I wrote this piece in between glances for updates on the Chilean miners’ rescue via reports by BBC and CNN. And for the life of me, not even the sudsiest soap operas could make me cry (surreptitiously, of course) as hard as the miracle in Chile did.

Finally, after a long series of news about earthquakes, typhoons, bombings, muggings and murders, humankind finally has got something to rejoice over. I might not even have a single drop of Chilean blood in my body, and neither do I know anybody from that country; but I am definitely joining that country and its people in praying for the safe recovery of those miners.

iPads Everywhere

While we here on these islands have to rely on gray market channels of varying shades to get our hands on the iPad, Apple’s bestselling tablet computer, consumers in the United States might soon find themselves up-to-there deep in a flood of iPads. American retail giant Walmart has started selling the iPad in hundreds of its retail outlets in the US and on its Web site.

American consumers, however, need not expect discounted prices for the iPads. Although famous for discount pricing, Walmart is selling the iPad for the same prices as Apple’s online and real-world retail outlets do. Rival retailer Target and the biggest online retailer Amazon.com started selling the tablet computers earlier.

Intel’s Hot

Intel Corp., the world’s largest semiconductor company, recently released its third-quarter financial results, and investors could not be happier.

The microprocessor vendor said its net income grew 59 percent, although sales grew considerably slower at 18 percent. Definitely, these figures mean bigger bonuses for Intel’s senior executives. Moreover, it also means that the PC industry has been going faster and stronger than what some industry analysts feared, and despite the economic slowdown that the global market cannot seem to be able to shake off.

Are we then headed for a blockbuster shopping season this Christmas?

“Abangan.”

Google is Online Ad King

Google is virtually king of the online advertising world. The giant search company accounted for about 80 percent of the pay-per-click advertising spend in the third quarter of 2010, according to market research firm SearchIgnite. The Bing-Yahoo alliance held on to the remaining 20 percent.

I remember Google CEO Eric Schmidt saying last month that Microsoft’s Bing is the company’s biggest rival in the online search market. I wonder, was he saying words to that effect merely to cover up his company’s near-total stranglehold on the market, and avoid some governments’ fair competition inquiries?

That’s all for the meantime, folks. Join me again next time as we keep on watching IT.