Despite dire warnings of internet terrorism we've seen remarkably little political hacking, and nothing from the Christian church until recently.

On one level I can understand the growing fear of atheism that appears over the internet among the religious. Some atheists, Richard Dawkins in particular, are remarkably stupid with their cleverness.

While one cannot conclusively prove the existence or non-existence of a god there is nothing to be gained in the debate by insulting someone's beliefs. As the 17^th century philosopher Baruch Spinoza said "I have striven not to laugh at human actions, not to weep at them, nor to hate them, but to understand them."

But the decision of some Christians to hack a MySpace page, bomb an abortion clinic, or beat someone to death like Matthew Shepherd shows a profound insecurity of faith. Surely if you are confident that a god will recognise truth then that is enough. Bullying is no answer.

The proposed law that would introduce outrageous charges for copying CDs is s stunning move of hubris by a media industry that seems to have forgotten who its customers are.

The RIAA has already said it thinks copying a CD you own should be considered piracy, yet I don’t see their lawyers pulling iPod users off the streets and imposing crippling fine, as well as confiscating the devices. Yet this is just what this law proposes, massive fines and the confiscation of any equipment used.

Prepare for the riots…

It appears the must-have item at CES this year is antibacterial hand wash, as a preventative to "CES Flu".

Jeff Sandquist at Microsoft swears it exists, message boards warn of it and someone thinks he gets it even after missing the show.

To be honest I'm not sure wiping your hands occasionally is really going to help much. After all, think of the process.

You cram onto flights breathing heavily recycled air, endure days of close proximity, getting tired, stressed, drinking more and eating worse food than at most other times of the year – Sleuth family get-togethers not withstanding.

It's an epidemiologist's nightmare and a moist hand wipe just isn't going to cut the mustard.

The jury's out on the existence or non-existence of the flu. Personally I think it's a great story; everyone knows of a computer company that lost 100 staff but no-one knows the name which is classic urban myth. But a good enough excuse for a fire-breathing boss? I have my doubts.

Not sure who lost the most credibility on this one.

Add in Bill's very odd clothing choice and it was a weird way to say goodbye.

It all bought up Miles Davis' supposed description of another jazz man:

"Couldn't swing if you hung 'im."

Leaving Gates to one side for the moment the other big news of the show was Bly-ray's pre-show spoiler for its HD-DVD rivals.

Now HD-DVD events are being cancelled left right and centre. Could it be the end?

Best quote on the topic from the FT - "It was obviously a big shock to everybody, but that doesn't mean everyone's picked up the football and gone home."

"It's premature to say it's over. Things change so fast with the studios."

They certainly do. Paramount management might be having a rethink of its choices and Kmart too for that matter.

After an extended Christmas break its back with a bang and CES time again. The cream of the IT world, and other forms of life that bob to the surface, have converged on

Las Vegas

for the traditional January hoedown.

There'll also be the usual plethora of gizmos and gadgets, some of which will see the light of day in the future and some of which won't. The entertainment industry will be making the usual big announcements and everyone will go how with bags of squeezy toys and a renewed sense of hope for the industry.

Now call me Mr. Picky but what exactly is 'cultural content' in a video game? Will gamers be quizzed on cogito ergo sum before they reach the next level or stop to admire the Bayeux Tapestry while rewinning WWII?

Fifteen minutes later however and everything was not fine. The friend got a call to get over thee fast as everything was happening in a rush. He headed straight for her house and got her in his car but before he could get out the driveway the baby popped into the world. Mother and new son are going fine.

In the second case one of Google's Mountain View office technical writers was driving into work when she was flagged over by a panic stricken dad to be. His wife was giving birth in the front seat of his SUV (think of the upholstery!) with "a grandmotherly sort had a panic-stricken look on her face and her hands out to catch the baby." She stayed and calmed down the dad and within ten minutes Google has witnessed its second premature birth.

A fun pair of tales, and something that would be useful for the young tots if they ever want to interview for the company.

"So, tell me about your first experience with Google...."

To get open source taken seriously it will have to fight its corner, and the SFLC is doing an excellent job at managing it. The commercial vendors will find it much harder to portray the free software movement as a lot of long-haired hippy types if they're still hurting from a fistful of legal failures.

It's kind of like the two teams looking to disrupt the recently departed Japanese whaling fleet. On the one hand you've got Greenpeace who won't intervene much and concentrate on recording the slaughter, or the Sea Shepherd crew, who attack the whaling fleet and try to organise a boycott of Japanese products. While their tactics are questionable if I was a humpbacked whale I know which group I'd prefer on my side.

Leaving aside the quaintness of hand delivering data in this day and age the real scandal is that it took nine days for the government to admit what it had done. Now that's fast compared to some examples but given what online crooks can do in nine hours with that kind of data the imperative would surely be to let banks and account owners know what was going on as soon as possible.

The head of the tax service has since resigned but it only highlights why breach laws, such as we have in California, are required. With a warning and a bit of luck the effects of the online thieves can be greatly reduced. Never mind the embarrassment of a data breach - protect your customers!

It's an interesting system, and one that many in the industry have emulated. It also relates to Intel's corporate mindset. Let's not forget that until Otellini the company was always led by someone with a PhD, and some within the company were unsure about employing someone with nothing more than a first class MBA to their name.

The lucky new Senior Fellow is Bryant Bigbee. He's had an interesting life, originally qualifying as a doctor before changing his direction and joining Intel fifteen years ago. That took some guts, considering how much doctors get paid over here and the size of their student loans.

If you're looking for concrete suggestions in the article about how to solve the problem then sadly these are lacking. It's a bit like the mice deciding to put a bell around the cat's neck - nice idea, just too bad no-one knows how to do it.