The reason why so few good books are written is that so few people who can write know anything. -- Walter Bagehot Powerful Plastic Memory Device On the Cheap As computers become ever more entrenched in daily life, archival techniques have shifted from preserving physical specimens to saving digital data. Researchers are constantly on the lookout for inexpensive, quick and efficient methods for storing the increasing expanse of data society produces. To that end, research published today in the journal Nature could help. Scientists report that a one-cubic-centimeter memory block based on a combination of silicon films and a cheap plastic polymer could store an entire gigabyte of information. Linux news will shake Microsoft Recent shifts at Red Hat, Novell will give them more edge on software giant. MS: Don't Force Us to Be Lousy Microsoft said it would be forced to offer European consumers a substandard version of Windows if the European Union makes it rewrite its operating system, sources close to the case said on Thursday. Laying Down the Virtual Law You're a dwarf in a virtual world, and that troll over there has just defamed you in front of everyone. So can you sue, or is it all just fun and games? I, Cringely The First Time is Free:Microsoft's Peculiar Profit Obsession, .NET, and What It All Really Means I have written a few Microsoft conspiracy theory columns in my day, but a great one came in this week from reader Andy Hopper who seems to think that Microsoft is lately trying to emulate Apple Computer and might actually buid its own PCs. I hardly think so, but Andy gives us something to chew on, and the ideas that spill from what Andy ISN'T saying tell us a lot about where Microsoft is really heading. Radar data evaporate Moon's ice sheets The thick ice sheets many astronomers thought were hidden in some of the Moon's craters almost certainly do not exist, according to observations from the world's biggest radar. Single speaker unit creates surround sound A home theatre system that produces surround sound using a single speaker unit has been unveiled by a US company. Travolta parks jet at home JOHN Travolta has found a way to get home faster than greased lightning - by parking his Qantas jet just metres from his back door. Skydiver jumps 534 times in a day A 47-year-old man jumped out of a plane 534 times in 24 hours in hopes of landing a new world record. (C) Shouting Red Goanna Inc. A wholly subsidiary of Screaming Blue Wombat Inc. / Avenging Green Seahorse Industries