Top Items:

Google at work on desktop Linux — Search engine giant preps own version of Ubuntu — Google is preparing its own distribution of Linux for the desktop, in a possible bid to take on Microsoft in its core business - desktop software. — A version of the increasingly popular Ubuntu desktop …
Discussion:
TechSpot, Good Morning Silicon Valley, rev2.org, Download Squad, GadgetMadness, Microsoft News Tracker and OpsanBlog

DRM-a-go-go — I had a fun old time this morning speaking at a Digital Rights Management conference in London. My own attempt to introduce some reality on the security limits of DRM was generally well-received, aside from a couple of myopic content industry representatives.
Discussion:
ZDNet.com
RELATED ITEM:

MSFT: Our DRM licensing is there to eliminate hobbyists and little guys
Discussion:
Smalltalk Tidbits …

StarForce threatens to sue me for criticizing its products — A company that was criticized on Boing Boing has threatened to sue me, and claims to have sworn out a complaint against me with the FBI. — Yesterday, I posted about StarForce, a harmful technology used by game companies to restrict their customers' freedom.

Blogtimize! — Blogging is near and dear to our hearts here at Inside AdSense. We know you want to get the most out of those posts - but how do you do it? — 1. Choose the right ad formats — Because the typical blog layout uses a narrow section for posts, the medium rectangle fits nicely at the end of each post.

Google plays down Napster bid talk — Google today played down speculation it is poised to battle Apple's dominance in the online music market, amid reports that the internet company is considering buying Napster, the one-time illegal music website. — However, despite Google's firm denial …
Discussion:
Good Morning Silicon Valley

IE7 Beta 2 Preview Available — If you're a developer, an IT Pro, or just plain interested, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ ie7/ to try the IE7 Beta 2 Preview. — What's a beta preview? It's a release for everyone involved in making the Internet work.

Time Inc. to Cut 100 More Jobs as It Focuses on Web Business — Time Inc., after eliminating 105 management jobs just before Christmas, is moving to cut about 100 more, including up to 10 at its flagship, Time magazine. — Both editorial and business-side employees are being cut at several of the company's domestic magazines.

World of Warcraft 1.10 Patch Details — First details on what to expect in the new WoW patch! — In Blizzard's endless march towards perfecting and balancing their hugely successful MMO, World of WarCraft, the company is putting the final touches on the upcoming 1.10 patch, due some time in the near future.

WSJ: Sellout.com — Americans have a long history of selling out - think Warren Beatty and "Ishtar" or politicians and Indian casinos. The public is trusting until proven otherwise, then turns on icons like rats on garbage. Never more so with culture: Being "cool," "tight" or …
Discussion:
Techdirt

Super RSS Tools — Today I had to dig a little deeper into the world of RSS. I'm preparing a Live.com environment for a potential customer and I needed tools to convert dynamic HTML pages (search queries) into RSS feeds so I could add them into Microsoft's feed collector.

Searching for emails... Is search done yet? Quick, find a list of 100 bloggers. Now, quick, tell me what their email addresses are. — You can find mine pretty easily. Just go to Google or MSN or Yahoo and type: — Scoble email — And you'll find it within the first few links. Why?

How To Sync Yahoo PIM, iCal & Address Book? — If you are like me, then syncing your iCal and Address Book with Yahoo's web-based PIM has been virtually impossible. Given Yahoo's long standing apathy for MacOS had sent many of us into the warm, comfortable embrace of Apple's own .Mac service.
Discussion:
The Apple Blog

EarthLink offers new VoIP service — Broadband provider EarthLink has begun selling a new Internet phone service that's designed to be easy to use and require no additional hardware. — The company has partnered with broadband access wholesaler Covad Communications to offer the voice …

New Book Lays Bare The Fiber Optic Broadband Future the US Should Have Had — Bruce Kushnick has written a new book, $200 Billion Broadband Scandal, that details a truly massive bait and switch campaign by the major US telephone companies. What the major US telephone companies promised …

Roll Your Own Ringtone — CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts — Cell-phone customers have spent more than $4 billion on ringtones taken primarily from popular hits. Now MIT's Media Lab hopes to unleash some new creativity into this market with a ringtone composition tool to the masses for free.