Microsoft is offering some of its most popular acquisitions via cloud computing with the rollout of Microsoft Online Services. Like many vendors adopting this delivery mode, Microsoft is seeking to exploit companies' eagerness to downsize their internal IT and computing infrastructures to the greatest extent possible.

On June 30, data security standards set by the Payment Card Industry became mandatory for organizations that handle online credit card payments. This is a significant milestone in the ongoing push to strengthen online security as these important standards have moved from recommendations to hard and fast mandates.

DreamWorks Animation is teaming up with Intel to build a new kind of 3-D moviemaking technology. The two companies have formed a strategic alliance in which Intel will provide both hardware and software for the Hollywood giant. The move marks the end of DreamWorks' three-year deal with AMD and will result in all new systems for the studio's computers. Financial terms are not being disclosed.

We live in interesting times. According to Gartner Research VP Robert Anderson, if all the people on the MySpace virtual community banded together, they'd form the eighth largest country in the world. Never before in history could people create such large communities and communicate so readily as they can today, thanks to the social networking environment.

Merrill Lynch has predicted that the cloud computing market could reach $160 billion by 2011. By any measure, in any industry, that's a huge number -- it's astronomical for one that can only be described as "nascent." To be sure, the potential for cloud computing is immense. Still, Merrill Lynch may have jumped the gun.

If you use Google's Gmail and like to access your account from several locations -- work, office, your smartphone, Internet cafes, etc. -- you can now remotely check the status of that account from all your log-in locations. Google announced a new remote signout and monitoring feature designed to enhance security for those who use several computers or connected devices in the course of a day.

Enterprises have long sought ways to add real-time communications to business applications to improve customer interactions, streamline workflows, more quickly respond to critical events and more efficiently execute time-sensitive transactions. Integrating interactive communications with software applications and business processes, however, has proven difficult, costly and time-consuming.

Shares of VMware plunged 25 percent Tuesday after the software maker replaced cofounder and CEO Diane Greene and warned that revenue would fall short of prior estimates. VMware, which is controlled by data-management provider EMC, has fallen mightily since a blockbuster partial spinoff last year. After its initial public offering in August, VMware stock tripled from its $29 opening price in the first month.

A Lehman Brothers analyst downgraded the entertainment industry Monday and slashed forecasts for its five major companies, saying digital downloads of movies and TV shows posed a huge threat to profits from DVD sales that the companies rely on. The stocks of The Walt Disney Co., News Corp., CBS, Time Warner and Viacom fell slightly more than the broader market by the close.

A body was removed from a remote area of the Oakland, Calif., hills after a prominent computer programmer about to be sentenced for killing his missing wife led investigators to the site, authorities said Tuesday. Hans Reiser's attorney said the body is believed to be that of his estranged wife, Nina Reiser.

Microsoft is taking a bold stance in its seemingly endless Yahoo talks, now saying no further negotiations will take place unless a new board is elected. A public statement issued Monday by Microsoft references recent meetings with billionaire Yahoo investor Carl Icahn, who issued a letter of his own once again urging a leadership change.