The End User: Filtering out the grapevine
Technology lets us tell everyone everything at once, but people still value a network that existed before the Web: the grapevine.

Google investing in company started by co-founder's wife
Anne Wojcicki not only landed one of America's richest men, Sergey Brin, a co-founder of Google, but she also got her husband's company to finance her start-up.

EU approves Vivendi-Bertelsmann deal
The agreement means that the Universal Music Group of Vivendi, already the world's biggest record company, will also become the biggest music publisher.

Alltel buyout deal stirs the anger of rival bidders
A decision by Alltel to go private in a $27.5 billion deal has annoyed rival bidders who thought deadline for bids was June 6. Some shareholders may also wonder if they got the best deal.

China eases demand that bloggers use real names
The government said that it would instead promote a "self-discipline code" to encourage, rather than mandate, bloggers to register under their own names.

Philips in talks to sell stake in LCD joint venture
Philips Electronics wants to focus on medical gear, lamps and consumer goods, the chief executive said.

MySpace to share data on convicted sex offenders
The popular social networking site has agreed to hand over the names, addresses and online profiles of thousands of known convicted sex offenders who have opened up accounts with the service.

2 executives quit Glass Lewis, proxy advisory firm
Barron's had raised questions over whether Xinhua Finance Media, parent of Glass Lewis, had withheld unfavorable information about its chief financial officer from investors.

2 companies pledge to avoid telemarketing criminals
InfoUSA, one of the largest compilers of consumer information in the United States, and Wachovia Bank, the large U.S. bank, said they would change their business practices.

Hewlett-Packard said Wednesday that it had won the right to bid on contracts to provide the U.S. government with computers, servers and printers, business valued at as much as $5.6 billion.

The seven-year contract, formed with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, allows Hewlett-Packard, the world's largest maker of printers and personal computers, to supply other areas of the U.S. government as well.

The company is among almost 40 others, including Unisys and International Business Machines, that are entitled to bid on the business. Hewlett-Packard's revenue from previous NASA contracts accounted for more than $620 million in revenue over the past 15 years.

Shares of Analog Devices fell as much as 11 percent Wednesday after company, the maker of chips used in mobile phones and cars, said that third-quarter sales and profit could trail analysts' estimates.

Sales for the period will be $655 million to $685 million, the company said after markets closed Tuesday. That compares with the $683 million average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Net income will be as much as 37 cents a share, less than the 40-cent Bloomberg average.

Analog Devices chips act as sensors in airbags in cars and in the controllers for Nintendo's Wii video game machine.

Qualcomm, one of the world's biggest makers of chips for mobile phones, plans to invest €100 million, or $134.8 million, in European small to midsize start-ups serving the telecommunications market. Qualcomm Ventures will focus on handset component makers, software developers and providers of network infrastructure and technology, the company said.

EM.TV, a German media firm that has announced plans to sell its children's entertainment division, has already received inquiries from movie studios, competitors and private equity firms, its chief executive said.

The company plans to sell the business to focus on its more profitable sports channels and Web sites.

A Polish regulator imposed fines on managers of Telekomunikacja Polska, the first time it has penalized individual decision-makers for hindering competition in the country's telecommunications market. The company's chief executive, Maciej Witucki, must pay one and a half times his monthly salary. It accused the executives of hindering the local phone companies Netia and GTS Energis from gaining access to Telekomunikacja's Internet infrastructure.