And death continues its morbid reign on our roads. The latest fatality involved a beauty queen, and might I add (without sounding too petty and disrespectful) greatly lowered the beauty quotient of this country.

Everyday, TV news and newspapers bombard us with reports about road accidents. In fact, these accidents are occurring with deadly frequency they are fast becoming the norm, and should never be referred to ever again as “accidents.”

While these killer road events are at first glance democratic in that they kill and maim the rich and the poor alike, a closer look would reveal that in fact the poor suffer more than their wealthier counterparts do. After all, the less affluent ones cannot afford those SUVs and have to take the public transportation, which in most cases would be those buses.

Yes, those poorly maintained, maniacally driven buses.

WikiRapes

A tabloid in Sweden reported that the country issued an arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for alleged rape. Assange promptly issued a statement, saying the charges have no basis. According to the Expressen, an Australian was arrested in absentia based on complaints of molestation and rape. The newspaper also said that a government prosecutor had confirmed that Assange was the person sought on the warrant.

Earlier, Assange visited Sweden to secure a publishing license for his WikiLeaks Web site.

ASUS Aims for Tweens Market

Last week, ASUS Philippines launched the Eee PC 1001PQ, a netbook designed for pre-adolescent customers. Powered by an Atom N450 processor, the 1001PQ comes with “full PC functionalities.” It comes with a 10.1-inch LED-backlit display, WiFi, and a built-in 0.3-megapixel camera.

Running on Windows 7 operating system, the 1001PQ also comes with the Inspirus Desktop, an icon-based interface described by ASUS as preteen-friendly. I doubt though if its intended users would love the parental controls that come pre-installed.

Internet Explorer at 15

Last week, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer marked its 15th year anniversary. Still going strong with its 60.74-percent share of the Web browser market, an increase from last month’s 60.32 percent, Internet Explorer does not seem ready to relinquish the throne to Firefox (22.91 percent), Chrome (7.16 percent), or any other pretender.

It is hard to believe that previously, Netscape had an even stronger grab at the market. Today, all we can remember is the antitrust cases arising from Microsoft’s bundling of the IE with its Windows operating system, another market-defining behemoth of a product.

Nothing is permanent in the IT world. Sooner or later, Windows, IE, and even the PC might be mere memories, lost in the so-called dustbin of history.

But for now, it is a Windows and IE world.

That’s all for the meantime, folks. Join me again next time as we keep on watching IT.