Tuesday's Twiddler

Tuesday is news day. The first frisbee was produced by Wham-O on this day in 1957. The YMCA sued the Village People for libel in 1979. The Friday the 13th virus struck in 1989.

1. A California judge has ruled that claims processed through MSFreePC.com are invalid and that customers who want to benefit from Microsoft's $1.1 billion settlement with the state have to file the paperwork by hand. MSFreePC.com was set up by Michael Robertson's Lindows to encourage users to claim court mandated rebates from Microsoft and use them to buy Lindows-based PCs. Microsoft asserted that the electronic claims forms were illegal. Robertson said that Microsoft's "true intentions are not to remedy their abusive pricing policies but simply to escape financial redress to Californians." The court agreed with Microsoft.
2. Novell completes its acquisition of SuSE Linux today, and joins HP in indemnifying large corporations against any liability in the SCO lawsuits.
3. A Federal judge has ruled in favor of BadBusinessBureau.com in a defamation lawsuit filed by a cookware manufacturer. The site, which also goes under the name RipOffReport.com, features consumer complaints about a variety of companies.
4. Spirit hasn't even left its platform yet, but the Mars rover may have already detected signs of ancient water on the red planet. This would be a significant finding, since water seems to be a prerequisite for life.
5. From Slashdot: If you're looking for absolution with your toner cartridges, look no farther than LaserMonks, a group of Cistercian monks in Wisconsin who support themselves by selling printer cartridges out of their monastery.