Microsoft's New 'I'm a PC' Ad Gently Alights Upon the Airwaves
Update: YouTube version added for the Silverlight-averse. Also, is it just us, or does Microsoft's Hodgman-clone kind of look like Paul Dano? Just something to think about.
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These days, Ben Curtis, also once known as "the Dell dude," is more likely to say "Dude, you're gettin' a tequila" than "Dude, you're gettin' a Dell" (the catch phrase/slogan he made famous as the on-air Dell spokesman back in the early aughts). That's because the affable everyman that showed up in many a commercial for Dell Computer now works as a bartender at a Mexican-restaurant-cum-bar in New York City!
Is this what happens after you get busted for trying to buy marijuana and then lose your job on a high-profile ad campaign? Apparently, yes, but it's not as bad as it sounds.
First of all, the guy is busy. When not participating in anti-war protests (as evidenced by the picture above) or playing gay dudes off-Broadway to critical acclaim, Curtis does episodes of Law & Order and has a role in the upcoming movie,' Proud Iva.' Curtis also sings in the band Whale. According to the funny interview with Curtis on New York magazine's Grub Street blog, the former Dell dude has also found girlfriends (as well as friends in DEA agents) at the Tortilla Flats restaurant where he's been working his "day job."
Turns out that the Dell dude is less of an everyman and more of an indie hipster, which, surprisingly, is about the last thing we'd associate with the computer company he once represented.
So, what do you think? Isn't it time we gave this guy a break? If he were now to become a national spokesperson for a company or product other than Dell, what company or product would that be? Let us know!
From Grub Street/NewYorkMag
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There's plenty to love about the Internet. But there is also plenty to loathe. Ridiculous banner ads, the crappy quality of the vast majority of Web video, and complex Web 2.0 services without any support.
PC World surveyed its readers and found out what they think the Top 10 Web Annoyances are. From Ticket Master to trolls (those people who post annoying, nonstop comments on forums), there's plenty of annoying stuff you'll recognize in this piece.
Online forms -- a pet peeve of ours -- makes the list. These overly complex forms that ask for a head scratching amount of personal information just to read an article or post on a forum are, to put it lightly, a bit pain in the ___. We can't count the number of times we've spent five minutes filling out a form, only to have missed a "required field" that wasn't marked clearly. Or the instances where we've input an answer in an unsuitable format that had no instructions, only to have the form clear itself completely and tell us we messed something up (but not tell us what!).
For all the convenience it has brought us, the Internet sure is annoying.
How about you? What do you think is the most annoying stuff on the Internet?
From PC World
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With the crying babies, cramped quarters, spiteful flight attendants and pilots who like to get cute over the PA, air travel is truly one of life's more miserable experiences. For London-based advertising startup Ad-Air, though, it's the perfect time to sell you on something (hey, it works for SkyMall). 






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