Or not...

What is your opinion on this kind of materials circulating?

This article contains a list of seven valuable--and best of all, free--applications for Windows Mobile devices. Most of 'em work on Windows Mobile Professional smartphones or Pocket PCs, some work on both and a couple are for Windows Mobile Standard. There's an uber RSS reader thingee, a free backup app and more.

Microsoft wishes it could charge for these...

Let's call that site the Geek Ranch. (When I say "let's" I mean us, not everyone. While its primary focus is to appeal to geeks, we will have to call it something else for general marketing.) As far as a site, it is about 265 acres of land in the mountains of the Tisey Preserve near Estelí, Nicaragua.

While there is a lot more to it than just being for geeks, here is the geek angle. The property will have "geek cabinas" scattered around a pine forest within the property. If you want to escape from the rat race for a while--a month, six months, whatever--you will be able to inexpensively rent a private cabina. It will come with Internet connectivity, maid service and all your meals. In other words, no routine responsibilities.

OLPC now famously stands for One Laptop Per Child. And while anyone can purchase the device, rest assured the emphasis is firmly on child. The iconic green-and-white machine is unlike any computer you've ever used, and it represents a first — if rocky — step toward a new vision for youth and technology.

Bandwidth Vista 2, The Next Generation bandwidth monitor with GEO-IP Connection Mapper. Displays Real-Time TCP and UDP Connections including Country and City. Holds a full log of bandwidth usage. New to Bandwidth Vista 2 is Voice Alerts and a Whois Lookup Tool and two kinds of graph.

"A new study says the use of so-called Web 2.0 (define) applications in the enterprise is growing, but those customers are more cautious about adopting open source solutions for collaborative applications."

OLPC is a lost cause. It's amazing how an otherwise interesting project with headline-grabbing mission could spiral out of control with disastrous results. The project has always had noble intentions. I can't fault them for that. Anytime an organization is giving back to the community and contributing back to society is a good organization in my book. However, the management is ludicrous.