Wired has an article on how Microsoft is taking the law into their own hands. It seems that microsoft agents are going undercover to catch individuals selling or distributing the recently leaked windows source code.

A Microsoft agent purchased the source code from IllMob.org then invited the FBI to do the same. Upon completion of the sale, the properietor of IllMob.org was was charged and plead guilty under the U.S. Economic Espionage Act, though some experts claim he could have won at trial.

Rex Swain has a fascinating article from the New York Times about the mathematical distribution of numbers in seemingly unrelated sets. Apparently, in most random sets, the first digit of any 4 digit or larger number has a 30% chance of being 1. This is significant when one considers that the number 1 is only 1/9th of the possible digits, so its roughly 3 times as likely to appear as logic would dictate in a truly random distribution. 2 is the next most likely first digit, then 3, and so on.

What makes this interesting is that it actually has practical applications. Computer programs are now looking for fraud by comparing accounting information to these probabilities, named after Dr. Frank Benford, to mark entries needing further review. Essentially, if data doesn't resemble the expected pattern, its likely to be forged.

The Silicon Valley Sleuth has a nice write up on the lack of new or innovative features present in Microsoft's Windows Vista. Of the new features shown at a recent Consumer Electronics Show, none are not already offered by free software or the competing Mac OS X. Sadly, most of us will still end up forking over roughly $100 for this new XP theme the next time we buy a computer.

In the interest of fairness, Microsoft has touted many of Vista's back-end changes that will supposedly lead to increased security and a more pleasant user experience. However, I still prefer an operating system that keeps me in charge of my own computer like Debian Linux.

Wikipedia, an almost completely user editable online encyclopedia, is having increasingly prominent problems with individuals and organizations modifying their own wiki entries in dishonest ways. First, former MTV veejay and prominent podcasting pioneer Adam Curry is caught modifying the podcasting wiki entry to give himself more credit in the creation of the innovative technology. Now, congressional staffers have been caught and later admitted to modifying their boss' entries to be more positive! In fact, the problem has apparently become so severe that the wiki blocked house IP addresses from making edits due to a "deliberate attempt to compromise the integrity of the encyclopedia."

Jimmy Wales, the Wikipedia founder, has responded to the problem with temporary measures like IP bans and has described a plan to combat the problem in the long term.

For the first time in recent memory, important and somewhat obvious questions about the true nature of DRM were raised at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing. John Sununu, a republican junior senator from New Hampshire, baffled the industry panel with such devious questions as whether or not 3 radio songs recorded today could be listened to 1 at a time tomorrow. Under the RIAA's proposal, by the way, the answer to that question is no. Check out the full EFF article here or learn more about the dangers of DRM here.

Google's popular contextual ad service AdSense is rumored to be experimenting with "rich media" ads. That is, ads which are designed to annoy and interrupt the user's browsing experience rather than blend in as supplemental text-based information. Check out the whole story here.

You all know that I am far from a Microsoft fan. However, despite founding one of the most malicious companies in recent history, Bill Gates does deserve recognition for his substantial charitable giving. Through his foundation, Gates has given more than 9 billion dollars to charitable causes. While I don't personally agree with every charity he chooses to support, his latest gift of 600 Million dollars to help in the fight against tuberculosis certainly deserves recognition. Of course, with a net worth of 45 billion, he can afford it.

I'm cheap. Seriously. I refuse to pay retail price for virtually everything other than groceries, and I'd gladly do some serious comparison shopping on groceries if I had the time. Before I buy anything, I check a fairly extensive list of online bargain hunting sites in hopes of finding one that has a great deal on the item I'm looking for. Here is a quick guide so you can be cheap too.

Though I don't usually follow computer graphics that closely, this image caught my eye. It is an amazingly realistic picture of a woman's face. However, its not real. Its completely computer generated. While this sort of realism won't be available in real-time applications such as games for some time to come, faster processors and better rendering algorithms make super-realistic game characters of the future entirely possible. Don't miss this awesome image.

When patents were conceived, they served an important purpose. They made it possible and even profitable for companies to invest time, money, and effort into developing new and innovative products and techniques. Essentialy, they served as a way for a company to effectively protect a complex product derived from original novel ideas. However, the patent system was designed well before the age of "intellectual property" where remarkable monetary value is held in nothing more than simple ideas applied in interesting ways. And this has led to abuse of the patent system by any number of entities. Recently, Microsoft effectively patented the "double click" when used on handheld devices. Now, Cingular has come up with an idea that I'm sure none of us have ever seen before: emoticons! Whats even more interesting, they are trying to patent it.