FRIDAY MORNING LITE

SILVER SCREEN AOL
Showbizdata is reporting that AOL USERS can now download recent movies for .99 thanks for a partnership with MOVIELINK.


IMITATION THE SINCEREST FORM?
Will putting on a windows mask make Linux more mainstream? WIRED seems to think so.

IF YOU CAN'T BEAT EM, JOIN APPLE?
Apple/Pepsi's Super Bowl iMusic giveaway commercial will feature 20 teens who have been victim of the RIAA jihad and how they will "still download free music thanks to Apple & Pepsi." The commercial will also feature GREEN DAY doing a new cover of "I Fought the Law."


CAN POCKET PCs BECOME DESKTOP BOXES?
Synosphere, the makers of BLUE DOCK are betting they can. The Pocket PC is inserted into the Blue Dock and the user can then create and edit data on a desktop computer monitor with keyboard and mouse. And users can check email, surf the web, and even log onto a network.

NO CLEVER PHRASE FOR THURSDAY'S NEWS, SO HERE IT IS


IT'S ALL IN THE MATH
Russian physicists took six months and used mathematical probabilities and the laws of physics to prove that Moses really did part the Red Sea.

I coulda done it in 4 hours watching the TEN COMMANDMENTS.


COLUMBIA RULES THE WAVS?
The Giz reports that British Parlament is taking notice of iPod's dirty little secret of poor battery life. And, in typical government fashion, it relies on the political effect rather than actual facts that Apple is seeking to correct the issue.

Meanwhile, imitation is the purest form of flattery except when it comes to business:



as Nextway releases this blatant copy of the iPod - with only a 1.5 GB hard drive? Man, that's only what, 1,500 songs in your pocket? ;)


BIZARRE CASE MOD OF THE WEEK - The Windows XP Box. LITERALLY!
Some people just have way too much time on their hands.


SPAM, WONDERFUL SPAM
AOL is testing a new spam filter which works like caller I.D. - tracing the spam back to it's original offender. Where Uncle Sam can levy a hefty fine. If it works, it could be tantamount to the atomic bomb which ends the spam wars. But we doubt it. There will always be someone who comes long to build a better mousetrap. But it's worth the try and E-R commends the effort. It's about time AOL did something worthy.

HUMP DAY

NECESSARY EVIL
According to the L.A. Daily News, Americans have a love-hate relationship with tech. And #1 on their list is CELLPHONES.


TOP TEN EMERGING TECH
Tech Review lists their Top 10 Emerging Technologies That Will Change Your World.

BACKING OFF
Redmond's lawsuit against Mike Rowe has received so much negative attention, that Gates' goons are now backing off a bit.

Ya think?

COOL SITE OF THE DAY
FONTIFIER. Turn your handwriting into a font.


THIS WEEK ON TECH TUESDAY - ONLINE GAMING

IF THIS IS TUESDAY, THIS MUST BE CYBERSPACE


BY YOUR COMMAND
Check out what your name would stand for if you were a CYBORG.

More low tech, but still cool, is what your name looks like in BabylonianCUNEIFORM.


HERE TODAY, GONE WHENEVER
Wired News has it's annual VAPORWARE AWARDS. Some of the promised tech that hasn't appeared: HD TIVO, WRIST PDAs, and WI-FI for PALM.


WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO TODAY?
eMachines unveils a laptop using AMDs 64-bit chips.


UTAH ON $10 A DAY
Wired has a story on a young filmmaker who is taking Sundance by storm with a feature film he made for $218.32! Yes, I said $218.32!

After a week off. Here we are back in the saddle again. Now, here's -

MONDAY, MONDAY

GEEK COURT
Microsoft is suing 17 yr. old Mike Rowe for copyright infringement after the teen had the audacity to create mikerowesoft.com.

Looks like Bill Gates is worried about competition in the illiterate market.

TOP ELEVEN STARTUP MESSAGES YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE
Thanks to GeekPress/BBSpot:

11. The Department of Homeland Security thanks you for letting us watch you use this computer.
10. Deleting all illegal files... 1% done
9. Welcome to Gator OS
8. \root\system32\ntoskernel.exe is missing or corrupted. Please install this file and try again.
7. **** COMMODORE 64 BASIC V2 ****
64K RAM SYSTEM 38911 BASIC BYTES FREE
6. English language module not found. Switching to Klingon
5. Welcome to Mac OS
4. This machine has been assimilated. Thanks for joining the Borg
3. Stormtroopers? Here? We're in danger. I must tell the others. Oh, no! I've been shot!
2. beeeeeep-beeeeeep-beeeeeep
1. Welcome back, Professor Falken. Would you like to play a game?

GREAT JOB, HERE'S A COMPUTER
It's "Buy your Employees a Computer" day in the U.K. Where corporations get a handy tax break for springing for a new PC for their workers.

P2P EXPANDING TO SOFTWARE PIRACY
Actually, it always has. According to the Business Software Alliance (BSA), while the RIAA and MPAA's squeaking wheels are getting the grease, more file sharers are swapping pirated computer software than ever before.

Meanwhile, the RIAA Jihad against P2P is only serving to move the activity further underground as more and more applications are popping up which make filesharers annonymous on the net and giving the ability to distinguish legit files from phoney or virus infected ones.