Here is a smattering of news and views of recent events:

 

Great news – We may have found and killed life on mars. How does one analyze such news? This could be one of the biggest discoveries of our lifetimes and – we accidentally kill it? Ok let’s just hope we don’t get extraterrestrial visitors to our planet who don’t realize humans are life forms.

 

Yahoo! is getting into the mobile search business by partnering with companies who will preload their search software. Yahoo said its new mobile service included a feature called "oneSearch" that makes it easier for users to get the information they need from a cell phone search, an enhanced directory of local businesses and maps and an easy system for sharing photos.

 

My take is this is a good move for the company but they better hope the interface is uncluttered. If the company has learned one thing, they became the web’s leading portal at the expense of losing the title of “best site for searching”. They need to be very careful not to repeat this mistake in the mobile world.

 

Still the company is an excellent position if it can leverage the portal aspects of the service on a mobile device allowing users quick access to e-mail, stock quotes and local weather. There is much potential for Yahoo! In the mobile space if the play their cards right.

 

There is more speculation about Apple’s upcoming mobile phone than there is about why Lindsay Lohan really had surgery. But what we do know is that at MacWorld if Apple does announce a phone it won’t be called iPhone as that name is now taken. Whatever it is called it will likely be GSM-based and work with Cingular’s network or just be unlocked.

 

Speaking of being unlocked, why is the cow in this Truphone holiday video behind bars? More importantly does the company really have a room in their office with spinning multicolored lights? Putting all of this aside why is a VoIP company located on an organic dairy farm.

 

But speaking of weirdness how would you like an e-mail from James Bond. Well not him specifically but the high-tech UK-based spy agency employing the fictional character is now in the e-mail alert business. Specifically the organization will send terror alert e-mails. Apparently The current rating is "severe," the second-highest level which indicates the government believes an attack is highly likely. Personally I prefer the color coded US-based system as it allows comedians to have some fun with the whole situation. Having easy to understand threat levels ruins it for hundreds of comedians out there and it is rumored French comedians are actually striking right now to ensure France adopts a color-coded threat system.

 

But then again the French won’t send e-mail as it is too tainted by American culture. They will of course call it courrier electronique.

 

But getting back to Mi5, I don’t get to write about them too often. If possible I would like to ask the benevolent PR people of the spy agency to send me some of Q’s latest creations for TMC Labs reviews. Nothing that explodes please – my office is messy enough as it is.