Workplace

Did Karl Rove 'delete' four years of e-mails?

Missing e-mails have Republican and Democratic leaders in Washington in a swirl. This is one topic you can track through the world of digital reality; this one you don't need to take on faith. If you don't believe what I write, or what you read elsewhere, check with your handy IT department.

The Republican Party says it's missing four years worth of Karl Rove's e-mails from within the White House. A Democratic senator says that's not possible.

Here's what I've learned from Robert Vamosi, an editor here at CNET who deals with security … Read more

A camera designed to sell you home (or not)

Only a few years ago, Crave spent more than $1,000 for a 1-megapixel camera that weighed more than a brick. Today, we'd probably be lucky to get $25 for it on Craigslist.

With the price of digital cameras dropping like broadcast celebrities, it makes sense that manufacturers try whatever they can to separate themselves from the pack, catering to specific types of consumers. But real-estate agents?

"RealPIX" is a camera designed specifically for agents and homeowners in need of a quick snapshot that captures as much house as possible in a single frame. It accomplishes this … Read more

HP EdgeLine CM8060: Super-fast printing

HP has raised its pimp hand to smack its competition with a brand-new printing technology. Known as EdgeLine, the new system can print a massive 60 pages per minute in mono and 50 pages per minute in color--it's the Ferrari Enzo of printing.

Crave witnessed the official unveiling of two EdgeLine-equipped machines, the CM8060 and CM8050, at an event in Paris yesterday (get us!). HP bigwig Jan Riecher hit a switch, some curtains pulled back and before us stood the mother of all printers--a forklift-sized behemoth that rivaled Mr. Bean for sheer beigeness.

Looks aside, the CM8060 is a … Read more

Shredding documents with a hamster, the difficult way

As a former hamster owner, I can tell you that this concept for a hamster-powered paper shredder is really, really inefficient. Sure, it's not a mass-market product, but rather a design concept by artist Tom Ballhatchet that will be on display in Milan next week. The device works like this: the hamster runs on the wheel, which powers the shredder, which shreds the paper into hamster bedding. Clever, right?

Um, here's another idea. Just put the paper in the hamster's cage. Hamsters' teeth never stop growing, which is why they constantly need to chew on things. Consequently, … Read more

H-1B petitions hit record high

The deluge of requests for next year's crop of H-1B visas, which prompted U.S. immigration officials to halt the application process almost as soon as it began, could be destined for the history books.

A spokeswoman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services told CNET News.com on Wednesday that the estimated 150,000 petitions received by the agency as of Monday afternoon--and an as-yet uncounted number that came in on Tuesday--set a record for the first days of a new application round.

"We should get a final count soon," spokeswoman Chris Rhatigan said in a … Read more

Annual H-1B visa cap met--already

The rush by companies, particularly of the high-tech persuasion, to apply for H-1B visas for next year has officially come to an end--only one day after it began.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said Tuesday that it had received 150,000 applications as of Monday afternoon for the controversial work permits, which allow foreigners with a bachelor's degree in their area of specialty to be employed in the United States for up to six years.

That's more than enough applications to meet the cap for the fiscal year 2008 crop of visas, which is currently 65,000, … Read more

Working sans a paycheck

That's how a staffing company called Peopleconnect gives high-tech start-ups the chance to hire managers or execs--even if a start-up hasn't raised enough money to pay them yet.

"It's sort of a Catch-22 because if they had the money, they could hire the people and be more valuable. And often investors say that if you would have these people on board, we would be more likely to invest in you," said Max Shapiro, CEO and founder of Peopleconnect.

San Francisco-based Peopleconnect, which has five employees, hooks up start-ups with candidates who are willing to work … Read more

Searching for the next big canvas for ads

Finding new real estate to plaster over with ads is sort of Chip Meakem's purpose in life.

As a partner in Kodiak Venture Partners, Meakhem was an early investor in Massive, which embeds ads and movie trailers into video games. Microsoft bought the company last year.

"Gaming is the third biggest activity for males from (ages) 14 to 35, and there was no advertising in it," he said during a lunch meeting. "You could see it was going to be a big."

Recently, he was behind the firm's investment in HangerNetwork, which sells ad space on the cardboard, eco-friendly coat hangers … Read more

Tangled case of Wal-Mart vs. former execs, all hinges on e-mails

You and I have no idea who's to blame, who's blameless. Or who'll win and who'll lose. We do know retailer Wal-Mart, known for a few brick and mortar stores around the planet, is suing a former exec. That's Julie Roehm, who had earlier sued Wal-Mart when they fired her.

Roehm was a marketing exec for Wal-Mart, which claims she was using her position to try to score a job with an ad agency. That's where fellow exec Sean Womack comes in, says Wal-Mart, because he also wanted a job at the agency. The … Read more