tech Guide

Microsoft = Big Brother?

The news broke recently that Microsoft got caught yet again* spying on it's customers.
Funny the timing of this with the announcement by China that all new PC's it buys must be Linux certified mentioned in a previous blog entry.
Can't imagine why China and many others are moving away from Microsoft.

* See:
http://130.94.161.3/KortExplores/articles/files/spy1.php
http://www.windowssecrets.com/comp/060615/ (Scroll down to "Genuine Advantage is Microsoft spyware"
http://www.marketingshift.com/2005/03/is-microsoft-spying-on-you-with.cfm
Note: This is a good time to install the "Fetch text URL" extension for Firefox. You are using Firefox right?

GROKLAW

China starts Linux revolution...

China is huge future market for technology. There are billions to be made. Microsoft is desperate to get a foothold there, and has been up to it's usual tricks. However, they have not been able to make the Chinese government cow to them like some others. China (like Russia) has banned Microsoft OS's from many military and other sensitive systems due to Microsoft's complicity with the NSA in spying on Microsoft users.
China has also promoted the development of it's own Linux distro. Now China is requiring that all PC's there be Linux compatible. Given that most PC hardware comes from Taiwan, Hong Kong and China, this WILL affect everyone. And this movement is growing.

I think that if I had long term investment funds that included Microsoft stock, I would sell them. This and the ODF movement combined with Microsoft's general lack of competitive products is really going to hurt them in the next few years.

It explains Microsoft's huge push for the communist like TCPM systems. To enable them to wring the last dollars out of their declining profits at the expense of customers.

Don't buy it though, TCPM is a noose, don't put your neck in it.

Taipei Times - archives

The software protection racket, Part 1 - Network World

The software industry's jackbooted protection scheme branch, the BSA is getting out of hand.
What I want to know is, who gave them the power or right to do any of this? They act like a law enforcement agency. Make sure you read part II as well.

The software protection racket, Part 1 - Network World