I once heard about something I think Bill Gates came up with for one of his Smart Houses. It’s a piece of artwork that changes based on who’s standing in the room. It’s like a framed painting on the wall that updates to suit the needs and desires of all present company. Well, that piece of technology is now widely available. It’s called a digital photo frame.

Basically it’s a really thin computer screen with all your favorite images stored in its memory. Digital Frames Direct is a wholesaler of digital photo frames, and is in fact the largest such wholesaler in the UK.

You can give digital frames to friends and family, coworkers too. They make a great surprise. They also perform well as ad space for your business. You can use them to tell you’re customers that you’re keeping up with all the incredible Digital Era technological advances. Can you imagine a Mom ‘n Pop shop in rural Middle America suddenly showing off a fancy new Digital Frame? I’ll bet the townsfolk would be a tad surprised. And then jealous!

Digital frames also serve well as corporate gifts. With so many reasons to buy them, you’ve just got to buy in bulk! And who better to order from than Digital Frames Direct?

I missed it! I missed the deadline… missed it… missed it bad… just 48 hours… so close yet so far! Darn it all to Heck!

From: "Bonanza Lottery International" <prize@bonanzalotteryinternational.com>
Subject: RE: FINAL AWARD NOTIFICATION.
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 06:11:46 +0100

FROM: THE DESK OF THE MANAGER,
BONANAZA LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT.
REF NO: 15/0018/IPD
BATCH NO: EGS/ 22504002/06.

ATTN: WINNER,

RE: FINAL AWARD NOTIFICATION.

We are pleased to inform you, that as a result of our RECENT LOTTERY
DRAWS HELD on the 9th of February 2008.Your e-mail address attached to
ticket number:085-12876077-09 with serial number:51390-0 drew lucky
numbers:03-05-12-14-38 which consequently won in the 5th category you have
therefore been approved for a lump sum pay of (ONE MILLION U.S DOLLARS)
in cash credited to file with. REF: s.EGS/3662367114/13.Note that all
participants in this lottery program have been selected randomly through
a computer ballot system drawn from over 20,000 Officials and
30,000,000 individual email addresses from all search engines and web
sites,from Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, North and South America, Middle
East and Africa, as part of our International Promotions Program. This
promotional program takes place every year,and is promoted and
sponsored by eminent personalities like the Sultan of Brunei,Bill Gates of
microsoft inc and other corporate organizations.This is to encourage !
the use of the internet and comput

Your fund is now deposited with BANK and insured For security purpose
and clarity,we advise that you keep your winning information
confidential until your claims have been processed and your money remitted to your
account.This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claims
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We look forward to your active participation in our next 4 million
dollars slot. To begin the processing of your prize you are to contact your
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NAME:MR.CHARLES LLOYD
Tel: 44(0)7024013010
Email: admin@bonanzalotteryinternational.com

When you contact him, please provide him with your secret BATCH
NO,SERIAL NO.
You are also advised to provide him with the under listed information
as soon as possible:
1. Names in full
2. Address
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6. Phone/Fax

All winnings must be claimed not later than one month After the date of
this notice.Please note, in order to avoid unnecessary delays and
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Sincerely,

Ashley Cole
Manager, lotto draw team
Bonanza International lottery.

[End Email]

Hilarious:

"This
promotional program takes place every year,and is promoted and
sponsored by eminent personalities like the Sultan of Brunei,Bill Gates of
microsoft inc and other corporate organizations.This is to encourage !
the use of the internet and comput"

It just cuts off. It reminds me of that clip where Bill Gates is on stage with a product developer and the guy's showing the latest computer and operating system to Bill and everyone. Then the Blue Screen of Death pops up and the guy quickly closes the laptop. All Bill can do is smile…

"For security purpose
and clarity,we advise that you keep your winning information
confidential until…"

Sure, sure. Tell no one. "You got that, punk?! You tell someone about this email message and so help me, I'll rip your– winning lottery ticket up… And you won't…get… the money. Ok?"

No! Tell the authorities! Run home! Run as fast as you can!!

{Six Million Dollar Man Sound Effects}

It's all so obvious now! I can't believe I didn't see it before! The actors don't represent computers, they represent CEOs!

The first time I saw these ads, I thought what seems to be the general idea on Wikipedia: The Mac is more casual because a Mac computer is easier to use, while the PC is more formally-dressed because a personal computer can sometimes require complex, formal knowledge to operate. A simple example is how Macs try to minimize the wires and hookups, while PCs have a lot of connections that need to be made by a user. (Although the color coding for inputs really makes things simple now.)

Anyway, last night I was watching one of the latest "Get a Mac" ads, and I suddenly wondered, "Hey, why do they use these guys? I mean, they're not totally unappealing, but some might call them nerds. Even the casual guy. So why not use a bodybuilder on one side, like on the left, and not have the glasses and Bill Gates-style hair….!!!!!"

It was at that moment that I suddenly connected PC's image with my memories of how Bill Gates looks. He has hair like that! He's formal like that! And he's got glasses! "Can you Guess Who, do you have a clue?" I do!

And then the other guy — looks just like Steve Jobs! Jobs usually seems to dress more casually. Like on those SNL spoofs, this looks just like him!

So now it seems I've finally come to understand what millions probably already knew. I think at some level I "implicitly" understood the general CEO comparison, but not as consciously and overtly as I do now.

But am I right? I conducted a (very) short search on the web, and the first results on Google (just the headlines) seemed to convey that a Jobs vs. Gates confrontation only occurs in the real world, and is then backtracked with a reference to the "Get a Mac" ad campaign. So I thought I'd try Wikipedia. But at the top of the article, where the primary focus is on the American version of the ad, the one I'm referencing, they focused only on the original interpretation of the Mac and PC style, which again had more to do with the feel of each machine, and not the style of the men behind the machines.

Hmm…

I think it makes sense. Jobs vs. Gates. Right.