Ol' Cring frequently has an accurate "leak." Fred GETTIN' MY MOJO BACK By Robert X. Cringely(R) Posted June 16, 2003 In all the commotion lately, I somehow forgot to book a plane ticket to Anchorage, Alaska, for the marathon next week. So, the small fortune I spent for last-minute airfare is simply adding to my nervousness about the race. Oh well, I guess I can't back down now. Now That's the Ticket Speaking of expensive tickets, one of my moles reported that Team Redmond might be looking to buy Accenture, the $11 billion consulting company. Apparently, Microsoft and Accenture have been engaged in some intense talks, with folks frequently flying back and forth between Redmond and New York, particularly during March and April. Even big bad Ballmer was spotted walking through Accenture headquarters recently in The Big Apple. These companies would make good bedfellows - what with Accenture building and selling .Net tools and all. A deal like this would certainly boost Microsoft's quietly growing services unit. But given the software giant's vows not to compete with its army of partners in the services realm, such a deal is bound to create turmoil. Hmm. Even with my financial straits, I don't think I'd apply to Accenture for employment as a consultant anytime soon. AT&T Eyeing SCO Without even knowing it, SCO may have started a war of attrition with much larger enemies that have deeper pockets. Within the halls at AT&T, folks were chattering just last week that AT&T still has reserved rights on Unix. Naturally, the company is paying close attention to the various legal claims that SCO is making and may join the battle soon. My spy said the word around AT&T is that this will all be resolved shortly. But one has to wonder how long SCO could survive if it had opponents in multiple courtrooms - those being, of course, IBM and AT&T. My friend Reilly commented the other day that I appear to be getting my mojo back. I hope he's right, because I am going to need it for this race. I just wish Apache could run with me. Send tips to cringe@infoworld.com. -- Planet Earth - a subsidiary of Microsoft®. We have no bugs in our software, Never!, We do have undocumented added features, that you will find amusing, at no added cost, to you, at this time.