Oracle versus BEA--let the battle begin; will Google smoke the peace pipe with publishers?; and practicing for an asteroid collision.

  Rusty Rueff says laying off 31 employees, or 54 percent of company's staff, was necessary to attract potential buyers.

  In a New York Times interview, LinkedIn CEO explains that while the company is opening a developer platform, it wants to keep out the zombies, vampires and food fights.

  Plus: Your boarding pass, on your cell phone? Read these stories and more from around the Web on News.com Extra.

  Arizona senior citizen sentenced to 10 years for inventing the name "Peter Reynolds"and using it to open bank accounts, pay his monthly bills.

  E-Ink has raised $150 million to date, but there aren't a lot of products out there consumers are buying.

  Gmail and Google Apps get storage bumps, but is it bringing us any closer to the fabled GDrive service? We think not.

  Electric bikes are increasingly common on the streets in China with riders whizzing along in the bike lane on these silent two-wheelers, passing jammed auto traffic.

  File sharing is getting public airtime again, while politicians wrestle with other tech issues. Also: Sprint turmoil may kill WiMax.

  CEO Michael Dell says Microsoft's patent-infringement claims have not affected sales of its Linux servers.

  Video: Andy Karsner, the U.S. assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewableenergy, at the Solar Decathlon in Washington D.C.. The Solar Decathlon, in which 20 universities build a solar-powered home, is a showcase for energy-efficient and solar technologies--some of which are available now, while others are invented for the event. Andy Karsner, the U.S. assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy, says the competition is a way to educate both students competing in the event and the general public who can see the modular houses on the National Mall in Washington.

  Two groups at odds over raising the H-1B quota agree on this: the need for more permanent resident passes for foreigners who earn advanced science and tech degrees on U.S. turf.

  Love him or hate him? Everyone's got an opinion on Gore and his Nobel Prize.

  Video: University of Colorado at Boulder has pursued a highly modular and flexible design for its green home. The University of Colorado at Boulder has won the last two Solar Decathlon competitions, in which 20 universities build solar-powered homes and assemble them on the National Mall in Washington. This year, the University of Colorado team chose to focus on a highly modular and flexible design that could work for a range of settings, from cities to the suburbs. Student team leader Chad Corbin explains how Colorado Boulder intends to win again.