And in the "Things That Make You Go 'Huh'" department: faithful viewer Keith Lim informs us that a small Russian vodka company is releasing a new beer called Windows '99. No kidding. This company has decided that the best way to make its product stand out in a crowded and growing market is to steal the Windows name from Microsoft. It's sort of refreshing to see someone blatantly and unrepentantly ripping off Microsoft, isn't it? It's a sort of karmic realignment. If you take a look at a picture of Windows 99 beer, you'll see that the label on the bottle sports a logo remarkably similar to the one on Microsoft's operating system; seems the Russians have not only taken the name, but also the whole "look and feel."

See, apparently Russian trademark law is quite a bit less mature than that of most industrialized countries, and the makers of Windows beer have legally registered the Windows trademark as "a brand name for food, drinks, and tobacco." (We can only hope that Windows cigarettes are just around the corner, because that would be way too appropriate-- addictive, expensive, you know you should quit but you just can't.) And the company isn't afraid of lawsuits from Billy and the boys, since Windows '99 beer is well within the limits dictated by Russian law, and in fact, any lawsuit against them would simply bring free publicity. You just gotta love these guys!

We've got to wonder, though, just how much of Windows this Russian company copied when making their beer. First of all, we imagine that using it makes you less productive-- that's pretty much a given. But does it lack consistency? Is it flat and unengaging? Can you only drink it with certain foods? Worse yet, when visiting certain restaurants, will Windows '99 beer be a mandatory purchase, even if you decide to drink water with your meal instead? And most importantly, will users have to worry about Windows 99 beer occasionally causing the dreaded Blue Face of Death?