Dell to sell at Wal-Mart
Computer maker Dell plans to begin selling desktop PCs in Wal-Mart Stores this weekend, the first move in a major departure from its decades-long sales strategy. Wal-Mart plans to sell the Dimension E521 in more than 3,000 retail locations in the US. Finally, Dell has addressed one of its main problems by giving customers a chance to touch and feel its products. Dell's going to be touching a lot of people who weren't necessarily looking to buy a PC. The move follows a pronouncement by founder and CEO of the company, Michael Dell, that it would be making a major push in commercial reseller and retail channels. Dell, which has long relied on direct sales, had previously flirted with retail but it had no specific programmes - such as training and technical support special offers - to offer resellers. Dell announced earlier this month it would begin providing many programmes and strategies to help resellers move its products.

Google bans essay writing services
Drugs. Prostitution. Guns. And now essay writing services: all items Google will refuse to carry advertising for. Google will not carry any advertising for companies offering dissertation or essay writing services and pre-written papers for school or university students from next month. A Google spokeswoman said: "Google AdWords' policy will soon disallow ad texts and sites that promote academic paper-writing services and the sale of pre-written essays, theses and dissertations. The change will go into effect in the coming weeks. This change was based on several factors, including user and customer experience. Current Google searches reveal a number of companies offering customised and ready-made essays for upwards of $20 per page to $2,000 for a degree-level essay guaranteeing a 2:1 grade for the buyer. A survey by the Times Higher Education Supplement last year found students are regularly using the internet to plagiarise or cheat on their university coursework. According to the research, 10% of students have looked for essays online and one-third copied material from the internet. Essay writing services will now join a selection of items banned from Google's AdWords - including tobacco, firearms, 'miracle cures', drugs and fireworks.

Google Tests Video Ads
Google said that it has begun to test technology that inserts streaming ads into video clips, the search giant’s latest move to expand beyond its core business of text-based search advertising. The effort, which is being tested with a select group of clients of its AdSense ad serving program, is viewed as the first step of a wide rollout of video ads not only on third-party sites but also likely on its core properties, such as Google.com and YouTube.com. As with the rest of AdSense, Google’s program to place text and display ads on partner websites, revenue from streaming video ads will be split between the search company and the publisher. The ads, up to 30 seconds long, will stream at any point before, during, or after the publisher’s videos. The publisher can also decide whether viewers will be allowed to skip the ads or be forced to watch them. The in-video streaming ads offer publishers more flexibility than the click-to-play video ads, which Google introduced last year. Those spots, which look like banner ads, are static images with a play button on them. The in-video ads will play on the publishers’ Flash players, not through an embedded YouTube or Google Video.

Microsoft makes it hard to downgrade Vista
Microsoft has made it difficult for new PC buyers and channel partners to use Windows XP downgrade rights, system builders say. Micorosft's system builder summit last week in Phoenix, several channel executives criticized Microsoft's activation requirements, which force partners and customers to call the company to obtain a special override key to activate Windows XP on new PCs with Windows Vista pre-installed. The intent of activation is to reduce piracy, but requiring customers and partners to call Microsoft and get a unique key to reactivate XP on every new Vista PC purchase frustrates new PC sales and hinders customer migrations to Vista, according to system builders. Vista's general release came in late January, and the operating system now comes pre-installed on all new Windows PCs. Users can activate the new OS electronically. Typically, though, small and midsize businesses and enterprises wait several months before considering an upgrade to a new OS and tend to use the old platform until all the kinks are worked out and applications are tested. Microsoft executives said the company is aware of the issue and is working on a solution. Still, system builders said they're feeling the impact of the problem in the field today, and they gave Microsoft a lot of grief over the downgrade program at the summit.

Apple moans over sex toy ad
Apple isn't tickled over an Ann Summers sex toy ad that mimics the company's iconic silhouette ipod campaign. Apple lawyers are flushed over sex shops hawking a £30 iGasm peripheral, which plugs into a music player and vibrates to the beat. The ads picture the silhouette of a woman on bended knee with familiar white wires leading from ears, to peripheral, to — ah — down there. By the looks of things, she is very pleased with her purchase. Like a grandmother banging on a bathroom door, demanding to know what you could possibly be doing in there that takes thirty five minutes, Apple is seeking to put a stop to such ribaldry. Apple has released the cease and desist hounds, but the stores aren't bowing to Apple's threats. Apple has form here: last December it grumbled about iPod-driven sex toy the iBuzz being promoted with a silhouette image not dissimilar to one of its own iPod promos. Ann Summers boss Jacqueline Gold told the publication: "Perhaps I can send them an iGasm to put a smile back on their faces!"

People are less bothered by spam
Internet users are being plagued by more spam e-mails but are less bothered by the onslaught of unsolicited pitches. The survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 37% of consumers said they are getting more spam in their personal e-mail accounts than in the past. However, only 18% called spam a big problem, down from a quarter of all respondents four years ago. The findings reflect that consumers are increasingly fighting back against spam by using filters to keep their inboxes clear, a highly recommended but only partially effective tactic. Psychology may offer another explanation: Internet users may simply be getting used to the flood of unsolicited e-mails and now consider it normal. The vast majority of Internet users, 91%, use e-mail, although just over half said that they are less trusting of what they read in their inboxes. For years, Internet users have been desperate for a solution to spam, without much luck. A federal law, the Can-Spam Act of 2003, created rules for commercial e-mail and created penalties for those who violate the law, but it ultimately failed to reduce the volume of unwanted messages. Just over half of the respondents did so, down from 57% four years ago. In another sign of shifting attitudes, more e-mail users said spam is not at all a problem -- 28% versus 16% in 2003. The reasons for the changes in thinking about spam are many. Pornographic messages, which elicited a particularly negative reaction from women, are down sharply (52% of respondents said they received at least one such e-mail compared with 71% three years ago) and more said they use spam filters (71% versus 65% two years ago). Given the complaints about spam, the question remains whether it is even a profitable endeavor.

Verizon Claims Vonage's Appeal Isn't So Obvious
Verizon today urged a federal appeals court to reject Vonage's contention that a recent Supreme Court decision on obviousness justifies the reversal of a $58 million infringement judgment against the Internet telephony company. The nation's second-largest telephone company also asked the appeals court to reinstate a permanent injunction against Vonage using any of Verizon's infringed technology, a decision that could force the Holmdel, N.J.-based Vonage out of business. In appealing the March 8 decision in Verizon's favor, Vonage wrote in its appeal that the Supreme Court's April 30 ruling in KSR v. Teleflex provides the appeals court with the legal firepower and guidance to invalidate Verizon's patents. In that case, the justices ruled the federal appeals court is "too rigidly" applying the standard of deciding whether a claimed invention is obvious to those "skilled in the art." The Supreme Court decision came a little more than a month after Verizon won its infringement case against Vonage. Verizon also argued in its brief the permanent injunction barring Vonage from signing up new customers should be enforced the appeals court. After the jury trial, Vonage filed for an emergency stay of the injunction, which the appeals court granted. As the June 25 oral arguments approach, Vonage is paying Verizon a 5.5% royalty fee until an appeals decision is reached. "Without injunctive relief, Verizon will suffer substantial hardships -- increasing numbers of lost customers, lost sales of existing and future products and services, and eroded profit margins -- that are not remedied by the 5.5% royalty," Verizon wrote. "By contrast, the only hardship that Vonage has identified is the possible retirement of its infringing VoIP system.

Wi-fi piggybacker escapes jail
A Michigan man who used a coffee shop's unsecured Wi-Fi to check his e-mail from his car could have faced up to five years in prison. But it seems few in the village of Sparta, Mich., were aware that using an unsecured Wi-Fi connection without the owner's permission--a practice known as piggybacking--was a felony. Each day around lunch time, Sam Peterson would drive to the Union Street Cafe, park his car and--without actually entering the coffee shop--check his e-mail and surf the Net. His ritual raised the suspicions of Police Chief Andrew Milanowski, who approached him and asked what he was doing. Peterson, probably not realizing that his actions constituted a crime, freely admitted what he was doing. But apparently prosecutors were more than aware of the 1979 law, which was revised in 2000 to include protections for Wi-Fi networks. This is the first time that we've actually charged it, Kent County Assistant Prosecutor Lynn Hopkins said, adding that"we'd been hoping to dodge this bullet for a while. However, Peterson won't be going to prison for piggybacking. Because he has no prior record, Peterson will have to pay a $400 fine, do 40 hours of community service and enroll in the county's diversion program.

Tea with Nelson Mandela offered on Ebay
Geeting lots of publicity for Ebay and Mastercard, Nelson Mandela is offering "high tea" with himself to the highest Ebay bidder. The tea will take place at the Nelson Mandela Foundation headquarters in South Africa. The winner has to find their own way there. The current highest bid stands at $17,670.57. The other aim is to raise money for South African children's charities. Other famous folk up for grabs include Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Virgin boss Richard Branson. Branson's probably up to about two bob by now. Bidders have until until May 25 to place their bids.


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