More gloom in techland as valley girls get ugly

The atmosphere is grim in Silicon Valley these days, but it is not the economy that is getting them down, it's 21st century valley girls.

Gracenet, a San Jose club for women in technology has just awarded its latest Disgraceful Awards 'to alert the public that the hi-tech industry includes a great number of professional women who are offended by sexist advertising'.

The latest ad to be recognised for its offensive character is a Compaq iPaq advert from France. In it, a model applies lipstick while gazing at her reflection on the back of her organiser. 'This is supposed to be funny, but it's also insulting to women,' group founder Sylvia Paull told the San Francisco Chronicle. 'You laugh and then you are insulted and you are insulted so much you laugh again.'

Aaargh! It's back. Two years ago, you could hardly pick up a technology story without someone using the horrendous term 'paradigm shift'. What made this more irritating was that it was clear nobody knew what the expression meant.

Thankfully 1999, with its rush for inventing new words beginning with an 'e-', saw the paradigm shift back into oblivion. But it's back. Dell has trotted out the old favourite, announcing its new budget server as a 'new price-performance paradigm'.