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Examines the implications for the computer software industry of United States District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's ruling that Microsoft Corp. had repeatedly violated antitrust laws. Establishment of standards for how dominant high-technology firms should behave; Debate over what constitutes a `monopoly.' INSETS: Excerpts From the Ruling.;The Stratospheric Rise--and Recent Battles--of a Software Giant..

Reports on the expected naming of Adobe Systems Inc. top marketing official Bruce Chizen as the president of the company. Financial results at company; Status of the company, a leading supplier of personal software tools used by artists and designers.

Reports that computer firms in the United States associated with the Linux operating system are using their high valuations as currency for acquisitions and recruiting. Closing prices of Red Hat, Cobalt Networks, Andover.Net and VA Linux since their public offerings; Short comings of LInux; Reactions of Linus Torvalds, brainchild of the Linux movement, to his wealth.

The article offers the author's insights on the death of car enthusiast Joshua Brown on his Tesla self-driving car in Florida on May 7, 2016 who appears that he has not followed the instruction manual that drivers should be ready in resuming control of the vehicle in all time.

This article examines the website of Vicipaedia Latina which is the Latin version of Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that readers can edit. The group that runs Vicipaedia is trying to keep Latin alive and that makes for some interesting translations of modern events in an ancient tongue. Examples of headlines about Bartholomaeus Simpson and Britannia Spears are given.

Assesses the problems within the high-technology industry. Impact of the semiconductor and computer software in modern business; Disconnect between the smart electronic appliances available and the knowledge of consumers as to how to optimally use these products; Discussion of computing history and its impact on current computer usage; View of the author that new technology is increasing too fast, resulting in bulky and inelegant computer systems.

Focuses on Internet technology and the release of software, called Skype, to be used in free Internet phone calls. Discussion of Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), which is not used in Skype; Number of people who have downloaded Skype since it was unveiled by its makers, indicating that Skype has become the de facto standard for making Internet phone calls; Equipment needed to make phone calls; Problems associated with Skype, including voice drop-offs and termination of connection; Inexpensive options in standard telephone communication systems.

Focuses on the powers given to the Business Software Alliance (BSA), a trade group representing several big software companies, to enforce the copyright claims of its members against companies using pirated software. Amount of money brought in by the BSA in enforcement actions, suggesting that they are a well-run organization; Comments from a civil engineer, whose firm had a run-in with the BSA over the unlicensed use of an AutoCad engineering program; Comments from Bob Kruger, head of BSA's enforcement efforts, regarding software management within violating companies; Profile of a typical company that has been cited by the BSA for intellectual property infringement. INSET: O.

Examines the microprocessor industry and the efforts of industry giant Intel Corp. to thwart the competition from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). Comparison of each companies' market share, sales and market capitalization, suggesting that Intel could easily price AMD out of the market, but that would only invite anti-trust regulators; AMD's introduction of a 64-bit microprocessing chip; Results of tests conducted on AMD's new chip and a modified 32-bit chip offered by Intel, suggesting the performance levels were similar; How Intel created the modified chip, which it does not plan to market, but wanted to quell the buzz of AMD's new product; Comments from Omid Rahmat, who tested both AMD's 64-bit chip and a modified 32-bit chip from Intel, regarding Intel's tactics.

The author focuses on the varied perspectives of U.S. presidential candidates Senators Barack Obama and John McCain about the extent to which personal-computer technology can be integrated into the everyday life of a person. McCain is criticized in YouTube videos for his self-acknowledged computer illiteracy. He implies that a computer does not lead to productivity. He notes that a computer can be a distraction for a president.

The article reviews the video game Open Doors.

The article evaluates a low-cost digital kitchen scale which helps cooking and baking a lot easier.

An interview with Tom Major, vice president (VP) for personal computer (PC) storage in Seagate Technology Inc., is presented. He says that the company will be trying to sell a 1.5-terabyte disk drive in enterprises and homes. He states that video is increasingly driving things. He accounts some of the technologies that will aid in growing capacities with traditional spinning magnetic media such as Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR).

The author reflects on the fallacy of comparing the transistors in a computer to the synapses in the brain. According to the author, because both brain and computers transmit information and are built up into network using similar descriptive language, equating computer circuits and synapses is an easy mistake to fall into. He claims that computers simply flips between on and off while synaptic processes involve conversion between electrical and chemical energy affected by complex cascades of hormones which are yet to be understood.

The article focuses on Professor Anita Elberse's article in the "Harvard Business Review" which counters the argument of magazine editor Chris Anderson in the 2006 book "The Long Tail" that society is shifting away its focus from mainstream products and markets due to the abundance of easy choice from the Web. Elberse discovered in her research that the patterns by which people shop online are similar to the ones from offline. She also noted that even in cultural consumption, consumers tend to be intensely social folks.

An interview with former U.S. Marine Tyler E. Boudreau is presented. He describes the challenges he faced in working on a computer while in combat in Iraq. He says that the use of information technology (IT) in the military does not make soldiers more effective in combat. Boudreau explains the relevance to what happens with IT in war with how it is utilized in the office.

The article focuses on online retailer Amazon.com and the legal strategy the company uses to avoid collecting sales tax in 8 states where it has warehouses or distribution centers. Amazon argues it does not have any presence in the concerned states as the plants are operated by wholly owned subsidiaries. While the law allows companies to establish subsidiaries that are legally separate entities, the courts can reject shell companies whose sole function is to avoid a tax obligation. Texas is examining Amazon's rationale for not collecting taxes there.

The author presents comments on antispam technology. He claims that a large percentage of electronic mails (emails) were not really spam. According to spam detection researcher David Dagon, a lot of change to the antispam system has to be made due to the intensity of the problem. He adds that if he would set up the antispam software to a lower setting, he would also start to get most of his mail and lots of spam as well.

The article discusses suggestions from readers about what they would like to see in Microsoft Corp.'s next operating system, Windows 7. John W. Spalding observes that Windows" reliance on "wizards" helper programs are problematic as a wizard is a sure indication that the underlying software package is too complicated. William Cole believes Microsoft should supply enough information about programs running in the background. David A. Kline says he does not use the My Documents folder because it reminds him too much of My Pretty Pony.

An interview with Brian Goldfarb, group product manager at the Microsoft Developer Division, about the Deep Zoom technology is presented. Goldfarb explains that Deep Zoom is a technology that makes it seamless to look at superhigh-resolution imagery on the Web. He adds that the depth of the zoom is only limited by the resolution of the imagery. He notes that a Web site could use Deep Zoom to have the equivalent of small print at the bottom of the page, but which could be zoomed on to read.

The author focuses on the use of Blackberry smartphones to read books. He states that the smartphone can work as a real book by downloading a reader software and picking a book from an online catalog. He notes that electronic books for mobile telephones do not have pages the way a conventional book does. He also discusses the disadvantages of using the device in reading.

The article suggests some ideas that may be incorporated into the coming "Windows 7" operating system from Microsoft Corp. The author proposes a number of design ideas for Windows 7 which is said to replace the current Windows Vista. This includes a smarter graphics system for the new LCD displays soon to be in the market, an operating system (OS) undo feature using "snapshots" similar to those now being used by Apple, VMWare and Sun Microsystems and an available open-source software like Linux.

The article focuses on Web bloggers who are tackling cookbooks. It says that Carole Blymire of Washington, D.C. is one of them and has been writing "French Laundry at Home" with discussions of the recipes in Thomas Keller's "French Laundry Cookbook." It mentions that bloggers do these blogs to learn culinary basics and expand their cooking repertoire.

The article focuses on collection of sales tax by Internet retailers in the U.S. It states that under a current law, electronic (e)-commerce companies are obligated to deduce sales tax only if they have a direct connection, called a nexus, within a state. According to the article, there is a New York law being disputed by Amazon that declares an affiliate marketer as a nexus, while Texas state officials are looking at whether an Amazon distribution facility in Irving is a nexus.

The author comments on the disclosure by Hewlett Packard Co. on May 13, 2008 that it will invest $13.25 billion to acquire Electronic Data Systems Corp, a technology-services company. Hewlett-Packard is envious of IBM Corp. which has avoided the cyclical nature of the computer-hardware business by being a services and consulting company. With H-P profits largely dependent on printer ink and personal computer sales, Hewlett-Packard considers the acquisition of Electronic Data Systems an attractive proposition.

An interview with Chris Saad, one of the founders of DataPortability Project, is presented. Saad defines data portability as the ability of users to be able to choose to share some of their data between the services with security and safety. He notes that the companies in the project have endorsed the project as the place to come up with best practices. He also mentions that the focus of the project is on social data.

The article focuses on "Internet Superstar," an online-only television (TV) program that interviews funny Web celebrities. The show is hosted by 32-year-old Cornell graduate Martin Sargent and 38-year-old writer and bodybuilder Jay Speiden. Revision3 of San Francisco, California handles the outfit including 14 similar segments and receives four million views a month with an assumed average income of $40,000.

The article reviews the computer software Live Mesh from Microsoft Corp.

An interview with Peter Sandborn, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Maryland, is presented. He says that the safety-critical system is the area where most technology obsolescence have the biggest impact. Sandborn explains the reasons behind the problems in memory chips. He says that he hopes that there are no safety issues with obsolete electronic parts.

The author discusses the Apple Motion graphics program, known in video-production circles for its prebuilt templates and graphics libraries, that can be changed quickly and easily to generate personalized television (TV) news videos. He relates that with no experience using the software, he was able to take a template in just 15 minutes. He narrates that he contacted Dean Velez, a veteran of the news-graphics business, to prepare an introductory computer graphic for a special news report about whether graphics were damaging TV news.

An interview with Joel Espelien of Packet Video about the effect of faster telephone networks on the use of cellular telephones is presented. He notes that dual-network capability is possible in a number of smart-phone type cellular telephones. Espelien predicts that consumers will be able to have access to video on-demand on the Web using Internet streaming. He mentions that cellular telephone users will gain easy access to music streaming services in the future.

The article examines various technologies for the electronic publishing of books to be read on personal communication devices. The Sony Reader and the Kindle developed by Amazon.com are devices the size of paperback books which use high-resolution display technology to reduce eyestrain. The BlackBerry mobile communication device contains software which downloads books and presents them on the screen.

An interview with Jon Hirschtick, founder of SolidWorks Corp. in Concord, Massachusetts, is presented. He describes the business lessons he learned from playing cards such as blackjack. He says that in hiring people, one has to know if he can play with his hands properly and not merely whether he won or lost in the previous hour. He advises that if one has carefully calculated the odds and has the advantage, then one has to maximize his capital.

The author offers opinions on a proposal by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission that the so-called "white space" between signals on the television broadcasting spectrum be auctioned off to provide bandwidth for wireless communication systems. The idea is being fiercely opposed by television broadcasters, who cite the possibility of interference with television signals. The author notes the technological means of preventing that problem already exist, and are inexpensive.

The author offers tips on using the Blackberry Curve computer. He states that the e-mail feature of Blackberry can be linked with the regular e-mail account. He notes that Blackberry features shortcuts built mainly to correct common misspellings. He also mentions that Blackberry, depending on its size, can hold messages for a month or so.

The author offers opinions on the Internet and its effect on U.S. politics. The Web 2.0 creations such as blogs, Web video sites such as YouTube, and online social networks have garnered an influence to rival that of traditional mass media, and YouTube replays of embarrassing moments for politicians are said to have been decisive in several 2006 elections. The instantaneous nature of Internet communication, however, may lead to distortions and campaign abuses.

The article focuses on Rusty Schweickart, a retired astronaut who was a member of the Apollo 9 space mission. Schweickart has become one of the world's leading authorities on asteroid deflection, how to cope with an asteroid headed for a catastrophic collision with earth. The technology for long-range asteroid tracking is in existence and relatively inexpensive. Schweickart states that the major difficulty is getting the world's governments to agree on a common policy for asteroids.

The article discusses what makes content on the Internet so compelling. Many readers of Andrew Sullivan's blog indicated they didn't want the ability to post comments there because they feared they would spend too much reading and responding to them. Scientist Irving Biederman of the University of Southern California has conducted research that suggests people are drawn to information that is both new to them, and subject to their own interpretations.

The article details the author's experience helping to judge a contest sponsored by Stanford University. Entrants were charged with doing something creative with rubber bands. The author realized that particularly obvious ideas tended to be obvious to many people. The winning entry used rubber bands to model the sine-Gordon equation.

An interview with Chris Baggot of Compendium Blogware is presented. He describes the condition of business blogging in the U.S. Baggot explains the implication for employers if they allow their workers to engage in blogging on their own way. He comments on the issue that blog readers may think that the information they received is sanitized because of the control of bloggers' messages by companies.

The article discusses how the Internet has made freely available political news and information that used to be the near-exclusive province of professional journalists. Web sites such as realclearpolitics.com and nationaljournal.com present stories and updates on a daily basis. Mark Halperin authored a political blog in the early 1990s whose "insider" perspective and casual style have been widely mimicked.

An interview with Jerry Sheer, chief executive officer (CEO) of Sparta Social Networks, is presented. He states that a company can watch as its customers construct their own communities and groups by making a social network. He mentions that enterprises can make adjustments in their next campaign if a new advertisement gets a negative reaction. He adds that a social network is about being able to create better business decisions.