e-Column: Yahoo leads new charge in ongoing search engine battle: "In January, 114.5 million Americans, representing 76 percent of the active online U.S. population, used a search engine. And Yahoo, one of the longest-lasting Web directories on the Internet, took a step to regain its former distinction as the Web’s dominant search site."

Here's my latest column for the East Oregonian.

Low-tech 'hack' takes fizz out of Pepsi-iTunes promo: "CNET News.com confirmed that it is not only possible to pick out winning bottles in advance; careful scrutiny can reveal the full 10-digit redemption code, meaning no purchase is required to get a free iTunes single courtesy of Pepsi."

Does ZDNet or CNET bother to name a single person who has been able to read the entire redemption code from an unopened bottle? No, and I seriously doubt most people can. It's hard enough to decipher the winning codes even after the cap has been removed.

Forbes.com: Disney's Eisner finds something to laugh about: "'He created the computer, or at least Windows, or whatever he created, and did a good job,' Eisner said to peals of laughter from analysts attending the company conference in Orlando, Florida."

But were they laughing with him or at him? Keep in mind, he had problems with Apple's "Rip. Mix. Burn." campaign because he actually thought 'Rip' was short for 'Rip Off.'

Disney buys Jim Henson's Muppets and Bear: "The Walt Disney Company and The Jim Henson Company today announced that they have entered into an agreement under which Disney will acquire the beloved Muppets and Bear in the Big Blue House properties from Henson."

e-Column: Directories that locate people a little scary: "The Internet has made it easier for people to retrieve information, and people directories and mapping services are good examples. But that ease of access is troubling to some"

Here's my latest column for the East Oregonian. They remembered to run it this week!

Long-Time Keynote Watcher, First-time Attender
Here's my review of January's Macworld Expo Keynote for macCompanion.

FCC To Investigate Jackson Breast Exposure Incident: "The (National Football) League said it was led to believe the (halftime) show produced by MTV would be clean"

Why would they believe that? What was the last thing MTV produced or aired that was clean? Where are the videos where Nelly doesn't grab his crotch or Janet Jackson her breasts?

Using New Technology Without Leaving Your Car: "As always, Microsoft is on the cutting edge of technology, this time with its Windows Automotive."

Without discussing whether or not Microsoft is ever on the cutting edge of technology, who thinks it's a good idea for their car to run on Windows? 'Hmmm, my wipers aren't working quite right, I'd better pull over and reboot.'

Pepsi iTunes Music Giveaway
Not only is Pepsi giving away iTunes songs via their 20oz. bottles, but 7-Eleven is doing so via 32oz. Big Gulp and Slurpee cups. So far, I'm one for one.

Music Biz Urges Download Harmony: "While this is not specifically an Apple and Microsoft matter, many of the practical issues center on compatibility between the two tech giants."

One day Apple is 'just another niche company' and the next it's a 'tech giant' on the level of Microsoft.

The missing e-Column...?
My latest e-column for the East Oregonian has not yet been published on their Web site (making me suspect someone also forgot to publish it in the printed paper). I would normally just wait another week or two for it to be published and link to it here. Since its topic is the Super Bowl, though, I'm going to make an exception. Here's a link to download it so you can get your e-Column fix.

That'll teach me to write about something time-sensitive...

Our Photo Galleries
It seems that sometime between when I first published our wedding, reception and Disneyworld photos and last week (a space of only a few years...) the links got stale and broken. I've now fixed everything on our old photo galleries pages and added some new galleries with more recent photos.
http://homepage.mac.com/ehargreaves/

Our "Sims" Neighborhoods
Megan and I have six neighborhoods in "The Sims" that we've created and I've now posted links to the four best and most-lived ones in the right-hand column. The most entertaining parts are the photo galleries, but be sure to marvel at Megan's handiwork in crafting an entire college campus.

The neighborhood Web pages are pre-built by the game using templates, so I don't have a lot of control over them. They don't work in Safari correctly, but will in Internet Explorer. Also, there's a graphic at the top of most of the pages that links to some area of Aspyr's site that no longer exists, so just ignore that.

Since they take up more than 100MB of space, I'm serving them up off our home iMac. So if you have any trouble with those pages, e-mail me.

• Neighborhood 1
  
• Neighborhood 2
  
• Neighborhood 3
  
• Neighborhood 4