A Philadelphia school district is in hot water after a lawsuit was filed against them this week.  The district reportedly took photos of one of their students by remotely activating a camera on a school issued laptop.  TO make matters worse the student was at home at the time the photo was taken.  It has been said the parents of the student had no idea of the school’s ability to activate the camera on the Mac laptop.  Other parents, of the students, who have received one of the 2,300 laptop issued are now concerned they may be been spied on as well.

See the full story…

I’ve always been a PC person.  My last several laptops have been either a Gateway or a Dell.  Now I’m in the market for a new laptop, I’m faced with the age old dilemma, Mac or Dell.  After listening to friends, looking through websites and even calling both companies, it comes down to what you’re use to and the $$$ you want to spend.  Money is everything and I want to get the most bang for my buck.

I need something small and compact, but with some POWER behind it that will actually last.  Comparing apples to apples (pun intended) the size, hard-drives and processors are similar, but it looks like the Dell would be a better deal as it has more memory for less money, which is good, right?

One problem I’m struggling with… Dell isn’t the most reliable work horse out there anymore.  I spend hours a day on my laptop, typing documents, putting together spreadsheets and even making power point presentations for work at times.  Most hard-working Dells have to be replaced or at least reconfigured every 2-3 years, which means down time while this is happening.  I know people who have had Macs for 3, 4 and even 5 years, had no problems and would never dream of owning anything else.

After looking at the two options I have researched, I’m still at a loss but leaning towards the Mac.

Dell has introduced their new business notebook!  The Dell Latitude 13 is one of the world’s thinnest 13-inch commercial laptops at 0.65-inches thick.  With its 13.3 screen, remote management, security features and a virtualization ready design (it’ll work with Citrix and VMware), the Dell Latitude 12 seems to have been designed with portability in mind.

Although the rest of the specifications cannot be confirmed…the Dell Latitude 13 is widely expected to be similar to the Vostro V13 with up to 4GB Ram, webcam, Windows 7, six-cell battery and a choice of Intel ULV processors.

The Dell Latitude 13 should be available in late February or early March.

I know.  I know.  The title should read “Apples Are Green”.  My first grade reading teacher would  hold her head in shame, but in this instance…the title is correct.

Apple is green as they now have a recycling program. (Well, they may have had it for a really long time but I just realized it…thus making it new to me.)

Here are 5 different ways Apple is helping our planet:

Manufacturing – By making their products smaller, Apple is able to use fewer materials when building their items.  They even take into consideration the paper and ink it takes to ship their items.

Transportation – By packing more efficiently they are able to reduce the emissions created during transit.

Product Use – By making their products energy efficient, Apple products produce as little of greenhouse gas emissions as possible.

Recycling – By starting recycling programs in 95 of the countries where their products are sold, using materials that are valuable to recyclers like arsenic-free glass, high-grade aluminum, and strong polycarbonate and the fact that all the e-waste that is collected by Apple is processed in the region in which it was collected (none of it is shipped overseas for disposal).  Apple’s products are designed to be compact and efficient as possible.

Facilities – By installing energy efficient lighting with automatic shutoffs, they have significantly reduced their energy use.  They also offer free rides to work on Apple’s commuter bus, saving 7.2 metric tons of CO₂e emissions five days a week.

When you buy a new computer from Apple they’ll recycle your old system for free.  Their site states that after buying a qualifying system from an Apple store, one of their specialists will sign you up to receive a prepaid FedEx shipping authorization for your old system.

Even if you don’t buy a new system (or live in Canada where there are no Apple Stores) but would still like to recycle your old Apple product, you can still do so for free.  They won’t send you a FedEx box BUT they will cover the $30 shipping fee.  And the last but not least…Apple will also take your old Mac batteries if you take them to one of their store.

This is so The Lenovo Ideapad U1 is scheduled to be released this June. It looks like a normal Ideapad netbook but the display (11.6”) is removable and can be used as a stand-alone tablet.

Specs:

• Intel CULV processor
• 4GB RAM (512MB in the tablet)
• 128GB SSD (16GB SSD inside tablet)
• eSATA, vga, HDMI, usb x 2, 1.3mp webcam
• Windows 7 (custom Linux in tablet mode)

Retail price: $999 – Amazing I know!!