'A critic of Gov. Sarah Palin is suing to try to force preservation of any government-related e-mails that Palin sent from private accounts. [...] Palin used "gov.sarah" in one of the Yahoo e-mail addresses she sometimes used to conduct state business. The hacker targeted her separate "gov.palin" account. Both have been shut down. The hacking of Palin's private account is significant because Palin has sometimes used private e-mail accounts to conduct state business. Previously disclosed e-mails indicate her administration embraced Yahoo accounts as an alternative to government e-mail, which could possibly be released to the public under Alaska's Open Records Act. "Palin's decision to conduct state business in such an unprofessional and secretive manner suggests that her promise to have an ethical, open, honest and transparent administration is pure bogus," [former state worker and the lawsuit's plaintiff Andree] McLeod said in a statement Saturday.' [AP]

When two of the biggest search engines on the Internet start placing ads on each other's pages, people get a little squeamish at the thought of a dystopian future where there will just be one giant search engine and it is owned by Big Brother. Or something.

But things are a little more complicated for the companies in question. Yahoo saw lagging sales this quarter, while Google's reach only expanded. Without the boost from Google's ad sale dollars on Yahoo's engine, the smaller corporation might end up being eaten up by Microsoft. Bill Gates is no stranger to the Federal antitrust department himself, which regulates monopolies in business to make sure competition remains fair.

Unfortunate for Yahoo? Maybe. But worse for consumers, who, if Yahoo ends up going under or being bought out by Microsoft, could view this as the first sign that the current economic hardships are now hitting the 'net.

Luckily, we're all well versed on what to do if the bubble bursts again (go back to waiting tables).

Having your privacy invaded on the Internet sucks, as anyone who's been fired for their Facebook pictures can attest. By now, most people know to log off of public computers after checking their e-mails, know to create different passwords for all their social networking sites, know not to answer those messages from a prince in Africa looking to transfer some balances into your bank account. This is a generation that's been burned before, thanks in no small part to JuicyCampus.

But this Sarah Palin hacked Yahoo account thing is well…dirty. Were some kids over in 4chan really able to log into VP candidate's private email? Shouldn't there be some sort of protection against that sort of stuff? Is it any of our business who Sarah Palin emails? Who even has a Yahoo account anymore? Agh, so many questions, so little answers, but it's best to take a look now before all information regarding this event disappears faster than Bristol Palin's listed phone number:

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While cleaning out our bookmarks, we noticed Dave Zinczenko has not updated his Yahoo! sex/relationship blog since March 18, leaving it without a fresh post for nearly three months exactly. [Yahoo]

ZINCZENKO LOSING HIS LIBIDO? Tomorrow will be the 50th day since Men's Health washboard Dave Zinczenko posted to his Yahoo blog about relationships and sex. And his last post was only rated "helpful" by 30 percent of its readers. [Yahoo]

In order to fend off Microsoft's takeover bid, Yahoo is said to be teaming up with Time Warner's AOL division in a merger. [Reuters]

One trend we already discovered Americans love is emailing each other photos of fat people. Taking another gander at Yahoo's most-emailed photo list, a new phenomenon emerges: You really want your friends and family to see conjoined twin newborns!

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Unlike Arianna Huffington, ex-Jane editor Brandon Holley is taking a novel approach to web journalism: paying writers! The founding maestra of Yahoo's lady site Shine, Holley – who refuses to call the outfit a web magazine, but rather a website set up to resemble a blog, which is so much better – says that if they find Shine users who blog enough to become "very, very popular, we would probably make them columnists. Nothing will happen for the first several months, because we sort of need to see how this comes out." That is, to see if they can make any money first. So it's not exactly a novel approach, but at least there's a possibility Shine's business plan has a clause about paying talent.

Yahoo's just-launched women's site, the Brandon Holley-led Shine, which is heavy on the whitespace, might be a mix of Huffington Post, WOWOWOW.com, and People magazine. We're pretty sure all of them have counted down the 100 unsexiest men. [Shine]

Both of these photos sit atop Yahoo's most-emailed list. You already know why people are sending them to friends, but do you actually care what these photos depict?

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Like President Bush, Yahoo admits its relationship with China is "complex." So many millions of wired Chinese, so many government restrictions, and so much money on the table.

Already wearing scarlet letters for voluntarily censoring its Chinese search results and aiding Chinese authorities in identifying journalist Shi Tao (who was jailed for 10 years in 2005 for "divulging state secrets"), the search giant now stands accused of posting some 19 photos of Tibetan protesters on its website, essentially identifying rioters for Chinese authorities eager to punish the opposition.

On Friday, the homepage of Yahoo China – which is operated by the privately held e-commerce Alibaba Group, which Yahoo owns 40 percent of – ran a "most wanted" poster that promised rewards for anyone who could help officials track down protesters. (Other sites, including MSN's Chinese page, are said to have published similar content.) But that notice disappeared once French news outlet Observers fired off a mass email blast about it.

But now Yahoo says it did not post the photos of the Tibetan crowd, which were distributed by Chinese officials. (The photo here is of a protest in Rome.)

In a statement, Yahoo claims, "We are a company founded on the principle that promoting access to information can fundamentally improve people's lives and enhance their relationship with the world around them." The 13 Tibetans who have so far died the upheaval would have to agree.

MICROSOFT WILL RAPE YAHOO! IF NECESSARY Okay, so apparently The Rules aren't applicable to hostile takeovers. After a lot of unreturned texts and other signs, Yahoo! formally dumped Microsoft yesterday. But Microsoft will continue to pursue a Yahoo! takeover by any means necessary. [LAT]

ANTI-TRUST, SHMANTI-TRUST Yahoo! must really hate Microsoft. Following Microsoft's unsolicited, inflated bid, Yahoo! has been chatting it up with its chief rival, Google. Everything is on the hush-hush, but it's likely the talks center around giving Google reign over its advertising. But a deal would ultimately about Yahoo! hating Microsoft. It's so nice that rivals like Google and Yahoo! are able to connect over a common enemy. [LAT]

If there’s one thing we should have learned about dating in New York, it’s that pressure never leads to results. If someone’s not that into you, making demands won’t change that.

Yahoo!, despite being the romantic equivalent of a 39 year-old woman with a big ass and two cats, is just not that into Microsoft’s bid. But Microsoft, the 45 year-old longtime bachelor with a dying mother whose last wish is to have grandchild, thinks, "Whatever, let’s do this thing."

At an investor meeting Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell said, "We think it's in our interest, in Yahoo!'s interest to resolve their future as quickly as possible.”

Seriously, Microsoft. Watch some Sex and the City. Ultimatums never work.

Let’s say, hypothetically, that you were a company that had been completely bested by your rival. The only people who use your products do so out of pity or laziness. And that laying off hundreds of employees was your best option in what will ultimately be a futile effort to stay afloat. And let’s also say, again, just hypothetically, that your name ended absurdly with an exclamation point.

Well, then you would be Yahoo!, and should be pretty excited that Microsoft was making a stupidly high offer for your company in hopes of taking down Google. And even though few other companies are in a better position to take over Yahoo! financially or otherwise, Yahoo! is still weighing its options:

[The review] will include evaluating all of the Company's strategic alternatives including maintaining Yahoo! as an independent company.

Because, you know, something better could come along.