Computers

Internet search leader Google Inc. is trying to convince federal and state authorities that Microsoft Corp.'s Vista operating system is stifling competition as the high-tech heavyweights wrestle for the allegiance of personal computer users.

Six of the largest U.S. technology companies, led by Google Inc. and Intel Corp., are starting an initiative to save electricity in personal computers, which waste half of the power they get from the wall socket. The goal of the Climate Savers Computing Initiative is to save $5.5 billion in energy costs yearly, the companies said Tuesday. The group, which also includes Microsoft Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., Dell Inc. and IBM Corp., also pledged to limit its purchases to energy-saving equipment.

Imagine strolling through the Forum like Emperor Constantine, or climbing the marble steps of the Senate amid the splendor that was ancient Rome, the \o7caput mundi, \f7 the capital of the world. Such flights of fancy have long been the dream of many a scholar, tourist and ordinary modern Roman. A new $2-million, 3-D computer project by a team of international experts may make the dream a reality -- a virtual reality.

Balky computers on the International Space Station were fully revived Saturday, but crew members admitted the problem had worried them and served as a reminder that spaceflight is dangerous. Station commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and flight engineer Oleg Kotov rewired the bank of computers to bypass a power outlet that NASA and Russian space officials believe may have caused the computers to crash Monday.

The Internal Revenue Service's free tax-filing program, which has had its share of controversy, got some more Friday as auditors said much of the program's industry-supplied software couldn't handle simple returns. "Taxpayers have every reason to question whether they'd be better off with a pencil and an abacus than using the current free-file program," said Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa). "That has to change."

The nonprofit that aims to seed the developing world with inexpensive laptop computers for schoolchildren has made peace with Intel Corp., the project's most powerful rival. The One Laptop Per Child program and Intel said Friday that the chip maker would join the board of the nonprofit and contribute funding.

Sheriff Lee Baca has blocked access from hundreds of department computers to the website of the union that represents his deputies and which has been critical of the sheriff's management. The website blockade comes as the sheriff's relationship with the Assn. for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs has become increasingly tense. In recent weeks, union President Steve Remige has repeatedly assailed Baca's efforts to release heiress Paris Hilton from jail, a decision that was overturned by a judge.

A computer scheduled to be delivered to the International Space Station next month was sabotaged, possibly by a worker at a Texas subcontractor's plant, although NASA officials said Thursday that the damage would have posed no danger to the station. Several wires were cut inside the briefcase-sized unit and two identical devices, said Edmund Memi, a spokesman for Boeing Co., the main contractor for the space station.

AT&T Inc., Electronic Data Systems Corp. and 27 other companies won a 10-year contract valued at $50 billion to provide government departments with computer services. The companies have the right to bid on contracts to offer services such as software development, the General Services Administration said. The organization designed the contract so that agencies such as the Defense Department could buy technology more swiftly.

Apple Inc. is revamping the product that put it on the high-tech map: the desktop computer. Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs on Tuesday introduced a line of iMac computers that are thinner and faster than their predecessors. The computers come with new software for storing and editing video and photos. The product's slogan is, "The new iMac. You can't be too thin. Or too powerful."