The W3C has just released a new Current Patent Policy document.   9:06:39 AM     

A swipe at paper transactions. "Stored value" cards and other e-payment methods are slowly gaining favor among merchants and consumers. But is it really the death knell for paper checks? Knowledge@Wharton takes a look. [CNET News.com]

At CIA's In-Q-Tel, mundane tech better than Bond. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When it comes to tapping new technologies for the CIA, the mundane can have more value than the James Bond model, Gilman Louie, chief executive officer of In-Q-Tel, the agency's investment arm, said Thursday. [SiliconValley.com: Breaking News]

In California, Dream Cuisine. Eating at Thomas Keller's famed Napa Valley restaurant The French Laundry made me think of Fred Astaire. When you watch the master dance, you only think about how much fun he must be having, it all looks so easy, so natural. It never crosses your mind that he is working about as hard as a human being can work. [International Herald Tribune - Travel]   1:02:39 AM