My calendar

AFP – Facebook on Wednesday unveiled revamped profile pages overhauled to make the hot social-networking website faster, less cluttered and more spam-resistant.

AFP – Microsoft said Wednesday it will reward US Live Search shoppers with cash for purchases, essentially trying to buy market share it tried to win with its failed bid to take over Yahoo.

Reuters – Time Warner Inc’s AOL Internet
division will launch versions of its video service in Canada,
India and Taiwan on Thursday as part of an aggressive global
expansion.

AP – In these hallowed halls, Indiana Jones almost seems out of place. A banner with a two-dimensional cutout of the swashbuckling archaeologist swings through the lobby of Industrial Light and Magic, where life-size replicas of Darth Vader and Bobba Fett from “Star Wars” stand guard.

AP – Todd Davis has dared criminals for two years to try stealing his identity: Ads for his fraud-prevention company, LifeLock, even offer his Social Security number next to his smiling mug.

PC World – Cisco has issued patches for several products including the SSH server software used by its routers.

Reuters – ABC.com is souping up
its full-episode broadband player with new features for the
fall.

Reuters – The EU executive said on Thursday it
would investigate if steps announced by Microsoft to
make it easier for users of an open-source rival to work with
Microsoft Office give consumers greater choice.

PC World – Readers discuss ISPs that filter peer-to-peer sharing, social networking tips, and CBS’s buyout of CNET.

PC World – A Singaporean blogger has been arrested for allegedly making racist comments online.

AP – The European Commission on Thursday cautiously welcomed Microsoft Corp.‘s announcement it will make its file format for storing documents compatible with that of rivals but the latter termed the move insufficient and a delaying tactic.

PC World – Chinese police have detained a 21-year-old woman in Shenyang for an online video

AP – Samsung Electronics said Thursday it was consolidating some of its key businesses a week after announcing a new executive lineup.

AFP – The European Commission said on Thursday it would scrutinise a decision by Microsoft to make its Office programme compatible with a rival document format.

AP – The new speakers from Sony are as tiny as golf balls but deliver the big, robust sound of a top-notch home-theater sound system.

Reuters – Matches made over the Internet often
do not last because people end up choosing unsuitable partners
and forming emotional bonds before meeting face-to-face, an
Australian university researcher has found.

Reuters – The judge who signed a
landmark European antitrust ruling against Microsoft
said on Thursday he was surprised by the large size of a record
899 million euro ($1.42 billion) fine imposed by the EU
executive against the software company after he had retired.

AP – In these hallowed halls, Indiana Jones almost seems out of place.

Reuters – ABC.com is souping up
its full-episode broadband player with new features for the
fall.

AFP – Not long ago, Republican White House hopeful John McCain’s official Internet site had Washington insiders laughing because it listed George W. Bush among “former US presidents” who support him — months before Bush’s term ends in January.

PC World – Office productivity software developers said Thursday Microsoft’s support for their championed document format could mean…

Reuters – The EU executive will investigate if
steps announced by Microsoft Corp to make it easier
for users of an open-source rival to work with Microsoft Office
would give consumers greater choice.

PC Magazine – Carrying-case manufacturer Skooba announced Thursday that it’s working with the Transportation Security Administration on new laptop bags that can pass through airport security without having the computer inside removed.

NewsFactor – EMC has introduced new disk-based backup and data-recovery offerings for enterprises facing an ever-expanding digital information glut. The range of new low-power disk-drive offerings will help enterprises improve their data-center operations by deploying EMC’s latest data deduplication, drive spin-down, and power-saving technologies, said Mark Sorenson, senior vice president of EMC’s Information Management Software Group.

AP – Though the calendar still says spring, the summer tour season has begun. Tracking your favorite acts, though, can be almost as interesting online as at your local amphitheater.

NewsFactor – On Wednesday, Microsoft announced a concept it hopes will give it the edge in the search engine wars: ad-funded cash rebates for customers who find and purchase products.

Macworld.com – Other World Computing (OWC) on Thursday began shipping its new line of internal CD- and DVD-burning SuperDrives. The new drives are capable of 20X burn speeds for DVDs and 48X speeds for CDs.

NewsFactor – The European Commission (EC) said today that it would investigate whether Microsoft will adequately provide for interoperability with the rival OpenDocument Format (ODF) in its Office suite.

Reuters – Activision Inc is adding
drums, bass guitar, and microphone to its popular “Guitar Hero”
video game, a move aimed at winning away fans of MTV’s rival
musical title “Rock Band.”

PC World – Google extended its lead in search in April at the expense of rivals like Microsoft and Yahoo.

Reuters – Google Inc co-founder Larry Page was
in Washington on Thursday to promote the company’s proposal for
a new generation of wireless devices to operate on
soon-to-be-vacant television airwaves.

AP – Google billionaire co-founder Larry Page said Thursday the Internet search leader opposed a Microsoft-Yahoo deal because it would monopolize the online communications market, stifle innovation and curb competition.

InfoWorld – Coverity, known in the code security and quality space, plans to announce its acquisition of build management vendor Codefast next week.

InfoWorld – Coverity, known in the code security and quality space, plans to announce its acquisition of build management vendor Codefast next week.

AP – The lack of high-speed Internet access in some areas of the U.S. has been hotly debated, even as that digital divide has narrowed. But a new, wider gap is being created by technology that will make today’s broadband feel as slow as a dial-up connection.

AP – The lack of high-speed Internet access in some areas of the U.S. has been hotly debated, even as that digital divide has narrowed. But a new, wider gap is being created by technology that will make today’s broadband feel as slow as a dial-up connection.

Reuters – Trekkies can boldly go online to
get a personalized message from Captain Kirk himself via a Web
site that puts a new twist on the global $4 billion memorabilia
market often beset by fraud.

TechWeb – InformationWeek – The company’s nearly completed national HSPA broadband infrastructure will be ready for a 3G iPhone.

AP – Yahoo Inc. is postponing its shareholder meeting for a second time, now that billionaire investor Carl Icahn has nominated alternate candidates to Yahoo’s existing board of directors.

NewsFactor – Consumer advocates have long argued that the steep early termination fees (ETF) that the U.S. wireless operators typically charge for an early cellular contract exit have made it difficult for consumers to change service providers. But that’s about to change.

Mediaweek.com – In addition to the arrival of WWE Smackdown! in October, MyNetworkTV has announced renewals next season for non-scripted series Jail and Street Patrol, 13 new episodes of Magic’s Biggest Secrets Revealed, and a new series called Funniest Moments. Riding the wave of the You Tube and online video craze, Funniest Moments will capture life’s most outrageous moments caught on tape. Thursday and Saturday will remain movie nights on MyNetworkTV. ...

TechWeb – InformationWeek – Almost all of the workstations and servers that GAO examined on the TVA’s corporate network lacked key security patches or had inadequate security settings.

TechWeb – InformationWeek – Doors, for example, is a set of requirements management tools that track not only the software changes required in a product but any other changes as well