Stories by: Robert X. Cringely

I have this nosy but absent-minded Uncle. He likes to paw through my emails, peruse my web history, and tap my phones. But when it comes to protecting his own, more important secrets, he's mostly clueless.

The One Laptop Per Child mishegas has hit the boiling point, and the hiss of steamed "Give One/Get None" donors has finally gotten the OLPC group's attention.

First, let me say I am a big fan of One Laptop Per Child, at least as a concept. Connecting the developing world's children to the Internet in a seamless and low-cost way is a great idea.

Promises broken, contracts torn up, splashy CES announcements hastily canceled. It was a nasty bit of business all right -- and no, I'm not talking about Warner Brothers' sudden decision to ditch the HD-DVD format in favor of Blu-ray. I'm talking about Intel's abrupt departure from the One Laptop Per Child project, six months after signing on.

Sorry Bridget, Claire, Monica, and Shannon. Thanks but no thanks, Dixie, Lola, Shana and Zara. The same goes for Aimee, Willie, Lolita, Cassandra and the three dozen other "people" who sent me bogus MySpace friend requests in the past 24 hours.

Got an email the other day that scared the bejesus out of me. It was a security alert from ThaiNetHost.com written entirely in Thai lettering, save for the names of three or four nasty Trojans and the words "Flash, "Internet Explorer," "Powerpoint," and "Outlook."

Last week, a judge ruled that Novell, not SCO, owns the rights to Unix code and that SCO can't sue IBM for violating rights it doesn't own, signaling that the endless, US$5 billion legal battle over Linux may soon be at an end.

"People-ready business." That's Microsoft's latest slogan from hell, and it probably would have passed quietly into the dustbin of marketing history had it not been for a recent blowup in the blogosphere.

Privacy International has released preliminary findings of its study of privacy practices at 20 major Net companies, and has named Google the worst of a generally bad lot.

Last week, Microsoft sent certified letters to its OEM partners regarding Vista's anti-piracy technology -- or, more accurately, what happens if they dare ship a system with a "non-genuine" copy of Vista.

Warren Buffet: Massively successful investor, friend of Bill Gates, often seen at bridge tournaments.