Microsoft nature is so often debated in Web/software-related discussions, it’s mere mention is almost becoming a variant of Godwin’s Law. The one safe area seems to be when discussing the company in relation to Eolas’ “906” patent. The problems with said patent have encouraged the USPTO to re-examine the issue (no doubt prompted by Microsoft’s lobbyists), and I hope, it will rule the patent invalid.

If not, the rumours of about Sparkle — allegedly a Mircosoft-based “Flash-killer” — circulating the Web might indicate a “Plan C” for the Redmond-based company.

Potential good news for CanWest: like the U.S., Australia may overhaul its media ownership rules.

Meanwhile, a new poll (commissioned by lobbyists for the Canadian media) suggest Canadians would be willing to pay more taxes to ensure domestic content remains a strong presence in the media. However, they/we also erroneously believe our newspapers receive federal funding. David Akin has a more detailed summary.

Jakob offers his top ten suggestions for a better homepage. For what it’s worth, I agree with nine of them; number seven (“Include a short site description in the window title”) is pet peeve of mine because:

• the title text usually gets cut off (I don’t surf with a maximized browser),
• it results in excessively long bookmark titles that require after-the-fact trimming.

Immediate online election results are now, theoretically, possible in Canada.