Well done to HP for trying this concept out, here's hoping that with a little forethought it could be the standard way of packaging laptops.

Since the whole point of the laptop bag is to protect a laptop and its accessories, by having the laptop placed into the bag at production, we could cut out tonnes of waste.

I seem to remember that Jerry Seinfeld was actually in one of the "Here's to the Crazy Ones" Apple Computer ads, long before "Seinfeld" hit the air.

He looked a little out of place alongside Amelia Earhart, Einstien, Picasso and Ghandi, though.

> Seems like there's a step missing in the "wad of cash" scam...

I agree. I read it five times before I was able to see what the writer was getting at. I just couldn't see where the victim actually had any investment or stake that could be lost to the crooks. It's the last bit "the other goon will track you down and demand *all* of the money" - including forcing you to cover the money goon2 supposedly has - that I didn't realise on first reading.

It sounds like a pretty hamfisted scam, though. All well thought out scams have the victim making their investment and parting with their money *before* suspicion arises.

In October they'll "provide much priority for the test version"? That doesn't sound promising.

I enjoyed playing with the wheel, but my preferred method is the nunchuck. On both the wheel or classic controller you have to use the cross pad for vital functions (weapons with the wheel, flips and jumps with the classic controller), while with the nunchuck arrangement you have the bigger shoulder-buttons for drifting and handling weapons, and just flick your hand to jump/flip - it's much easier to manage and much more accurate, especially when you're drifting and dragging a weapon at the same time.

Gotta love the Wii, though. :-)

I think it's worth pointing you to this recent contender on ABC Australia's "New Inventors":

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/newinventors/txt/s2245783.htm

The device is a wrist-strap or bike glove with blinking LEDs that blink when you hold your hand out to signal a turn. A much neater solution, IMHO.

I can't help but wonder if this is one of those examples of a major corporation doing something deliberately, eye-catchingly stupid in order to increase "mindshare" "search engine rankings" and so on.

Just imagine how many blogs, sites and reputable reviewers have written about this little gadget; often using phrases like "Sony claims that this is the 'best media player ever made'". If 200 bloggers put that quote on their blogs, then what happens next time someone Googles "best media player ever made"? What happens to Sony's struggling mindshare?

Either that, or they designed this little gadget *on purpose* actually believing it would be a hit. If thats the case ... Ouch.

I'm amazed that people still need to ask "Why on earth would you need privacy, unless you're a terrorist or a paedophile"? Perhaps you've never met any journalists, lawyers, law enforcement agents, private investigators, protesters, human rights activists or the like.

I consider this sort of thing valuable information.

I'd consider removing the EXIF data (which stores camera model, date, time, lens and exposure settings) to be even more important.

I wonder if I'm the only one dislexic enough to read that headline as:

"Loads more US coleslaw online for free"

I'm reminded of Blackadder the First selling his religious artifacts, including his "Nose of St Peter" that came in a box of 30.

Aluxeterna: I was going to comment that you made me picture "Mama don't let your babies grow up to be lawyers" when I decided to check the lyrics, and found the actual lyrics were:

"Mama don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys
Don't let 'em pick guitars and drive them old trucks
Make 'em be doctors and lawyers and such"

I live in Victoria and its worth pointing out that most of the state is under water usage restrictions due to a long-running drought.

In country areas, almost every home and business now has a rainwater tank. The rainwater tank industry is booming and there is an incredible cottage industry built up around rainwater and wastewater. Every supermarket and hardware store is selling dozens of "greywater hoses" every day to divert the waste water from washing machines onto gardens.

For city dwellers, tanks are made now to fit under houses, or into narrow spaces, and are colour matched to the popular "Colourbond" range of roofing and fencing materials. Some of the designs are incredibly modern and stylish.

In Victoria if you want a green garden, you need to use rainwayer or grey water. This shift in what people want has resulted in a shift in what is available, too, with most detergent and soap makers releasing greener phosphate-free products.

I will agree with the above post, though. That house is very ugly and undesirable.

"Less than three inches thick". I wonder if its also "Lighter than 50 kilos" and has "More than 20gb of hard drive space".

And when there are no trees around?