The best part about Nick Wingfield's Wall Street Journal piece this weekend about Microsoft employees using iPhones was the insight it provided into the status of the traditional tug-of-war between techies and salespeople at the highest levels of the company. Consider this excerpt, recounting an executive retreat where the subject of Microsofties and their iPhones came up.

According to several people present, Andy Lees, a Microsoft senior vice president who oversees development of the mobile-phone software business, and his boss, Robbie Bach, explained that Microsoft workers often use rival products to better understand the competition.

Kevin Turner, chief operating officer, scoffed at that explanation, these people said. Mr. Turner said he discouraged Microsoft's sales force from using the iPhone, they added. "What's good for the field is good for Redmond," Mr. Turner said, recalls one of the people who heard his comments.

Mr. Ballmer took a similar stance at the meeting.

My question: Don't they have more important things to debate?

As the owner of a recalled Toyota Camry, I've been trying to find the time to go in for the accelerator fix. Reading this L.A. Times piece by David Cummings, a former consultant to the Mars Pathfinder project, made me wonder if it will be worth it: Haven't found that software glitch, Toyota? Keep trying.

Google is "99.9" percent certain to close down its search engine in China after failing to reach an agreement with authorities over its intention to stop censoring results, according to a Financial times report yesterday. The company announced that intention after uncovering a cyberattack in January that was believed to have originated in the country.

Plans for Internet Explorer 9 and application development for Windows Phone 7 Series devices will be two of the key topics on the agenda as Microsoft holds its annual Mix conference in Las Vegas this week. You can watch the keynotes live on the Mix site starting at 9 a.m. Monday, and we'll have coverage of the news on TechFlash as it emerges.

Emerald City ComiCon: The Seattle Times looks at this weekend's geekfest through the eyes of the region's webcomic artists. The Times also has an interview with Leonard Nimoy, one of the stars of the show. For another perspective on the event, see this piece by Steve Duin of the Oregonian. Comic Book Resources has highlights from the Marvel Comics panel. And Seattle Geekly has lots of pics from the show.

Social media researcher Danah Boyd, who works for Microsoft Research and Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, had interesting and critical things to say about Google Buzz and its approach toward user privacy during her South by Southwest keynote this weekend. GigaOm reports that Google Buzz product manager Todd Jackson attended the talk, and he called it "extremely insightful, fair and something we could work from." He invited Boyd to give the talk at Google, according to the site.