Does Microsoft have an open-source strategy — beyond finding new ways to thwart Linux and other non-proprietary wares?

Sam Ramji, Microsoft’s Director of Platform Technology Strategy and the company’s Open Source Software Lab, says it does. And it’s a lot less touchy-feely than this definition, which is on the Microsoft Open Source Web site: “The Microsoft open source strategy is focused on helping customers and partners be successful in today’s heterogeneous technology world.”

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Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) — Microsoft Corp., the world’s biggest software maker, made an unsolicited $44.6 billion offer for Yahoo! Inc. to challenge Google Inc.’s dominance in Internet search services and advertising.

The $31 a share bid of cash or Microsoft stock is 62 percent more than Yahoo’s closing price yesterday. Yahoo had dropped 18 percent this year in Nasdaq Stock Market trading, and posted a 23 percent profit decline on Jan. 29.

Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer is making the biggest-ever technology takeover after failing to compete with Google in a market that may almost double to $80 billion by 2010. Google’s growth has outstripped the pace set by Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft in every quarter since Google’s 2004 initial public offering as its search engine won more users.

Darn remember you heard it heard first, Baldy

This was just on CNN that Microsoft as bid a rather large number to purchase Yahoo, experts claim the large number is to prevent any of the other companies to bid(see google). More as the news rolls in. But I hope that these early reports are wrong, however with the announced layoffs at Yahoo it makes sense.

Just in, Microsoft has offered to buy Yahoo for $44.6 billion in cash and stock.

The oil sands of Alberta have created an oil boom in the Canadian province.

And how much oil is there? Estimates bounced around for years until 1999, when Alberta got serious about determining its potential. Based on data from 56,000 wells and 6,000 core samples, the Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) came up with an astonishing figure: The amount of oil that could be recovered with existing technology totalled 175 billion barrels, enough to cover U.S. consumption for more than 50 years. With the new math, Canada slipped quietly into second place behind Saudi Arabia’s 265 billion barrels in oil reserves, followed by Iran and Iraq.

I hope Bush dosen’t read this or we will be invading Canada “looking to stop terrorists”, Baldy

Edward Burtynsky took some photos of the oil sands to accompany the piece. (thx, marshall)

(link)

The oil sands of Alberta have created an oil boom…