Brian Gongol

It's going after HTC, which makes a smartphone similar to the iPhone, but built on the Google Android operating system. At least one observer thinks it's a warning shot across Google's own bow, since Google is now making its own iPhone-similar smartphone. Apple itself says the infringements are mainly related to the user interface, which is a sign they're mainly interested in swatting away any competitors that try to make a phone that "feels" like an iPhone to the user.

Though there was a lot of backpedaling last year over where the US would station anti-missile defense technology in Europe, it appears that the US and its allies may end up with a much more comprehensive defense system as a result. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Clinton may have inadvertently torqued off the British by suggesting that Argentina might have a right to the Falkland Islands. The islands are a relic of a bygone era of British imperialism, to be sure, but the UK is one of America's closest allies, and the Falklands have some degree of self-determination which probably leaves them better off (with the protection of the British armed forces and self-government) than they would likely get as part of Argentina.

The ground is saturated and covered with more snow. But how that hydrology will play out remains in question.
