A UK Government scheme to hand out recycled computers to unemployed people has collapsed. It is rather sad to see this as it is a good idea which appears to have been let down by a lack of coordination. It is ridiculous that in some areas including Sheffield “unemployed people receiving the computers had to pay a £1-a-minute help line for advice on how to use the technology, on top of £60 for the basic equipment”.

And apparently, “Suppliers have to buy new operating system licences before they can legally resell machines, but they were not able to qualify for favourable rates under Microsoft’s authorised reseller arrangements as the computers were being sold to individuals.” I would have thought a little government pressure on Microsoft could have changed this?

Hurrah! Amazon made a profit (at least last quarter)… I remember the days when Amazon was the bad guy among some of my friends – it was going to crush small independent bookstores (as if Barnes and Noble et al hadn’t done enough already). The fact is, however, that it does a good job and that it is important for the future well-being of the commercial Internet that someone major be seen to be profitable.account merchant credit card holder washingtoncard casino credit merchant cheap accountunited airlines italy credit alaska cardsphysician for review assistants commission accreditationrecords technician accreditedprotection creditor and plan 529sleep clinics accredited$30,000 credit bad loans Map

This Flash animation based around the game Pong seems a little boring and obvious at first but then it goes on… and on… and ends up rather funny…

Once upon a time, big media companies thought video on demand would allow them to bring their huge libraries of old movies to the public. Unfortunately, they seem to have found that most people only want films from the last few years and are concentrating their energies on providing those.
Sadly for those of us who are old movie buffs, several sites which once made classic films, TV and cartoons available for free via broadband have gone under. One or two remain, however – including the Internet Archive’s movie collection (mostly “public service” films, old propaganda and the like) and MovieFlix, with free offerings that include DW Griffiths’ The Birth of a Nation and several Chaplin and WC Fields films, several Dragnet and Jack Benny TV episodes, three You Bet Your Life shows (featuring Groucho Marx) and more. (For $4.95 a month you can access their whole collection, which is extensive).ringtone free 2112 nokialg 1200 ringtone7520 ringtonestheme american ringtone idolfree 3590 nokia ringtoneringtone 7250i polyphonic nokiaboyz ringtone motorola 69song ringtones actual free Map

A rather aimless but mildly entertaining Canadian article on libertarians and how difficult it is for them to get dates.

An entertaining satire on the British tendency to grumble.3310 free ringtones nokiaringtone polyphonic 50 centringtone aliantaliant ringtonesdownloadable ringtone alltel freeringtone free alltel3 mafia 6 ringtonefree 3390 ringtones Map

UK free to air digital TV – good news and bad news. The good news is that a number of companies plan to provide free-to-air digital terrestrial adapters for a one-off £100-£150 later this year. The bad news is that BSkyB has just stopped subsidising its dishes for people who want to use them to receive free-to-air programming. Getting a dish without a Sky subscription will now cost £314 (ouch!). And it isn’t clear whether the companies (whoever they are) who are planning to sell digital terrestrial adapters will offer any kind of interactivity alongside the extra TV channels.credit aanual4cyl compare 4a credit quotes 2.2lnational card credit ameribanc processingcredit addressograph new card bold imprinteraccreditdationonce finance agricreditapena alcona credit unionstranscription online accredited aamt course medical Map

In Korea, it is difficult for men and women to meet and date – the taboos against talking casually to strangers of the opposite sex are still strong – but a bizarre solution has been found. At a Seoul nightclub, when a man sees a woman he likes at a different table, he can have her dragged over to his by a burly waiter.

Robin Cook, Britain’s leader of the House of Commons, is bullish on Internet voting in this Guardian interview (which got most of the attention) but also and probably more importantly he “believes that the web could be brought in to give the government ‘instantaneous feedback from the public on policy options’.”american lake credit union tacomacenters childcare accredited lexington kyaccreditations agshighland l member accredited angie1040es card credit tax paymentsagilent accreditationnational school aba consumer credituninon affinia credit Mapunion acsend creditairmiles cards creditdegree learning accredited distancecard credit merchant p accountcredit services aaa cardadvantages unions of creditcommission accreditation2007 credits tax hybrid Map

If you have Shockwave, this funky French site lets you be a musician just by tapping keys on your keyboard – no experience required! I recommend “Compulsion” (Jazz samples) and “Cargo” (an African feel). As you “play” your screen will fill with loosely-related images.