Dell 'bait and switch' alleged

One plaintiff alleges that a laptop advertised for $599 and an $89 printer, cost her over $1,300. Another claims that Dell supplied two PCs of an inferior specification to that ordered. One of the two law firms representing the plaintiffs said it has investigated over a hundred complaints since August.

I know of one person who tried to order the low-priced advertised special but terminated the order process when told that a memory upgrade was going to cost over $300. The class action lawsuit mentioned in this article has been filed in California.

Spyware Snags Blogger Users

Dozens of blogs hosted by Google Inc.'s Blogger service can install programs that are widely considered to be spyware and adware onto visitors' computers, warn users and spyware researchers. In many cases, users are discovering the offending sites as they browse among blogs through Blogger's navigation bar.

This blog isn't going to do that to you, but if you browse blogs using the "Next Blog" button in the upper right corner of your screen, well...

Easter Eggs

Follow the link to an archive of over 7700 eggs, but meanwhile, try this one --

a) Open a new Word document and write: =rand (200,99)
b) Press "Enter"
c) Wait for three seconds and look again.

Stupid Computer Tricks

Photographic proof that there are lusers who should never be allowed near a computer.

Was That a Pop-Up... ?

Probably not. I've been getting a few pop-unders. Since Micro$oft has decided to use pop-up blocking technology, the scumversives (my term for pop-up advertisers) are using other methods to get their message in your face. Follow the link (above) to the article in MacFixIt.

Browser URL Spoofing Vulnerability

There has been a lot of discussion lately about a vulnerability in every browser except MSIE. Most folks are telling you that it can't be helped and just be careful. Yeah, right. Here's a fix for Mozilla's Firefox browser.

Future Homebuilding

Known as Contour Crafting, the process is the brainchild of an engineering professor, Behrokh Khoshnevis, of the University of Southern California.

Professor Khoshnevis believes that his technology will make it possible to build a house from foundation to roof in less than 24 hours: "Our goal," he says, "is to be able to completely construct a one-storey 185-square-meter home on site in one day, without using human hands."

Think of a giant inkjet printer, with a print head as wide as your house. The print head is on rails and a gantry, so it can be raised as it moves back and forth. Now, instead of ink, use cement. The professor has developed a process that includes plumbing and electrical -- even interior finishing.

How the SB Ads Ranked

Seems Napster had the rankest ad of them all. The alcoholic pilot jumping from his plane for a beer ranked #1.

Super Bowl Ads

We all know the REAL reason for watching the Super Bowl -- it's the ads. If you skipped the game on TV you can still see the ads, here, without all the annoying "athletics". They even have the ads that were banned from the game.

Phishing Flaw in Firefox

I've not tried this in Opera or in Micro$oft's Internet Explorer. I browse with Firefox, and indeed the test shows I'm vulnerable. Unfortunately the solution isn't very elegant.