Get Ur Geek On

We may have just found our new "so best" pic, thanks to the folks at Late Night with Conan O'Brien who put together a little slideshow for Bill Gates' keynote address and Media Center PC demonstration at CES in Las Vegas. Bill fumbled with the remote after the system hung up, prompting uber-geek Conan to quip, "Who’s in charge of Microsoft?! —oh." Phillip Torrone of Engadget, who took the above picture, was there to blog it live.

However things aren't all hunky-dory down in Cupertino, either. One iTunes user is suing Apple for anti-competitive practices for not providing iTunes downloads in a format that works on players besides the iPod. Apple has had a tradition of making their software exclusive to their hardware, though until the AAC format they have had very open media standards (and a small hardware marketshare). Apple is also a plaintiff in two cases involving leaks to the web of details on their upcoming products -- the first regarding their firewire audio device, the latest involving their sub-$500 desktop and office suite which was revealed by ThinkSecret. Looks like somebody inside Apple has taken their non-disclosure agreement a little too lightly.

After the CES debacle (which drew jeers from the crowd, a la Ashlee Simpson's Orange Bowl performance), a cranky Gates then gave an interview calling copyright reform advocacy "a new kind of communism." Why he didn't call them dangerous terrorists, Dick Cheney stizz, we don't know. Being scared of communists is sooo last century. If you want to chat with fellow travellers and other copyleft comrades, RSVP for the Creative Commons event being held tonight at the Swedish American Hall. Come support open media standards, fair content licensing and the preservation of the public domain. SFist will be in the house.