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Check out Actor beats CNN in race to milestone, pledges $100,000 in malaria fight to learn what Ashton Kutcher has been doing on Twitter. Oprah will be talking about it today as well.
10 Ideas for Earth Day Celebrations with Kids has some great tips for next week!
While I have never received any comments about my appearance, apparently some do in Sure she’s a good tech blogger, but what does she look like?
A few months ago, blogger Chris Whittome lamented over at Trade2Save the Planet that an incredible amount of consumer technology winds up being unused — to the point where it has no value — instead of being returned to the marketplace.
Fast forward, and now there’s a free, easy-to-use online trade-in system available in the contiguous 48 states. 
It’s run by Dell and partner Dealtree Services Inc.
Called Dell Exchange, the program allows you to turn in unwanted technology from a variety of manufacturers. In return, you’ll receive Dell gift cards. You can clear some desk space for new products while keeping your old stuff out of the landfill.
Click over to the Dell Exchange site for details, and check out a sampling of the initial news coverage from PC Magazine and Reuters.
Customers like blogger John Platt are starting to take notice that Dell is serious about cutting down the packaging materials for the thousands of desktops and laptops we ship every day.
Bottom line: We believe we can reduce our packaging by about 20 million pounds over the next four years and help other organizations achieve their green goals with a new Web-based tool called Dell Greenprint Advisor.
Personally, I saw a big difference in the Studio 15 laptop my daughter received over the holidays compared with the Inspiron my wife ordered a few months earlier. If you’ve noticed the difference, we’d like to hear from you.
The usual ferment of speculation about the holiday retail landscape is in full swing, and Dell has a great story to tell with the up-tempo rhythm of award-winning new consumer products Dell has achieved this year continuing through this holiday season. Consider just a few of the recent and upcoming launches:
· We’ve updated the Studio 15 (starting at $599) and Studio 17 (starting at $749) laptops – both inside and out. We’ve added Centrino 2, plus a few other cool features like a gestures touch pad that enables circular scrolling and zoom and RGB LED display (Studio 17 only).
· And, from a personalization perspective tomorrow we will expand out Art House series options from Mike Ming to include three unique (PRODUCT) RED artwork (additional $75) choices from three very cool artists. Each purchase of a Studio laptop with the (PRODUCT) RED artwork donates $20 to the Global Fund and is connected directly to saving lives in the fight to eliminate AIDS in Africa.
· Speaking of (PRODUCT) RED, we just updated our XPS One – adding a 24-inch full HD display and a special 65W Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 quad core processor, and a new color –Pure White (which is actually (PRODUCT) RED).
· One of the “hottest” products available today is the very cool Studio Hybrid, Dell’s greenest consumer PC. It’s small (80% smaller than typical desktop minitower) and uses up to 70% less energy. Since its small size allows for it to be put in more visible locations, you can also personalize it with color or bamboo or leather sleeves.
· The Inspiron 13 is truly an unsung hero in our product portfolio. While it comes in one color, that Pacific Blue is a serious head turner. More importantly – where else can you get a sleek, sexy thin and light that weighing around 4.5 lbs with starting price of $649? This is a student’s dream machine.
· Inspiron Mini 9 ($starting at $349) and Mini 12: Certainly the Mini 9 has been well received – both the XP and the Dell-customized Ubuntu versions. The Mini 12, announced on Oct. 26, will be available on dell.com very, very soon.
· Traveling to the other end of the product spectrum – gaming – we recently announced that the Alienware Aurora desktop is available in 200 Best Buy stores and on bestbuy.com. We’ve also launched our first quad core gaming laptop – the Alienware M17.
· Next week we will expand our desktop portfolio with four systems based on the new Core i7 architecture. Three of the four systems will target gamers who tend to appreciate the latest and greatest performance technology. The fourth system is unique – it is NOT targeted toward gamers but instead should appeal to the more advanced digital divas (or those who aspire to be such), and given it’s sub-$1,000 starting price point, it should be on the list of those who are looking to purchase a PC that will be relevant for the foreseeable future.
As far as speculation about Zing goes, the interest in Dell’s digital entertainment strategy is encouraging, but there is significant confusion and misinformation in the blogosphere and in press reports about it. As we said a few months ago, our strategy focuses on content offerings and delivery platforms that mix Zing software, remote access and pre-configured media bundles across all of our devices, including licensing agreements with entertainment distributors. It has never been about a music player.
Dell’s approach extends personalization beyond the box and into delivering exceptional content and experiences. The innovative Music & Movies bundles we launched a few weeks ago are clear and promising examples of what’s happening at Dell in digital entertainment. We’re very proud of our emerging role as a change agent, so stay tuned as we continue to generate new ideas and new approaches to personalization.
Something special is under way on one of our sister blogs and it’s worth calling out for anyone interested in big ideas – in this case, saving the planet.
My colleague Todd Dwyer, who blogs about the ReGeneration movement, has teamed with Sarah van Schagen from Grist.org to drive across the U.S. to talk with people and share what they’re doing to help sustain our natural environment. See, hear and comment on their reports – 15 cities in 15 days – at ReGeneration.org.
If you like what you see on the site, please take a moment to join more than a quarter million of us who are part the global ReGeneration movement.
Last summer Dell released the 1320c Color Laser Printer, which was and still is one of the most affordable true color laser printers on the market. The printer went on to garner some very impressive reviews and is perched at the number 2 position on the PC World List of Top 10 Color Laser Printers. Given that a few years ago color laser printers still had four-digit price tags, the $249 1320c looks like an amazing amount of performance for the price.
The 1320c is a fairly basic printer. It has no copy or scan features and while there is network upgrade available, it is definitely a very basic printer. For those wanting full-color laser capability for a home office or small business, you’ll need a machine that’s a bit more capable.
Enter the new 2135cn Multi-Function Color Laser printer. The 2135cn offers a powerful array of functions that make it capable of replacing a lot of office machines. In addition to being a high-quality color laser printer, it offers scan, copy, and fax capability in full color with an automatic document feeder to handle large multi-page documents.
Dell 2135 cn Multi-Function Color Laser Printer
The 2135cn offers professional-quality color printing in 600×600 dpi resolution and it can crank out up to 16 pages per minute monochrome or 12 pages per minute in color. It even optimizes image quality without user intervention. It offers full networking capability and a host of convenient fax-handling features.
Naturally, you can save a lot of energy as well as office space when you replace your scanner, copier, and fax machine with a single piece of equipment like the 2135cn. But these days, it’s definitely good to know that this printer has been designed with Dell’s emphasis on environmental impact in mind. The 2135cn is fully Energy Star certified, which means that, on average, it is 25% more energy efficient than conventional models. On top of that, Dell provides prepaid return mailers to allow you to easily recycle toner-cartridges when they run out.
Both quality and environmental impact benefit from Dell’s Emulsion Aggregation Toner Technology. This technology allows for more precise imaging by using smaller toner particles. This can also reduce energy consumption during the printing process as well as allowing the printer to warm up and print more quickly. The 2135cn is a printer designed from start to finish to make your home office or small business more efficient, more economical, and more environmentally friendly and carries a price tag of $599.
Something new is coming. Very soon. Here’s a preview of the Studio Hybrid:
Update: The preview video is temporarily unavailable. Apologies for the inconvenience. Lots of details forthcoming tomorrow when we formally launch!
On this World Environment Day 2008, I’m truly proud to work at a company that has an industry-leading recycling program, has commited to be carbon neutral by the end of the year, already saving 19,200 tons of CO2 emissions, and is the first in the world to partner with its customers to offset their carbon impact with the “Plant a Tree for Me” and “Plant a Forest for Me” programs. The latter already accounts for about 100,000 new trees, which will offset 225 million pounds of CO2.
This is just a snapshot into the many things Dell is doing to show serious commitment to the environment. Great post by Todd Dwyer, Dell’s Environment Community Liaison, on Direct2Dell, highlighting some of these initiatives: “Going ‘Green’ In the Connected Era.”
Exciting? Yes. Inspiring? Most definitely. But let’s get to the point of this post … GREEN FASHION!!! From competitions, like the Earth Day 2008: Student Fashion Competition (check out the 3rd place winner’s design! WOW!) to the many designers who have shown Green Passion in their lines, it’s clear that the use of organic fabrics and recycled or repurposed materials are trendy and a sign of fashion to come.
There is a plethora of clothes, accessories and products that are creative and clever expressions of Green. Here are this week’s top 5 must-have’s:
(1) Tees for A Change - Made of 100% Organic Cotton and Bamboo (2) Terra Plana Aguila Sandal - Made of Recycled Materials; (3) Carol Young Collection –Organic Cotton Wing Cowl Dress; (4) Ecoist Clutch – Made from repurposed Movie Billboard; (5) BTC Elements Sailor Swing Jacket – Made of 100% Organic Cotton
These are sure to make your friends green with envy and show just five more reasons why you should go Green-Chic on this World Environment Day. Looking forward to your thoughts and comments.
NPR reported this morning that crude oil prices are hitting prices unimaginable just a few months ago, but the impact on U.S. driving plans for this Memorial Day weekend is projected to be minimal. OK, so we’re still going to hit the highways but, thanks to technology, we don’t have to take a full hit in the wallet.
Prices can vary significantly within a local area. So it makes sense that more and more of us are finding and using Web sites like GasPriceWatch.com, which keeps tabs on prices at about 130,000 gas stations, and GasBuddy.com, which scans pump prices at 170,000 stations. Other sites include MSN Gas Prices and MapQuest Gas Prices.
Michelle Meyers over at Webware has taken a closer look at these Web sites and more.
In the UK, where the cost is well over twice what is paid in the U.S., check out PetrolPrices.com.
BTW, GasBuddy.com has a neat Gas Temperature Map, illustrated below, that displays prices around the U.S. with counties color-coded by their average price for regular unleaded. Click on the image to pull up a larger version of it.
Those with a flair for fashion and a passion for recycling take note: Aussie designer Craig Arnold transforms old camera aperture rings into a pricey line of innovative bracelets called re:vision. More details over at Boing Boing.
Now I’ve seldom been accused of having good fashion sense (OK never), but I do have a flair for the obvious…old lenses that don’t cut it with my new Nikon D40 + hacksaw + polishing tool = bling on the cheap.
![clip_image001[4]](http://yourblog.dell.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/windowslivewriterblingfromrecycledcameralenses-db0bclip-image0014.jpg)
