Microsoft makes online office document-sharing available to all

[…]  Microsoft approaches the document collaboration project from the opposite side of Zoho and Google, adding choices in installed office applications for saving documents to the web, rather than starting on the web and letting you move the document to a local hard drive.”

According to a different Yahoo!News article, “Google recently mistakenly disabled the Gmail accounts of some users due to an apparently overzealous attempt by the company to combat spammers.  Midweek, people started reporting in the official Gmail Help Discussion forum that Google had locked them out of their accounts.  A Google staffer who patrols the forum and posts messages on behalf of the company acknowledged the existence of a problem at midafternoon Thursday.  ‘I understand that some of you have had a frustrating experience with your accounts being inappropriately disabled. Our team is aware of the problem, and our engineers are continuing to investigate,’ this person, identified as Google Guide, wrote.  Several hours later, the Google staffer declared the problem fixed.  ‘Our efforts to prevent breaches of our Terms of Use caused a number of users to be incorrectly identified,’ the staffer wrote.”

The Wall Street Journal writes that “Credit Suisse Group and Morgan Stanley have reached deals to form investment-banking joint ventures in China, which could portend greater access for foreign companies to the nation’s booming—but largely closed—financial markets.  If approved by Chinese regulators, the banks’ proposed ventures could be the first to take advantage of a long-promised opening. The China Securities Regulatory Commission has vowed to lift its moratorium on approving new joint ventures with foreign securities firms this year.”

In a different article, the Wall Street Journal points out that “[c]hanges in political leadership in Europe have a habit of leading to the acceleration of privatization plans. Victory in Poland this year by the liberal Civic Platform Party produced the firmest commitments to privatize and when the new government came into power in October it immediately announced plans to reduce the state influence over the economy.”  For an interesting blog post by our Polish intern Izabela Kowalczuk on Poland’s efforts to catch up with the economies of the Western world, go here.

eWeek.com reports that “[f]or the 13th time in 26 years, Congress has agreed to a temporary extension of the research and development tax credit. On a vote of 88-5, the Senate approved a one-year extension of the R&D credit. The House agreed to the same measure Nov. 9.  Strongly supported by the tech industry, the Temporary Tax Relief Act of 2007 now goes to the White House, where President Bush is expected to sign the legislation.  […]  The tech industry’s call for a permanent extension of the R&D tax credit has become an event on Capitol Hill. While Congress has continually approved temporary extensions of the credit, which covers 20 percent of qualified R&D spending, lawmakers have refused to make it permanent.”