Intrepid

[/url]AP - After a long weekend of battling maddening crowds at the malls, the last thing most people want to do is go back to the stores after work to do more shopping. Link To Original Article

AP - Michael Gaertner worried he could lose his company. A group called the Business Software Alliance had written him to claim that his 10-person architectural firm in Galveston, Texas, was using unlicensed software. Link To Original Article

USATODAY.com - Retailers are hoping last week's strong start to the holiday shopping season at malls and stores translates into a busy buying season online, which officially begins Monday. Link To Original Article

Reuters - Almost one in five European Union households has gone wireless, cutting off their landline cables to use a mobile telephone only, a study by the EU statistical office showed on Tuesday. Link To Original Article

InfoWorld - Samsung Electronics has developed an RFID (radio frequency identification) chip it hopes will turn mobile phones into more useful tools to tell people about the products and services they want. Link To Original Article

InfoWorld - Mozilla has released an update to its Firefox browser, fixing*a widely publicized flaw in the open-source software. Link To Original Article

USATODAY.com - SAN FRANCISCO - Their goal: boosting sales by increasing the number of games and other applications that run on a single device. Link To Original Article

AP - Antitrust regulators suspended their probe of IBM's bid for Swedish software provider Telelogic AB until they get more details on the deal, the European Commission said Tuesday. Link To Original Article

Plus: The coming wireless wholesale wave. Read these stories and more from around the Web on News.com Extra. Link To Original Article

I made this same point over the weekend in a post or three. But when it comes from Linus Torvalds, it means more. When asked in an InformationWeek Q&A how Linux compares with Windows, Torvalds didn't go into a marketing discussion of Feature Y over Feature X. Instead, he discussed the strength of Linux's process/approach over Windows' "We are Microsoft--trust us to be your god" approach: I think the real strength of Linux is not in any particular area, but in the flexibility. For example, you mention virtualization, and in some ways that's a really excellent example, because it's not only an example of something where Linux is a fairly strong player, but more tellingly, it's an example where there are actually many different approaches, and there is no one-size-fits-all "One True Virtualization" model.... ...I mention that as a strong point of open source! Why? Because it actually is a great example of what open source results in: one person's (or company's) particular interests don't end up being dominant. The fact that I personally think that virtualization isn't all that exciting means next to nothing. ... Link To Original Article

USATODAY.com - Here are some additional video game selections: Link To Original Article

AP - If the experience of the world's largest software vendor is any guide, the industry's best hope for reducing piracy rests with anti-copying technologies rather than in policing the legalistic user agreements that restrict how software can be used. Link To Original Article

AP - The Business Software Alliance collects tens of millions of dollars in settlements from companies it accuses of software piracy, but it doesn't have to file lawsuits to do it. Instead the BSA usually gets companies to convict themselves through a "self audit." Link To Original Article

[/url]AP - Striking TV and movie writers kept up the pressure on studios by picketing and intensifying an Internet campaign that uses the very medium at issue in the contentious negotiations. Link To Original Article

[/url]Reuters - Low-cost carrier JetBlue Airways Corp has begun selling tickets through online travel agencies Travelocity and Orbitz Worldwide, the companies said on Monday. Link To Original Article

InfoWorld - China's largest mobile phone network operator is testing one of the first*handsets designed for China's 3G*(third generation) network that runs Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6.0 OS, an executive at the operator said Monday. Link To Original Article

[/url]Reuters - The world's top cellphone maker, Nokia Oyj (NOK1V.HE), said on Monday it was confident it had not infringed the two technology patents U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm had sued it for in Britain. Link To Original Article

TechWeb - The creator of Linux is excited about solid-state drives, expects progress in graphics and wireless networking, and says the operating system is strong in virtualization despite his personal lack of interest in the area. Link To Original Article

PC World - Is the software we're using to protect ourselves from online attacks becoming a liability? Link To Original Article

PC World - Microsoft's emphasis on improvements to security features in Windows Vista may have undermined business adoption of the OS, as many business and enterprise customers are still holding off on upgrading to the OS nearly a year after its release to them. Link To Original Article

PC World - Video games, consoles, and music players led the lists of many online buyers who clogged sites. Link To Original Article

[/url]AP - His chanting is rhythmic and rapid, a staccato string of numbers that quickly grows hypnotic as auctioneer Kevin Teets scans the audience, eyes darting between buyers on opposite sides of the room. Link To Original Article

PC World - Researchers at comScore are expecting a solid online shopping season, but another research group isn't so sure. Link To Original Article

PC World - Rival Vidafone challenges Apple's policy of an exclusive deal, as the iPhone spreads through Europe. Link To Original Article

Dear Abby - DEAR ABBY: While dining out these past couple of weeks, I have noticed something troubling. I have overheard several elderly people talking very loudly on their cell phones and giving out personal information. Link To Original Article