Why are Apple users fascinated with Ellen Feiss, one of the 15 people who testify in the latest Apple television advertising on how they switched from a Microsoft to a Windows system?

"I was writing a paper... on the PC... and it was like BeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeep," says Ellen in the ad. "And then... like... half of my paper was gone. And I was like... nnngh? It devoured... my paper. It was a really good paper. And then I had to write it again and I had to do it fast so it wasn't as good. It's kind of... .... a bummer. I'm Ellen Feiss and I'm a student."

Ellen appears as part of Apple's switch campaign, in which ordinary people were asked to say why they changed to Apple.

At least the advertising is causing controversy among the Apple lovers, even if they are not pushing Microsoft users to make the switch over.

And Ellen Feiss has become famous in the sometimes obsessive world of cyberspace. Is she stoned, or not? While I have a life and don't bother about such effluvial, I am interested in whether the advertising indicates Apple's loss of direction in attempting to regain market share in a tough market.

With the 16 "switch" advertising campaign Apple is attempting to break out of its design, publishing niche, where it has a strong foothold, and into the homes of ordinary people.

The ads seem to have backfired among the Apple lot, who don't like seeing themselves portrayed as ordinary people, or even flakes, as the "ordinary people" testify how trouble-free their computers are since they changed over to Apple.

"The campaign was a bit of a joke, since it made the Apple users look pretty stupid and//or weird, but one day, someone posted a link to MetaFilter, asking 'Is this girl stoned?'", says one Ellen Feiss fan site.

"The fascination? She slurs her words. Her eyes seem unfocused. She's very vague. She's got this girl-next-door cute thing going, which appeals to nerds. She gives Apple fanatics something to talk about while Apple itself continues to disappoint them. She might be stoned, or she might just be a normal student."

Apple has since stopped showing the ad on television since the discussions began on the Internet about whether Ellen was stoned or not during the shoot. MacFreak (http://www.macfreak.org/ ) even held an Ellen Feiss look-a-like contest.

One savvy Apple fan also suggested that the company might have realised that it was suggesting that nothing happens with their computers to make people "lose" their work could open them up to legal suits.

You can decide for yourself by watching the Ellen ad at (http://www.apple.com/switch/ads/ellenfeiss.html), where you will also find the others in the series. Fan sites include http://ellenfeiss.gloriousnoise.com/ and http://www.ellenfeiss.net/ .

All I can say is that the reaction is bizarre, as undirected as Apple's attempt to regain marketshare it has lost to Microsoft, and Linux. Apple holds an estimated 2.6 percent market share. *******

Going through airport security has become a necessary trial these days, but have you ever thought of those poor guys and girls who work looking at a screen of moving x-rayed baggage as you walk into the secure area? You can experience just how tough it is to spot the knife, gun or bomb in carry on luggage by going to the MSNBC site, where they have a story on the subject and an interactive section in which you become a baggage screener for two minutes.

If you're too slow, you hear passengers complaining loudly. If you make the baggage line move too fast you miss the dangerous items.

It's an excellent example of how journalism is adjusting to the Internet. The story and baggage checker program is available at: http://www.msnbc.com/modules/airport_security/airsecurity_front.asp?cp1=1

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The French are going to be among the first people to try out a microchip-embedded smart card designed for making small, everyday purchases.

The e-cash card, called Moneo, can be loaded with credit from a bank account and recharged when necessary.

The card is being slowly introduced around the country and arrived in Paris in November. E-cash has been a flow elsewhere in Europe and the US where it has mostly flopped due to consumer aversion to the new technology. But banks here are optimistic that e-cash will work in France. The French are notorious for their dislike of carrying cash.

They are among the world's most prolific check-writers and debit card users.

But while banks charge merchants fees for handling debit-card purchases, the e-cash card allows the merchant to deduct credit directly from the user's card without dealing with a bank.

I am all for the e-cash card as I'm tired of the amazing amount of euro change that I seem to be always dumping out of my pockets and into a jar.

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Tech Tattle deals with technology. Contact Ahmed at editoroffshoreon.com