So, you didn't like Microsoft, did you? Well, how about News Corp.? In an attempt to rejuvenate Yahoo and fend off Microsoft's advances, Rupert Murdoch's media conglomerate is reportedly in talks to purchase Yahoo. Although claiming that his company is "not interested in buying Yahoo," the Merc reports: The Wall Street Journal, which is owned by News Corp., reported Wednesday that its parent company is considering taking a stake in Yahoo that could exceed......

It looks like Sunnyvale-based Yahoo plans on rejecting the $44.6 billion rose Microsoft offered it earlier this month. A move that would have merged the two tech giants won't happen, it seems, and we were so sure this relationship would've worked out swimmingly. Sniff. But all is not lost. According the Gate: Yahoo's board, which met Friday, has determined that the $31 per share offer Microsoft made is inadequate. The Wall Street Journal reported......

The Wall Street Journal ran this piece by Ted Nugent yesterday. If you're at all inclined to check it out, do so soon, because the password protection will kick in at some point. More or less, Nugent uses the 40th anniversary of "The Summer of Love" to rail on against drugs and "stinking hippies."...

--A guy jumped onto the field to say hi to Barry Bonds yesterday. Arrested, drunk. [The Chron photo pool, the Snitch.] --They're looking on the Oregon coast now for the missing Alameda County woman and her friend the priest. It's been three weeks. [The Chron.] --Alamo Square was cordoned off this afternoon after gunfire on McAllister Street hit a motorist in the head. [ABC 7.] --There were also shootings at Webster and Rose and Div......

SFist interviews Alexandra Lipsitz, Director of Air Guitar Nation...

The SFIFF is winding down - only two more days to cram in as much international film as you can! Or are you ready for a quick breather before diving back in? Then take a night off and head out to one of these happenin' events. Not exactly a face-off (these guys play for the same league), but bound to be just as interesting. Marion Nestle and Michael Pollan give a talk tonight on food......

Playing the role of Shawn Fanning, minus the curls, the real estate retraction appears to be stealing theoretical dollars from the pockets of a member of Metallica. According to The Wall Street Journal guitarist Kirk Hammett has cut the asking price of his Pacific Heights mansion to a mere $10.5 million from the $12.5 million he'd been seeking since 2005....

Speaking of cleaning up the streets, people on Polk Street are trying to have a major rehaul done in an attempt to make it less grimy. Twenty-nine commercial spaces are either vacant or under construction along the Lower Polk corridor and all the businesses and developers are looking to help clean the area up in order to increase their business. For whatever reason, they think that having to climb over transvestite heroin junkies nodding out isn't the kind of thing people want to do if they come to a neighborhood. And also, lots of vacancies equals more crime and the more crime the more vacancies and so on and so forth. ...

Four out of five workdays recommend ..... Wednesdays. Tonight: Japanese jazz improv in Oakland! The 2+2 jazz improv series at Oakland's 21 Grand, which features dueling instruments of one kind of another, is hosting a Japanese koto battle this month (with the second +2 for saxophones). The koto is the long wooden plucked-string instrument. 416 25th Street (at Broadway), in Oakland, 8 p.m., $6-10. Thursday: If you're downtown, stop by Jackson Square as the arts......

The Wall Street Journal's East Bay Journal showed us a little love this week with a two-part series on the residential and commercial real estate markets in the Five-and-Dime. See "East Bay: More Affordable, But Only Compared to Its Neighbors" (January 18, 2006) and "California's East Bay Area Offers Relative Bargains" (January 19, 2006). SFist is always interested to read about bargains in the area, if only because they're rarer than a morning when......

You know, public schools just can't win. Up here in San Francisco, it's a constant "our schools are failing and segregated," so affluent upper-middle-classers have to spend gajillions of dollars on private schools or leave the city. But down in Cupertino....! The Wall Street Journal reports that Caucasian families are unhappy with their public schools too, to the point where they're also opting out of the Santa Clara public school system -- but not because the schools are bad. Rather, parents are unhappy because the schools have become too rigorous. Is this an Onion article or what? White families in Cupertino complain that Caucasian children are in the minority and the constant academic pressure is bad for their children's self-esteem. Other families complain that there are too many math and science classes at Monte Vista High, and not enough sports teams. One mother says she would never have moved to Cupertino if she'd realized "how much it would change" (now, what do you think that means?), while Asian-American families note that no one in (whiter) Palo Alto seems to have a problem with its competitive high school academic scene and wonder if it's got something to do with race. That said, it's also true that in Cupertino, the lower-level classes are the only ones with diverse enrollment -- and an overall 3.0 GPA puts you in the bottom third of your class. Man, we are so glad we're done with school. This Asian sucks at math. ...

The indelible "Polly Jean Harvey" rocked "the Great American Music Hall" Thursday night. The sold-out show was a must see for PJ fans, who have only dreamt of seeing her in such a small and intimate setting--and with no opening act! Ms. Polly arrived onstage in a bright yellow dress (with her name embroidered on the back), and pink stillettos. The dress marked this burst of sunshine's entrance with rousing applause by the salivating......