Another week has passed and it's time once again to look at the weird,
wacky and funnier side of the Net.
Microsoft's Linux Distribution
Can it be true? Is Microsoft preparing to launch its own Linux distribution late
next year? Can pigs really fly?
Scott's Privy Page
This page proves that some people really ought to get a life. Check out what
these dudes do in their spare time -- and always look before you sit perhaps?
A Potato-Powered Web Server
Yes folks, it's true! An environmentally friendly webserver that runs on
spuds. How a-peeling! Powered by a new kind of computer chip perhaps?
Judge Judy Wouldn't Approve Of This
I've had a couple of complaints from people who have encountered hassles
when using the online ordering service offered by
Pizza Hut.
One reader emailed me and said:
"I ordered some pizzas online - gave them my card details and clicked
order.
They brought it out 25 minutes later and asked me for some money!
I said " I've ordered on your site and given my card details and I'm not
going to again".
I had 2 choices - pay them cash or cheque or give the pizzas back."
What's going on -- is their secure-server clogged with stringy cheese or
something?
If you've had a similar experience, please let me know
and I'll see if I can get to the bottom of it.
Idiots Force Closure Of NZ Herald Forums
Long-term readers of Aardvark will remember that I used to have
an interactive forums area here in which many of the issues highlighted in
this column were discussed.
While the overall quality of the discussions was high, a small group of
childish idiots regularly repeatedly used this area to annoy others by launching
personal attacks and firing insults. Following a wave of complaints by other
users I was forced to shut down the service.
Well it seems that something similar has happened over at the
NZ Herald.
Attempts to access the
NZ Herald Forums
now produces a page which explains the situation.
It just goes to show that the Net is just like the real-world. There
are always a few idiots willing to spoil a good thing for everyone else :-(
Millionaire UK Inventor Agrees That R&D Is The Key
James Dyson,
is the inventor of the bagless Dyson vacuum cleaner and
when he spoke to meetings of local business-people and on several TV interviews
this week he made almost exactly the same reference to Kiwis and number 8
fencing wire that I used in
my draft paper several days earlier.
(Great minds think alike? :-)
Now Dyson isn't just someone talking through a hole in his head -- he's a man
who has, within a few short years, stolen 30% of a billion dollar market
by turning "a good idea" into an outstanding commercial success. His success
is an excellent example of why we should be working hard to create an active
and highly effective R&D infrastructure in this country.
Let's hope his words haven't fallen on deaf ears.
As always, your feedback is welcomed.
