MI-80 De Oppresso Liber

The first beta of Microsoft's next operating system has apparently been spotted in the wild.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10129334-75.html?part=rss&subj=news&ta...

Text messaging is a wonderful business to be in: about 2.5 trillion messages will have been sent from cellphones worldwide this year. The public assumes that the wireless carriers’ costs are far higher than they actually are, and profit margins are concealed by a heavy curtain.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/business/28digi.html?_r=1

Vietnam has approved new regulations banning bloggers from discussing subjects the government deems sensitive or inappropriate and requiring them to limit their writings to personal issues.

http://ibtimes.com/articles/20081224/vietnam-imposes-new-blogging-restri...

A Stockton, Calif., woman is the latest to file a potential class action to challenge the cable operator practice of demanding consumers rent cable descramblers rather than allowing subscribers to buy them outright in order to view premium services such as HBO.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6625004.html?nid=4262

FairPoint Communication is cutting the cord to the Verizon telephone network next month and with it 1.5 million landlines in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20081227/NEWS01/812270314