The news that Steve Jobs won't give the keynote at Macworld '09, and that Apple won't participate in future Macworlds, may spell good news for the civility of the Internet -- perhaps it will finally mean the end of the aggressively rude Apple fanboys who prowl the Internet, looking for virtual fights.

Privacy groups have long worried about Google's privacy policies --- and now it appears that consumers have followed suit. Google has dropped off the list of the most trusted companies when it comes to privacy protection. Check out my blog for details, and to find out how other companies like Apple, Microsoft, IBM, and eBay fared.

Google's releasing the not-yet-baked Chrome as 1.0, rather than continuing to develop it as a beta, is the company's biggest blunder yet. It's also a disturbing indication that the company has started to emphasize marketing over technology --- always the first sign of a company in decline.

New Microsoft President of Online Services Qi Lu has given his first public interview, and it shows that the division may be headed in the wrong direction. Lu is taking dead aim at Google search, when he should instead be focusing on creating new services focused around Office and other Microsoft products. Microsoft will never catch Google, but it has a considerable lead it can build on when it comes to applications.

Google has said that it plans to soon to take Chrome out of beta and release it officially, but it better squash plenty of bugs before it does it. A software testing service has found that Chrome's beta is buggier than both the beta of Firefox 3.1 and Internet Explorer 8, with nearly 300 bugs that need to be fixed.

Microsoft has apparently seen the light, and is readying versions of Office applications that will be available for free on the Web.

The Mumbai terrorists' most powerful weapon appears not to have been guns or grenades, but instead their handheld VoIP phones, which allowed them to get detailed, live instructions from handlers on how to evade police, and where to attack next, while the police where powerless to detect them. So reports the New York Times.

I've put the recent beta of SP2 through its paces, and found that there's less to it than meets the eye. Some of its most notable features aren't new at all, and have been available since July. I have details in my blog

In choosing former Yahoo exec Qi Lu to run its online efforts, Microsoft chose exactly the wrong person for the job. Lu, an exceedingly accomplished technologist, has a superb background in engineering, and particularly in online search. But he doesn't appear to have a background in business strategy, and because of that, he won't be able to fix Microsoft's problems online.

The much-maligned Microsoft Zune apparently has the world's most powerful man as its fan. President-elect Barack Obama was seen using one while working out at a Philadelphia gym. Back in June, Obama told Rolling Stone he was an iPod fan. That's when he was still running for office, though. Has the responsibility of the Presidency brought him to his senses?

Thanks to the recession, Google has begun killing projects that haven't made it financially, with CEO Eric Schmidt warning the company will eliminate "dark matter" projects that "haven't really caught on" and "aren't really that exciting." Two are already on the chopping block, with more to follow. Check out my blog for details about which Google projects have already been deep-sixed --- and which should be.

A day after the blogosphere noted that Apple has finally admitted Macs need anti-virus software, Apple has pulled a KnowledgeBase article recommending that Mac users install security software. When will Apple finally admit Macs need protection?

After too much denial, Apple has finally admitted that Mac users need to install anti-virus software. Now it's time for the company to pull its misleading ad that implies that while PCs are prone to viruses, Macs are immune.

Steve Ballmer has been ordered to provide a deposition in the Vista "Junk PC" suit, and it's easy to guess what he'll say: "I had nothing to do with the marketing scheme." Here's what he should say instead.

The latest figures from Nielsen Online are out for the search market, and it's good news for Google, and bad for Microsoft. Google now holds 61.25 of the search market to Microsoft's 11.4%. And things are only getting worse for Microsoft --- and better for Google