In reading an article on CNet this morning about AOL asking the US FCC to drop a provision from the requirements given to AOL when they merged with Time-Warner, I considered the fate of IM interoperability over the last few years. In 2001, the FCC pushed heavily for the interoperability …

Here's a paranoid thought. Upon reading an article from CNet about Microsoft keys to the new Server 2003 getting out on the net, I realized that it is in Microsoft's best interests to keep the software as buggy and susceptible to network-based attack as possible. Comments by the spokesperson for …

An article on CNet this morning indicates that the outstanding lawsuits between Intel and VIA are now gone. However, the news isn't all good. The US manufacturer of CPUs and motherboard chipsets has agreed with the Taiwanese chip manufacturer to settle all outstanding lawsuits and to license the ability to …

I've now had a few days to get used to the big boy of the Macintosh world, and I'm becoming used to it. However, it's still rather large. So, what does that mean from a practical perspective? When open for normal use (such as you might attempt to do on …

So, you're at the office and you want to get the dinner going while you head home, but the meat is in the refrigerator. You need the new oven by TMIO (Tonight's Menu Intelligent Ovens). This article on BBC News describes this new device that can be controlled over the …

It appears that, for now, the hackers have lost and you can now reach the English Al-Jazeera site and read information from the Qatar-based channel. The US government and the channel have had an uneasy relationship for quite some time, with claims of press repression on the Al-Jazeera side, and …

OK, it's big. I don't mean a little big, I mean quite extraordinarily big. OK, enough about the 17" G4 PowerBook's width (and, a bit more regrettably, weight). Let's talk about the other interesting features. This is just an initial set of thoughts, so expect a more considered discussion after …

According to an article on ThinkSecret claims that Apple resellers are balking at new provisions in the reseller contract that would limit Apple's liability and prevent lawsuits on previous year's legal disputes. Dealers that may have been affected include: Buy.com, Fry's Electronics, MicroCenter, Dell and Target.

No details yet on why it supports USB 2.0, but you can buy it here at ThinkGeek.

Those wondering, as I was, what had recently caused PayPal to change some of its policies, may finally have an answer. According to information from eBay, PayPal's parent company, disclosed earlier this week that they had received a letter from the Attorney General of Missouri complaining that the subsidiary had …

The founder of Lindows, Michael Roberston, started a contest a little over a year ago to get a version of Linux up and running on the Xbox. Each phase had a reward ($100,000), and moved the contest forward to the next phase. The first phase, finished last year, involved …

An article by David Nagel explains why Adobe found the PC "Preferred", even when comparing against a dual-processor Macintosh. The complaint is that it is Adobe's flawed After Effects software that is at the root of the problems. However, it isn't the usual "the software just stinks" complaint, it's a …

It's definitely not cooked yet, but the folks working on ReactOS have released version 0.1.1 of the Open Source operating system aimed at creating a "stable and open" platform that is compatible with Windows NT 4. This is an OS, not the windowing system, although the front page …

According to an article from CNet, graphics chip manufacturer nVidia has released a new utility that is able to update drivers quickly and with less hassle on Linux machines.

Mozilla.org has announced that a new project has been formed, called Minotaur, to build a Mail (and News) only client based on the mail program inside of Mozilla. It is aimed at creating a cleaner and more user-configurable user interface.

Here's a fun site to look at for tricks to play on your other Mac friends tomorrow.

Calling it a risk to operational security, the US military has asked journalists to stop using certain satellite telephones. It appears that the phones, as do phones from other providers, calculate the user's position using GPS coordinates. Unlike other phones, though, these phones send that data (accurate to within a …

Reports from many news outlets over the weekend are showing that the latest recovered tape from the Space Shuttle Columbia are providing evidence that the heat damage to the left wing started very early in the descent of the shuttle. An article on Space Today points at many of the …

Wired is reporting in this article that a number of well-known hackers (mostly white hats), are standing up against the people who hacked the Al-Jazeera site, on the grounds that it is tantamount to the same kind of censorship of unpopular speech that are promulgated by those who seek to …

Once again, the government is moving to peek into all aspects of your life, including shopping. Apparently, this new system is going to ignore the obvious solution to the "terrorist trap" of watching credit cards and monitoring grocery store purchases of just using cash. However, in so doing, it means …