iPod go boom!

Well, I guess this story goes to show that iPods + water + screwdriver = trouble - Australian teenager tries to repair iPod after it goes through wash. So, if you get your iPod wet - DON'T try to fix it yourself, for god's sake!!

Microsoft to offer PC maintenance service

Microsoft has announced that it will soon offer a new PC maintenance service, Microsoft OneCare. Dennis Bonsall, group product manager, says "[OneCare] really is targeted at those consumers who don't have a solution to take care of their PC today". The expected product will incorporate both security and maintenance software with the security features of the service to include anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall protection. Maintenance services would include disk cleanup, file repair and hard-drive defragmentation. The product is also expected to offer a data backup utility. OneCare will first be tested by Microsoft employees, then a larger test will be run using 25,000 consumers over the summer. So basically it's a competitor for software like Norton SystemWorks and other products like it. I suppose it's at least something that would help get people thinking about using something like this on their PC, even if they don't use Microsoft's. And that would be a good thing in my opinion.

Happy Birthday, Pac Man!

Yes it's true - Pac Man turns 25 years old this year. CNN Money's Game Over column has an article all about it, including a photo gallery of Pac Man over the years. Wow, 25 years - I'm really feeling old just thinking about it!

The force has great power over the weak minded

John Challenger, CEO of the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas is quoted in this New York Post article that he believes opening weekend absenteeism due to Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith could cost employers as much as $627 million dollars. He arrived at this estimate using attendance for the first two days of Attack of the Clones (9.4 million people in 2002) and using average earnings per day of $130.60. Which seems kinda high to me - that's $16.32 an hour if you assume an eight hour day. But anyway, I'm thinking more people will see it than they are estimating, so the numbers might still work out to close to that figure. I tell you what, if I thought I could get away with it - I'd call off work. But I'm such a hopeless Star Wars fanboy, I'm afraid that I'd never be able to get away with it.

New rival for Apple's iTunes Music Store

Yet another rival online music store was announced yesterday, joining the ranks of iTunes Music Store, Napster, WalMart Music, Sony Connect, etc. - Yahoo announced the launch of Yahoo Music Unlimited yesterday. Looks like it'll be $4.99 a month for unlimited downloads ($59.88 billed annually). It's not compatible with iPod (of course), but their music player (called Yahoo Music Engine) apparently can be used with one, although right now it would be harder than using iTunes. There is one neat thing about it - you can develop plug-ins for Yahoo Music Engine, so maybe the ability to add functions to it would be a good reason to use it. Worth watching and seeing what can be done with it at least.