And to lighten the gloom even a little more

At least for some of us. More, if it continues a trend.

Saturday marks the start of a new way of doing things for an estimated 29,000 couples in the state of California. With the new year comes a new law giving both same-sex and elderly straight couples the right to register as "domestic partners," giving them

nearly the same responsibilities and benefits as married spouses,

AP said on Saturday. For the first time, they

will have access to divorce court for dividing their assets, seeking alimony and securing child support. They also will have automatic parental status over children born during the relationship and responsibility for each other's debts.

It guarantees domestic partners a say over what happens to their loved one's remains at death and means they cannot be forced to testify against each other in state courts.

As some have pointed out, it's not as good as legal marriage because there is no access to federal benefits and the benefits would end if the couple moves to another state, but as one said, "a start's a start, progress is progress."

Of course, nothing is without hassles, and two groups have convinced the California Court of Appeal to hear a challenge to the law, arguing it violates another California law defining marriage as one man and one woman. So stay tuned.

Footnote: Another California law that went into effect on the first is designed to protect computer users from spyware. Spyware, the BBC said on Saturday,

is considered by computer experts to be one of the biggest nuisance and security threats facing PC users in the coming year.

The software buries itself in computers and can collect a wide range of information.

At its worst, it has the ability to hijack personal data, like passwords, login details and credit card numbers. ...

The state's Consumer Protection Against Spyware Act bans the installation of software that takes control of another computer.

It also requires companies and websites to disclose whether their systems will install spyware.

The law also allows consumers to seek up to $1000 in damages. That might not seem like a lot, but multiplied by the number of potential complaints and it could serve as an effective deterrent against spyware makers, who have so far been very active:

A recent survey by Earthlink and Webroot found that 90% of PCs are infested with the surreptitious software and that, on average, each one is harbouring 28 separate spyware programs.

Currently users wanting protection from spyware have turned to free programs such as Spybot and Ad-Aware.

I actually use them both. You should, too.