First, the good news: No, you won't have to turn in your copies of Office 2007, even now that Microsoft has lost its appeal of a lawsuit brought by the Canadian company, i4i. The lawsuit, a patent battle over a feature few business users ever see, will cost Microsoft $290 million to settle.

Second, more good news: There is little to no chance Microsoft will be forced to stop selling Word 2007 and Office 2007 on Jan. 11, another potential outcome of the suit. Microsoft says it has been working on a fix that avoids the patent and will roll-out non-infringing versions of both Office and Word before the court's deadline.

A University of Utah study tells us something we should already know: That texting while driving is six times more dangerous than talking on a handset while driving.This is a message that has eluded many, but we can help.

I keep seeing people who are texting while driving during the workday in vehicles with company names painted on them. So, it must be time for a safety reminder, one I hope our always safety-first PCW Business Center readers will share around the office.

Way, way, way too much is being made of the supposed impact Intel's new Atom N450 chip will have on the netbook and, by extension, laptop markets.

This chip, though 60 percent smaller and 20 percent lighter--like we'll notice--remains hampered by a slow 1.66 GHz. clock speed and all the other constraints implicit in the word "netbook."

HP did a good job responding to complaints by a black man that its computers "are racist" because the included PC facial recognition software did not follow his face properly.

The statement was made in a YouTube video posted on Dec. 10 that went viral over the weekend, attracting newly 100,000 views.

It is unhappy news that Google won't be purchasing Yelp. It was a natural in terms of things Google should be doing, especially in helping small local businesses promote themselves.

The $550 million deal, which lived and died over the weekend, would have also made Google more of a one-stop for local businesses, who often don't know where to invest their small promotion budgets. It also might have moved the reviews social network away from advertising sales that have challenged its credibility.

What can other businesses learn from the Nook's tale of woe, as Barnes & Noble says some unlucky e-reader customers won't get their units before Christmas as promised?

First, that screwing up--even if demand for a new product from a new player is hard to predict--is painful-to-humilating. Made worse because the Nook was supposed to be a hot holiday seller. Surely, B&N could have done a better job of predicting demand, but with no consumer electronics experience the Nook is new territory.

Businesses considering Android as a corporate handset standard should consider the decision carefully, because it may prove hard to justify later on.

Recent reports that Google's handset operating system is gaining momentum are a bit troubling, for there are still many reasons to recommend against it for businesses users.

Operation Chokehold, the coordinated attack on AT&T's wireless network, was both a success and failure on Friday. The success was in further highlighting the complaints of iPhone users against the carrier; the failure was that it didn't appear to have much effect on the AT&T network.

"We saw no impact," AT&T told ABCNews.com.

Verizon Wireless says its controversial $350 Early Termination Fee does more than reimburse the cost of subsidized handsets, it covers other expenses as well.

The company today responded to an FCC inquiry over its decision last month to double its Early Termination Fee (ETF) for "advanced devices," such as the Motorola Droid.

That Windows Mobile is "on life support" must come as news to the 7.23 million users of Microsoft's smartphone operating system. While the smartphone OS is in jeopardy, I don't see a situation nearly so dire.

The 7.23 million figure is how many users ComScore found in its October survey. It is an increase from 6.5 million users in July, making Windows Mobile the third most popular smartphone OS, after RIM and Apple.

Ten privacy groups have filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission over recent changes to Facebook's privacy policy.

Led by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), the groups criticize Facebook for changes that made previously private information public.

Suppose someone tried to shut down AT&T's wireless network tomorrow at Noon and nothing happened? Besides in New York and San Francisco, that is the likely outcome of Dan Lyons' urging his blog readers to use so much iPhone data that the carrier becomes blocked during midday tomorrow.

(Note: I have added a response to readers at the bottom).