HP buys 3Par, Apple rolls out new gear

IDG News Service - Hewlett-Packard swooped in with the better bid to overtake Dell and win 3Par, so now we can all sit back and wait for the next acquisition battle to roll around. Meanwhile, Apple debuted updated iPods and Apple TV to entertain us, among other IT news stories of the week.

1. Dell loses 3Par bidding war to HP, HP and 3Par sign merger agreement and HP wins 3Par, what's next for Dell?: And the winner is ...

2. Apple's new iPods, Apple TV, and more, New Apple TV is iPod Touch in sheep's clothing and A closer look at Apple's new products: Feast your eyes (and ears) on the new gadgets from Apple.

3. For security, Facebook adds remote logout: Another step in the right direction to improve security for Facebook users.

4. Only 5 (all women) of 135 pass Defcon social engineering test: Because some of us are better at keeping secrets than others.

5. Microsoft's IE loses momentum, drops market share and Microsoft uses Bing home page to push IE8: IE lost market share and (probably not) coincidentally, Microsoft put a plug for its next browser version on its increasingly popular Bing home page.

6. Google celebrates Chrome's birthday with a new release: Speaking of browsers, Google's Chrome turned 2 (where does the time go!) and the company celebrated that rite of passage by releasing a new version.

7. Cloud computing: VMworld report: The show floor at VMworld was decidedly cloud-focused.

8. How to choose a desktop Linux distribution and

Linux distributions update for Web flaw: Trying to figure out which Linux distribution is the best fit for business use can be a daunting task, but there are some factors to consider that will help steer the decision. Meanwhile, Linux distributions are being updated to deal with a Web vulnerability.

9. Black hole discovery could boost quantum computers: We confess that we don't really understand black holes (though we suspect that's where the missing socks from the laundry go), but even so this one gets our vote for coolest story of the week.

10. The most dangerous jobs in technology: Reading this story could be a sure-fire way to have instant appreciation for your job, provided it's not on the list.