With 80,000 computers in the military using it, the French government thought it imperative to adapt it to their needs—which Mozilla evidently liked, as they included some of their code in Thunderbird 3, which launched this week.

David Ascher, Chief Executive of Mozilla Messaging, explained:

"The primary changes (the military) have made allow them to know for sure when messages have been read, which is critical in a command-and-control organisation"

As well as using the open source Thunderbird, the French government is also adopting Linux as its primary OS, and OpenOffice instead of Microsoft Office. [Sydney Morning Herald]

Image credit: Isafmedia

The phone isn't really, as one suit in the video notes, "A very nice... a very nice PIECE OF ART," but when the big innovation is bringing the stunning features of wristwatches to mobile phones (that's right, the Meridiist has a built-in clock!), you can't blame them for reaching a bit. The phone's selling points: made from the finest rubber (?) and alligator skin, creating a "sensual experience," and to top it off, it is "in some way the first pocket watch of the 21st century!" Never mind that it looks like the obese offspring of my first Nokia candybar from 1998 and an HTC Touch Diamond, conceived in a French executive's board room— it's expensive and so you must want one. [Thanks, Nebosja!]

1. Trying to saw a two-by-four alone looks awfully stressful: our moustachioed French hero has grown three heads in his panic. But recruiting a team of builders gets that barn made like they were Amish (though we all know the lazy French are incapable of such efficiency).
2. If you link arms, you can make kick-ass birdhouses. But watch out for the ghostly silhouettes inching ever closer.
3. Tools required to make birdhouses/barns/Core 2 Duo processors include: a chainsaw, a syringe, multiple dustpans, and a pastel scarf rakishly knotted around the neck. Optional but strongly recommended: party hats.
4. Doing basic arithmetic makes French barnbuilders very content.
5. OH GOD they've grown multiple heads again! At least people seem to be buying their barns, which apparently have shrunk into shoebox-sized models somewhere between here and the first panel.
6. Something awful has happened. Our heroic Frenchmen are now plugged directly into electrical outlets, with internal temperature monitoring. Is this some kind of Shyamalanianian twist and they were robots the entire time? This narrative ends on such a disturbing note. [Sony, thanks Christopher!]

Up close photo:

–Brian Lam
Wear Your Seat [via Sci Fi Blog]

French ISP Neuf Cegetel has come up with a computer that costs pas beaucoup. $53 buys you the computer gets you a month's worth of computer plus ADSL line rental, $39 gets you a mouse, keyboard and camera, and a 14-inch color monitor is $132.

UPDATE: That's about $13 a month more than a broadband subscription, so the computer will cost you $156 a year.

Admittedly, you don't get a lot for your 50 bucks-plus—a 512KB flash disk, Linux operating system, Firefox, Abiword and Gnumeric spreadsheet, but the computer—which looks like something Barbarella might have watched Desperate Spacechicks on, is compatible with all sorts of peripherals, including external hard drives, Internet phone headsets and digital cameras.

The $53 initial outlay is just $13 more than the cost of an average broadband subscription in the land of the Fromage-Mangeurs. Perhaps it is a ploy by Neuf Cegetel to get more people online, as just 61 percent of French homes have computers, compared with the European average of 64 percent. But that's still way behind the 75 percent over here. Another pic and video after the jump.

– Ad Dugdale

France caters to market for most simple of computers [International Herald Tribune]

Also in the same vein, a case for your MacBook that includes track pad, keyboard, and iSight cutouts. To get one, you have to email the sisters directly since they don't have a website.

Email

Apple Expo Paris: Possibly the Cutest iPod Covers Ever [Gearlog via SCI FI Blog]

Ellen Feiss, star of the most famous and most watched Switch Ad, is back! She's starring in a french movie called "Bed and Breakfast" as one half of a set of newlyweds (I think, as my French is nonexistent).

We doubt she's going to throw in any Feiss-isms in the movie—beep beep beep—but she's still cute. We hear the Dell guy's going to be in a German U-Boat movie next year. – Jason Chen

Movie Page [Bed & Breakfast]

Along with having to get permission from the big 5 record companies, iTunes needs to track down all independent labels and strike deal with them too—something the indies may not be quite willing to do. This could possibly mean that parts of iTunes tracks will be available to non-iPod players in France. Something we'll have to keep an eye on. – Jason Chen

French lawmakers approve compromise iTunes bill [Marketwatch]

Nothing to write home about, but it should cost about $1200 and features a smug sense of superiority as well as the penchant to eat/produce great wine and cheese.

Product Page [It's Label via MobileWhack via NaviGadget]