Articles like this can really make you sad (or angry). The world continues its mad upgrade cycle and dumps its trash onto less fortunate people, whose health is in turn compromised. This deserves wider coverage in the mainstream media, which ought to feel very guilty.

Do you know what happens to your used computer equipment after it has been discarded? The answer may surprise you. Even if you have tried to recycle it, your old hardware often gets shipped to a developing nation in direct violation of international law. Useful components are then extracted — without safety precautions — by locals earning pennies a day and who are exposed to a range of hazardous toxins that include lead, beryllium, mercury, cadmium, and brominated flame retardants.

Though slated to be banned over a decade ago, the practice continues and seems to be growing. North America, Japan, and South Korea are among the worst offenders. Solutions exist, and free software is a small part of them, but implementing them remains a painfully slow process.

Except for small groups like the Seattle-based Basel Action Network, almost no organization is investigating the situation, nor are governments and recyclers eager to advertise what amounts to an illegal trade. Given the minimal coverage from mainstream media, few people are aware that the problem even exists.

2007 will be remembered as the year when large OEMs finally gave up on deals with an exclusive nature. They began offering Linux preinstalled on their PCs. Big names include Epson, H-P, Acer, Dell, Toshiba, Nokia, and Intel.

Here is a nice video showing the unique aspects of this operating system, which does not receive enough exposure in the media.

Remember this: 2007 is the year when many major companies began preinstalling Linux on their UMPCs, tablets, and PCs, not just devices. phones, servers, POSes, thin clients, and supercomputers. Next some someone jokes about “the Year of Linux on the Desktop”, be sure to set him/her straight. Significant progress is being made.

No investigation, no scrutiny, and Robbie Bach is not even in jail. Let the following recent story teach you why the legal system in America is broken beyond repair and why Microsoft is virtually above the law. It is permitted to steal millions from investors and get away untouched.

MarketWatch.com reports that Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division, sold $6.2 million of Microsoft stock just prior to announcing that Microsoft was going to have to extend XBox 360 warranties to three years because of extensive failures. The filings note that this was not part of any scheduled diversification or selling program; this was a conscious, unscheduled sale by the guy in charge of releasing news that could affect the value of Microsoft stock.

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Insider trading is a very serious violation of the law; just ask Martha Stewart, who served five months in prison for avoiding losses of $43,000 through trades that just had suspicious timing (no insider trading was actually proven). This is $6.3 million that went straight into Robbie Bach’s pocket.

It has been weeks. No apparent action taken.

There is a tired & old argument whether one should say “Linux” or “Ga-noo Linux”. The Debian distribution contains 15% GNU software and only 3% Linux, so Richard’s argument seems justified. People just prefer short and catchy names.

[sarcastic tone filled with amazement /]

HERE’S rudeness and there’s unbelievable tactlessness. This morning I witnessed both.

So…

There I was going to the swimming pool only to find out that in a nearby jacuzzi, a couple decided it would be acceptable to have sex. Not quite so secretly, either. Later on it turned out that I was not the only one who saw this. That the couple almost refused to behave or just leave in shame. The unfortunate thing is that a father with two kids complained about it as well. Not that these very young children could actually understand what was going on…

I have a 2-year old photo of the jacuzzi that I speak of…

Sometimes, adults can act like children.

One of the beautiful things about the Internet is its ability to facilitate collaboration and sharing of information, creative art, and code. Some people realised this and created a framework that results in more output and better output. This man deserves many thanks. He recently stepped down.