Good times/Bad times

Who has been living it up and who has been down in the dumps over the last two weeks

Good times

Nice guys

We all love to donate generously when we can, but good old Bill Gates gives everyone else a run for their money in the philanthropy stakes, giving away an eye-watering $27.6bn of his own money so far. He is worth $72bn, though.

But compare him to fellow software entrepreneur Larry Ellison, worth about $41bn. He has also spent his fair share this year, but arguably in a more self-interested way. Recent retail therapy includes the purchase of a Hawaiian island, and the local airline to go with it (well, what's the point of owning a tropical paradise if you can't commandeer a jet to get there?)

Without wishing to denigrate the Oracle chief (our lawyers advised against it) perhaps Gates' success demonstrates that sometimes nice guys do finish first.

Perseverance
The old maxim "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again" has certainly been taken literally by determined IT exec Arnie Bellini (pictured).

The channel chief of US software vendor ConnectWise, who is a three-time Iron Man competitor to boot, was determined to swim the English Channel to demonstrate his commitment to his new UK partners after setting up office over here last year. He finally made the 22-mile crossing in just over 16 hours earlier this month after a long wait for the best conditions.

The determined paddler attempted the feat last summer, but had to give up four miles from France after being beaten back by mother nature. We're sure the UK channel will be cheering for him, but all the commitment they really need are fat margins and juicy incentives.

iPad owners
"I'm fed up with my Jimmy Choos, I think I'll go to Shoe Zone next time," said nobody, ever. But clearly that's the sort of thinking Microsoft believes goes on among Apple fanbois.

Its latest bright idea to boost sales is to offer customers at least $200 off a Surface if they trade in their old iPads. The "deal" is only available in the US at the moment, and the vendor only wants ones that have been "gently used". Something tells us this offer will be equally gently used.

Bad times

Dignity
Whether it's early-morning conference calls, glad-handing fusty senior execs or doing more than your fair share of tea-making duty, we've all surely had to occasionally do things we'd rather not in the pursuit of career progress.

But, unless Wayne Sleep or Darcey Bussell have added themselves to our subscription list since last we checked, we hope none of you have had to cut some rug in the name of job success. But that's exactly what applicants for sales assistant roles at a Cardiff branch of Currys were asked to do recently.

Interviewees were split into groups and told to create a dance, with graduate Alan Bacon complaining in the press that he felt embarrassed "dancing to Around the World by Daft Punk, doing rubbish robotics in my suit in front of a group of strangers".
The electronics chain swiftly apologised. But we think the staff responsible should really show their contrition. With an interpretative dance.

Old-school PCs
If you thought TV aerials, minidiscs and cassettes were the only has-beens slowly filling up the great tech landfill in the sky, then think again as PCs are on their way.

The limping PC market took another blow recently after IDC claimed that in 2013's fourth quarter, shipments of tablets would surpass that of laptops and desktops for the first time. Tablets won't outsell PCs for a whole year until 2015 though, but sceptics who predict saturation of the tablet market will be disappointed that IDC also said cheaper devices and phablets will boost shipments further.

Way to kick a man when
he's down.

Standalone security
Integration is clearly the watchword in the security market, with Infonetics Research reporting that the market for standalone products is suffering as customers prefer to buy multi-faceted solutions.

The market watcher revealed that global sales of security hardware and software rose the best part of seven per cent in this year's second quarter to $1.6bn. Recent security headlines about the NSA may fuel further growth, reckons Infonetics bod Jeff Wilson.

"Consumers and businesses around the globe are re-evaluating their security posture," he said, in an email to his wife.