Monday's Misteps

I'm off to Vancouver BC for the Vicki Gabereau Show, but before I go... the news! Those iPod ads are good, but home made iPod ads are better. Dickens' A Christmas Carol was first published on this day in 1843. The clip-on tie was released in 1928. The Susan B Anthony dollar was released in 1978. Saddam Hussein was captured in his spider hole one year ago today.

1. Oracle has successfully concluded its long-delayed takeover of PeopleSoft, heading off what could have been a bitter fight. Oracle shareholders will get $26.50/share - more than $10 more than Oracle's first offer. PeopleSoft's employees will get Larry Ellison as a boss. Doesn't seem fair somehow.
2. Microsoft has released desktop search software - wait doesn't Windows do that already? - to compete with Google and Yahoo. The free software comes with the new MSN Toolbar Suite and works with Windows XP and 2000 only.
3. Sony's PSP shipped in Japan yesterday and promptly sold out. The first 200,000 units were gone in hours. Sony plans to ship three million by March. The portable gaming device sports console quality graphics and can also play movies and DVDs. It's selling in Japan for 19,800 yen - about $188 US dollars. 21 games will be ready before the end of this year. Sony will offer the PSP in North America sometime next spring.

4. Firefox use rose 34% in the US last month according to WebSideStory. Internet Explorer still has 90% market share web wide, although it's now below 50% on this site.
5. The US Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether P2P file sharing services like Kazaa and Grokster are liable for aiding copyright infringement. The court agreed to hear the music industry's appeal of a Ninth Circuit court decision that Grokster and Streamcast were not liable because they didn't exercise control over the music swapped using their service. This is gonna be the big one.
6. A Manhattan housing court judge has been offered for sale on eBay, with free worldwide shipping included. The posting, from a disgruntled former litigant, was quickly pulled, but not before 21 bidders raised the judge's price to $127.50.
7. Robbers in Texas were scared off from a home invasion by sounds from Grand Theft Auto. "The police in the game were staying, 'Stop, we have you surrounded. This is the police.’ The burglar, unknowingly, thought this was the actual police and panicked," according to the Galveston DA.

Listen in Tuesday at 6:45a Pacific for my weekly news commentary on KGO 810 AM in San Francisco. Friday midday I'll be on The Vicki Gabereau Show on CTV in Canada. (We only tape on Tuesday.)