Paul Allen

"No, not at all, it's not about Paul's personal wealth," said David Postman, spokesman for Allen's investment company, Vulcan. "That is the prudent forum for winding down a remaining business,"

Read more: Paul Allen files for bankruptcy protection for Digeo holdings | In this article: Microsoft, Bankruptcy, Charter Communications, and Comcast

"This is not about Mr. Allen and these are not his personal debts," said Vulcan spokesman David Postman. "This is a corporate bankruptcy to begin the orderly process of winding down the company."

Read more: Paul Allen's Digeo files for Ch. 11 | In this article: Bankruptcy, Arris Group, Vulcan Ventures, The Seattle Times, and Venture capital

"It is extraordinary that Allen is forcing the court to go through with this," the source said. A group of creditors opposing Charter's restructuring plan in a filing said the reorganization allows Allen "to receive in excess of $2 billion in benefits and full releases in exchange for mostly out-of-the-money claims and interest."

Read more: CHARTER IN BOND-AGE | In this article: Jpmorgan Chase, Tax, Cash flow, Bankruptcy, Charter Communications, and Microsoft

"Paul likes things to be filed," Purcell said. "He found himself trying to move massive amounts of e-mail into meaningfully named folders."

Read more: Paul Allen, sick of Microsoft mail glut, sells own software fix | In this article: Microsoft Corp., Xiant, E mail, Vulcan Inc., Bankruptcy, Lakeside School, Charter Communications Inc., and Seattle

Engineers built the latter program to help technicians who travel worldwide with Allen, who frequently asked for "that document I was working on back in the office," he said.

Read more: Paul Allen, sick of Microsoft mail glut, sells own software fix | In this article: Microsoft Corp., Xiant, E mail, Vulcan Inc., Bankruptcy, Lakeside School, Charter Communications Inc., and Seattle

"On the applications side, programs like Firefox and Thunderbird are immensely popular and are catching up Microsoft in some places," said Mr Allen.

Read more: Open source | In this article: Linux, Firefox, Microsoft, E mail, Open source software, Thunderbird, and Asus

You are absolutely correct that in the current economic climate of the NBA, Paul Allen could easily say, "Well, we're finally below the tax line significantly. Go ahead and fill the roster but position the franchise so that the team is below that tax line for at least the next couple of years. "

Read more: Quick: PA OK's Afterburners | In this article: Portland Trail Blazers, Brandon Roy, Nicolas Batum, Portland, Martell Webster, NBA, and Travis Outlaw

"Some number of years ago when things were going in the opposite direction, a lot of people were disenchanted with our players and how they played on and off the court," Allen said. "I just made a decision that we were going to go in a different direction, and so we were going to get players that reflected that new direction and bring in some different coaches."

Read more: NBA: Happy days are here again in Rose City | In this article: Portland Trail Blazers, Brandon Roy, NBA, Portland, Nate McMillan, Travis Outlaw, and Seattle

Have a clear out "One simple task is to tidy the hard disk," says Paul Allen, editor of PC magazineComputeractive.

Read more: How to make your PC last longer | In this article: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Microsoft, Disk Defragmenter, and Symantec

"These eat up hard disk space and slow down the speed at which Windows starts," says Allen. "Check the list of installed programs in Windows XP by clicking the 'Start' button, opening the Control Panel and selecting 'Add or Remove Programs'."

Read more: How to make your PC last longer | In this article: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Microsoft, Disk Defragmenter, and Symantec