I never thought I would see this day coming.

Today is Bill Gates’ last day in the office as a regular employee of the company he co-founded in 1975. But as non-executive chairman and someone who is deeply married to Microsoft, Gates is not disappearing from the company.

Then again, maybe it’s the day we’ve all been waiting for? Microsoft without Bill Gates? Not gunna happen. It’s nice to see he is going to focus most of his energy on solving all of the world’s problems though.

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Whoa. $10 bucks a month, on top of the service I am already paying for. Woooooo. Hold me back. This is obviously a deal for anyone with a cable modem, yes? For me, with AT&T, formerly Bellsouth, DSL, it ain’t such a great idea.

Cell phone company T-Mobile USA is set to launch a nationwide service that lets customers place unlimited domestic calls with their landline phones over a broadband connection.

The service, called T-Mobile AtHome, will cost $10 per month when it rolls out on July 2.

The thing is, even if I had a cable modem, I wouldn’t sign up for it, because I will be an AT&T wireless using the new iPhone 3G on July 11th.

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When the iPhone first launched, I thought about getting one. There were things I didn’t like about it though. The price. The way it seemed so locked down. The EDGE network.

Apple Monday unveiled a new version of its popular iPhone built for high-speed wireless networks with faster Internet access and more features for business users.

“It’s incredibly zippy,” chief executive Steve Jobs said as he demonstrated the new mobile device at the opening of Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

“We’ve learned so much with the first iPhone. We’ve taken what we’ve learned and more and created the iPhone 3G; and it’s beautiful.”

It seems the new iPhone has solved those issues for me. Now i just have to decide one thing. Is getting an iPhone worth switching to AT&T and signing a contract. I have to admit, it’s been nice not being in a cellphone contract for the past few years, and I’m not sure I want to do that again, yet.

Sidenote: As a developer, I am a bit “let down” that I wasn’t given the hope of any new toys (think Mac Fusion) this year.

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Well now… This explains why my Broadcom modem used to act up and get all spacy at times. And people told me it was my IRQ settings. I should have known there was a deeper reason for its spastic behavior.

Broadcom Corp. co-founder Henry T. Nicholas III was indicted on federal narcotics charges that include allegations he slipped ecstasy into the drinks of business associates, maintained a drug warehouse and concealed his illegal conduct with bribes and death threats.

In a pair of indictments unsealed Thursday, the billionaire also is accused of committing conspiracy, securities fraud and other violations while he led the Irvine-based computer chip company.

What do you mean my modem issue is not related to this story? Of course it isn’t. Were you not paying attention? Wait. Did someone put something in my drink? Should I look into getting a life insurance quote?

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Just think… If Plaxo has your contact information you will soon be available on every Comcast cable box from New York to California. Woot!

Comcast Corp. is buying contact management company Plaxo Inc. and plans to incorporate into all its offerings features intended to help people synchronize their address books and connect socially online.

The Philadelphia-based cable company said social networking and other services will be added to its Comcast.net, Fancast.com and Fandango.com Web sites. Cable subscribers eventually will also be able to access the services through their set-top boxes and other devices.

Because cable viewers need to be able to access their contacts while watching the latest movie releases. Puh-leaze. When will I be able to watch a movie while I am browsing items at different furniture stores?

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I don’t think today is going to be a very good day for Jerry Yang.

Yahoo Inc. Chief Executive Jerry Yang has gotten what he wanted: a chance to prove his company is worth more than the $47.5 billion that Microsoft Corp. offered to buy the Internet pioneer.

It will be a daunting challenge, as Yang will be pointedly reminded Monday when investors are expected to show how little they think of Yahoo without a takeover bid on the table. Faced with resistance from Yang and the rest of Yahoo’s board, Microsoft withdrew its offer over the weekend.

Many analysts believe Yahoo’s stock price, which had climbed nearly 50 percent since Microsoft’s initial offer, will surrender most, if not all, of that gain, leaving the Sunnyvale-based company’s market value around $30 billion.

How do you justify rejecting an offer of $47.5 billion when just 24 hours later the company won’t be worth much more than $30 billion, if that? I wonder how many bottles of Tums he downs every day?

Before you know it, they’ll be selling everything down to the kitchen faucets.

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Personally, I would have been running. Yahoo has nothing I find of particular value.

Steve Ballmer had previously said that he knew what they would pay for Yahoo, and if Yahoo! wanted too much, they would walk. It looks like those boots were made for walking.

Microsoft Corp. has withdrawn its $42.3 billion bid to buy Yahoo Inc., scrapping an attempt to snap up the tarnished Internet icon in hopes of toppling online search and advertising leader Google Inc.

The decision to walk away from the deal came Saturday after last-ditch efforts to negotiate a mutually acceptable sale price proved unsuccessful.

I bet this isn’t the last we’ve heard of this. In fact, I can guarantee it. Microsoft doesn’t walk away from anything, unless it’s labeled “customer satisfaction”. Maybe they’re just waiting for the lipovox to kick in and save a little cash?

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DISH is still fighting this? No wonder my DISH bill just keeps getting higher and higher. Please, let it end.

TiVo Inc (TIVO.O) on Friday said a federal appeals court has denied EchoStar’s (DISH.O) request to have a panel of judges rehear arguments related to their long standing patent dispute.

TiVo, the maker of television recording technology, said the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington to deny EchoStar’s request for a “rehearing en banc” brings their patent fight closer to a resolution.

In January, the court upheld a lower court’s damage award of $74 million plus interest, saying that EchoStar infringed a TiVo patent in building digital video recorders. With interest, the damages would be $94 million.

I wonder why the appeals court refused to rehear the case? What type of case you ask? Why, a Rimowa of course. Maybe because there is no point? Could it be that DISH actually infringed on the patent of TiVo? Say it isn’t so. (cough)

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Okay, what the hell is going on here?

Yahoo is going to test Google ads on their site? Think about this people… Yahoo is actually going to run Google ads in order to raise revenue. And Google is okay with this. Did hell freeze over? Did I wake up in an alternate universe?

Yahoo Inc. is surrendering some of its advertising space to Internet search leader Google Inc. in an unusual test announced Wednesday that could be just the first step in a last-ditch effort to escape its unsolicited suitor, Microsoft Corp.

Then, on top of it all, Yahoo is in talks with AOL to combine their internet presence. Say what?

Yahoo also is close to unveiling a complex plan that would combine its Web site with Time Warner Inc.’s fallen Internet star, AOL. Under that plan, Yahoo also would spend billions of dollars to buy back stock to put some money in shareholders’ pockets, according to a Wall Street Journal story Wednesday night that cited unnamed people familiar with the matter.

And… Microsoft is planning a counterattack that involves bringing News Corp (and MySpace) into the equation by joining forces to buy Yahoo..

In a surprise twist, Microsoft has contacted Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. about joining forces to buy Yahoo, according to a New York Times report, also posted online late Wednesday, that cited people involved in the discussions.

I ask again, what the hell is going on? The next thing you’ll tell me is that people in desperate need of acne treatment are running the online world.

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How much is your company really worth when the company trying to take it over decides to lower their bid?

Microsoft Corp is evaluating its bid for Yahoo Inc because the Internet company may have lost value since Microsoft made its offer, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The news, first reported by Reuters, sent Yahoo shares down more than 5 percent in extended trade.

After weeks of silence, recent comments from various sources to journalists suggest the software maker is hardening its stance and pushing Yahoo for action.

Ain’t it funny how everyone thinks the acquisition of Yahoo by Microsoft will ruin Yahoo, yet just a couple months ago everyone said Yahoo was worthless anyway?

I wouldn’t pay money for Yahoo. Then again, I wouldn’t pay money for a lot of things. You’d need a magnifying glass to see all the valuable assets Yahoo has to offer the world.

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