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Oracle today,rejected $272 million award from SAP,  says it would rather have another trial over SAP’s theft of software and customer-support documents then accepting the offer.

A jury awarded Oracle $1.3 billion in the case in November 2010, but a federal judge cut that amount last September.

In a Monday filing in a federal court in Oakland, California, Oracle confirmed its earlier decision and rejected the award.

SAP admitted that a now-closed subsidiary, TomorrowNow, pilfered Oracle’s intellectual property.

Oracle argued that this helped SAP undercut Oracle by selling similar services for lower prices. SAP said it didn’t make much use of the documents and should have to pay only $40 million.

Che, its all over. First we have Apple Vs Samsung, Google Vs Facebook, now its Oracle Vs  SAP.

I reckon, we haven’t seen the last of  SAP Vs Oracle fights. A big bash is brewing between the two giants.

Micron Technology Inc has lost it’s CEO and Chariman Steve Appleton in a small plane crash on Friday. As Micron Technology is already struggling to make ends meet this loss will further drag it behind.

The 51-year-old Appleton, a three-decade industry veteran who performed stunts at airshows, died after the small plane he was piloting crashed at an airport in Boise, Idaho, where the chipmaker is headquartered.

His death stunned the tight-knit semiconductor industry. Appleton was a prominent figure in Boise, a city of 200,000 in the western United States, and a member of the Idaho Business Council.

Shares in Micron, halted prior to the announcement, resumed trade after the regular market close and promptly slid 6 percent.

“Steve was a high-energy, never-give-up type of inspirational leader of the company. The entire industry will miss Steve’s energy,” said Stifel Nicolaus analyst Kevin Cassidy. “That said, Micron has a deep bench of managers that shared Steve’s vision.”

The accident happened while Appleton flew an experimental Lancair single-engine airplane, Boise Airport spokeswoman Patti Miller told Reuters. Lancair sells kits to build high-end planes.

After taking off and reaching an altitude of about 200 feet, Appleton radioed that he had a problem and needed to turn around, Boise police spokeswoman Lynn Hightower told reporters.

The aircraft rolled left, then plummeted to the ground, where it crashed, causing a large fire and leaving a twisted, black wreckage.

Appleton, a California native, joined Micron to work a night shift right after graduating from Boise State University in 1983. His subsequent meteoric ascent led to his becoming the youngest CEO on the Fortune 500 at the age of 34, in 1994.

Boise Mayor Dave Bieter said Appleton was sensitive to how job cuts by Micron in recent years affected the community.

“He called me and told me about the layoffs coming up and explained how the business-end of chip technology would develop and that Micron would come out strong on the other end. And it happened exactly the way he said it would,” Bieter told reporters.

The loss of Micron’s dealmaker could waylay a possible acquisition of troubled Japanese rival Elpida Memory. Saddled with millions of dollars in operating losses and major upcoming debt payments, Elpida may be in talks to be bought by Micron or reach some kind of partnership, media recently speculated.

A monkey thought to be extinct has been rediscovered in Bornean rainforest.

Simon Fraser University PhD student Brent Loken made the re-discovery of a lifetime when he set up a camera trap in the rainforest in the hope to capture images of the elusive Bornean clouded leopard.

Using time-lapse recordings to investigate the diversity of the remote Wehea forest, the team were surprised to see an unusual sub-species.

Close analysis confirmed that they had photographed a group of Miller’s grizzled langurs.

Fears for the monkeys’ future were sparked last year when none were recorded in previously known habitats.

The international team of researchers suggest their evidence could indicate a more optimistic future.

“Our findings confirm that indeed this monkey still lives in the forests of Borneo and we found that its range extends farther inland than scientists had previously thought,” said PhD student Brent Loken.

“This gives us hope that we may still be able to find large enough populations of this monkey to ensure its survival.”

I leave you with the Photographed Video of the Monkey

After the major Blackout of the internet on Jan 18th it seems people are in the government are finally willing to hear us.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s office just released a statement explaining that Protect IP Act (PIPA), a contentious, heavily-lobbied bill that was supposed to be debated and voted on in the coming days, has been postponed:

“In light of recent events, I have decided to postpone Tuesday’s vote on the PROTECT I.P. Act.

“There is no reason that the legitimate issues raised by many about this bill cannot be resolved. Counterfeiting and piracy cost the American economy billions of dollars and thousands of jobs each year, with the movie industry alone supporting over 2.2 million jobs. We must take action to stop these illegal practices. We live in a country where people rightfully expect to be fairly compensated for a day’s work, whether that person is a miner in the high desert of Nevada, an independent band in New York City, or a union worker on the back lots of a California movie studio.

“I admire the work that Chairman Leahy has put into this bill. I encourage him to continue engaging with all stakeholders to forge a balance between protecting Americans’ intellectual property, and maintaining openness and innovation on the internet. We made good progress through the discussions we’ve held in recent days, and I am optimistic that we can reach a compromise in the coming weeks.”

PIPA had been losing momentum in recent days. Reid said earlier this week that he would not whip Democratic votes for the bill. At least 14 Republicans announced their opposition to the bill, and Sen. Mitch McConnell called for a postponement. At last night’s presidential debate, all four GOP candidates denounced the Protect IP Act.

One the biggest file sharing site Megaupload has been shut down by FBI and 7 of it’s members have been charged and four have been arrested including the site’s founder Kim Dotcom (born Kim Schmitz).

This happened just a day after internet companies revolted against SOPA bill (pushing to be passed by Hollywood heavyweights). Anonymous does not seem very happy with FBI’s move and immediately brought down the Department of Justice website.

In the indictment, Megaupload and a company associated with it are accused of making $175 million while simultaneously causing approximately half a billion dollars in copyright infringement. Among the indicted are the site’s founder, Kim Dotcom (a.k.a. Kim Schmitz), who holds residency in New Zealand and Hong Kong. Employees Bram van der Kolk, aka Bramos, 29, Julius Bencko, Finn Batato, Sven Echternach, Mathias Ortmann, and Andrus Nomm were also indicted.

New Zealand authorities arrested Dotcom, Batato, Ortmann and van der Kolk. Officials said they have not yet captured Bencko, Echternach and Nomm.

According to the indictment, the accused are part of “the Mega Conspiracy, a worldwide criminal organization whose members engaged in criminal copyright infringement and money laundering on a massive scale.” They are being charged with participating in a racketeering conspiracy, conspiring to commit copyright infringement, conspiring to commit money laundering and two substantive counts of criminal copyright infringement.

Should they be found guilty, the seven accused could find themselves behind bars for a maximum of 20 years.

Nokia is planning to make a very strong come back in the world of smartphones this year. With its new friend Microsoft, the Nokia – Microsoft deal has already created buzz in the market naming  itself  “IPhone Killer”

Earlier this year, Nokia and Microsoft signed a deal to work in the field of Smartphone, the deal will help Nokia to sell a massive 37 million windows phone.

Just when everybody thought Nokia has lost the race with its arch rival Apple. Nokia has bounced back very stronger reminding us  ‘We are still here. Connecting People  ‘

As per the Nokia- Microsoft deal, Nokia’s new product will have Windows Phone 7 as the primary operating system.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, and AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega took the stage together at CES on Monday to introduce and tease the 900 for the crowd.

Already putting in a good word for Nokia, de la Vega said that with the Lumia 900, “Nokia will be back in the U.S. in a very big way.”

Some analysts believe Windows Phone will be the ticket to help Nokia grab and hold a firm third place in the global smartphone arena, behind Apple and Android.

Nokia has seen its global smartphone market share plummet from 33 percent to just 14 percent over the last year.

But in a report out last Thursday, Credit Suisse analyst Kulbinder Garcha predicted that the company will be able to maintain a solid 13 percent share over the long term courtesy of its partnership with Microsoft.

With Nokia returning with a bang, if every thing goes well, mobile lovers are all set for a big big treat.