the 'good software surcharge'

According to this News.com article:

"Microsoft is considering charging for additional security options and acknowledges that it didn't move on security until customers were ready to pay for it."

when magazines were literature

A great article on Salon by Charles Taylor, about the time when magazines where for more than eyeballing.

formats and standards

XML's ticking time bomb and a related entry from diveintomark, in praise of evolvable formats.