Vista straight ahead, is SCO dead?

“The ‘wow’ starts now.” That’s the marketing slogan of Windows Vista, which will be unleashed upon on a skeptical public in a few short days. For once I think the Microsoft sloganeers have it right. The only question is whether consumers will say “Wow, they finally made a version of Windows that works,” or “Wow, I can’t believe this could have possibly taken five years.”

Do not pass SCO, do not collect $200: Has SCO run out of time, luck, and money? Last week a Utah judge denied the company’s claim that IBM destroyed evidence proving SCO was the father of Big Blue’s Linux love child. Meanwhile, Novell claims the lawsuit-happy vendor owes it $26 million in licensing fees, or roughly twice what SCO currently has in its piggy bank. SCO says reports of its imminent demise are exaggerated. There’s also no truth to the rumor CEO Darl McBride is planning to give up on high-tech and join the NASCAR circuit.

It’s a ping thing: Last April, D-Link settled with Danish time geek Poul-Henning Kamp after its routers pinged Kamp's Network Time Protocol server 3 million times per day just to find out the time. But Cringester Todd G. claims D-Link routers continue to ping 49 other free NTP servers, including his own, incurring bandwidth charges. Company spokesdude Dan Kelley says Mr. G. has already sued D-Link and lost, while no other Net timekeepers have complained. He says D-Link now offers firmware upgrades to keep its routers from abusing unsuspecting NTP servers. FYI, Kamp is also creator of the “beerware license,” which allows others to use his software free so long as they buy him a brew. He declined to say how many barrels of Heineken he’s gotten from D-Link.

Never say diet: Last week's reference to the HP spy case blowing up “faster than a bucket of Mentos in bathtub full of Coke” was slightly off. It should have said Diet Coke -- Aspartame being a catalyst of the soda-fueled cataclysm. Thanks to “MythBusters” fans Kevin M. and Bruce H. for the calorie-free tip.

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