Reid

LAS VEGAS--The technology community has made substantial in-roads in efforts to stop SOPA and Protect IP, two bills pending in Congress that would expand the ability of federal law enforcement and rightsholders to police the Internet for violations of intellectual-property laws.

But the fight is far from won. That was the message yesterday at a contentious panel discussion at CES's Innovation Policy Summit, featuring Congressional staffers along with industry representatives from both Hollywood and the technology community.

"Opponents have organized," said Ryan Clough, legislative counsel for Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.). "But we haven't stopped SOPA … Read more

I'll be blunt: sit at my desk for a week and it's hard not to conclude that there's a startup glut.

The e-mail pitches begin blending together: Company fill-in-the-blank has a new twist on daily deals. Social startup XYZ let's you keep track of all your social activity--really! Wait. You've got to try this messaging app. And on it goes, a blizzard of pitches from companies that will likely soon vanish.

And yet, every year plenty of amazing innovations and breakthrough companies emerge, and 2012 will be no different. Often the most compelling startup is … Read more

The U.S. Senate will debate a controversial Hollywood-backed copyright bill as soon as senators return in January.

A vote on the Protect IP Act, a close cousin of the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, will be held January 24, thanks to a last-minute push by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) over the weekend.

"This is a bipartisan piece of legislation which is extremely important," Reid said Saturday. "I repeat, it is bipartisan. I hope we can have a productive couple of days, pass this bill, and move on to other matters."

Both Protect IP … Read more

At an Intel Capital conference this week an Intel executive spelled out how and why the market will transition to ultrabooks over the next few years. In a word, ultrabooks need to be "cool."

Intel is driving the PC industry to ultrabooks with a $300 million ultrabook fund--principally for hardware development--and a second fund announced this week, the $100 million AppUpSM Fund, targeted at applications for future ultrabooks.

Erik Reid, the general manager of the Mobile Platforms Division at Intel's PC Client Group, detailed Intel's thinking in a session at the Intel conference this week in Huntington Beach, Calif.

The coolness factor: "Users want something that's cool," said Reid. Intel research shows that when people see an ultrabook they think that "it must be better engineered because it's thin. It's harder to make a thin device than a thick device. It's more forward-looking." … Read more

For startups in Silicon Valley, little is more prized than an audience with Reid Hoffman.

Entrepreneurs come for his money, attention, but most of all, his advice.

Hoffman is a bit of a mystic "startup whisperer," according to a New York Times profile on 44-year-old co-founder of professional network LinkedIn.

The profile paints a portrait of a man who juggles a full schedule of meetings with people seeking his guidance, giving rapid-fire suggestions on platforms, presentation, and strategy, while trying not to be tied to Facebook, Twitter, or any of the four cell phones he carries.

LinkedIn, which … Read more

Social learning startup Grockit has raised an additional $7 million in venture funding to expand its online test-preparation services.

Although not related to the funding, Grockit also recently launched a new service called Grockit Answers that can turn any YouTube video into a Q&A session. (Here's a company-supplied example on the credit crisis.)

Grockit's tools draw on social networking and online gaming to personalize learning outside of the classroom--ideally, to help students conquer their academic weaknesses and ace test preparation. The company's tag line is "Test Prep Made Fun." Grockit claims one million … Read more

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--If there's one thing that late night TV hosts like David Letterman and Jay Leno are said to hate, it's when a star books both their shows back to back.

The tech industry doesn't have its own Letterman and Leno rivalry, but one could say that this week's head-to-head TechCrunch Disrupt and Demo Fall shows are a pretty good analogy.

So it was a bit strange to go to both shows this week and see the same high-profile kick-off speaker at each, LinkedIn founder and Graylock Partners principal Reid Hoffman. And both presentations … Read more

Aunt Jill aka @JillonMoney from CBS's MoneyWatch.com is on the show today to explain the upcoming US debt ceiling deadline. With the zero-hour approaching next Tuesday, August 2, Jill eases our fears that the economy will collapse and offers helpful tips on what exactly to expect, and how to prepare for economic fallout.

Expertly piloting a car around a race track is a hair-raising experience requiring a good deal of skill on the part of the driver. However, even without the skill in place, most licensed drivers could at least make it around the track in a production car (however slowly) without making a total mess of things. But could you do it while blindfolded? New Zealander and racing driver Jonny Reid could and did in this latest promotional video for the 2011 Volvo S60.

Reid's lap around Hampton Downs Raceway in Auckland, New Zealand, was apparently done without the aid of … Read more