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Of all the protests mounted against the pending ad partnership between Google and Yahoo, the one lodged by Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., is bound to be among the most worrisome. Kohl, who oversees the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee, has asked the Justice Department to continue to monitor the competitive landscape of the online advertising industry even if it initially approves the deal.

A report posted on the citizen journalism section of CNN's Web site Friday morning claimed that Apple CEO Steve Jobs had been rushed to the hospital with a heart attack. The reporter cited an anonymous but "quite reliable" source who supposedly said paramedics were summoned after Jobs complained of severe pain and shortness of breath.

Odd couple Google and Yahoo late on Friday reportedly opted to delay their proposed partnership, under which Google would essentially devour part of Yahoo's advertising business and create an online ad behemoth that critics say no rival could possibly compete against.

While Apple's stock price has been rocked by the frenzied selling on Wall Street, and as the United States is buffeted by wave after wave of financial uncertainty, there was one massive ray of hope and joy in the Apple world this week: The sometimes draconian company from Cupertino softened its stance on its nondisclosure agreement with Apple developers.

Railhead, a massive government IT project, is failing -- and it's not an isolated case. Large IT projects in agencies from the FBI to the Census Bureau spectacularly -- and, it seems, regularly -- crash and burn, much to taxpayers' disgust. It seems there are certain aspects of government culture that make IT failure more likely. It just may be that failure is built into the system.

Competition for building a profitable Web site is quite fierce. Yet many of us have dreams of a unique concept that will attract viewers, followed soon thereafter by advertisers. I'm not sure what percentage of aspirants succeed in this quest, but I would venture to guess that it's a very low percentage. With the evolution of the Web to the Web 2.0, the task becomes even a bit more challenging.

Eshoo legislation calls for permanent bar on internet access taxes.

"No scripts, no teleprompter here, no real structure and no Britney Spears," says anchor Heather Nauert on a Sept. 25 edition of Fox News Channel's "Strategy Room." Then again, who needs Spears when you've got five stunning examples of Fox's now-famous efforts to recruit attractive females, all sitting around a table chatting with much energy about Congressional efforts to bail out the country's economy.

The SearchPerks program gives consumers points for using Live Search that can be redeemed for prizes.

Anyone who's going to work at Apple has to come to terms with the fact that the company is generally very secretive about anything having to do with new products. Apple staffers who create the company's latest stuff are used to keeping their lips sealed tight. But then Apple tried to restrict third-party iPhone software developers by requiring them to sign off on a very strict nondisclosure agreement.