Joe Wilcox

Or stated differently: Have the ill-winds of fate caught the Lulz Boat's sails?

Today, quite unexpectedly, LulzSec Security announced its retirement. "This is our final release, as today marks something meaningful to us. For the past 50 days we've been disrupting and exposing corporations, governments, often the general population itself, and quite possibly everything in between, just because we could", according to a statement from the hacker group. "Our planned 50 day cruise has expired, and we must now sail into the distance, leaving behind -- we hope -- inspiration, fear, denial, happiness, approval, disapproval, mockery, embarrassment, thoughtfulness, jealousy, hate, even love".

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I was a late-comer to covering Microsoft's antitrust troubles in the United States. I missed the first case, which the software giant and Justice Department settled in 1995, a short time before Windows 95 shipped. But I was on the case(s) from 1997, logged many courtroom hours and can say without boasting that my reporting on the three antitrust trials -- 1997 extension of the first, the big one filed in May 1998 and remedy hearing in Spring 2002 -- was among the best in techdom. I've reported on the European case, as well. It's from that vantage point, I look at Google's response to its US antitrust investigation.

Yesterday, in a blog post, Amit Singhal, Google Fellow, confirmed that the US Federal Trade Commission had opened an investigation into Google's business practices. The FTC has broad authority, meaning it can and likely will look at more than just antitrust issues (I'll expand on that topic in a few paragraphs). Google also has put up a "Facts About Competition" website. Microsoft used similar informational tactics during its US antitrust investigation and trial -- and strangely, or not, Google's defense is eerily the same: That the company's products and services enable consumer choice and businesses to grow.

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That number might not seem like much compared to the gazillion apps at Android Market or Apple's App Store, but those 20,000 apps answer a question on many techies' lips this week: Why didn't Nokia pick MeeGo? Windows Phone Marketplace passed the 20k threshold about a month ago.

The N9's unexpected launch on June 21 was one of the most perplexing mobile phone announcements in recent memory. The N9 is a stunning piece of hardware that runs smart-looking software -- MeeGo 1.2. But Nokia has all but abandoned MeeGo and Symbian, which despite market share declines is still the most widely used mobile operating system on the planet. The N9 had lots of gawkers drooling over its sexiness but disappointed that with MeeGo there's no point.

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Politicians and celebrities are used to being mocked during late-night talk show monologues or skits. But computer software -- and, gasp, made by the entertainment industry's beloved Apple? Quick, call the "Adjustment Bureau".

As if Final Cut Pro X wasn't proving to be enough of a stinker, Conan O`Brien and his video production team have thrown a little more angst into buyers' turbulent emotions. What's really scary about the video above? It might not have been made to be funny. This could be for reel.

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Would WikiLeaks be so bold as to release personal information -- like home address and spouse's name -- of cops? That's exactly what hacker group LulzSec Security did late today. The hackers took the sensitive information from Arizona Dept. of Public Safety servers. The agency has confirmed the data breach.

Key takeaways you'll find in this post: 1) LulzSec chose a target that would be divisive regarding public opinion -- is this a hacktivist/anarchist group of do-gooders or terrorists? 2) One victim of LulzSec's earlier data disclosure calls the group "terrorists". 3) A Betanews poll finds respondents to be equally divided about whether LulzSec is a hacktivist group revealing secrets or cybercriminals who should be prosecuted.

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Say, had you wondered about those strange system requirements for Apple's Final Cut Pro X -- Mac OS X 10.6.8, yet only dot seven was available? Wonder no more. Late today, Apple released the dot 8 update, quite likely the last before OS X 10.7, aka "Lion", releases next month.

In fact v10.6.8 is preparation for Lion, which Apple will deliver through Mac App Store -- an add-on to v10.7 Snow Leopard and built into Lion. The update does something to Mac App Store for Lion delivery.

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Rumors about an impending MacBook Air refresh engulfed the web this month. If you believe them, Apple is poised to make the thin-and-light laptop its flagship portable. Oh yeah? So why not grab some market share, too, by lowering the price where mere mortals could afford to buy one? With Intel bringing on UltraBook as clear MacBook Air competitor, it's reasonable to wonder about Apple's response.

I asked two analysts, Roger Kay and Stephen Baker, for their response to the headline's question, but I was more interested in Baker's opinion. In the past, he strongly advocated Apple releasing a $799 Mac.

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I awoke this morning to find my wife watching "WarGames", the classic 1980s hacker movie. That got me to thinking about hacker group LulzSec Security, which has been mighty busy this month. Is it a group of stereotypical, mischievous hackers or dangerous cybercriminals? Under the law, the distinction is meaningless. But your answer means something to me and to other Betanews readers.

Please answer the simple poll below and respond in comments. I normally despise anonymous comments but understand if you feel the need to create a new Betanews account to respond. Or you can send email to joe at betanews dot com. Your identity or anonymity is probably safest with me. I don't give up sources.

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I'm baffled why DeLorme sent me a press release, dated today, for a product announced weeks ago -- and after business hours on the East Coast, when there presumably is no one left in the office to talk about it. Buy, hey, I'm from Maine, and so is DeLorme. That's good enough for a quickie post.

If you're an athlegeek -- climber, hiker, sailer, snowboarder, surfer or any other wayfarer -- inReach could be for you. DeLorme describes the Satellite and GPS device as a "personal communicator" that delivers "truly global two-way satellite text messaging." DeLorme partnered with Iridium for satellite capabilities, providing communications to the many places where there is no cellular coverage and where satellite telephony is too costly, or simply unnecessary. So when you reach the summit, pull that core sample from Antarctic ice or rescue that child from the earthquake's ruble, you can text mom and tell her -- or anyone else.

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While I was busy working and not paying attention to nag mail, my Skype number expired this week. I could reactivate and get another three months service for about 12 bucks after a 33-percent discount. But it's Whopper Wednesday. That $12 would feed the family, with enough change left over for some cool vanilla cones at the Rite Aid.

I've had a Skype number since April 2006 -- back when it cost just $38 a year. There's sentimental value having the number for so long, and it's the having not the number itself. The Skype # is not so memorable or well-known to be worth porting anywhere. My Skype is mostly used for calls I need to record, for reporting purposes. Oh, yeah, it buzzes the front gate to our apartment complex, too.

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Finnish-phone maker Nokia could learn something from director J.J. Abrams and producer Steven Spielberg. They deliberately released only a teaser trailer, short on information and long on suspense, for movie "Super 8". The cryptic title evoked mystery, too. Had the trailer told the story, the movie might not be as successful.

Nokia marketing is good to a fault. Product advertising and marketing is among the best in techdom. The adverts and promo videos are often clever, funny, provocative and moving. Nokia knows how to motivate people to buy its products, in part because the marketing is memorable or truly aspirational -- that buyers lives will be better for being this Nokia phone or that one.

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Apple only released the software today, but Final Cut Pro X already is a hit. Perhaps that big price reduction -- to $299.99 -- has something to do with buyers' enthusiasm. Motion 5 and Compressor 4, which also released today for $49.99 a piece, rank second and fourth, respectively. Too bad so many of buyers' give the software a 1-star rating.

But there's more, and it's a wonder anyone else other than Apple is profiting from Mac App Store. Today's introductions put Apple products as the top-7 paid apps. There's an eighth, with iPhoto as No. 9. T-boneapps.com's iSplash, which is on sale today for 80-percent off -- that's 99 cents -- is No. 8, while Angry Birds is tenth.

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Two-thousand votes and 93 comments later, we have an answer to the question I posed late last month: "Could 70 percent of you be running Windows 7?" The answer is no. Three quarters of respondents are running Microsoft's flagship operating system. Well, so much for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion coming out next month.

That 76 percent of Betanews readers -- well those of you responding to the poll -- run Windows isn't surprising. Most people do. But the number of Windows 7 users is simply astounding, which says much about Microsoft's success courting developers, IT folks and techies -- among other Betanews readers.

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Today, Apple debuted Final Cut Pro X for the ridiculously low price of $299.99, along with Compressor 4 and Motion 5 -- $49.99 each. The previous version, available as a suite, sold for $999. The price cut reflects Apple passing savings onto customers through the Mac App Store. But digital distribution also is a means of compelling people using older Mac OS X versions to upgrade.

Final Cut X is available via digital download, exclusively for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard customers and perhaps those folks lucky enough to be testing successor Lion. The price reduction is no means the first and unlikely the last. For example, Apple dropped photo-editing suite Aperture's price from $199 to $79 when Mac App Store launched in January. Presumably, Apple is passing savings onto customers. Digital download means Apple doesn't have to manufacture disks and boxes or distribute them.

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Nokia deserves the award for most mixed-marketing messaging, by today announcing the luscious N9 smartphone. What a beauty, too. Just one problem: It runs MeeGo, which is effectively DOA since Windows Phone will soon be Nokia's primary mobile operating system. The N9 is the handset that most any technophile should want to buy and probably won't. Why invest your hard-earned cash in MeeGo, when Nokia won't?

By the specs, the N9 is one impressive handset and worthy of being a Nokia flagship handset. Quick specs: 3.9-inch AMOLED display -- curved Gorilla glass -- with 854 x 480 resolution; 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 OMAP3630 processor; 1GB RAM; 16GB or 64GB storage; 8-megapixel rear-facing camera -- Carl Zeiss f/2.2 lens with 2x LED flash; front-facing camera for video conferencing; 720p video recording; Near-Field Communications; Bluetooth 2.1; GPS: 1450 mA battery; and MeeGo 1.2 "Harmattan."

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