News about what is happening in technology today!

Nothing like making an extra buck on somebody else’s good fortune. Especially when it’s against the law. But that didn’t stop accountant Gary Herwitz and former Sirius executive Tracey Stanyer from cashing in on Howard Stern’s big move to Sirius Satellite Radio. Looks like both these deadbeats paid fines and were forced to “disgorge ill-gotten gains”—much like they might disgorge a good steak from the Palm after they drink too much cab and tell dirty jokes—according to the investor protection agency. Herwitz bought stocks in Sirius after he found out about the Stern agreement from someone at accounting firm Mahoney Cohen & Co (of which he was formerly president), while Stanyer heard about it from from a senior Sirius executive. Together, fines added up to about $87,000. Nice going, guys.

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Google has peered deep inside us, and found that at the heart of our secret hearts is Janet Jackson.

The search giant has released its version of a 2005 “Best of” list, compiling the most popular requests of the year from its main search engine, and on its Froogle bargain-hunting site.

As in previous years, it shows us to be an entertainment-focused bunch. Last year Britney Spears topped the list. This year we get Jackson, with Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Michael Jackson, and American Idol also in the top 10.

It seems natural disasters can give stars a run for their money, however. “Hurricane Katrina” and “tsunami” finished at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.

On the shopping side, Apple’s iPod accounted for a full four of the top 10 slots, with most of the others taken up by various other high-tech gadgets. The top overall gainer for the year was MySpace, the social networking site that has become a mainstay of the teen set.

If we needed any more evidence that the Federal Communications Commission believes it can rule the Internet by administrative decree, consider the growing backlash against its wiretapping regulations.

An FCC edict from September orders broadband providers and some Internet phone companies to rewire their networks for police wiretapping convenience.

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Is there more to last week’s story about President Bush authorizing wiretaps without court review? Ars Technica writes about what’s going on behind the curtains with the National Security Agency’s technology: ‘When the truth comes out (if it ever does), this NSA wiretapping story will almost certainly be a story not just about the Constitutional concept of the separation of powers, but about high technology.’

Jason Jones and Jonathan Bryant, two Los Angeles residents who own the ACME Game Store on Melrose Ave., allegedly sold Xbox game systems that had been modified by Pei Cai, of Pico Rivera, Calif. Cai allegedly equipped the Xbox consoles with modification chips and large hard drives to allow the user to copy rented or borrowed games onto the device for future playback. Buyers would pay from $225 to more than $500 for the changes.

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