Picture this: You're General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), and you've fallen on tough times. You've been forced to seek alms from the U.S. government simply to make ends meet. Recently, the Obama administration gave a resounding thumbs-down to your viability plan, and a bankruptcy filing seems increasingly likely. So, how do you try to prove you're still a thriving, relevant corporation? Partner with Segway!

That's right -- in a move that's sure to leave even Steve Wozniak scratching his head, General Motors is teaming up with Segway, Inc., purveyors of the commercially unsuccessful two-wheeled scooter, to create the PUMA (shorthand for Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility). A prototype of the battery-powered vehicle will hit the streets of Manhattan today, though the PUMA likely won't make its way to the consumer market until 2012.

The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) made the news a couple of times this week.

According to our sister blog Gadling, the water ride "It's a Small World" in Disneyland has been malfunctioning. Apparently, some tourist-laden boats have come to a standstill, trapped against the bottom of the pool. The company blames poor repair practices, rather than the nation's swelling waistline, for the problem. So don't worry about that fried Snickers you ate while waiting in line.

On a more serious note, also from Gadling: Disneyworld has come under criticism for its decision to ban Segways from the park. Evidently, some mobility-limited visitors use Segways rather than other wheeled vehicles to compensate for their limitations, and feel the policy violates their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Finally, a warning to online poker players. Perhaps you remember when Deep Blue, the IBM chess-playing computer, beat world champion Gary Kasparov? According to Ian Ayers on the Freakonomics blog in the New York Times, poker-playing computers are now so advanced that we bags of mostly water don't stand a chance against them. As I see it, your only choice now is to get your own computer, or deal yourself out of online gaming.

Thanks to Boing Boing for the link.