Tuesday Misc. news

New low-cost Linux PCs - The 30-person company, Linare, began selling systems for $199 with its own version of Linux.

Speaking of low-cost Linux machines, Lindows 4.0 has been released to the public, ET has a review already, the new version of the OS seems to be mom-proof.

MS' approach to the spam problem - Bill Gates has issued a document detailing the company's multi-pronged strategy and links to information on blocking and filtering spam with Microsoft products.

Microsoft Employee Arrested for Stealing Software - A former Microsoft employee was arrested on Monday for allegedly ordering more than $17 million of software via an internal purchasing system and then selling it to keep the proceeds for himself.

New AA batteries are coming - The latest issue of Wired Magazine has a quick note that Duracell is finally replacing its 56-year-old Double "A" batteries. The new version, dubbed LP1 will feature a new slim version and will be disposable just like it's cylinder counter-part.

ModChips going open source - An Australian company that manufactures and sells a "mod chip" for Microsoft's Xbox video-game console has released the design for the hacking tool under an open-source license.