Dell has been falling short of expectations as of late, and there are a lot of reasons why.  Recently, founder Michael Dell decided to take the reigns again in order to steer the company back on course.  From what I've seen so far, this is a great move.

Michael S. Dell, the chairman and chief executive of Dell, who built his business by selling direct to his customers, is now thinking about changing the way the company markets its computers.

Dell's Founder Is Rethinking Direct Sales - New York Times

There are some pretty nifty new AA batteries out- when the charge runs low, you just plug them into the USB port on your laptop or desktop computer and recharge them:

The USBCELL, a AA battery that charges via USB port, has kinda taken the internet by storm, and for good reason. The batteries are sturdy, powerful, and take the annoying clutter of a charger completely out of the equation.

USBCELL: I am not an Alkaline (TreeHugger)

This is a neat trick, but only works on the newer mac laptops:

Mac users, try this: hold down the Control key, then drag TWO fingers up your Mac's trackpad. Whoah, right?

Mac Tip: Zoom into any area on the screen - Lifehacker

From Engadget:

A select few have already discovered just how lucrative going green can be, but for mega-corps around the globe, this year's Earth Day was just as much about earning green as it was recycling.

Corporations finding green in going green - Engadget

Here's a great article in the Times analyzing the infamous "Blackberry Addiction" that plagues professionals these days.

It Don't Mean a Thing If You Ain't Got That Ping - New York Times

From Boing Boing:

The starting bid for this 16-acre island off the coast of Machiasport, Maine is $795,000.Ram Island has been designated, along with most of the other uninhabited islands along the Maine coast, as a bird nesting island — and it's true! Sea gulls do nest on the island. And live there too. Along with the gulls are cormorants, ducks, hawks and eagles, and small birds like swallows, sparrows and terns. Because of this nesting designation you cannot build during nesting season, which is May and June. This is the only restriction placed upon use of the island due to the designation.

Boing Boing: Island for sale on eBay

If we can somehow prove this was the effect of global warming, we can save the planet.

On Tuesday night at 8 p.m. Eastern time, technical problems cut off more than five million BlackBerry users in the United States from their cherished wireless e-mail. Service was restored 10 long, data-starved hours later.

Bereft of BlackBerrys, the Untethered Make Do - New York Times

Okay, so cell phones may not cause brain tumors, but that's no comfort to the bees.

Experts have identified a possible contributory cause of the unexplained and drastic decline in honeybee numbers - mobile phone radiation.

Mobile phone threat to honeybees | The Register

Maybe I wouldn't normally blast the competition, but I couldn't resist this story…

According to a lawsuit filed against Best Buy this week, at least one Geek Squad technician has been doing more than just fixing computers. On March 4th, technician Hao Kuo Chi reported to the home of Natalie Fornaciari and Sarah Vasquez. While there, he allegedly placed his cell phone in the bathroom, where it caught 22 year-old Sarah Vasquez showering. Upon exiting the shower, she discovered his cell phone placed behind the sink, with the "Record" function enabled.

Geek Squad guy caught playing Peep Squad

China's up to its usual censorship tricks again.  There seems to be a different story every day about the Chinese government's battle against the Internet- the ultimate free speech tool.  Their policies would be pretty hard to police if China didn't have its own  government-run Internet, separate from the rest of the world!

The Chinese government has announced a six-month program intended to remove domestic pornographic sites from the Internet, and the founders of such sites are ending up in jail, sometimes for life.

China: Internet porn has "perverted China's young minds"