HeadSpill

Have you seen the new advertising campaign from Microsoft? The one that goes ‘I’m a PC’ and uses clips of people all over the world adlibbing the slogan? “I’m a PC and this is my office” quips a deep sea fisherman. “I am a PC and I am a human being. Not a human doing. Not a human thinking. A human being.” spurts a mind and body doctor at his work desk lazily, not caring who knows his lethargy.

Theres something wrong with these ads and it took until last week to work it out. Microsoft dont make PCs. Microsoft make operating systems for PCs.

I dont go around saying ‘I’m a house’ even though I live in one. The operating system lives inside the computer, it’s not the board and chips inside the casing.

I recently dusted down an old laptop we’d bought on the cheap that was formatted ex-office gear sold on. My intention only use it for writing, the absolute bare minimum. The 30 day trial of windows ran as successfully as a slug escaping from a salt factory and I was buggered if I was going to fork out for a new licence, let alone new laptop.

I’m no techy, just inquisitive, but I know there must have been a way around it, and there was. A free operating system.

After fishing around on the net I found there’s a good few ones; Ubuntu, Fedora, Lynux. All operating systems just like Windows. Ok, so you can’t play games on ‘em  like Call of Duty, but for basic office and internet they are fine, perfectly workable and not hard to install.

I’m not very political, and  still use windows, but have a wonderful feeling of satisfaction in relinquishing dependancy from the worlds largest corporation by not needing windows just to type a bloody letter. In their adverts, by aluding to ownership of the actual hardware, the ferret like marketing bods are seamlessly wallpapering over distinction between a computers hardware and what they actually sell, and while an accurate revision would be ‘I’m an operating system’ I see no reason why they should get away with it when other brands like ‘kellogs’ have to clarify with terms like ‘*serving suggestion’ just so you know your packet of cornflakes doesn’t comes with a free bowl and cockerel.

I’m a PC, and I use Ubuntu.

Life without microsoft windows, life without walls.

So a bloke called Matt Smith is the new Doctor Who and he’s only 26. God I feel old. The second he came on the telly I thought *TOO YOUNG*, with some hostility, but then it looks like he can act, and I’m sure new producer Moffatt knows what he’s doing. Thinking about it, it’s really cosmic karma. In the 60’s the main actor was an old man before I was even born, so to have the show you love still be successful 45 years later it goes without saying your going to pass the target demographic at some (very late) point. Good look to him, he has a very interesting head.

The annoucement was made on Saturday an hour before ITV’s new fantasy attempt ‘DEMONS’, which was a bit average in it’s opening episode, a bit Harry Potter and bit Buffy mixed together. Phil ‘Gene Hunt’ Glenister does a decent american accent, but such is the success of Gene Hunt, it’s hard to see him as anything else.

I’ve started writing new stuff, with an eye toward Edinburgh 09, but I’ll have to get a shuffle on if I’m doing it and save a few grand to flush away.