Couple hardware notes today, with good news and bad news. I'll give you the bad news first because I know you want to get that part over with.

The bad news is that local PC maker Lenovo has issued another recall, this time of over 150,000 laptop batteries. The batteries can overheat and pose a fire hazard. Can you guess who made the batteries? If you thought Sony, give yourself an A. Details about the model numbers at risk and other details are available at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml06/06270.html; Lenovo's details and instructions on what to do with recalled batteries is available at IBM.com.

Okay, that's the bad news. Here's the good news, at least if you're a hardware nerd. Recently I had to install a couple new computers at work. The computers were quite a long way away from an outlet and I found myself needing a power strip with a very long cord. I looked around locally and the longest cords I could find were 12-footers (at Staples and CompUSA.)

So I thumped Google a little bit and found power strips with 15-foot cables at a place called Sweetwater Sound, at http://www.sweetwater.com . They looked good and the price was decent, but I needed the strips in a hurry so I called the 800 number. Within a minute I was talking to a person, and within ten minutes I had put in an order. I ordered pretty late in the afternoon -- after 2pm -- but the strips were shipped the same day. (I got fast shipping, but if you're willing to wait Sweetwater offers free FedEx ground shipping with no minimum purchase.) Two days later I got an e-mail from the rep I talked to with additional information and all his contact information, and later that morning I got the power strips themselves -- they're very heavy (metal, not plastic), with sturdy cords, and work great. Then yesterday, I got a letter from the company thanking me for my business and asking for any suggestions about things they could do to make my experience better.

Heck, the only suggestion I have is that they sell more computer equipment so I can deal with them all the time! As you might guess from the name, Sweetwater Sound sells mostly musical equipment, but they do have some useful stuff for computer folks with power equipment and cabling/cable organizers.

Disclaimer: my only relationship with this company is as a satisfied customer. They don't even know I'm doing this. I wish all the companies I buy computer gear from were half this easy to deal with!