] The new offering is part of a multibillion-dollar bet by
] Verizon and the other Bell companies. They are gambling
] that by going door to door to replace century-old copper
] wire technology with high-speed fiber optic lines, they
] can hang onto their most valuable asset: a direct line
] into the home of each customer.

Phone Line Alchemy: Copper Into Fiber

] AFTER New York City started converting red and green
] traffic lights to light-emitting diodes in 2000, L.E.D.'s
] became the Paris Hilton of lighting, popping up
] everywhere. They decorate the sets of Broadway shows like
] "Hairspray"; restaurants like Nooch, a new noodle place
] in Chelsea; and the atrium of the Time Warner Center,
] where they gradually change color throughout the evening.
] The technology has progressed so far so quickly, leaping
] gracefully from commercial to residential applications,
] that interior designers like me are racing to catch up.

Light That Swings Quick as a Mood

] "What's happened now is that the world is down to three
] operating systems," McNealy said, during his keynote.
] "That is Windows, Red Hat and Solaris."

More hysterics from McNealy.

McNealy: Microsoft needs Sun to beat IBM and Red Hat

]
]
] Sony Corp.'s Japanese music unit says it will no longer
] sell CDs with built-in copy protection, a technology it
] had been pushing for two years.

Is this the one that could be defeated with a magic marker or the one that could be defeated by disabling autorun?

Sony Nixes Copy-Protected CDs in Japan

]
] Today, more than 70 companies from the consumer
] electronics, information technology, media and software
] industries held the first official meeting of the Blu-ray
] Disc Association.

They have some heavy hitters from both the computer and consumer electronics industries on board. There's a war brewing between
this and HD-DVD; blu-ray is better technology hands down. Maybe Sony's starting to learn its lesson from Betamax.

Blu-ray Disc Association Launches

] Sun Microsystems today took aim at two core pieces of its
] server strategy, announcing a new generation of
] UltraSPARC processors and a key software win for Solaris
] x86.

I can't believe Sun's still pissing away money on SPARC.

Sun hypes new UltraSPARC

] Those who live and work in this fortified city woke up
] Wednesday to find a 178-foot white blimp floating in
] highly restricted airspace about 1,000 feet above some of
] the most visible symbols of American democracy and
] military strength - the White House, the Capitol and the
] Pentagon.

A 178-Foot Surprise Rises Over Washington

]
] Are you sitting down? The Patent Office has rejected
] Microsoft's FAT patent in the reexamination proceeding
] initiated earlier this year by Dan Ravicher's Public
] Patent Foundation, PubPat. As you can see, Daniel Lyons'
] unfounded mockery of Mr. Ravicher's credentials was
] misguided. Here's what Ravicher says about this
] development, "I hope those companies that chose to take a
] license from Microsoft for the patent negotiated refund
] clauses so that they can get their money back." Microsoft
] has the opportunity to respond, but it's uphill for them
] now.

USPTO Rejects M$ FAT Patent

]
] Here's a charming report from Forrester Research's CEO
] George Colony about what he says is Sun's blueprint for
] survival, in which Sun once again reveals it is no true
] friend of FOSS, and in fact doesn't even know what it is.
...
] Have you noticed that it's generally dying companies that try to
] misuse the courts as an anticompetitive weapon? It's the
] fingerprint of failure.

Sun Charms Us Further

] With a series of events being strung together, rumors
] about Google building a browser are running amok.

On the one hand, Google's backing could help beat back the tide of IE. The thought of a Google browser makes me uncomfortable, nonetheless.

Google Browser on Its Way?