John Cage's representatives try to claim copyright on silence. [via MetaFilter] [Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog]

A fascinating insight into the inner workings of Microsoft's R&D dept. [dws.]

Variable Annuities. They're not all they're cracked up to be. [The Motley Fool]

Overture wins reprieve from Microsoft. The search engine company gets a 90-day extension of one of its deals with Microsoft as the two discuss a longer-term contract. [CNET News.com]

Cory Doctorow and others send a tip that you can move files from Windows to Mac by turning on FTP on the Mac. Or use the built-in SMB support. Thanks to Julian Melville, Mike Cohen, Aaron Pressman and Christopher Fullford for the pointers. (It worked the second time, I have my music folder from my…

Fed up with everything? Read this. Author Alan Cohen says he didn't merely write “Why Your Life Sucks” for cube dwellers with career angst. He charted a “road map out of hell” for everyone who has “come to accept soul starvation as a way of life.” Is he talking about you? [CNET News.com]

wastrel: Dictionary.com Word of the Day. wastrel [Dictionary.com Word of the Day]

Dwight D. Eisenhower. “When you are in any contest you should work as if there were – to the very last minute – a chance to lose it.” [Motivational Quotes of the Day] [dws.]

May Sarton. “The minute one utters a certainty, the opposite comes to mind.” [Motivational Quotes of the Day] [dws.]

US is a Christian Nation. In response to the recent court ruling regarding the unconstitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance, the White House speedily released several statements condemning the ruling. The article reads like something out of The Onion. [kuro5hin.org]