December 24, 2002

Sun up after Microsoft ruling CNET News.com - Shares of Sun Microsystems rose Tuesday, a day after a federal court ordered Microsoft to distribute Sun's Java programming language with its Windows operating system. 2:21:13 PM

Man Pleads Guilty to Writing Viruses PC World - British citizen admits creating three destructive viruses, which spread to 42 countries and infected computers at the FBI. 2:19:04 PM

With Google at gates, Yahoo! arms itself ZDNet.co.uk, UK - Yahoo!'s acquisition of one-time search high-flier Inktomi is part of the portal's struggle to deal with the popularity of Google Don't feed the hand that bites you. That appears to be the philosophy behind Web giant Yahoo!'s decision to buy search technology also-ran Inktomi in the face of a growing competitive threat by search standard-bearer Google. 2:15:24 PM

The Sims Online impressions GameSpot - The Sims Online was finally released this week, and we've since gotten our hands on some copies and spent a good while playing this unusual game. Clearly derivative of Maxis' hugely successful 1999 game, The Sims, this new game takes the familiar look, mechanics, and humor of its predecessor, but all the proceedings take place online, and all the sims are controlled by real people. The result can be described as a hybrid of the original Sims game and a massively multiplayer online role-playing game such as EverQuest--only with an emphasis on trade skills instead of combat. Like in conventional online RPGs (or like in The Sims, for that matter), in The Sims Online your characters can train and improve in various skills (cooking, mechanical, and so on) and then use these skills to make more money. Money is then used, like in The Sims, to buy property and furnish that property with a variety of different things. Again, though, the big twist is that in The Sims Online, you can have other players come and visit your place. 2:13:22 PM