One of the most frequent uses we have for our laptops is sending and receiving emails. I still remember the first time I got my own email address (about ten years ago). I was obsessively checking my inbox for any kind of mail — even spam! There was even a forwarded email circulating about how to tell if you are an email junkie. Of course, that was still during the infancy of commercial email, when everyone looked at it as this shiny, new-fangled toy.
Jump a few years back to the present and email has lost its “new toy” sheen. People have now seen its blemishes and ugly spots. First, there is spam, then the proliferation of hoax and scam emails, and of course, there are the trojan and virus infested emails that wreak havoc on your computer.
Harris Interactive recently conducted a survey on the biggest pet peeves that happen in the workplace and, surprisingly, it discovered that the abuse and misuse of emails has now emerged as one of the biggest annoyances at work. According to respondents, they are irritated when officemates use the “reply all” function on emails without thinking. This practice floods inboxes with emails that are not important to people not involved in the communication or the project. Another pet peeve is the use and misuse of blind carbon copies (BCC).
Even though email abuse has risen on the list though, the biggest pet peeve is still gossip in the work environment, with 60 per cent of respondents listing it at the top of their list.
Well, include gossiping via email as an emerging pet peeve in the years to come.
I’ve contended time and time again that present laws on copyright are outdated and should be changed or revamped in order to more accurately reflect the change in paradigms in terms of intellectual property. The old fogeys at the RIAA and its film counterpart are just being stubborn for trying to go after the fans themselves. It’s a very shortsighted solution in a battle in which they will just lose anyway. We need newer and better alternatives.
The decision of Walgreens to setup kiosks that will allow consumers to make legitimate copies of DVDs through a system that is also designed to discourage piracy is a welcome one, in my opinion.
Changes in how copy protection laws impact on DVDs have made this “experiment” viable and is encouraging not only Walgreens but also other retailers as well to allow consumers to make copies of DVDs in their stores.
This is a win-win situation for both consumers and for movie studios. Burning copies means cheaper costs, while studios also get a cut of the revenues generated for the services — and they don’t even have to spend on manufacturing and shipping costs.
The idea is already generating a lot of buzz and many people are hoping that this is going to become a success. I hope that this is going to become an important step towards the right direction.
I’ve been blogging about some pretty serious stuff for the last few months. Time to have some fun, don’t you think?
Have you guys seen the Chris Crocker video on Youtube? It’s basically about this weird guy who’s bawling his eyes out trying to defend Britney Spears from detractors and critics. Crocker, who calls himself the Queen of Ghetto, shows what a rabid fan is willing to do in defense of their favorite — either that or he’s really desperate to get that fifteen minutes of fame. And you know what? In the crazy world of showbusiness, he did get his fifteen minutes. He has appeared in Jimmy Kimmel Live and more recently it was announced that a production company has signed Crocker to do a reality TV show –all on the strength of his kohl-lined eyes, his frosted highlights and his hysterics.
One of the raison d’etres of having a laptop is taking advantage of WiFi and the ability to surf the internet wherever you are. For me, mobile surfing is one of the greatest technological leaps that we have made because it has really made information accessible to anyone, anywhere, anytime.
Of course, WiFi still costs money to operate. Yes, there are free WiFi hotzones but that doesn’t mean the operators of the network are not expending money to give you the privilege to look at the latest football scores over your macchiatto. They shoulder not only the WiFi subscription but also the accompanying costs of operating WiFi devices — electricity being a big factor to the overall expense.
Solis Energy claims to have the solution though. The Orlando-based company said that it can employ solar energy to power low wattage devices like WiFi routers, security cameras — even traffic lights and sensors. This is the kind of innovation that is really welcome in our time when global warming really poses a serious threat worldwide. An alternative source of energy that is one hundred per cent green and renewable is the way to go. Al Gore should have reason to smile when he reads about Solis.
I recently visited the buy and sell section of one of my favorite online forums. I periodically do this because I have discovered that some really great bargains could be had from the buy and sell section. I was doing the virtual equivalent of window shopping when I chanced upon an ad posted by one of the forum members. This guy was selling his old iMac G4 20″ desktop PC for about $1,199. I couldn’t believe my eyes! The ad further explained that the G4 had been used for a fe w years and that he initially bought the iMac for $2,800.
If you look at the numbers you’d think that you’re getting a real bargain. The guy must be crazy if he’s selling it at that low price! The seller may think that he’s offering a great bargain price, but in reality, he’s ripping off any prospective buyers. Here is where the iniquity of depreciation kicks in. A cursory look in eBay and you will discover that the highest bid for a used but good condition iMac G4 is $200. Yes, a measly 200 bucks. And to put it in a better perspective, the newly released iMac Aluminum, that marvel of desktop architecture, has a base price of, hold on, $1,199. That’s the price being offered by the seller in that buy and sell section!
Depreciation really sucks especially when it involves items that you paid so much money for. The seller may not have any intention of tricking hapless buyers and only wants to recoup some of his investment on a PC. But the sad reality is, the moment you buy a computer, whether it’s a desktop PC or a laptop, it is already obsolete and have devalued in price.
If you have any intention of recouping your investment in computers. Follow this simple advice: Sell it off after two years. Even then, the most that you can get is maybe half of what you paid for it.
