Yahoo! Briefcase is going away. Google Notebook is getting shutdown as well. I have been using both of them, albeit sparingly, for some time. (I have files on Briefcase going back to 2003). I am not critical of either Yahoo
or Google: they offer a wide variety of services, and from time to time, they are going to discontinue some of them.

What this means to me, though, is going forward, I am going to be trying to apply some rules of thumb in determining whether or not I use such services. One such rule is going to be: how easy is it to retrieve or backup the material that I have stored there? If it easy, I am going to be more likely to use it. My second rule is going to be: how much of my rights do I give up in using the service? If the service provider is taking an aggressive or an expansive approach to my content, then I am less likely to use it.

It’s like due to the New Zealand Internet blackout protest against a new law there concerning copyright. You can find out more at this site: nzblackout.org.

Yes, you know you want one. Or more likely, all of them. And they are selling like hotcakes, it seem (for example, this is the Inbox Zero badge). Go to Nerd Merit Badges for more info.