[Slashdot] Stories for 2008-02-05

======================================================================
Make Your Network Business-Smart
Reduce Costs. Drive Productivity. Improve Profitability.
With One Integrated Application Delivery Solution from Radware.
Read More

http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;185864184;13503038;h?http://
www.radware.com/Products/ApplicationDelivery/default.aspx
======================================================================

Slashdot Daily Newsletter

In this issue:
* Life May Have Evolved In Ice
* Yahoo May Re-Consider Google Alliance, Rebuff Microsoft
* Fourth Undersea Cable Taken Offline In Less Than a Week
* Particle Swarm Optimization for Picture Analysis
* 'Innovation In a Flash' Is a Myth
* Google And Microsoft Cross Swords Over Yahoo!
* Is XMPP the 'Next Big Thing'
* Best Presidential Candidate, Democrats
* Best Presidential Candidate, Republicans
* Torvalds Says Microsoft is Bluffing on Patents
* Creative Capitalism Gets Microsoft $528M Tax Break
* Courts Force Danish ISP to Block Torrent Tracker
* Next Generation of Gyroscopic Controllers on the Horizon
* Intel Doubles Capacity of Likely Flash Successor
* The Life of a Software Engineer
* How Microsoft-Yahoo Will Affect Open Source
* The Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition Preview Books
* PostgreSQL 8.3 Released
* Vista SP1 Released to Manufacturing
* 2008 Turing Award Winners Announced
* Experts Claim HIV Patients Made Non-Infectious
* Yahoo Music Shutting Down, Users Going to Real

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Life May Have Evolved In Ice |
| from the where-else-would-it-evolve-i-tell-you-not-jersey dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Sunday February 03, @20:02 (Biotech) |
|

http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/03/228247

|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

Philip Bailey writes "An article in this month's Discover Magazine claims
that some of the fundamental organic molecules required for the
development of life [0]could have spontaneously arisen within ice.
Scientist Stanley Miller was responsible for seminal experiments in the
1950s in this area. He used sparks and a mixture of inorganic chemicals
to test his theories, but turned to low temperature experiments in later
years. He was able to create the constituents of RNA and proteins from a
mixture of cyanide, ammonia and ice in trials lasting up to 25 years. A
process known as eutectic freezing is thought to be the basis of these
results: small pockets of liquid water, in which foreign molecules are
concentrated enormously, increases the reaction rates, and more than
compensates for temperature-related slowing."

Discuss this story at:

http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/03/228247

Links:
0. http://discovermagazine.com/2008/feb/did-life-evolve-in-ice/article_view?b_start:int=1&-C=

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Yahoo May Re-Consider Google Alliance, Rebuff Microsoft |
| from the now-the-rubberband-is-on-the-other-claw dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Sunday February 03, @22:33 (Yahoo!) |
|

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/04/0130235

|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

[0]anastasd writes "Reuters is reporting that [1]Yahoo might consider a
business alliance with Google as a way to top a $44.6 billion takeover
proposal by Microsoft. 'Yahoo management is considering revisiting talks
it held with Google several months ago on an alliance as an alternative
to Microsoft's bid, that source said. At $31 a share, Yahoo believes the
bid undervalues the company, two sources said. A second source close to
Yahoo said it had received a procession of preliminary contacts by media,
technology, telephone and financial companies. But the source said they
were unaware whether any alternative bid was in the offing.'"

Discuss this story at:

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/04/0130235

Links:
0. mailto:adolushanov@gmail.com
1. http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSN0362915520080204

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Fourth Undersea Cable Taken Offline In Less Than a Week |
| from the bad-week-to-be-a-backbone-cable dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Monday February 04, @00:36 (Communications) |
|

http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/04/0158249

|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

An anonymous reader writes "[0]Another undersea cable was taken offline
on Friday, this one connecting Qatar and UAE. 'The [outage] caused major
problems for internet users in Qatar over the weekend, but Qtel's loss of
capacity has been kept below 40% thanks to what the telecom said was [1]a
large number of alternative routes for transmission. It is not yet clear
how badly telecom and internet services have been affected in the UAE.'
In related news it's been confirmed that the two cables near Egypt
[2]were not cut by ship anchors." Update: 02/04 07:13 GMT by [3]Z : A
commenter notes that despite the language in the article indicated a
break or malfunction, the cable wasn't cut. It was taken offline due to
power issues.

Discuss this story at:

http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/04/0158249

Links:
0. http://www.arabianbusiness.com/510132-internet-problems-continue-with-fourth-cable-break?ln=en

1. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Infotech/Internet_/Hydra-headed_nature_helps_Net_rebound_after_cable_cut/articleshow/2753865.cms

2. http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hTi5wNwTD66nvWdTAQw20SaFI_GQ

3. http://slashdot.org/~Zonk/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Particle Swarm Optimization for Picture Analysis |
| from the new-uses-old-techniques dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Monday February 04, @02:24 (Software) |
|

http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/04/0247232

|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

[0]Roland Piquepaille writes "Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is a
computer algorithm based on a mathematical model of the social
interactions of swarms which was first described in 1995. Now,
researchers in the UK and Jordan have carried this [1]swarm approach to
photography to 'intelligently boost contrast and detail in an image
without distorting the underlying features.' This looks like a clever
concept even if I haven't seen any results. The researchers have
developed an iterative process where a swarm of images are created by a
computer. These images are 'graded relative to each other, the fittest
end up at the front of the swarm until a single individual that is the
most effectively enhanced.'"

Discuss this story at:

http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/04/0247232

Links:
0. http://www.primidi.com/2008/02/03.html

1. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-02/ip-sat020108.php

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 'Innovation In a Flash' Is a Myth |
| from the slouching-towards-greatness dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Monday February 04, @06:03 (Technology) |
|

http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/04/0759258

|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

An anonymous reader writes "A New York Times article spells out what most
of us probably already knew: [0]real innovation takes lots of time and
hard work to come to fruition. The article looks at the origins of new
ideas, and attempts to dispel the myth that 'Eureka' moments create
change. Comments author Scott Berkun, 'To focus on the magic moments is
to miss the point. The goal isn't the magic moment: it's the end result
of a useful innovation. Everything results from accretion. I didn't
invent the English language. I have to use a language that someone else
created in order to talk to you. So the process by which something is
created is always incremental. It always involves using stuff that other
people have made.'"

Discuss this story at:

http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/04/0759258

Links:
0. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/03/business/03unbox.html?ref=technology

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Google And Microsoft Cross Swords Over Yahoo! |
| from the just-a-tiny-bit-biased dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Monday February 04, @08:09 (Google) |
|

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/04/0142231

|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

watzinaneihm writes "In a blog post [0]Google has called Yahoo/Microsoft
merger bad for the future of the internet. It is worried about the number
of email and IM accounts this merged entity would control. Microsoft has
countered with the argument that [1]Google is actually the big bully in
this instance, with most of the search market already tied up. The New
York Times, in the meantime, [2]has accused Google of a Microsoft
fixation."

Discuss this story at:

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/04/0142231

Links:
0. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/yahoo-and-future-of-internet.html

1. http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9863873-56.html?tag=nefd.top

2. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/03/googles-microsoft-fixation/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Is XMPP the 'Next Big Thing' |
| from the i-sure-wouldn't-complain dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday February 04, @08:49 (Communications)|
|

http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/04/1320210

|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

[0]Open Standard Lover writes "[1]XMPP (eXtensible Messaging and Presence
Protocol) has been getting a lot of attention during the last month and
it seems that the protocol is finally taking off as a general purpose
glue to build distributed web applications. It has been covered that
[2]AOL was experimenting with an XMPP gateway for its instant messaging
platform. XMPP has been designed since the beginning as [3]an open
technology for generalized XML routing. However, the idea of an [4]XMPP
application server is taking shape and [5]getting supporters. A recent
example shows that [6]ejabberd XMPP server [4]can be used to develop a
distributed [7]Twitter-like system."

Discuss this story at:

http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/04/1320210

Links:
0. http://www.erlang.org/

1. http://www.xmpp.org/

2. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/18/1748218&tid=215

3. http://www.xmpp.org/about/

4. http://www.process-one.net/en/blogs/article/introducing_the_xmpp_application_server/

5. http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/xmpp_web.php

6. http://www.process-one.net/en/ejabberd/

7. http://twitter.com/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Best Presidential Candidate, Democrats |
| from the someone-resurrect-zombie-kennedy dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday February 04, @09:26 (Democrats) |
|

http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/04/1423257

|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

This story is to discuss the remaining democratic candidates for
president. Please keep discussions limited to talk about Hillary and
Obama. Keep discussions of the other party in the other story.

Discuss this story at:

http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/04/1423257

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Best Presidential Candidate, Republicans |
| from the since-you-can't-build-robo-reagan dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday February 04, @09:27 (Republicans) |
|

http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/04/1421245

|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

A few days ago we posted a story for you to discuss the best presidential
candidates for Super Tuesday, but I figured it would be an interesting
idea to try that again, but split the discussion into 2 halves. This is
the Republican half ��� please only discuss the Republican candidates in
this story. Huckabee, McCain, and Romney only.

Discuss this story at:

http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/04/1421245

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Torvalds Says Microsoft is Bluffing on Patents |
| from the summon-the-patent-attorneys-from-their-crypts dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday February 04, @10:12 (Microsoft) |
|

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/04/1443256

|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft's aggressive defense of its
intellectual property, which includes claims that Linux violates a number
of its patents, is [0]nothing more than "a marketing thing," according to
Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux kernel. "They have been sued for
patents by other people, but I don't think they've ��� not that I've gone
through any huge amount of law cases ��� but I don't think they've
generally used patents as a weapon," Torvalds said. "But they're
perfectly happy to use anything at all as fear, uncertainty and doubt in
the marketplace, and patents is just one thing where they say, 'Hey,
isn't this convenient? We can use this as a PR force.'""

Discuss this story at:

http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/04/1443256

Links:
0. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/020408-torvalds-microsoft-is-bluffing-on.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Creative Capitalism Gets Microsoft $528M Tax Break |
| from the well-good-for-them dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday February 04, @10:55 (Microsoft) |
|

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/04/1520219

|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

[0]NewsCloud writes "Microsoft makes products in Washington but
[1]records software sales to PC makers and high-volume customers through
an operation in Nevada, where there is no corporate tax. So Washington
has missed out on more than half a billion in taxes; revenue it could use
for badly needed infrastructure needs ��� such as the needed replacement of
the 520 bridge which connects Seattle ... to Microsoft. [2]Reported by
Slashdot in 2004, the numbers have increased with the company's growth to
approx. $76M in savings last year alone. The author questions the
legality of the practice given Microsoft's 35,500+ employees and 11.2
million square feet of real estate in Washington state."

Discuss this story at:

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/04/1520219

Links:
0. http://www.newscloud.com/

1. http://www.crosscut.com/microsoft/11167/Microsoft's+%24528+million+Washington+tax+break/
2. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/10/01/2137228&tid=109

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Courts Force Danish ISP to Block Torrent Tracker |
| from the forest-meet-trees dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday February 04, @11:43 (Censorship) |
|

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/04/1614257

|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

Pirate writes "A Danish court ruled in favor of the IFPI, and [0]ordered
the Danish ISP Tele2 to block all access to the popular BitTorrent
tracker. The Pirate Bay, currently ranked 28th in the list of most
visited sites in Denmark, is working on countermeasures."

Discuss this story at:

http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/04/1614257

Links:
0. http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-blocked-by-isp-080204/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Next Generation of Gyroscopic Controllers on the Horizon |
| from the will-it-help-me-collect-more-stars dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday February 04, @12:27 (Input Devices) |
|

http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/04/1621207

|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

Jamie found a story about a [0]next gen input device that is functionally
similiar to the Wii, but instead of using IR, it gets all location
information from gyroscopes and accelerometers. This has the potential to
be more accurate and maybe not require me to contort my wrist to bizarre
angles in order to successfully collect the stars that are like oxygen to
me.

Discuss this story at:

http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/04/1621207

Links:
0. http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/20150/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Intel Doubles Capacity of Likely Flash Successor |
| from the double-or-nothing dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday February 04, @13:11 (Technology|
|

http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/04/1625238

|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

Intel has announced a new technique that allows them to effectively
[0]double the storage capacity of a single phase-change memory cell
without adding cost to the current fabrication process. "Phase-change
memory differs from other solid-state memory technologies such as flash
and random-access memory because it doesn't use electrons to store data.
Instead, it relies on the material's own arrangement of atoms, known as
its physical state. Previously, phase-change memory was designed to take
advantage of only two states: one in which atoms are loosely organized
(amorphous), and another where they are rigidly structured (crystalline).
But in a paper presented at the International Solid State Circuits
Conference in San Francisco, researchers illustrated that there are two
more distinct states that fall between amorphous and crystalline, and
that these states can be used to store data."

Discuss this story at:

http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/04/1625238

Links:
0. http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/20148/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| The Life of a Software Engineer |
| from the code-as-an-art-form dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday February 04, @13:54 (Programmin|
|

http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/04/1710209

|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

[0]Jonathan Wise writes to share with us an interesting bit of prose
describing [1]life as a software engineer. "I am, in the States, known as
a Software Engineer. In Canada we're not allowed to call ourselves
engineers, although the discipline is no less rigorous than any other
kind of engineering. But perhaps its for the best, because 'engineering'
describes only a part of what I do. A software developer must be part
writer and poet, part salesperson and public speaker, part artist and
designer, and always equal parts logic and empathy."

Discuss this story at:

http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/04/1710209

Links:
0. mailto:jon.wise@jonandnic.com
1. http://www.jonandnic.com/topics/ravings/embracing-my-inner-geek-part-2-the-job

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| How Microsoft-Yahoo Will Affect Open Source |
| from the something-to-think-about dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday February 04, @14:37 (Microsoft) |
|

http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/04/172259

|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

[0]jammag writes "If the marriage of Microsoft and Yahoo were to be
consummated, [1]GNU/Linux would be hindered, argues Roy Schestowitz.
Yahoo's funding of open source initiatives would dry up. Yahoo, which
acquired Zimbra, would lose its love for the open source competitor of
Microsoft Outlook. The list goes on..."

Discuss this story at:

http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/04/172259

Links:
0. http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/

1. http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/cnews/article.php/3725691

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| The Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition Preview Books |
| from the races-and-classes-worlds-and-monster-why-can't-we-get-al|
| posted by Zonk on Monday February 04, @15:25 (Role Playing (Games|
|

http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/04/180224

|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

It's a big year for tabletop gamers. In just a few months the first books
for the Fourth Edition of Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) will be released by
publisher Wizards of the Coast (WotC). The last major update to the game
rules was released in 1999, and sparked interest in D&D not seen since
the early 80s. To attempt to answer some of the biggest questions about
this newest edition, WotC has learned from mistakes made in 99', and is
previewing their game updates with a pair of softcover books. Called
"Races and Classes" and "Worlds and Monsters", the two titles cover
everything from character creation to the new default world's pantheon.
More importantly, it includes a large amount of commentary from the
designers about why things are going to be as they are. In short: they're
must-haves for hardcore D&D fans. Read on for my impressions of these
highly entertaining (and vastly overpriced) chapbooks.

This story continues at:

http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/04/180224

Discuss this story at:

http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/04/180224

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| PostgreSQL 8.3 Released |
| from the post-postgre-post dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday February 04, @16:07 (Databases)|
|

http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/04/1849201

|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

jadavis writes "The release of the long-awaited PostgreSQL [0]version 8.3
has been announced. The [1]new feature list includes HOT, which
dramatically improves performance for databases with high update
activity; asynchronous commit; built-in full text search; large database
features such as synchronized scans and reduced storage overhead;
built-in SQL/XML support; spread checkpoints; and many more (too many
major new features to list here). See the [2]release notes for full
details."

Discuss this story at:

http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/04/1849201

Links:
0. http://www.postgresql.org/about/press/presskit83

1. http://www.postgresql.org/about/press/features83

2. http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.3/static/release-8-3.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Vista SP1 Released to Manufacturing |
| from the help-is-on-the-way dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday February 04, @16:49 (Windows) |
|

http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/04/1958212

|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

[0]Reverend Ninja writes "According to the Windows Vista team blog,
Windows Vista SP1 has been [1]released to manufacturing. It appears we'll
have to wait until mid-March to play with it though, as the team cites
that they want everyone to have a 'great install experience'. 'Service
Pack 1 brings new improvements that are based on feedback we heard from
our customers. It further improves the reliability and performance of
Windows Vista. The information we collect thanks to tools like the
Customer Experience Improvement Program, Online Crash Analysis, and
Windows Error Reporting help us learn about where and when customers are
having issues with Windows Vista and the applications that run on it.
Since these issues have a direct impact on our customers' experiences,
we've invested time and energy to make this better. While Windows Vista
Service Pack 1 is an important milestone, we will continue to invest in
the continuous improvement process.'"

Discuss this story at:

http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/04/1958212

Links:
0. http://preidotccatgmaildotcom/

1. http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2008/02/04/announcing-the-rtm-of-windows-vista-sp1.aspx

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2008 Turing Award Winners Announced |
| from the nobel-of-computing-awards dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday February 04, @17:30 (Announceme|
|

http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/04/2010229

|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

The Association for Computing Machinery has announced the [0]2008 Turing
Award Winners. Edmund M. Clarke, Allen Emerson, and Joseph Sifakis
received the award for their work on an automated method for finding
design errors in computer hardware and software. "Model Checking is a
type of "formal verification" that analyzes the logic underlying a
design, much as a mathematician uses a proof to determine that a theorem
is correct. Far from hit or miss, Model Checking considers every possible
state of a hardware or software design and determines if it is consistent
with the designer's specifications. Clarke and Emerson originated the
idea of Model Checking at Harvard in 1981. They developed a theoretical
technique for determining whether an abstract model of a hardware or
software design satisfies a formal specification, given as a formula in
Temporal Logic, a notation for describing possible sequences of events.
Moreover, when the system fails the specification, it could identify a
counterexample to show the source of the problem. Numerous model checking
systems have been implemented, such as Spin at Bell Labs."

Discuss this story at:

http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/04/2010229

Links:
0. http://www.ddj.com/206103622

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Experts Claim HIV Patients Made Non-Infectious |
| from the shot-in-the-arm dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday February 04, @18:10 (Medicine) |
|

http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/04/2152244

|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

[0]Misanthrope writes to tell us that Swiss scientists are claiming that
with proper treatment HIV patients can be [1]made non-infectious. "The
statement's headline statement says that 'after review of the medical
literature and extensive discussion,' the Swiss Federal Commission for
HIV / AIDS resolves that, 'An HIV-infected person on antiretroviral
therapy with completely suppressed viraemia ("effective ART") is not
sexually infectious, i.e. cannot transmit HIV through sexual contact.'"

Discuss this story at:

http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/04/2152244

Links:
0. http://sebastes.deviantart.com/

1. http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/4E9D555B-18FB-4D56-B912-2C28AFCCD36B.asp

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Yahoo Music Shutting Down, Users Going to Real |
| from the real-world-music dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Monday February 04, @18:50 (Yahoo!) |
|

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/04/2337203

|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

[0]Tech.Luver sends in word of Yahoo's decision to [1] exit the
subscription music business. Yahoo's current subscribers ��� the company
doesn't disclose how many it has ��� will be switched over to Real's
Rhapsody service, and Yahoo will promote Real on its site. Yahoo had
priced its subscription service significantly below Real's: $5.99 a month
(if users pay a year in advance), vs. Rhapsody memberships at $12.99 a
month and up. The Mercury News wonders [2]how the Yahoo-Real deal would
fare if Microsoft takes over ��� not well, the betting goes.

Discuss this story at:

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/04/2337203

Links:
0. http://techluver.com/

1. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h6N3TFKbJzod1IEq-ywSW2fCgHuwD8UJA3D80

2. http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_8162221?nclick_check=1

Copyright 1997-2006 OSTG. All rights reserved.

======================================================================

You have received this message because you subscribed to it
on Slashdot. To stop receiving this and other
messages from Slashdot, or to add more messages
or change your preferences, please go to your user page.

http://slashdot.org/my/messages

You can log in and change your preferences from there.