By Jason Buckland, Sympatico / MSN Finance

There’s a certain level of arrogance we’ve come to accept with Apple.

Their prices are insane, their ads are snarky and their products are often exasperating. (Seriously, why shouldn’t I be able to copy songs from an iPod to my computer?)

Remember David Chase, The Sopranos’  creator, who got so sure of himself he kept shoving those awful Tony dream sequences down our throats no matter how unwatchable they were? That’s Apple right now.

By Jason Buckland, Sympatico / MSN Finance

Some things in this world are beyond me.

Like, how did no one watch The Wire? Why hasn’t XM radio developed one of those Pardon the Interruption-esque ‘What’s on next’ playlist line-up things yet? And how did Tom Watson’s bladder not explode in about 500 pieces on the back nine during any round of this weekend’s British Open?

But no matter what’s floating around in my rudimentary mind, everyone – and I mean, everyone – wonders how exactly there can be so much spam and junk mail on this earth.

By David Ticoll (guest blogger), Executive Director of the Canadian Coalition for Tomorrow’s ICT Skills (CCICT)

The IT industry will need to hire another 150,000 new professionals by 2015, but enrollments in university and college IT programs are down dramatically — 33 to 40 per cent, in fact. Given the growing demand for professionals in this field, students are missing the prosperity boat by turning away from IT. Parents should reinforce that IT is where students should focus their energy.

IT jobs play a critical and integral role in how well business organizations function, and those who know how to design, manage, implement and lead the use of modern technology are high in demand in the upper echelons of the business world.

By Joe Lee, Sympatico / MSN Finance

Internet search giant Google Inc. may be in late-stage talks to acquire star Web newbie Twitter.

Citing people familiar with the negotiation, TechCrunch said Google may be buying Twitter, the free micro-blogging service that allows its users to text messages and links to followers (a network of friends), for an amount north of $250 million but below $500 million.

By Jason Buckland, Sympatico / MSN Finance

CBS is again set to stream live March Madness games on the web for free next week, sending hoops fans rabid and preparing the office world for production that will sag lower than Kathy Bates in About Schmidt.

But for those thinking the ability to watch the college basketball tournament online is just something cool to keep you in the loop when you’re not near a TV, think again. Millions are hurtling themselves onto the bandwagon of watching sports streamed live on the net, ushering in a new era of viewer choice and perhaps foreshadowing the demise of the ever-costly monthly cable subscription.

The CBS online broadcast of March Madness represents the best of a growing industry that saw its 2008 revenue increase 16% over the year before to $147 million. Each game of the 64-team tournament will be available live or on-demand, is now streamed in HD and – most importantly – costs you nothing.

By Jason Buckland, Sympatico / MSN Finance

Yesterday, we used this space for some much-needed hate against the big wireless phone providers and their disregard for our chequing accounts. Today, we offer a pat on the back.

I stumbled across this Wall Street Journal story about major U.S. mobile carriers offering a pretty handy service to automatically back-up users’ contacts and address books in the event they lose or damage their phone.

For about $2 / month, Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile will sync with your cell anytime you change or add a new contact and, if your handheld goes missing, they can beam that updated list to a new phone once you get one.

By Jason Buckland, Sympatico / MSN Finance

If you’re like me, the first whiff you got of in-home HD TV was the last straw for you and your standard definition television. For people who never aspired to watch HD or go out of their way to experience the difference, you likely couldn’t care less about the fuss and hype surrounding the service. You can watch re-runs of Quincy M.E. and Jack Klugman will look just as unappealing on your 32-inch Magnavox as he will on a Samsung plasma.

But for the rest of us, once you’ve gone HD, you can’t go back. And your bill is probably roughing you up each month as a result.