LEADING THE DAY: Bill Gates, co-founder and chairman of Microsoft, might face cross-examination in a 2004 monopoly suit with Novell, the Associated Press reported. Novell argues that Gates told Microsoft engineers not to accept WordPerfect for Windows 95 at the last minute because it would compete with Microsoft’s own word-processing program. Microsoft attorney David Tulchin told the AP that WordPerfect was causing the system to crash and couldn’t be fixed in time for the operating system’s rollout.

Gates is reportedly set to testify today in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City. Microsoft is seeking a dismissal in the case.

Federal agencies see shift to Apple, Google: Federal agencies are shifting their software to Apple and Google products, Bloomberg reported, moving away from Research in Motion’s BlackBerry in increasing numbers. Security had previously been a concern for agencies looking to switch to iPhones or smartphones based on Google’s Android operating platform, but an increasing number of companies such as Ctiriz and Juniper are looking at ways to secure those phones for official government use, the report said.

Sports fans lobby for change to blackout rule: A group called the Sports Fan Coalition has filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission urging the agency to to end its local sports blackout rule, The Hill reported. The rule currently keeps local stations within 75 miles of stadiums from broadcasting games if the matches aren’t sold out.

The coalition argues that this is particularly unfair for low-income sports fans, who can’t afford tickets but may have supported stadium construction with their tax dollars.

Reid Hoffman says to expect Facebook IPO: Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, told the Telegraph that he expects Facebook to go public in the “first half of next year.” Hoffman, who saw LinkedIn go public this year, is also an investor in Zynga and Groupon. He believes Facebook will go public at the start of next year in part to meet a deadline from the Securities and Exchange Commission requiring the company to disclose how many private investors it has.

Paper or e-book?: Modern parents often struggle with how, exactly, they should balance their children’s technology use, but a report from the New York Times finds that even the most dedicated e-book readers prefer to give their own children paper books. Although there are plenty of e-readers that are trying to bring children’s books into the computer age — the new Barnes and Noble Nook tablet, for example, lets users record themselves reading aloud — publishers have said that they’re decreasing the number of kids’ titles they’re converting to digital form.

Parents said there is still something very personal about a physical copy of a book that doesn’t always come across with a screen.