Several weeks back, I received an invitation from CNET to join a dating website designed especially for those that are 50 years old – or more. OK, it wasn’t exactly an invitation  – it was, in fact, an ad inserted into one of my subscribed  CNET newsletters.

So what – no big deal you may be thinking. But from my perspective, it is a big deal – here’s why.

In the years that I’ve been Internet connected – 18 years or more – I’ve never referred to, or listed, my actual age (other than to make the point, from time to time, that I’ve been at the computing game for a very long time). Nor, have I ever referred to my marital status (other than in a humorous way in re-commenting on a reader’s initial comment – perhaps).

As it turns out – I am over 50, and I

In an unexpected move, a federal court abruptly approved a settlement between the Department of Justice and three publishers that will resolve a controversy over e-book pricing.

The approval comes in the form of a strongly-worded ruling that is a defeat for the publishing industry, but that also contains flowery language and a full-length Emily Dickinson poem (see below).

The ruling in question was issued Thursday in Manhattan by US District Judge Denise Cote. It gives formal approval to an arrangement that will see HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and Hachette agree to grant retailers more freedom to set the price of e-books. In return, the Justice Department will drop an anti-trust lawsuit against them.

Under the terms of the deal, the publishers must abandon so-called “agency pricing” contracts within seven days of the settlement’s approval. In practice, this means that retailers — including Amazon (s amzn) — no longer have…