Sideswipe: Dell's huge carbon footprint

Elena made an internet order to Dell for two ink cartridges and received these two boxes, containing one cartridge each. Talk about a huge carbon footprint.

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Police in Poland have arrested a man for a series of burglaries in which he allegedly climbed into large parcels and posted himself to businesses. Stanislaw Muchy, 39, would then climb out at night after staff had clocked off and burgle the premises. He made his getaway by sealing himself and his loot into another box addressed to his Warsaw home, say police. His scheme came to an end after he fell out with an accomplice, whose job was to deliver him to courier firms. After being tipped off, police said: "We arranged a special delivery of our own."

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A Thai man spent an extra three years in a Jakarta prison because of a clerical error - the person who typed in the year he started his sentence put 1997 instead of 1987. Kamjai Khong Thavorn, 53, should have been released in 2007, the Jakarta Globe reported, but served three extra years before the error was found.

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New Zealand's nearly retired Iroquois helicopters made a guest appearance on US television's Survivor, but not everyone is star-struck. A soldier writes: "After six days patrolling in the East Timorese jungle as NZ peacekeepers, we reached our rendezvous point with the Air Force. We secured the position and were told to walk back as there were no Air Force assets available to pick us up. Nice to see they can spare four Air Force Iroquois helicopters in Samoa to fly in the cast and crew for a US TV show.

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"Does anyone have a solution to our very nice neighbours? Although they eat quite healthy food, they throw their apple cores, banana skins and any other rubbish that they can't be bothered putting in their bin, over the fence and on to our property. Throwing it back has not worked and bagging it up and putting it on their doorstep had the same result. Any suggestions?"

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Several readers were angered at the suggestion The Microwave Cook Book For One was "the saddest book". Writes Shirley "I don't think this is sad at all ... Please don't perpetuate the myth that people on their own are all lonely and pathetic, because we're not." It wasn't so much that it was a cookbook for one, but that it was a microwave cookbook for one, that made it sad.

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