USATODAY.com - SAN FRANCISCO - In snooping on a reporter to pinpoint internal news leaks, Hewlett-Packard used high-tech tools common to spammers, phishers, retailers, suspicious employers and investigators. Those tools, including phishing-style e-mail and tracing software, underscore the growing use of electronic surveillance to monitor consumers’ every digital move, computer-security experts say.

AP - After a two-month international manhunt, the indicted former chief executive of leading voicemail-software maker Comverse Technology Inc. was captured on Wednesday in southwest Africa, U.S. officials announced Wednesday.

AP - Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. is rather battered with regulatory and legal woes, skeptics on Wall Street and critics of its violent video games. But the stock isn’t fazed one bit.

Former chief of cell phone software maker awaits extradition to the U.S. on criminal fraud charges related to stock options.

AP - Security vendor CA Inc. is so confident in its products, it is offering up to $1,500 for computer repairs should users of its anti-virus software get infected.

PC World - Microsoft Office app hit one day after company patches its IE browser.

AP - After a two-month international manhunt, the indicted former chief executive of leading voicemail-software maker Comverse Technology Inc. was captured on Wednesday in southwest Africa, U.S. officials announced Wednesday.

AP - A federal judge ruled Wednesday against the distributor of the Morpheus online file-sharing software, finding the firm encouraged computer users to share music, movies and other copyright works without permission.

AP - Security vendor Symantec Corp. accused Microsoft on Wednesday of abusing its monopoly in deciding which security products can run on its upcoming operating system.

AFP - Leading computer security firm Symantec warned that users of Microsoft’s new ‘Vista’ operating system could find their options for running anti-virus style software seriously reduced.

Design and better access, not a new domain extension, will draw users to the mobile Internet, say analysts.

Called Wingnut Interactive, the New Zealand-based game shop will join in Microsoft’s “Halo” efforts.

TechWeb - The New York Times unveils a public preview of software that duplicates the printed newspaper’s format on a computer screen.

AP - Shares of software maker Red Hat Inc. plummeted Wednesday, a day after the company said its second-quarter profit slipped 34 percent on stock compensation expenses.

TechWeb - A well-funded software company for mobile entertainment has designed technology that lets game developers build applications on one platform for use on multiple types of cellular phones and operating systems.

TechWeb - Lirix Inc. lhas aunched a software platform that inserts ads into downloadable music to make content free for consumers, but the tunes won’t come without a price.

AFP - Indian software firm Sonata says it has bought a majority stake in German tourism and shipping group TUI AG’s tech unit for 18 million euros (23 million dollars).

Reuters - U.S. software giant Microsoft Corp.
has bought Israeli start-up Gteko, a developer of
technical support products, Israeli newspapers reported on
Wednesday.

Free Software Foundation takes on prominent Linux programmers’ complaints against new features.

I’m going to watch everything. Every single new show. I’m going to try them all once. If it doesn’t make me throw up a little in my mouth, it gets a second chance. If it never gets better I won’t watch past the third episode (peace out Justice, Happy Hour, Vanished and Til Death). But I will watch everything. And by watching everything I’ll truly know what’s worth spending my time on.

Reuters - Red Hat Inc. , a provider of
Linux open-source software, on Tuesday reported lower
second-quarter net income and cut its full-year cash flow
forecast, citing the high costs of integrating acquisitions.

Reuters - Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday released
a security patch to fix a “critical” hole in its Internet
Explorer Web browser that the world’s biggest software maker
said could allow an attacker to take control of a user’s
computer.

Alleged hacker known as “Viodentia” broke through copy-protection tools using Redmond’s own code, company charges.

Second-quarter profit falls by more than $5 million, with a sharp increase in operating expenses to blame.

InfoWorld - Windows Vista will not support older versions of Visual Studio, a move that will require many developers writing applications for the forthcoming operating system to upgrade to Visual Studio 2005, a Microsoft executive said Tuesday.

TechWeb - The ascendancy of "social networking" applications with possible business uses is in contrast to Demo 11 years ago. Now the new ideas are flowing Internet-based technologies.

PC World - Mounting attacks force software giant to release VML patch ahead of its monthly security update.

AP - Forget the blather. With a new audio search technology, users could jump right to the area of interest in podcasts, and soon also in videos. Pluggd Inc. showed off its HearHere search software Tuesday at DEMOfall 2006, an elite tech show of emerging technologies.

NewsFactor - IBM is extending a hand to businesses looking to improve their communications systems with a new package of hardware, software, and support services that rely on traditional IP-based networks.

Mobile phone maker shows off new lineup, including its first phone with a GPS receiver and 5-megapixel camera.

Photos: New Nokia cameras–packed and slim