News to know: Culture of cheap; Microsoft, Nokia; eBay; Apple

Here are today’s notable headlines. You can get News To Know via email alert and RSS daily. For continuous updates see BNET’s around-the-Web tech coverage.

Andrew Nusca: Culture of cheap: How discount computers cost the consumer

Jason Perlow: Der Frankenputer: A Last Hurrah at System Building

Ryan Naraine: Advanced Mac OS X rootkit tools released

• Apple drops (another) Mac OS X security patch

Dana Gardner: Cloud Security Panel: Is cloud computing more or less secure than on-premises IT?

Mary Jo Foley: 'Custom XML' the key to patent suit over Microsoft Word

• Larry Dignan: Examine the patent that made selling Microsoft Word a crime
• CNet News: I4i says not out to destroy Microsoft Word

• Zack Whittaker: Essential student Office applications brought to Nokia phones
• Larry Dignan: Microsoft Mobile Office needed Nokia, Symbian
• Matthew Miller: Microsoft and Nokia announce partnership to bring Microsoft products to Nokia smartphones
• Current Nokia Office client developer responds to Microsoft announcement
• Bits: Microsoft-Nokia Alliance: An Assault on the BlackBerry
• Q2 worldwide smartphone sales show Apple increasing a whopping 10.5% over 2008

• Use H-1B or L-1 workers? Prepare for a Federal audit!

Sam Diaz: Google goes social but not in a Facebook kind of way

Ryan Naraine: eBay warns of developer password-theft flaw

• Apple plugs code execution, phishing holes in Safari browser

Image Gallery: Hands on with the T-Mobile HTC Touch Pro2

HTC Touch Pro2 (T-Mobile) photos (right)

Andrew Nusca: Livespeakr turns iPhone, iPod touch into portable sound system for $85

Jason O'Grady: AT&T testing iPhone MMS in Washington (Updated 3x)

• Apple shoots TV commercial for mystery product in 40s diner
• Google Notebook discontinuation a loss for iPhone users
• Philip Schiller: Apple's fireman (and perhaps most valuable exec)
• 9 to 5 Mac: Unreleased Apple product sighted in California - no images (yet)

Joe McKendrick: Pushback on cloud computing: next year, 'Intelligent Fog'?

• SOA services: build now, worry about reuse later?

Sean Portnoy: The big boys eye home theater PC market: Dell Inspiron Zino HD, Lenovo Q700

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes: Windows 7 Starter edition introduces genuine "Microsoft tax"

Tom Foremski: Can social business software transform people into a "platform"?

• Paul Greenberg: Enterprise Irregulars Join Social CRM Fray
• Dennis Howlett: Enterprise software sales and Social CRM

Green Data Center blog: Apple Recruits eBay Data Center

Coding Horror: Are You a Digital Sharecropper?

Sam Diaz: IDG on thin crowds: OpenSource World is invitation only

• OpenSource World kicks off with sparse crowds, nothing-new keynote
• Dan Kusnetzky: OpenSource World/NGDC/CloudWorld Experiences

Strangest Wii accessory yet -- photos

Rachel King: Panasonic holding HD product giveaway until Labor Day

• CES 2010 will highlight digital imaging

Gizmodo: T-Mobile HTC Touch Pro2 Review: Wait, How Much?

Andrew Nusca: Dell introduces, 14.1", 15.6" Vostro laptops for small business

• John Morris: Dell debuts three new entry-level laptops

Heather Clancy: Have you been slimed? Video interview explores potential of algae as renewable energy source

• Verdiem: One million desktops and counting for power management software

Enterprise guide to saving on wireless

Dana Gardner: Cloud computing proves a natural for offloading time-consuming test and development processes

• VMware fleshes out its cloud computing support model with SpringSource grab

BusinessWeek: Why Apple Is More Valuable Than Google

Dana Blankenhorn: If you have a proprietary partner is it still open source?

Who might get health reform passed?

Christopher Dawson: "Should I buy a laptop cart?"

Jennifer Bergen: Gadget Gal's daily deals: save on refurbished Dell computers, Motorola DJ Bluetooth headphones, Vizio HDTV