TGIF

This is pretty cool...apperently iPower Blogger (my blogging tool) has added some neat new featres.
 
Well , Martha Stewart has been sentenced to five months in a Federal prison, five months house arrest, and $30,000.00 in fines. You can read the story here.    I express my feelings of sympathy to Louis because he was a very big Martha Stewart fan.
 
Bad and bad news (with one spec of good) on the Laker subject.  While Jackson, Shaq and Fisher are gone, at least Kobe resigned.  [UPDATE: I just heard that Payton is considering not resigning.]
 
Google has bought Picasa and is giving the application away now. Picasa, from what I understand, is essentially iPhoto for Windows.  Picasa's photo sharing program, Hello, is also free. Hello has hooks to another Google acquisition, Blogger.
 
A Seattle judge has struck down a state law forbidding the sale of violent video games to minors, saying the law violated the first amendment.  Cool.
 
That's one small step for Microsoft, one giant leap for IM. Microsoft has announced a partnership with AOL and Yahoo to create a cross-platform business IM network. "Office Live Communications Server 2005" will let users talk with MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, and AIM users transparently. Look for it in the 4th quarter. Or you can just use AIM like everyone else.
 
Another utility for multiple IM platforms is trillian.  Its a cool program and its free.
 
Ebay is launching into the music market. A number of pre-approved sellers, including a record label and music distributor, will be allowed to sell songs for download. The six month trial will begin soon. Buyers will not be allowed to resell the music on eBay.
 
Thats The Crane Files for Friday, July 16, 2004