Microsoft apologizes for Polish black-out

Yeah, Microsoft is shocked and dismayed at its own Photoshopping of an African American man out of its Polish website. We pointed out the original yesterday; here's Guy Adams, the Los Angeles correspondent for U.K.'s The Independent, covering the fallout for the home folks.

Bill Gates may be spending his billions trying to find a cure for Aids and eradicate poverty in Africa, but the company that turned him into the world's wealthiest man has just suffered a setback to its hard-won, progressive reputation....

In addition to the inevitable outrage, the affair has also prompted its fair share of amusement. Eagle-eyed experts noticed, for example that the white laptop in front of the Photoshopped man is actually a Macbook, made by Microsoft's arch rival Apple.

Meanwhile the woman to the right of the picture is conducting a Powerpoint presentation – with the help of a computer monitor that has not been plugged into anything at all. Her keyboard cable appears to dangle in thin air.