May 29, 2003

Microsoft has paid AOL Time Warner Inc. $750 million to settle claims arising from its crushing of the Netscape browser that AOL purchased. In addition to no longer facing these legal claims, Microsoft has gained AOL as a customer for a range of anti-piracy and digital rights-management software including Windows Media 9 Series. AOL is also licensed to use Internet Explorer technologies in its software for another seven years. One side note is that even more AOL discs will be given to people buy Microsoft to computer manufacturers on behalf of AOL. A major question is will AOL wash its hands of the Netscape browser now that they have the Internet Explorer license? 10:56:35 PM

David Pogue of the New York Times compares the TiVo and Replay Digital Video Recorders, paying particular attention to newer features such as streaming or transferring music and digital photos from a networked computer to the DVR and transferring video from one DVR to another DVR. The TiVo looks to come out ahead. Canadians can read something else - neither is available in Canada. 10:55:54 PM

With the deaths of five U.S. soldiers this week in combat in Iraq this week it is possible that the number of American troops killed in Iraq after President Bush’s victory speech on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on will eventually approach the troops number killed before the speech. In this case President Bush will have both an international crisis and political crisis on his hands as the American victory in Iraq will be seen to be fading. 10:53:54 PM