Apple suit comes to a head, BlackBerry execs see Red

Will filthy-rich Google buy beleaguered Sun Microsystems? That rumor has been kicking around the blogosphere for a while now. But how about this scenario: Google buys Sun, then teams up with a major broadband ISP to distribute Sun Ray thin clients running a lightweight Google desktop suite -- thus freeing a grateful nation from Microsoft’s yoke. Fantasy? Maybe. But stranger things have happened. And no, I’m not yoking.

The least of St. Steven: Do bloggers have the same First Amendment rights as the rest of us ink-stained wretches? We may soon find out, as California’s 6th District Court of Appeals hears a suit filed by Apple against three Mac rumor blogs. The Cupertino crew wants the sites to reveal their sources for rumors about Asteroid, an audio interface that has yet to make an appearance on this planet. Meanwhile, according to yet another Mac rumor blog, Steve Jobs has backed out of writing a forward to Steve Wozniak’s latest book after reading a few choice excerpts. It seems the book fails to refer to Jobs as "His Holiness." I hear Woz won’t reveal his sources either.

Better red than dead: No sooner had Research In Motion execs weathered RIM’s near-death experience with the NTP patent suit than they wake up to find China Unicom launching a copycat service in China called RedBerry. Even worse: A subscription costs less than a buck a month -- a fraction of what BlackBerry bills for service in Hong Kong. However, I hear RedBerry’s per-message charges can add up: Half an hour after you respond to an e-mail, you feel like replying all over again.

Dell denuded: Cringester Danny G. says he’s tired of all the crudware that comes pre-installed on every Dell, and he’s far from alone. In fact, blogger Jason York has created the "Dell De-Crapifier," a script that rips all that useless software out of his Inspiron 1300. York distributes the script free but with a strong caveat: If it hoses your Registry, he bears no responsibility. Then again, that wouldn’t be all that different than dealing with Dell tech support.

Got hot tips or unconfirmed rumors? Send them along to cringe@infoworld.com and you may receive a 100 percent crap-free bag.