Columnists’ Corner: Today’s iPod owner is more practical than hip. That is, at least according to a report from The Diffusion Group. But apparently that’s alright, since coolness is no longer the prime consideration when it comes to iPod purchases. Instead, writes David Margulius in From the Analysts, business folk, doctors and marketeers are using them in rather corporate fashions that include everything from advertising pitches to speedier file transfers to sources of background music for phone systems and waiting rooms. Best of the blogs: Dr. Stephen Hawking doesn’t typically grace the pages of InfoWorld, nor is he known to the masses as a source of comic relief, but both come true in the link Oliver Rist provides within this SMB IT post. Senior contributing editor Brian Chee went to see Dr. Hawking speak as reported on Technology Filter. Hawking called President Bush’s plan to get to Mars within 10 years “stupid,” and more. Notes from the field: Genius he may be, but Dr. Hawking is hardly the only one with deep insights. Cringely gets down to the bottom of it all in this week’s chapter. The insider who leaked SCO’s proprietary Unix source code to IBM. A secret ingredient in a new algorithm Microsoft is working on. And, the rootkit of all evil. That last one, by the by, is not Microsoft. Special report: Microsoft’s memo madness this week reveals some interesting facets of its services strategy that can be interpreted as Microsoft rolling with punches, Bill Gates and CTO Ray Ozzie calling for a sea change as the company moves toward Web 2.0, or a little bit of both. Regardless, the package Microsoft memos urge action on services strategy contains several stories about Live services as well as the complete memos both Gates and Ozzie sent to Microsoft employees. Technology Industry