It's all gone wrong for Terra Lycos and the penguin stands firm

NEWS Davis was the founder of portal and search engine Lycos, but continuing dissatisfaction with interference from the bosses of Telefonica - whose Terra arm took over Lycos in October last year - has seen the disenchanted CEO call it a day. A day that began with big losses and the likelihood of Davis' departure got worse when the company also lost its CFO. For a full report on the goings on at Terra Lycos, see: http://www.silicon.com/a42437 ... London's free paper, the Metro, reports that UK firm Tesco has consolidated its position as the world leader in the online grocery market. Results from research firm Datamonitor show that the UK company has now surpassed its US and European rivals to stake its claim at the forefront of the internet home shopping revolution. The Financial Times reports that the UK online grocery market will be worth £6bn by 2005 - though the US will still lead the way with a predicted market share of £21m. However, Datamonitor's report claimed the UK has the most developed online retail market, which it attributed to a greater willingness on the part of the UK consumer to give out their credit card details online... This morning's Guardian reports on a rather macabre lot up for auction via the internet at Sotherbys.com. A painting by British artist Dexter Dalwood, depicting the room in which Sex Pistols singer Sid Vicious' girlfriend Nancy Spungen died, is being auctioned to raise money for charity Action on Addiction. The choice of the internet for this lot shows the dawning realisation among old school auction houses that they need to bring themselves up to speed with a market that is now being led in new directions by the likes of QXL and eBay. The painting is one of 70 works hoped to raise £100,000 for the charity... Finally in the Guardian, a headline that promises more than it delivers in an ebusiness vein. Being used to the equation that 'Penguin' equals Linux, a story that promises penguins won't be toppled, sounded as though Linux had been given a greater durability to hacks, crashes or similar vulnerability - perhaps in the wake of the Ramen worm. In truth it is probably unsurprising to read that it really is a story about penguins not falling over. Five week's of ministry of defence commissioned research has proven once and for all that despite the claims of Falklands vets (ex-servicemen rather than animal doctors) penguins will keep their footing when planes fly overhead. So there you go...