bill

Gates on energy: IT revolution has warped our minds

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.--Even with the exciting work being done on energy at countless labs and startups, Bill Gates isn't counting on a repeat of what happened with info tech.

Speaking at the ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit here today, Gates argued that the amount of government funding for energy research and development should be doubled to speed the pace of innovation.

Even with a massive increase in research and other policy mechanisms, such as a tax on carbon emissions, Gates said energy moves slowly just by its nature. Unlike IT, the energy industry is capital-intensive and heavily regulated, and … Read more

Bill Ford: Computing tech will upend the auto industry

BARCELONA--Bill Ford, bitten by the Silicon Valley bug, has dreams of a fast-moving Detroit at the heart of a radical overhaul of personal transportation.

As the executive chairman of Ford Motor Company and great grandson of the company founder Henry Ford, he's got deep roots in a century-old industry. Ford predicts a future, though, in which computing and communications technology is no longer an accessory but instead a primary part of a car, and in which the auto industry works on the same time scales as the electronics industry.

There was a time when technology suppliers would have a … Read more

Friday Poll: Will the Privacy Bill of Rights matter?

I have this strange feeling that I'm being watched. Gmail is hinting in an ad that I should consider self-publishing that novel I'm working on. Thesaurus.com seems to know exactly which jackets I looked at recently on Backcountry.com.

The Obama administration's recently unveiled Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights is supposed to tip the balance of power back to Web users. It gives them the right to control what data is collected, how it is used and shared, and to have that data secured. Enforcement information, however, is still sketchy.

The document is expected to be used as the basis for new privacy legislation.

Online privacy is a sizzling topic in light of Facebook privacy missteps, Google's consolidation of privacy policies, and sneaky data collection by mobile apps. … Read more

Consumer groups encouraged by 'Consumer Bill of Rights'

Consumer advocates say the Obama administration's blueprint for protecting consumers' privacy online is a good first step, but they will be watching closely to see how it's implemented.

The White House and the Federal Trade Communications today unveiled the "Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights," which will serve as a policy outline for future legislation and public policy that will work to protect consumers' privacy while online from a computer or mobile phone.

The administration also worked with online advertising associations, such as the Digital Advertising Alliance and others, to revive "Do Not Track" technology … Read more

The battle for online privacy

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Chrome to support Do Not Track privacy feature

Google has agreed to build support for Do Not Track into Chrome so its Web browser can tell Web sites when people don't want advertisers scrutinizing their behavior.

The Do Not Track technology modifies communications between browsers and servers so people can signal that they don't want their browsing behavior to become the basis for ad targeting.

Mozilla developed Do Not Track and built it into its Firefox Web browser. Microsoft followed suit not long after with Internet Explorer, Apple has enabled it as an option for developers in Safari 5.1, and Opera is building it into the forthcoming Opera 12. … Read more

Obama unveils Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights

The Obama administration plans to work with Congress to enact legislation to protect peoples' online privacy based on a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights being unveiled tomorrow.

At the same time, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and AOL are committing to work with Do Not Track technology in most major Web browsers so people can stop companies from tracking them as they bounce around the Internet, the administration said in a statement.

The announcement comes as Google, Apple, and other technology companies are being increasingly criticized for not doing enough to protect consumers' privacy rights online. The problem has become particularly acute … Read more

The 404 997: Where it's the first day of the rest of our lives (podcast)

CNET TV reviewer Ty Pendlebury joins in on a fun rundown to start the week. We'll chat about a proposed bill that would require marketers to put a disclaimer on doctored advertisements, self-destructing e-mails, a Sony heads-up "VR" display, and something called "nomophobia." Yeah, you probably suffer from it already.… Read more

PBS gives iOS users first dibs on Bill Clinton documentary

PBS is testing the waters with a new way to hook users into tuning into one of its upcoming programs.

The television network announced today that it would be offering the first hour of its four-hour documentary on former U.S. President Bill Clinton on its iOS app, a full week before it airs on TV.

The film's description reads:

The documentary recounts a career full of accomplishment and rife with scandal, a marriage that would make history and create controversy, and a presidency that would define the crucial and transformative period between the fall of the Berlin Wall … Read more

Why Metro now rules at Microsoft

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer told you all you really need to know about the importance of the company's Metro user interface at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month.

Ballmer's keynote speech was a virtual Metro-palooza. He showed the sleek, tile-based interface in Windows Phones. And then he displayed it again in the upcoming Windows 8 operating system. It made another appearance in a demo of the released version of Xbox Live. The Metro rectangles even found their way in his Power Point slides.

"Metro will drive the new magic across all of our … Read more