bills

Schmidt's N. Korea junket 'not a Google trip,' Richardson says

Former Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M -- who has announced that he will travel to North Korea with Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt as early as this month -- brushed aside the State Department's expressed disapproval of the trip Friday on "CBS This Morning," saying, "I don't work for the U.S. government; neither does Eric Schmidt."

"I know the State Department is a little nervous," Richardson said, "but we did postpone this trip already. Eric and I were going in December, and at the request of the State Department, we … Read more

Gates, Ellison, other tech moguls got richer last year

It's said that the rich get richer. And that's certainly true at the moment in the tech world.

Grabbing Bloomberg's No. 2 spot among the world's top billionaries, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates has an estimated worth of $63.4 billion as of yesterday. Despite donating a hefty amount of money to charitable causes, Gates' net worth managed to rise 1.1 percent over the past year, making him the richest tech mogul on the list.

Worth $40.7 billion, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison saw a 3.6 percent gain in his fortune last year. The largest … Read more

Bill Gates twixt Putin and pope at No. 4 in Forbes 'most powerful'

Wielding both wealth and influence, Bill Gates is the world's fourth most powerful person, as ranked by Forbes.

Rising to fourth place from fifth last year, Gates was cited by Forbes for his vast fortune. The Microsoft co-founder is worth $65 billion even after donating more than $28 billion toward various causes.

But it's also his mission and his influence that make Gates a powerful man.

As co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, he's been on a quest to stamp out a variety of diseases around the world. As Forbes notes, Gates estimates that the … Read more

The 404 1,177: Where we get our Grinch on (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Nokia hires orchestra to create new ringtones.

- Here is the first official snap of Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs.

- Social networks responsible for lines in the restroom.

- "Ghostbusters 3" is a go as Billy Murray signs on.… Read more

Tech deals and apps for Black Friday

Wednesday's CNET Update has mall madness:

This episode of CNET Update is chock-full of tips for conquering Black Friday. Start your research with CNET's Black Friday page and Holiday Gift Guide. You'll also want to load your phone up with helpful apps, like Black Friday Survival Guide, ListBliss and ShopSavvy.

Be sure to also comb through CNET's slideshow of the best Black Friday tech deals. If you spot a deal on a Blu-ray player, it could be smart to grab it.

For those shopping online, do your homework to know if a sale price is really … Read more

E-mail bill raises privacy concerns

Tuesday's CNET Update is checking privacy settings:

There's an update to today's top story. Hours after CNET reported on a bill rewrite that would give warrantless access to American's e-mail, the senator behind the legislation has abandoned his controversial proposal.

Color sued by co-founder over alleged work violations

Color Labs, whose intellectual property and engineering team were purchased by Apple earlier this year, is the target of a new lawsuit from a former founding employee.

Adam Witherspoon, who served as a quality assurance engineer at Color, today filed a suit against the company and its CEO, Bill Nguyen, accusing both of creating "an extremely hostile, unsafe, and harassing atmosphere."

The suit, which was filed in the Superior Court for the County of Santa Clara and spotted by TechCrunch, accuses the company of violating three labor codes, including retaliation for reporting unsafe work conditions, reporting illegal conduct, … Read more

Bill Gates' and Paul Allen's friendship repaired?

When Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen published his book "Idea Man" last year, he surprised many people by tearing into his longtime friend and business partner Bill Gates.

In a new epilogue published for the paperback version of this book, which comes out this week, Allen writes that after a yearlong rift, the two men have repaired their friendship, according to GeekWire.

"Not everyone loved everything I wrote," Allen writes. "Some of my Microsoft friends were piqued that I'd cast the company's recent history in 'not the most favorable light,' as one of them … Read more

Big surprise: Bill Gates thinks Windows 8 is great

Bill Gates is giving some initial feedback about Windows 8, and it's no shocker that he thinks the operating system is pretty nifty.

The Microsoft co-founder and chairman, speaking in a video interview with Microsoft's Steve Clayton, echoes CEO Steve Ballmer in calling Windows 8 an "absolutely critical product" that combines "the best" of tablets and traditional PCs.

Gates noted that people will be "amazed at the energy" Microsoft is putting behind its new products, and he said Windows 8 "is key to where personal computing is going."

"This … Read more

The lights over your head are about to get smart

Take a walk through the labs of Bridgelux (PDF) in Livermore, Calif., and you see a lot of LED lighting modules being made on a more affordable platform: disused factories that used to make silicon chips. But while you'll see lots of lights, you'll hear mostly about connectivity. Bridgelux CEO Bill Watkins envisions a new array of smart, connected sensors, cameras, and other devices integrated with LED lighting over our heads.

The challenge is formidable: Most lighting consumers, large and small, think of lighting as a cost to be contained, not an opportunity to be maximized. So job … Read more