Looking at the Books, The Government Way. Where the government is scrutinizing companies they suspect of cooking their books, it does not do a good job of keeping its own books. By Richard W. Stevenson. [New York Times: Politics]

Playing Hooky? Can’t Fool a Database. Boston truancy officers trade bulky paper lists for wireless access to a student database. By Julie Flaherty. [New York Times: Technology]

MP3 Player Does Double Duty as a Spare 20-Gigabyte Drive. The Odyssey 1000, the latest MP3 player looks quite a bit like the trendy white music box from Apple, but it’s different. By Mark Glassman. [New York Times: Technology]

Gift appeal?