Less than two weeks after Sony released its long-anticipated PlayStation Portable, a handheld gaming device with multimedia capabilities, the device's most ardent fans began spreading details about their successful hacks. Among the more ingenious: Web browsing additions, instant-message chats, and TiVo-recording playbacks.

The PSP is already a strong seller in that short timeframe. Reviews of the multi-function device are almost universally positive, and with the heavy overlap between hardcore geeks and hardcore gamers, it seems a natural fit for hacker interest to run high. What's more, the unit comes with 32MB of memory, music and movie playing capabilities and built-in WiFi access, meaning it offers plenty of tools for hackers to play with.

Men spend more money on video games than they do on all forms of music, research group Nielsen Entertainment said Thursday, lending credence to a growing belief that video games are displacing other forms of media for the attention of young men.

Video gaming in general is starting to attract an older audience, with nearly a quarter of all gamers over age 40, the agency also said.

For males, Nielsen said, games now rank only behind DVDs as a purchase category, ahead of CDs, digital downloads and other ways of buying music.

Sony sold 500,000 units of its PlayStation Portable handheld video game device in the first two days after its North American release, about half the units the company had aimed to provide retailers, Sony said on Thursday.

The $249 PSP Value Pack came out March 24 in the United States. There were mixed reactions to the early sales, with some analysts saying the device was not selling as fast as some large chains might have expected.

But Sony said the PSP generated a total of $150 million in first-week sales at North American retailers. It said sales remained strong through the rest of the first week but did not quantify what that meant or give details on second-week sales.

The Yankee Group reported [this week] that Microsoft Windows Server 2003 is at least as good if not better than Linux, in terms of quality, performance and reliability.

Laura DiDio, an analyst at the Yankee Group who has been at the receiving end of much of the criticism from Linux advocates, claimed the radical elements of the community could damage the reputation of open source software.

"There's an extremist fringe of Linux loonies who hang out on forums and are disrespectful and threatening because you disagree with them," DiDio told ZDNet UK on Wednesday. "That can hurt the Linux community ... It's just software. This has got way out of proportion."

A mandate is under discussion ... which would oblige Apple to ensure iTunes and its other digtal music products worked with offerings from archrivals including Microsoft and Real.

The news isn't ideal for consumers - anyone thinking of swapping their iTunes-bought music from an iPod to a Zen Micro, or transferring their Napster-bought music the other way, will have a real problem. For the less tech-savvy, one standard platform could be an answer to their prayers and make the whole music and music player buying experience less of a hassle.

So is it time for a little bit of government-sponsored friendliness between the Cupertino and Redmond DRM folk?

For many Mac Mini users, upgrades will be a virtual necessity that cost more than upgrades to a Windows PC (see Battle of the budget PCs). And they're even costlier if you don't order them when you buy the computer (at which time labor is free), because they must be performed by an authorized Apple dealer or the Apple store (www.apple.com). Some important upgrades include: doubling memory to 512 MB (recommended if you run more than one application at a time), adding an internal AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi card (if you have a wireless home network), and adding a wireless keyboard and mouse or a DVD burner. There are also no audio inputs--just a stereo headphone jack in the back of the case--though Apple sells a $35 sound adapter that provides an input.

There are other hidden costs. For example, the Mini's peripheral connections are meager. A non-Apple mouse and keyboard will quickly take over the unit's only two USB 2.0 ports, leaving just one FireWire port for other peripherals. Adding extra USB ports via an external USB hub solves that problem--for an additional $10 to $70. The most costly upgrade is the one you'll need if you can't spare a compatible monitor, keyboard, and mouse. That could cost you hundreds, just as with any other computer.

We bought and tested the $599 Mini. Its performance closely matched Apple's older, $799 eMac, which is also built around the last-generation G4 processor. (Compared with the diminutive Mini, the eMac is a hog for space on a desktop, but it has its own display.) Though no speed demon, the G4 provided adequate processing power for basic computing needs at home or school, including playing music and DVDs. As with Windows-based budget PCs, the Mini doesn't have the horsepower for serious performance gaming or heavy-duty video editing.

If you can redeploy an existing monitor, keyboard and mouse and live with its modest standard configuration, the Mini does offer a stylish, space-saving, and low-priced entry into the world of Macintosh computing, with its advantages of reliability, support, and freedom from most viruses and spyware. Otherwise, upgrades can quickly jack up its price toward or past $1,000, a point where better-performing Windows-based desktops and laptops are available.

Calling this year's E3 the biggest video game show in the industry's history might sound like hyperbole run amuck. For once, though, it appears the hype might be justified.

When the show (formally named the Electronic Entertainment Expo) kicks off May 18, more than 400 companies will cover more than 540,000 square feet, showing off new games, new consoles and new gaming gadgets.

Microsoft has the most riding on this year's show. Three days before it officially begins, the company will finally take the wraps off of its next generation Xbox (which will almost certainly be named Xbox 360). Microsoft hopes the new machine will help it unseat Sony from its long-held industry leader position, which won't be an easy feat.

While there are still plenty of mysteries surrounding Xbox 360, a few details have leaked out. All games will be optimized for high definition televisions. All will have some online functionality. And the graphics engine will be more powerful than anything on the market today.

A hard drive is still a possibility. And Microsoft (Research) is working hard to make the machine backward compatible with current Xbox games, though that hasn't been easy due to a change in hardware vendors.

Things like price and launch date have been kept under wraps. Expect those to come right before the show.

Pew Internet and American Life released a survey the other day claiming 30-precent of iPod owners have downloaded a podcast. Now they say those numbers are likely not accurate.

New evidence shows that the survey is most likely not accurate and even Pew Internet and American Life has gone on record stating they do not believe those figures.

"Pew research director Mary Madden believes the numbers of people actually using the Internet to broadcast and/or download pods is smaller than the 6 million figure cited in the organization’s latest study, however.

“Our question to the survey respondents on this was very broad. We asked if they had ever downloaded a podcast or radio Internet program," she says. In other words, the survey also netted affirmatives from people who may have listened to an NPR program on the radio, for example, and then gone to the NPR site to download it."

Technology stocks largely rose in early trading Tuesday, with online music provider Napster Inc. scoring big gains after raising its fourth-quarter revenue forecast. Napster said it now expects to report revenue between $16.5 million and $17.5 million, up from analysts' estimates of $15 million. The company, which in February launched a subscription music service for portable music players, also said it now has more than 410,000 subscribers.

Friday, XM Satellite Radio - the bigger of the two satellite radio companies - [announced] that it added more than 540,000 subscribers from January through March pushed the industry's customer total past five million after fewer than three and a half years of operation. Analysts call that remarkable growth for companies charging more than $100 annually for a product that has been free for 80 years.

Total subscribers at XM and its competitor, Sirius Satellite Radio, will probably surpass eight million by the end of year, making satellite radio one of the fastest-growing technologies ever - faster, for example, than cellphones.

"Most Americans think daylight-saving time benefits farmers or saves energy, but farmers have always hated having to get up earlier and energy savings have never been proven," according to Downing.

"The idea seems to have originated with Benjamin Franklin, who noticed in Paris in 1784 that people slept while the sun was up in during summer mornings, but complained about the cost of candles used at night. He suggested U.S. church bells be rung at sunrise, and if that didn't rise people, a cannon be fired."

Wall Street preferred having fewer hours between the markets being open in New York and London and stores found they had more shoppers while it was still light, the Globe reported. The federal government made it official in 1966.

Microsoft has dismissed Apple's claims of the iPod "halo effect" denting the PC market.

Despite reports to the contrary, Crossley said Redmond has seen no halo effect from iPod users shunning PCs in favor of Macs.

"We haven't seen it yet," she said.

"We're not happy about losing any market share," Cynthia Crossley, head of Windows client at Microsoft UK said. "We worry less about 'losing share' and more about what else we can get into... we want to do it all."

This document contains the Software download links, how to prepare for installing Mac OS 9.1, and provides compatibility and basic troubleshooting information.

Important: This software update requires you to have Mac OS 9.0 - 9.0.4 installed on your Macintosh prior to installing the update.