Month: July 2007

Dell Kicked Out a Cool Commercial

We’ve all seen a lot of Dell commercials over the years, and let’s face, they’ve been as exciting as watching paint dry. The “Dell Dude” commercials were funny in the short term, but irritating in the long term. Dell has never tried to be hip or cool, and that’s for good reason: their products haven’t ever really been hip or cool. People have tended to buy Dell products because they provide good value for the money, not for how they look. Over the past couple of years they’ve started to change that with their XPS line of gaming and performance machines, and recently they’ve really kicked it up a notch with their launch of new Inspiron laptops and desktops. The laptops in particular have a nice “wow” factor with a choice of eight different colours, three different screen sizes, and all of the customizations Dell offers (CPU, RAM, etc.). But here’s what really caught my attention: I was watching a show on the SPIKE TV network and check out the commercial I saw:

Dell Inspiron Commercial
Uploaded by jasondunn

That’s completely unlike anything Dell has ever done in terms of marketing, and I think it works really well. Finally, a Windows PC maker trying something different! Catchy song, memorable video, and it shows just enough about the product to entice you to visit the site and check it out. The only thing I didn’t like about it was the Intel blurb at the end – it takes some of the shine off the commercial with that old and tired four-tone Intel branding. Dell mentioned Intel in the commercial, I don’t see why Intel had to also have their lame plug in there. Still, I think it works – what do you think?

The Importance of Laughter

It’s been a bad week, but laughter helps lift some of the clouds. Here are two videos on YouTube that gave me a good chuckle. The first is Chuck Norris reading some of the funniest (but cleanest) Chuck Norris one-liners.

This next one has a slight language warning, but it’s even funnier – it’s a David Blaine magic spoof, and the guy playing David Blaine is PERFECT because he eyeballs the camera just right.

Dealing With Sorrow

I find myself in a hard place at the moment. Ashley and I came back from vacation a few days ago and were told that a dear friend has been diagnosed with cancer. She had cancer in her eye a bit over a year ago (melanoma) but was told that they got it all and we were all thrilled that she was in the clear. She gave birth to a baby girl about two months ago, and she was embarking on a new part of her life. Yesterday we were told the cancer is even worse than they thought – the prognosis isn’t looking very good. Here’s the description in her own words:

“I’ve been told that I have numerous lumps in the occipital bone in my right eye cavity with one tumor pressing on my brain. I also found out that the cancer has spread to my spine and pelvis/hips. In additional, the cancer has also been located in my lungs, liver and another tumor has been discovered in my pelvic region. Right now, the doctors are doing radiation on my spine and lumbar region in hopes that I can get back on my feet, return home under palliative care and then research as to whether or not the cancer can be treated with Chemotherapy now that it’s spread to other organs. As for the original site of the malignant melanoma, which grew on my eye lid and conjunctiva in the corner of the eye…that’s not such a big deal anymore. Phew, no more worrying about whether or not I’m be a one eye’d pirate!”

As you can tell, she has a lively personality and a great sense of humour. In some ways I think she’s dealing with this better than everyone else around her is. I’ve never had anyone I’ve been close to die – I’m finding it very hard to deal with this. It’s hard to concentrate, it’s hard to get any work done, it’s hard to put what I’m feeling into words. I feel some solace that there are Christians all over North America praying for her and her family right now – I’m fortunate to know brothers and sisters in Christ from many places and I’ve emailed everyone I can think of to pray. If that’s also you, please pray. I believe in miracles and I believe in the power of prayer…but that doesn’t make the sorrow I feel hurt any less.