The federal judge who ordered Microsoft Corp. split in two said yesterday that "virtually everything" he did in the antitrust case may be vulnerable on appeal, and he blamed the software giant's "intransigence" for his breakup decision. U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, in a candid and self-effacing luncheon speech to an antitrust seminar, also said "public misperceptions" fueled by "public-relations campaigns" spurred him to speak out to the media and the public on the historic case and assure observers that he does not want to regulate the software industry.

It was about two weeks ago when Blanca Lopez offered the two cleaning workers in her office building a little cash for trash, according to the cleaning company. Lou DeLeon, general manager of P&R Enterprises, gave this account: Lopez offered about $ 50 each for the paper coming out the door at the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT). Just bring it over to the offices of Upstream Technologies, on the same floor, she said. When they declined, she sweetened her offer to $ 500 apiece--with an extra $ 200 for the supervisor. They refused again.