Let's face it: though the Apple iPod Nano is an engineering marvel, it scratches very easily. The black version especially looks beat up after only a couple of weeks.

Apple's quick and easy solution? Bundle a soft carrying case with it of course. While the protective case should have been included in the original shipment, including them shows that Apple actually does care... though you won't hear Apple making any official announcements about this. The case is made of the same soft material as the new video iPod, which actually comes in handy (the sleeve protects the delicate body and you can press buttons through the material). I have a feeling that Apple snuck those in there right before shipping the iPods as the company was embroiled in the scratched Nano controversey at the time.

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The lawsuits against Apple over the iPod Nano scratches are picking up steam, and Apple's still denying that the player is more scratch-prone than any other iPod model. But they are, at least, now shipping Nanos with cases. Good to see they think cases look nice.

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Speaking of desperate companies making exactly the wrong decisions in trying to stay afloat, Friendster's in some hot water after sending a massive e-mail blast to people who didn't respond to original requests to join. Those people still don't want to join, and now they think Friendster is a rude spammer. D'oh. Backfire.

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The Sony root-kit debacle goes on. Today comes news of the first Trojan horse that exploits the unpatched DRM technology and the inevitable U.S. lawsuit. Because sometimes you cross so far over the line that the story just never dies.

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The smallest businesses can find themselves frozen out of a lot of the advertising landscape. Big companies buy all the choice ad spots in every medium, and even the best keywords on search engines can be bid out of an acceptable price range by companies with more cash to spend on marketing.

Now, it seems, Google may try to make it easier to get the word out. A new patent filing for something called Google Automat will apparently help tie together databases for classified ad-like applications. Classified-ad guru Peter Zollman's company found the filing that he notes could mean Google will be helping small businesses advertise more quickly and easily.

Zollman's press release notes that Google says in its filing: "Placing creatives and advertisements online for access by the general Web community can be especially problematic for individual or small advertisers."

Google, analysts believe, has been planning to make a push into the classified advertising space with a few applications, including something called Google Base, which will allow people to post data about things such as cars, real estate and jobs--three of the biggest areas for classified advertising. We can only wait and see how much further this goes for all types of small biz.

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According to the antivirus company F-Secure, someone has written a remote access Trojan that exploit's stealth-like Sony DRM software. As reported last week, Sony BMG is installing root kits when you play certain Sony CDs on your PC. The new Trojan, however, is deeply flawed. While it does not pose an immediate threat, it does illustrate how placing root kits on remote PCs can expose those PCs to malicious code. Currently, most antivirus products do not detect or remove root kits.

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