Sep. 26--Previously, on "In Hindsight": With the financial system on edge, our nation's leaders confirmed they were working on a gigantic bailout to rescue the economy from the likelihood of a long, painful recession. Last weekend, the Bush administration revealed its plan to spend $700 billion (yes, billion with a "b") to buy mortgage-related assets from struggling financial institutions.

Despite the turmoil on the other coast, it was business as usual (or as usual as possible in such unusual times) in Silicon Valley. So, again, here's some news you may have missed last week, based on staff and wire reports.

Monday

Turning from anxiety to security: McAfee, the Santa Clara security-software maker, said it would buy Secure Computing, a San Jose network-security company, for $465 million in cash. That was a 27 percent premium for Secure Computing shareholders over the previous closing price.

Meanwhile, Redmond, Wash., software mega-behemoth Microsoft (you may have seen its "I'm a PC" ad campaign) said it would buy back $40 billion (yes, billion with a "b") of its stock.

Tuesday

We're especially fond of the iPhone from Apple (you may have seen its "I'm a PC" ad campaign). Some people, though, have been eagerly awaiting the "gPhone," based on Mountain View Internet advertising juggernaut Google's Android operating system. In New York, Google

guys Larry Page and Sergey Brin introduced the G1, which will go on sale next month from T-Mobile for as little as $179, or $20 less than Apple's iPhone 3G.

In Washington, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson lobbied Congress to pass the $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan -- and fast.

Back in the Golden State, the economists behind the University of California-Los Angeles' Anderson Forecast said the nation probably could avoid a recession. The UCLA economists warned, though, that a "modest shock" could change everything.

Wednesday

Last week, of course, there was our troubled world -- and then there was Oracle's OpenWorld. Once a year, the acquisitive Redwood City software giant is usually the center of the universe -- or at least the universe that's centered around San Francisco's sprawling Moscone Center. At his keynote address, Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison introduced the company's new Exadata Storage Server. Oracle teamed up with Palo Alto computing giant Hewlett-Packard on the hardware device.

Later that night, President Bush implored Americans to support his bailout plan.