Politicians Vote-Grabbing Ploy

Coming soon to your cellphone... text messages from politicians begging for your vote. What's more, the Federal Election Commission says it's OK for text-message political ads via to drop the usual disclosure on who paid for them.


New York Attorney General Subpoenas AT&T

A probe into how Wall Street handled tech stocks is expanding. New York State Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer wants to know whether a star analyst from Citicorp's Salomon Smith Barney raised his rating on AT&T stock to help win his firm a lucrative role as a lead underwriter for the AT&T Wireless IPO two years ago.

Transplanting Animal Organs Into Humans

PPL Therapeutics says it's created a new breed of pigs whose organs are less likely to be rejected by humans. The company says the pigs lack a key sugar in their system that normally causes transplanted organs to be broken down into pulp within hours.

Xbox Live Beta Testing To Begin

Microsoft has notified 5,000 Xbox users they will be beta testers for Xbox Live, its broadband, online, multiplayer game service. Over 100,000 applied for the job. The service goes live November 15, more than two months behind Sony's PlayStation 2 online service, which launches next week.

Battle Continues Over Electronic Bugging

A fight over electronic surveillance is giving Americans a glimpse of one of the country's most secret courts. The Justice Department is appealing a ruling by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that would limit when the Justice Department and FBI can monitor someone's communications. The judges said the FBI has made misleading statements in more than 75 surveillance requests.

Upgrade to Mac OS X to Launch

Apple is looking to take a bite out of Microsoft operating system dominance. Mac OS X.2 or Jaguar launches this weekend. The system contains about 150 new features. Highlights includes iChat, which is compatible with AOL Instant Messenger, and a special spam-killing feature.