... either way, Google, you'd better watch out! The big, bad, 500-lb. gorilla is coming to get you!

In case you just emerged from your rock at the bottom of the sea, all anyone can talk about today is the finalization of Microsoft's 10-year deal to team with Yahoo. As one combined entity, Micro-hoo (or choose any of the above-mentioned combinations there of) will take on Google's 88% market share i nthe search space. I've been pitching for weeks that Bing is the way to go these days when you're looking to Goog-- um, I mean, search for something online. Damn, hard habit to break.

So, the heat is on, and Microsoft's is pan set to 'boil' while Google sits at a comfy 'simmer.' Who's gunna come out on top??

In other sci-tech news that most people seem to be overlooking this week ...

- Our astronauts a gazillion miles above Earth have undocked from the Space Station en route home. It's been 11 days of space walks, installations, and freeze-dried food -- not to mantion the whole floating-above-earth-in-a-deadly-vacuum thing. We're ready to welcome you home.

- Hopefully this wasn't the summer you would finally take your family on that beach vacation. Because the beaches are still pretty gross from the last four years of raw sewage, garbage and other pollutants washing up on shore. Ew. Let's get it together, people, so I don't have to show my kids pictures of what beaches used to look like when I was a kid! (For more on the state of our environment, visit Captivate editor Kyle Scribner's Green Among Gray Blog.)

- You know those people-mover-conveyor-belts at the airports? Turns out, they're not really getting us to the gate any faster.

- Chrome, the company that makes those great bags I reviewed last week, is holding an online raffle for one of it's signature bags! The special messenger comes with a Pabst Blue Ribbon logo on the exterior flap. I guess the beer company and the bag company have a nice relationship, though I wouldn't advise mixing the two!

Labels: airports, astronauts, chrome corsair, dirty beaches, Microsoft, Yahoo

Hope you all had a nice holiday weekend! I had the coldest Easter Egg Hunt ever, and ate so many frozen Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs that I literally gave myself a stomach bug. Blech. Check out these headlines while I search for some Tums...

Microhoo is back! Rumors have it that Microsoft and Yahoo are in talks again -- only this time it's for a partnership instead of a buyout.

Twitter got hit with a few worms over Easter. Here's a separate story on the brat responsible.

I'm not sure how to classify this story on sugar daddies and their babies finding a way into today's technology, but I read the whole thing in one sitting.

Uh oh -- this story spells some bad news for Microsoft and my Zune ... I just gave the newest Zune 4G a review a few months back: I really loved it. Too bad, since I will not own an iPod.

Also out of Redmond: Employees of Microsoft are rebelling against the giant by not using it's www.live.com search tool. Personally, it's the only tool I use anymore -- I really like it better than Google. And just for you geeks: Live.com and Google.com split the tally of search
results for Feb. -- so they're equally as popular out there.

And, finally, in my favorite story of the day ...

Stephen Colbert will welcome astronaut Sunita Williams on his show tomorrow night to unveil the new name of the NASA module on the International Space Station. I voted for Serenity -- Firefly fanatic that I am -- but it looks like the write-in winner is going to take the cake. High five, Colbert fans!

I'm out, see you Wednesday!

Labels: Google.com, iPod, Live.com, Microsoft Zune study, NASA Stephen Colbert, Yahoo

Good morning to you all! Hope you hump day goes by as quickly as mine -- does anyone else feel like it should be Thursday? On to the headlines!

- National Geographic announced that, in addition to its magazine, TV network and awesome documentaries, it will venture into the world of video games. No word yet on new titles or subjects, but this seems an odd fit to me. Does anyone not want to hop on the gaming train?

- Speaking of games, fiction is about to become reality for thousands of Korean troops after the gov't announced a 2-phase development of military gear that looks jaw-droppingly like the Master Chief's garb in Halo, complete with the reflective helmet.

- Google and Life magazine have teamed up to make Life's extensive catalogue of images available and searchable online. Does anyone not want to partner with Google?

- With Yang stepping down at Yahoo, the search is on for a new CEO willing to get down on his knees and beg Microsoft to put another offer on the table -- whoops, did I say that? Our friends at CNET.com have complete coverage of 'Yahoo in Transition.'

- Microsoft announced plans to drop its subscription-based antivirus software and instead offer a free program to help people protect their PCs.

See you all on Friday!

Labels: free AV software, Google, Halo military gear, Jerry Yang, Life magazine puctures, Microsoft, National Geographic video games, Yahoo

Let's take a peek around the web for this week's top stories, shall we?

I joked about it a few times, but joke no more: Google's gPhone is real. The phone, called Dream from vendor HTS, will debut in Oct., according to reports, and will feature Google's mobile OS Android. Set to cost around $200, much less than the iPhone iterations, this one definitely has Steve Jobs shaking in his arrogant boots.

Oh Bill Gates, how you disappoint me. Jerry Seinfeld? Really? He hit his peak in the early 90s, recently made a bad kids-only-like-it cartoon, and you hire him to help give Microsoft a new image? I'm not surprised the public berated it and you've been forced to drop the not-funny Seinfeld ad campaign after only 2 commercials. Sheesh. Way to get my back after all those compliments. Alas, there is a light -- perhaps the second phase of the $300 M ad campaign, poking fun at Apple and embracing the 'I'm a PC' image, will be better received.

Yikes -- scientists have been forced to shut down the Large Hadron Collider after only a day of use after a massive cooling mechanism failed. Whoever designed that part is SO fired. Thankfully, engineers have got the 17-ton component fixed and the LHC is back online.

Google made some big headlines this week -- in addition to the gPhone thing -- with a controversial UK decision to allow ads from religious groups opposing abortions, a new deal Google signed with GE to develop and promote sustainable energy solutions, and an announcement the company is moving ahead with an advertising deal with Yahoo despite worries form the government.

New games in stores this week include Stars Wars: The Force Unleashed. Finally, Lucas comes out with something awesome that totally lives up to expectations. This will be the hot one, so I hope you have your copy reserved. I will be chilling on the couch 'navigating' it this weekend -- or rocking out to Rock Band 2, which looks very cool and lets you use downloaded songs in tour playlists. It also allows you to form a band online and battle against other online bands. Very cool.

Have a great weekend, everyone -- catch you on the flip side!

Labels: Apple, CERN, Force Unleashed, gates, geek lingo, Google, hts dream, i'm a PC, Large Hadron Collider, microsoft ad campaign, online, Rock Band 2, seinfeld, Star Wars, sustainable energy, Yahoo