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Zuckerberg and Gates join the learn-to-code movement

Hey, kids: coding is cool -- so cool that everyone from Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg to NBA baller Chris Bosh wants you to do it.

The celebrities are using their star power to draw attention to Code.org, a nascent nonprofit foundation that seeks to cultivate computer programming education in schools and direct people to online coding tools.

Zuckerberg and Bosh join hip-hop artist Will.i.am, Microsoft legend Bill Gates, Twitter creator Jack Dorsey, and others in a new YouTube video designed to get students, and their teachers by association, excited about coding. The video is directed by … Read more

Zynga will bring online gambling to the masses, Pincus says

Zynga CEO Mark Pincus said the company is not trying to cash in on the existing hardcore gambling market with its foray into online gambling in the U.K. Instead, Zynga will focus on what it knows best -- making gambling games social.

This means displaying bragging rights for when you score big as well as letting your friends see when you don't.

"It makes it more exciting than when you're by yourself in an anonymous poker room," Pincus said during a Morgan Stanley conference in San Francisco today. He wouldn't say when the company … Read more

Trekkies conquer contest to name Pluto moons

Earlier this month, astronomer Mark Showalter and the SETI Institute asked the Internet to help name two Plutonian moons. The results are in after 450,324 votes from around the world on the Web site Pluto Rocks.

Pending authorization from the International Astronomical Union, the new names for Pluto's smallest moons -- currently called P4 and P5 -- could end up changing to Cerberus and Vulcan.… Read more

Mark Zuckerberg co-sponsors $33M prize to extend human life

Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, 2012's second-most generous donors, are lending their considerable social-network fortune to help extend human life.

The newlywed couple joins Google co-founder Sergey Brin and his wife Anne Wojcicki, along with famed venture capitalist Yuri Milner, as founding sponsors of the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, a substantial $3 million financial reward that will be doled out annually to ambitious scientists working to cure complex diseases.

"Our society needs more heroes who are scientists, researchers, and engineers," Facebook's chief executive wrote in a status update this morning. "… Read more

How to find and get the most out of an entrepreneurial mentor

I don't know where I'd be today without my entrepreneurial mentors. A lot of successful entrepreneurs will tell you the same thing.

Every 20-something entering the job market should have a mentor that can help her navigate the business world, but the bond between an entrepreneur and her mentor is unique. There aren't a lot of tougher mountains to climb than starting a company from scratch, and the emotional stress of a startup can be overwhelming. Being able to learn from somebody who's gone through the ups and downs is invaluable.

"Mentorship is a critical … Read more

Mark Zuckerberg owns 29.3 percent stake in Facebook -- SEC filing

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg now owns 29.3 percent of the company, according to the latest company filing with the SEC. Zuckerberg now owns 632.6 million shares, making him the largest stakeholder in the social network. During the company's May 2012 IPO, Zuckerberg sold 30.2 million shares just below the offering price of $38. However, he went on record last September saying that he would not sell any shares during a 12 month period.

Zuckerbergs second-most generous donors of 2012

A $500 million donation to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation in December was enough to make power-couple Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan the second-most generous donors of the year.

The Facebook chief executive and his bride of less than a year -- the couple wedded in May immediately following Facebook's fiasco of an initial public offering -- announced, on Facebook, that they donated 18 million Facebook shares to the Silicon Valley foundation to finance education and health programs.

The sizable giveaway, valued at around $498.8 million, was enough to put the Zuckerbergs in second place on The … Read more

What Zynga needs to show Wall Street today

Zynga experienced quite the free fall in 2012. Wall Street watched as CEO Mark Pincus made business decisions that ate up Zynga's money, sent more than a dozen executives fleeing and left Zynga's stock down more than 80 percent by the year's end.

Wall Street is watching again today, as the social-gaming company releases its latest quarterly earnings. Last quarter, the company reported a loss of $52.7 million. Zynga has tried to pick up the pieces in recent months, cutting costs through layoffs and shuttering failing games.

The stock tumbled almost 4 percent yesterday -- $2.… Read more

Zuckerberg is adamant: Facebook is not building a phone

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg didn't mince words when he reiterated to analysts and investors that the social network has absolutely no intention of building its own mobile phone.

"We're not going to build a phone," he said during the social network's earnings call Wednesday. "It's not the right strategy for us to build one integrated system...Let's say we sell 10 million units -- that would be 1 percent of users. Who cares for us?"

I can think of plenty of people who care -- investors in particular. The company'… Read more