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Apple stores seem such ordered and venerable establishments that even when they are populated by far too many people (which seems to happen often), nothing is out of place.

So the footage I have embedded here feels like the desecration of a church.

Some miscreants with nothing better to do in the early hours of Wednesday decided to smash the front window of the Apple store in Marlton, N.J., and make off with as much booty as they could grab.

It all seems to happen so quickly that you wonder if the security guard, who was, according to MSNBC, … Read more

I know many people have strong feelings about euthanasia. And who am I to suggest that old people have few uses?

However, who is Michael Amatrudo to put his parents up for sale on Craigslist?

According to NBC New York, Amatrudo's wife is used to his sense of humor. You might conclude, though, that she has suffered enough. For her loving husband decided, just for a little fun, to put his parents up for sale on America's most useful human exchange.

Amatrudo's ad was a poem to filial love: "I got lots of use out of … Read more

The new Bing Dynasty desperately wants you to love it.

And it understands you so well in these times of penury and desperation that it knows you have certain vulnerabilities that might be worth exploring: the vulnerabilities that lurk in the area around your pocket.

Therefore Microsoft has launched its first-ever TV ad for Cashback, a nifty system that gives you a little money when you buy something vital--such as sneakers or a camera--through a Bing search.

It does seem like splendidly commercial bribery. However, I do wish that the ad might have been a little less prosaic and a … Read more

For those of you in parts of the world where there remain only four or five sunny days--London, New York--the wonderful news that I am about to impart may well be a little frustrating.

However, for those of us in the deserving paradise of the American west coast, this is the sort of joy that only indispensability can bring.

For a man in Seattle named Marc Johnson has invented the perfect solution to laptop usage on a gorgeous sunny day.

The Laptop Burka.

You might be shuddering in the thought that this has religious connotations. But, no. Johnson is not … Read more

I have never watched NBC's "The Philanthropist." (I have embedded a small excerpt, to offer you a little excitement.)

However, the show seems to be the battleground for a less than altruistic lawsuit against Microsoft Bing's ad agency, JWT and its holding company, WPP.

According to AdAge, the plaintiff, a Delaware-based company specializing in "program-integrated advertising" called Denizen, is claiming that it was in discussions with WPP as long ago as 2002.

These talks seem to have gone on for more than four years and Denizen claims it had a confidentiality agreement in place.… Read more

There's something that looks like a wedding ring. A wedding ring, I tell you.

I don't for a moment believe it belongs to Gov. Arnold Schwarzernegger's fair wife. However, it's the governor who is inviting you to "bring the family" and take items such as this ring off his hands. Because California needs to find cash wherever it can.

Please, go to Craigslist or eBay and take the ThinkPad ($200) and the the Dell laptop ($200). Or even these 10 office chairs ($5 each). The LG Flip Phone ($9) and the Blackberrys ($25) have … Read more

In the wake of the unfortunate race-swap decapitation performed by unknown persons on an image used on Microsoft's Web site in Poland, I thought I'd wander over to the Polish press and see what it might have to say on the subject.

You see, we spoke Polish at home. And, well, I wondered whether the coverage in the country of my blood might indeed differ in any way from that in the U.S. Some Polish papers, like the rather energetic tabloid Super Express seem not have to made much of the story.

The more serious Dziennik pointed … Read more

It has already been discussed on NBC's "Today Show."

It has apparently enjoyed more than 1 million views on YouTube. And it has already aroused cries that it is too graphic, too shocking, too much to watch.

But the police department of Gwent, Wales, felt it had to do something to highlight the realities of texting and driving, so together with filmmaker Peter Watkins-Hughes, it made a public service announcement.

The film shows a teenage girl driving some friends in her car. Engrossed in her texting, she is involved first in one crash before her car is … Read more

It's ugly. It's not proactive. It turns a deaf ear, a blind eye, and a snubby nose to investors. And it looks upon advertising as if it were as appropriate as an anchor tattoo on the Pope's forehead.

In sum, suggests Gary Wolf in the latest issue of Wired, Craigslist is a mess. A horrible mess. An embarrassing mess. A willful mess in which its principals rake in money while its principles seem to revolve around some weirdly benign view of human goodness.

Of course, you can see what he means.

We live in the forging, gorging … Read more