Intrepid

[/url]AP - It's become routine for customers to swipe their credit or debit cards at consoles in fast-food joints, gas stations and grocery stores. So why do we still hand over the plastic at sit-down restaurants? Link To Original Article

[/url]AP - Sony issued a public apology Friday for a violent video game that features a bloody shootout inside an Anglican cathedral, but it did not address the Church of England's demands that the company withdraw the game. Link To Original Article

[/url]AP - For months, Shira Barlow's cell phone was flooded with wrong-number calls and text messages, mostly between 2 and 4 a.m. on weekends. Told they had reached a college student, callers refused to believe it. Link To Original Article

AP - Microsoft Corp. won't say what went wrong inside of its Xbox 360 video game consoles that could lead to $1 billion in repairs, but bloggers and their online readers seem to have their own answer: Heat stroke. Link To Original Article

InfoWorld - A company that insures laptops and smartphones may save the day for iPhone owners worried about their pricey handsets getting stolen or damaged. Link To Original Article

The Financial Times is reporting that Yahoo and Microsoft will update their privacy polices within the next few weeks and publicly reveal how long they plan to keep data on consumer Web searches. The action was prompted by the work of a group called the Article 29 Working Party, which ... Link To Original Article

PC World - Third-generation (3G) network operators in the U.K. could begin testing a technology to improve indoor network coverage before the end of the year. Link To Original Article

(Credit: Microsoft)During last year's E3, Microsoft allowed Xbox 360 owners to download exclusive content from the show as a part of "Bringing it Home"--a campaign designed to get gamers as close as possible to E3 without actually being there. A great deal of buzz was generated from ... Link To Original Article

Reuters - Sun Microsystems Inc. is revamping its Solaris operating system, incorporating key pieces of rival Linux software in a move that could gain better support from developers who have massed behind Linux. Link To Original Article

Bush administration praises ruling, but Supreme Court appeal may be in future for plaintiffs who say they were illegally monitored. Link To Original Article

This post by Microsoft (disclaiming its need to adhere to GPLv3) has me depressed. Not because of what it portends for open source, but because of how dumb it makes the company look, as Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet points out. Not to mention that it makes Novell look really dumb for trusting Microsoft to play nicely. (But then, that foolishness was never in doubt.) Still, Novell has just released this response to Microsoft's position: Shortly after the GPLv3 license was released, Microsoft issued a statement in which they expressed their view that Microsoft is not a party to the GPLv3 and it is therefore not applicable to them. Yesterday, they also articulated that, "to avoid any doubt or legal debate on this issue, Microsoft has decided that the Novell support certificates that we distribute to customers will not entitle the recipient to receive from Novell, or any other party, any subscription for support and updates that includes the receipt of any code licensed under GPLv3." Microsoft's current position, taken unilaterally, is intended to eliminate any perceived ambiguity about the applicability of GPLv3 to Microsoft. Nonetheless and independent of Microsoft's position, we would like to make clear our commitment to our customers that Novell will continue to distribute SUSE Linux Enterprise Server with its full set of functionality and features, including those components that are licensed under GPLv3. In other words, we'll carry the water for Microsoft since they really have turned out to be a terrible Linux partner. Who knew? PJ at Groklaw rightly castigates Microsoft for backing out of its commitment. Stephe Walli goes one step further, chastising Microsoft for foolishly backing out of an entire future (which might well be perfectly rosy for Microsoft): ... Link To Original Article

InfoWorld - OpenLogic announced Friday it has expanded its library of open-source software packages as part of its OpenLogic Enterprise 4.6 platform, adding key AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) technologies. Link To Original Article

This could be almost as much fun as a blowgun and curare-laden darts. Except, of course, that the kinder, gentler weaponry from Taser International is intended to have nonlethal results. From Crave, CNET's gadgets blog. Link To Original Article

Microsoft is getting renewed attention this week for LiveStation, an Internet video site co-developed by its research arm and Skinkers, a British start-up. The project, which uses Microsoft's Silverlight technology, was announced back in April and is still in limited testing. It has gotten a flurry of blog mentions ... Link To Original Article

TechWeb - Other popular software with new versions in the upgraded repository include ActiveMQ, Apache HTTP Server, AspectJ, JasperReports, Maven, Tomahawk, MySQL, PHP, PostgreSQL, Regexp and Tomcat. Link To Original Article

Founder says WabiSabiLabi will improve security by ensuring researchers get fairly compensated, but security companies are split over its value. Link To Original Article

Microsoft on Thursday began taking evasive action to avoid being pinned down by provisions in the new version 3 of the General Public License (GPL). The company issued a statement declaring itself not a party to GPL 3. And regarding coupons it sells that entitle customers to Novell's Suse ... Link To Original Article

AP - Microsoft Corp. will not say what went wrong inside of its Xbox 360 video game consoles that could lead to $1 billion (euro740 million) in repairs, but bloggers and their online readers seem to have their own answer: Link To Original Article

Microsoft acknowledged on Thursday that, in addition to experiencing an unacceptably high rate of hardware failures with the Xbox 360, the game console has also failed to reach its sales target. The company had said it would sell 12 million of the consoles by June 30. Instead, it has shipped ... Link To Original Article

Microsoft said on Thursday that it will expand its warranty on the Xbox to three years for certain hardware failures after an investigation showed the game console can be vulnerable to problems. "As a result of what Microsoft views as an unacceptable number of repairs to Xbox 360 consoles, the ... Link To Original Article

Though he plans to transition to part-time Microsoft employee next year, Chairman Bill Gates isn't leaving the tech stage. In fact, he will assume his usual place in the tech world, delivering the opening keynote for the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show, which takes place in January. Also on the ... Link To Original Article

AP - Cable companies are planning to charge more for set-top boxes to help pay for new, more expensive versions mandated by the Federal Communications Commission. Link To Original Article

[/url]AP - From the way he thrashed his head, kicked and tried to make a getaway, M16 made it clear he didn't like human contact. But the researchers wrangling with him could be helping to save his species. Link To Original Article

AP - Being "green" is all the rage with technology companies these days, but what's not clear is whether or not the environment-friendly approach is bringing in more greenbacks. Link To Original Article

InfoWorld - EBay launched its Kijiji International classified advertising site in the U.S. Friday. Link To Original Article