Why Are Sweatshops So Invisible? One Answer: The Media Richard Greenwald, In These Times, 10/19/10. Think about this article as you rush out to buy that latest made-in-China (or North Korea) gadget.

Rare and Foolish Paul Krugman, New York Times, 10/17/10. "There are extensive rare earth deposits in the United States and elsewhere. However, developing these deposits and the facilities to process the raw materials will take both time and financial support. So will a prominent alternative: urban mining, a k a recycling of rare earths and other materials from used electronic devices." Recycle that old Mac instead of just throwing it in the dumpster.

Americans Own More Gadgets Than Ever. So Why Are Recycling Numbers So Low? Jaymi Heimbuch, Tree Hugger, 10/6/10. I think most of it has to do with the low give-a-damn factor in the good ol' US of A.

Foxconn Workers Officially Receive 66 Percent Salary Increase Chris Chang, MIC Gadget, 10/2/10. Will they also install showers in the worker's dormitories instead of just giving them each a sponge and access to the communal water spicket? Oh, maybe they'll take down the nets around those dorms that are there to keep them from committing suicide by jumping to their deaths. Hey, Apple, why don't you make your gadgets in the USA instead of in foreign sweatshops?

The Ancient Computers Powering the Space Race Slashdot, 9/28/10. If a computer sporting an Intel 386 processor can run the International Space Station, think of what you could do with your old PPC (or 68k) Mac.

Mac OS X Public Beta John Siracusa, Ars Technica, 9/13/10. I remember, 10 years ago today, how cool it was to finally have a Unix-like operating system specifically designed for Macintosh. The original GUI was a dog, even on a hot new G3 Powerbook (Pismo). Later, many of us used XPostFacto to trick Apple into thinking we had an OS X compatible Mac instead of an "old world" machine such as my venerable PowerMac 9500.

The Man Who Makes Your iPhone Frederik Balfour and Tim Culpan, Bloomberg Businessweek, 9/10/10. "It actually wasn't until late May, after the ninth Foxconn employee had leaped to his death, that Foxconn went into full crisis management mode, stringing more than 3 million square meters of yellow-mesh netting around its buildings to catch jumpers and setting up a 24-hour counseling center staffed by 100 trained workers." How do YOU define sweatshop? Grow a conscience and buy your computer-related kit accordingly. Maybe it will mean that you'll keep your old PPC Mac running a while longer.

Safari 4.1.2 for Tiger Apple Support, 9/7/10. It's good to see that even though Apple has given up on OS 10.4 system updates, they are still updating important applications like Safari for those of us still using Tiger on their older PPC Macs. Kudos, Apple.

Finding a New Home for Your Old Mac Adam Rosen, Low End Mac, 8/30/10. It may not be the machine of choice to play video or surf the web, but that old PPC Mac of yours still has a lot of life left in it.

August 23, 1995: Windows 95 Goes on Sale at Midnight Chris Seibold, Apple Matters, 8/23/10. I remember all the hoopla over this event at the school where I was teaching. I sat there with a smile on my face looking at the beautifully intuitive Macintosh System 7.1 GUI on my Color Classic.