ALSO NOTED:

1. The BlackBerry
In case you've hiding under a rock, NTP is suing BlackBerry maker Research In Motion for patent infringement, and an injunction is looming that could shut down BlackBerry service in the U.S. (except for the federal government). Each week there has been some minor update in the case which causes attention-seeking analysts to proclaim that the sky is falling. But now it appears that suddenly RIM may have a huge ace up its sleeve: The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced its intentions to invalidate all of NTP's relevant patents! That would make this whole case moot. You can't infringe on an invalid patent, right? Even if NTP gets to keep its patents after an appeal of the USPTO decision, who really believes there won't be a last-minute settlement? And even if there is a shutdown, who really believes it won't quickly be settled, considering all the money NTP would be leaving on the negotiating table? In the case of a striking union, the relationship is co-dependent--the New York City government can't just switch to some other transit system and the transit workers union can't just find jobs in another city. But in the case of NTP and RIM, both companies will lose their business to competitors if they don't play nice together.

2. Search Engine Wars
Yes, Google is an exciting company. Somehow they obtained the IT-nerd mystique of Apple and Red Hat. Yawn. I'm a power user by any measure, and the vast majority of my search queries work just as well in Yahoo, Dogpile and elsewhere as they do in Google. Google might impress me if they stuck to searching; it's great that they added blogs and images and video to the mix. Even the controversial book search has some merit. But they're also diversifying into databases, email, news and shopping. They should stop trying to emulate MSN and Yahoo and just stay true to their original vision. If they do that, then it might be interesting.

3. Smartphones
Just like many of you, I happen to carry a Palm Treo 650; but we could all just as easily carry a Linux, Symbian or Windows smartphone. Applications, price and support are what matters in smartphones, not platforms. There is no good reason to be distracted over which company has the absolute latest and greatest gadget. Like the old PC advice stated, "buy the best you can afford," because in six months it will be obsolete anyway. We get emotionally attached to our items of geekish desire, but they're still just disposable appliances. (You stopped naming your computer after the 1980s, so get over it.)

4. The Economy
How secure is your job? OK, but how secure is its location, annual bonus and opportunity for advancement? I bet the answer is "not very," whether you admit it or not. Now more than ever before, it's vital to look for a job where you have a chance to learn new skills on the company's dime or where you can become a specialist in an emerging hot technology. Otherwise you may be doomed to a boring and flatly paying career heading nowhere. Don't say we didn't tell you so, but don't get so distracted by the constant search that you neglect to do your current tasks well. It's easier to find a better job when you are currently employed than when not.

5. Vendor mudslinging
Working in IT is challenging and stressful enough without the distractions of sales B.S., so the next time you hear some, just ignore it. "Vendor B.S." includes bundling, licenses, switch-to-us offers and the like. A whole other level of binary fluff are the self-funded reports which "find" that Company A is better at X, Y and Z than Company B. Instead of letting these things interfere with your job, demand that salespeople put you in contact with other customers directly. If that approach fails, do your own sleuthing in newsgroups and among user groups. Enterprise IT shopping is very much a buyer's market right now, so you can tune out the marketing waste without worry.