Intel's Romanian engineers make a big leap of faith for employer

If Intel's "Sponsors of Tomorrow" commercials haven't convinced you that the company is composed of some wild and crazy guys (and gals), this video might help. Here, Intel engineers in Romania attempt to one-up those Finnish engineers from the popular "Cannonbells" viral of 2009 by jumping off the side of a five-story building and on to mats that chime various notes upon impact. The Romanians hit the right sequence and recreate Intel's famous aural branding trademark. This is all well and good, and it's nice to know Intel employs fearless risk-takers, but personally I couldn't care less. I'd rather they spend their time coming up with cool new devices. I doubt the Apple engineers are jumping off rooftops, though some may be thrown off by Steve Jobs.

DreamWorks penguins wreak havoc in new cinema spot for Intel

Those adorable penguins from Madagascar (and their own show on Nickelodeon) will hit Screenvision theaters this weekend in a new in-cinema spot for Intel. In the ad, one of the penguins (who can tell them apart?) attempts to steal the i5 processor, Pink Panther style, by dodging lasers. Of course, things go horribly wrong, and the poor bird is soon bouncing off the walls. The ad is the latest manifestation of a deal between Intel and DreamWorks. That explains why this spot exists, because it's hard to figure the target audience: kids who buy PCs or adults who get dragged to a lot of CGI films. Probably a bit of both.