December 11, 2002

Microsoft gets heavy with Dutch XP site The Inquirer, UK - DUTCH LAWYERS acting for Microsoft have told a Web site about WindowsXP to hand the domain name over by the 19th of December. The web site, which uses the www.windowsxp.nu URL contains news and information on the Windows XP operating system. The owner of the site still hasn't made up his mind about how he'll react to the request – he says in a statement on his site that he holds the number two position at Google for XP, just below Microsoft. 9:47:14 PM

A Look at Xandros NEWSFACTOR SPECIAL REPORT - It is the Holy Grail for Linux: a desktop OS that provides a better Windows-like experience than Windows. Xandros may not have reached that lofty goal yet, but it seems closer than any other distribution to date. The Xandros OS supports Microsoft Office, Quicken, Lotus Notes and some other Windows programs out-of-the-box. And for those who fear the Linux installation process, Xandros promises an easy ride. Only five mouse clicks stand between the user and an installed system, according to the company's Web site. 9:01:13 PM

Owner of home used for swingers' club is Mass. official Boston Globe - The owner of a contemporary home apparently used as a swingers' club is in charge of managing all the property owned by the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles. Thomas K. Lynch, 53, and his wife Diane, 55, of Wakefield, Mass., were ordered by the Town of Pelham on Saturday to stop operating the E'Lan Swingers Club in their second home on Shelley Drive in Pelham. Thomas Lynch is the manager of logistics at the Registry of Motor Vehicles, according to Massachusetts records. 6:57:33 PM

A New Type of Weather Forecaster Reuters - After examining 31 pig spleens, Canadian farmer Gus Wickstrom is sure of his six-month forecast for southwest Saskatchewan: snowstorms, mild spells and May rains. The retired farmer from Tompkins, Saskatchewan, is one of a handful of people on the Prairies who forecasts the weather by examining the spleen of a freshly slaughtered pig . 6:29:56 PM

RIAA Teams With Secret Service To Bust Piracy Ring MTV - The RIAA, which has long been policing the Internet for copyright-infringing file-sharers, strapped on its real-life gumshoes and assisted in one of the largest busts of pirated CDs ever. 6:12:27 PM

WMAR (ABC2) Would You Buy a Car From a Robot? Wired News - Honda may have come up with the most attentive and perhaps honest car dealer ever in its child-size walking robot Asimo. 4:18:03 PM

US 'to allow Yemen Scuds delivery' BBC -The United States has allowed a North Korean ship carrying 15 Scud missiles and warheads to Yemen to proceed on its way, according to the Yemeni Government. An unflagged ship that was smuggling the missiles under 40,000 bags of cement?  1:15:47 PM

Girl, 4, brings teacher a gift of marijuana CNN - The Department of Social Services is looking into a possible case of child abuse after a 4-year-old girl brought her teacher a small bag of marijuana as a gift. 10:24:44 AM