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System76
System76 provides and supports Ubuntu pre-installed laptops, desktops, and servers with a commitment to the ideals of open source software.
http://system76.com/
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To help increase awareness of Firefox, Mozilla would like to produce a high-quality, innovative 30-second ad that introduces Firefox to mainstream Web users.
In line with its history and orientation, Mozilla is opening up the creation of its initial advertising creative to film, TV, advertising, multimedia professionals, students and aspiring pros as part of the Firefox Flicks Ad Contest.
Go There!
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Online Arcade
Awesome Flash Games at The First Post!
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Nokia's awesome new Nseries phone runs on the Linux OS!
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Picasa
Picassa 2 is certainly better than the software that came with your digital camera! Works with Windows and Linux...
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The PC Chat Computer Show - Articles
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Doofuses I Met This Week on the Internet
07-14-2007 |
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Things That I Learned, and Doofuses I Met This Week on the Internet.
First up, right out of the starting blocks this week, a tip of the hat to an anonymous auction-loving doofus who, for a short time, placed the Norwegian Royal Palace in Oslo, Norway on the auction block at eBay. Bidding was something less than fierce for almost 24 hours, before it was removed early Thursday as a hoax.
The last bid received for the stately edifice in the center of the capital city was $100,000.
In the ad soliciting bids it did note, however, that though the palace could be moved to another country, the Royal Family were not included.
Personally, I think that hurt the bidding. Throw in the Royal Family, and then you’ve got something.
From Norway I headed to Santa Fe and the New Mexico Transportation Department that has a new and unique approach for trying to keep drunk drivers off the road. They’re placing talking urinal cakes in bar restrooms.
Not to be confused with Little Debbie’s kind of cakes, these urinal muffins contain a recordable memory card that plays back audio reminders to urinal visitors not to drink and drive.
Would that freak you out or what? You’ve got a buzz going, you stagger to the restroom, and as you’re standing there, you start hearing voices coming from the urinal: “If you’ve been drinking, don’t drive!” “Mom, is that you?”
The State Transportation Department has ordered 500 of them for placement in restrooms throughout the state.
From Santa Fe, I scrolled on over to the USA Today Web site where I learned about a Florida couple that is engaged to be married after losing more than 200 pounds and finding each other on a Weight Watchers message board. Awwwwww….
Julie McWilliams, who lives in Florida, had lost more than 100 pounds. Ken Schweitzer, who lived in Iowa at the time, had just gone to his first Weight Watchers meeting. Schweitzer said he noticed that his starting weight of 307 pounds was the same as Julie’s had been, so he emailed her asking for advice.
She told him her story and they soon became friends. After about a month of phone calls and emails, he flew to Florida to see her. One thing led to another and before you know it, loved blossomed.
Nothing snarky about this one; just a heart-warming, happy ending for two large people in the process of getting smaller. Good for them.
Next up, I learned from the Waukesha, Wisconsin Freeman newspaper Web site about James Van Iverson who, with sword in hand, burst through his neighbor's door to save what he thought was a rape victim. What he found instead was a very startled man who was minding his own business watching Internet porn.
The startled neighbor told police that Van Iverson kicked in his door and used a sword to back him into a closet, all the while screaming, "Where is she?"
The victim explained to police that what our caped crusader heard was the soundtrack to a porno movie he was enjoying in the privacy of his apartment. When Van Iverson failed to find any women stashed in the apartment, he said, ”Oops, sorry,” and went home.
Junior crime-fighter Van Iverson now faces charges of criminal trespass, damage to property, disorderly conduct, and possession of a dangerous weapon.
Next up, Chesterfield, Virginia, and the Web site of the Richmond Times-Dispatch newspaper, where I learned that part-time high school teacher and full-time doofus Steve Murphy lost his job because of an instructional video he placed on the Internet.
What could possibly be wrong with a high school teacher placing an instructional video on the Internet, you ask? Nothing, really, except if the instructor was teaching others how to paint using his buttocks. Do I have to even explain where the paint brush was inserted? I think not.
The Chesterfield County School Board debated the fate of teacher Murphy for nearly three hours Tuesday night before voting to dismiss him. He had been on administrative leave while administrators grappled with the evidence—a Web-based video that shows him creating art with his butt while wearing a Groucho Marx glasses-and-nose disguise.
Memo to Mr. Murphy: Apparently it wasn’t THAT great of a disguise.
School Board Chairman Marshall Trammell said that it wasn't the art but rather the disruption in the classroom the video caused that was the primary problem, since every student in the school had a copy of the video.
Murphy’s attorney, of course, said that his client did absolutely nothing wrong and is contemplating suing the school board for wrongful termination.
To view the video, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JREtSZaJDs
From the U.K., and the Cheshire Chronicle Web site I learned about four employees of a British firm who received text messages announcing they were being fired, effective immediately. So I think we have another candidate for “Boss of the Year.”
The managing director of Stanley Porters and Co., fired the four at 7:45 a.m. Wednesday, and told them not to come to the office to collect their personal effects.
"Due to a lack of professionalism and poor overall performance, I have no option but to let you go," the text message from head doofus Lee Wilson read.
"Your pay will be calculated and sent to you along with your belongings. You will not be permitted to enter the office.”
One of the four employees, a 22-year-old identified only as Charles, told the Chronicle he had just spent $6,000 on a trip to Florida. Said the newly unemployed man, "Wilson talks about a lack of professionalism, but what’s unprofessional is firing people by text message."
I’ve got to agree with ol’ Chuck on this one: Firing people by text message? Is that doofus-like behavior or what?
From England I headed to that vacation paradise, Hilton Head, South Carolina where I learned that a man was charged with disorderly conduct after being observed "in a physical confrontation with shrubs."
The Beaufort County Detention Center's online log says the 23-year-old man, whose name was not released, smelled of alcohol and was taken to the detention center to await prosecution.
The arresting deputy said he responded to a complaint that the man had attempted to get into someone else's car. When the deputy arrived on the scene, the man allegedly had moved on to beating the vegetation.
The police report said that while being subdued, the man broke free, sprinted across the street, and started kicking the crap out of a shrub before being Tasered.
There had to be a full moon that night, don’t you think? How else can you explain assaulting a shrub?
And last but not least, I’ve got some sad news to report: Bill Gates is no longer the richest man in the world. After holding that title for an unprecedented 13 years, the new richest man is Mexican telecommunications tycoon Carlos Slim. A 27 percent surge in the stock price of Slim’s wireless company, American Movil, bumped his net worth up to 68 billion dollars, where Gates’ paltry, chump-change net worth is flat-lined around $59 billion.
I was thinking about $59 billion and just trying to figure out how much that is. If you paid yourself $250,000 a week—a cool $1 million a month, it would take almost 5,000 years to burn through 59 billion dollars.
Or looking at it another way, Gates is 55, so if he lives to be 85, he’s got another 30 years. If he wanted to spend it all before he faces his personal blue screen of death, he’d have to spend almost $2 billion a year, which is $166 million each month, or more than $40 million each week!
I wonder if he’d like to sponsor PC Chat? That’s not asking too much, is it?
Regardless, on behalf of all of us here at PC Chat, our condolences to Mr. Gates. Maybe we should send him an e-card.
Note: Incidents recounted within this segment are based on true events, though names, locations, and incidences themselves may have been enhanced for dramatic effect, or to obtain a few chuckles, smirks and/or chortles from the listening audience.
Mr. Modem
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Archived Articles
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Last week's results:
"Which Linux Distro do you use?"
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Kubuntu / Ubuntu
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48%
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SuSE
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15%
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Redhat/Fedora
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8%
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Other
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29%
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Linux Ready Computers
If you're planning on buying someone a computer this year, why not get them a desktop or laptop with GNU/Linux pre-installed? If you don't know where to buy one, you can check out the Pre-Installed Linux Vendor Database. The database lets you filter on laptops or desktops, and you can see what city the vendor is in.
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These hand-picked sites by PC Chat are worthy of your attention.
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