They blame it on the anti-trust lawsuit. I think that’s a convenient scapegoat, given how many other features they’ve already ripped out of Longhorn in a desperate attempt to finish the thing before we all drive slowly on Sunday mornings with our blinkers continuously on.

Microsoft Won’t Bundle Desktop Search with Windows

Microsoft Corp. has no immediate plans to integrate desktop search into its operating system, a company executive said at a conference here this weekend. Speaking on a panel on search technology at the Harvard Business School’s Cyberposium, Mark Kroese, general manager of information services and merchant platform product marketing for MSN, said the federal antitrust battle Microsoft waged with the government has made the company think twice about what technologies it can add to the operating system.

Lara Flynn Boyle: Lara Flyn Boyle Accused Of Stripping Naked On Flight To London

Movie beauty LARA FLYNN BOYLE has been accused of stripping nude and trying to seduce a fellow passenger during a recent first-class flight to London. [...] But they were stunned when she stripped off her clothes and tried to climb into the bed of a sleeping stranger.

I know some despair the lack of “innovation” from the Mac Mini, but it seems to me to be hitting all the right buttons that Mac needed right now. Not only does it open up a new audience to the Mac, but now it might be opening up a major new channel for retailing. If Mac can make inroads into Best Buys beyond just the iMac and accessories, it would be a very big thing.

MacNN | Merrill: Best Buy may sell Mac Mini at select stores

Best Buy may begin selling Macs again, which in turn could accelerate the iPod halo affect, according to a report released by Merrill Lynch. The analyst firm said that the consumer electronic retailer could begin to sell Macs–specifically the Mac mini-again by the end of February, based on information relayed by a retail manager and indications on Best Buy’s Website that the Mac mini would be available soon at retail stores; however, the firm said that neither Best Buy nor Apple would confirm such a move.

More new DVD releases. Listen to me bumble my way through them all.

Listen directly to the MP3 file (9 minutes, 4.2 MB)

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Amazon new release list

TV Shows release list – a must visit for anyone who buys TV series on DVD

CAROLINA: IMDB writeup, movie trailer

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iPod Garage

Now that the 2005 Pepsi bottlecap giveaway is under way, iTunes users everywhere are headed to their local stores in the name of finding iTunes-eligible products so that they could do their best to lose. But stores nationwide are full of Pepsi bottles that only have a two-thirds chance of losing — far from a certainty. However, the iPod Garage has devised a strategy that guarantees a losing cap every time. Read on to find out how to play the iTunes-Pepsi contest and never win:

Drink Coke. Be a loser.

I think the header says it all.

Oh, and obviously there are spoilers aplenty for previous seasons:

24: Killing Me Softly

– what you look like when you sneeze?

You’d need a recording device. And who thinks to grab for a camera when the sneeze is about to arrive, anyway?

Go ahead and get krumpy while reading this:

MSNBC – “Idol”singer watched audition from jail

[Leroy] Wells, 22, of Grand Bay, was arrested Jan. 5 on charges of assault and firing a weapon. Jail records show he’s also awaiting trial on drug charges and has pleaded guilty to marijuana possession in 2004 and disorderly conduct in June 2003.

No. Not drugs. Say it ain’t so.

I’m shocked — SHOCKED! I say.

(Thanks for the link, Shawn.)

THE APPRENTICE is already falling victim to itself. This might be a record-breaking speed from great to terribly shallow and full of itself. It’s a cycle that just about all reality shows go through. The original cast members don’t know what they’re in for, really, and there’s a certain charm to the whole thing. The second cast has a better idea, but there’s still an excitement in the air. By the third show, the formula starts morphing and the casting becomes one done for conflict and drama over “getting the job done.”

If I were Trump, I’d fire all the remaining contestants today and move on with my life. Season Three is a disaster so far. Burnett did a great job in casting strong personalities that are guaranteed to never get along. He’s amped up the drama at the price of the interesting decisions and business lessons that the show once featured. Now, it’s just a race to see who acts like the least of the idiots.

On the other hand, there’s a certain fascination with watching train wrecks. That’s what this season is. It’s the train wreck you watch for the immediate satisfaction of how the formula will completely break down today. Next week, someone quits, more fights happen, and Trump will undoubtedly get flustered and have a self-deprecating joke to make about it.

At least we still have Caroline.

The news is here.

The first book is a “Firefox Hacks” book.

The second is amusingly titled “Don’t Click on the Blue E!” and is aimed at layman looking to “make the switch” to Firefox from the evil MSIE.

FOXNews.com – Foxlife – Ashlee Must Relive ‘SNL’ on Reality Show

Wednesday night’s season premiere of MTV’s “The Ashlee Simpson Show” — the first half of a two-part story arc — captured the entire fiasco as it unfolded last fall when Simpson walked off the stage during a live “SNL” telecast after a tape-recording of a song she had performed earlier on the show began to play.

Dont worry if you missed it; MTV will be repeating it ad infinitum for the next three years.

It looks like even MTV2 doesn’t want to show music videos anymore, either. They want to be a hipper VH1, I guess, just with (I bet) more eye-numbing graphics, quicker cuts, and grating music.

iWon News

After producing the infamous Janet Jackson halftime show last year, MTV will launch a new look to its sister station, MTV2, during the Feb. 6 game break. MTV and MTV2 will both air a preview special of MTV2, featuring a combination of music, shows and random content aimed at young males. [...] MTV2, a network showing mostly videos since 1996, will launch a new format at midnight on Feb. 7. The new MTV2 is composed of music videos, new shows, graphics and random clips “that have been scoured from the Internet, old B-movies and the public service dustbin.”

Engadget finds the winner for Unnecessary Hand Powered Gadget of the century: the hand-cranked CD, paper, and credit card shredder.

And it’s been advertised on television. Go to the As Seen On TV kiosk at your local mall and ask for it by name!

Someone in the comments section at Engadget linked to Radio Shack’s version, which actually does cross-cutting, too.

Hmm, should I LiveBlog the SuperBowl to let advertisers know what I think? Nah…

Bloggers tackle the Super Bowl | CNET News.com

Cincinnati-based Intelliseek, for one, plans to monitor positive and negative commentary about commercials in more than 3.5 million blogs, charging advertisers upward of $20,000 for its intelligence. That’s about 1 percent of the $2.4 million price tag for a 30-second spot during the game this year, up from $2.3 million last year.

It’s writeups like this one that make me wonder why I bother. This one nails it with much more style than my sloppy notes led me to last night.

MSNBC – ‘Idol’ longshots strike it rich in Vegas

It’s still a bad idea to sing a song from “The Lion King” complete with funny cartoon voices. It’s still a bad idea to be a bad Elvis impersonator or make anything Simon will refer to as “stabbing motions” while doing your best Neil Diamond. It’s still a bad idea to sing “Thriller” in a manner so creepy and disturbing that it will make people want to change their phone numbers and go into hiding just because they watched it on television. It’s still a bad idea to be the worst person ever to sing “Lady Marmalade” on “American Idol” — it’s an accomplishment, mind you, but that doesn’t make it smart.

(Thanks to Shawn for forwarding the link to me.)