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ted

Verizon MiFi lets iPhone download big files on the go

OAKLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT--When I wrote to Verizon, asking for a MiFi 2200 mobile hotspot review unit for my upcoming Road Trip 2009 project, the response I got back was, basically, "Why would you want that?"

The MiFi operates on Verizon's EV-DO network, and converts that mobile broadband signal into a Wi-Fi signal that up to five people can use. So the question really was, Why would I, one person, find useful an Internet connectivity technology designed for multiple people?

I've just started using the device, so I've hardly scratched the surface of its potential, but … Read more

Intel fetes four-decade Stanford link

Intel is celebrating its four-decade-long relationship with Stanford University by spotlighting the school's nexus with its top executives.

The Intel-Stanford tie famously began back in 1969 when Stanford electrical engineering alumnus Ted Hoff became Intel employee No. 12. Within two years, he had invented, along with Federico Faggin and Stan Mazor, Intel's flagship product: the microprocessor.

For more than four decades, the Stanford-Intel relationship has been behind the launch of some of Intel's flagship technologies and hundreds of the company's engineering careers. (Almost 1,000 Stanford alumni have worked at Intel and a Stanford University Web page marks this relationship.)

The retirement this month of Intel chairman and former CEO (1998-2005) Craig Barrett, highlights one of the most enduring ties. Barrett was a professor from 1965 until he joined Intel in 1974.

"Industry does a good job at the D part of R&D--but we rely on the tier-one research universities like Stanford on the R side," Barrett said in an interview published on Stanford University's Web site. Barrett cited marquee research at Stanford such as semiconductor device modeling and new packaging technologies.

Senior VP Pat Gelsinger is another Stanford graduate. "We've had great results from the collaboration," said Gelsinger--also quoted in the interview--who earned an masters of science degree in electrical engineering at Stanford in 1985. "In almost every area that Intel is doing work we can point to significant collaboration and research projects with Stanford." … Read more

Blogging for dollars: Church-state line still valid?

When Ted Murphy started PayPerPost (now called Izea) in 2007, he immediately raised hackles by proposing that companies pay bloggers to post items about their businesses.

ReadWriteWeb's Marshall Kirkpatrick described Izea as a "Search Engine Optimization scam that threatens to torpedo the reputation of the already widely questioned blogosphere. It may also be a perfectly fair way for small time bloggers to make a living, depending on who you ask."

"None of us are pure and there are few firm lines established regarding what is and is not acceptable when you're trying to make money … Read more

OLPC to laptop makers: Use our design

The One Laptop per Child initiative seems to have found that imitation isn't simply a form of flattery, it's grounds for a new business model.

Speaking at the TED 2009 conference, OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte said that the future of the initiative--which set out to put simple, durable, low-cost laptops in the hands of schoolchildren in developing nations--is to become, in essence, more commonplace, to "build something that everyone copies," according to Ethan Zuckerman, blogging from TED.

That copying has already begun, Negroponte said, pointing to the surging popularity in recent months of Netbooks--laptops built by … Read more

TED: Change the world with $100,000

LONG BEACH, Calif--The concept is simple; it's the execution that requires global collaboration and commitment. Not to mention some serious cash.

Along those lines, TED prizes are an award of $100,000 given to a select group of recipients looking to change the world with one idea or "wish." They can use the money as they choose, and at a ceremony here Thursday night, the three winners expressed their hopes for the future.

Jill Tarter, founder of SETI, or the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Life, encouraged TED attendees and others to imagine ways that every "earthling" … Read more

At TED, walking among the digerati

The day started with a soothing performance by Deepak Ram, master of the bansuri, an Indian wooden flute. But the meditative state didn't last long as day two of the often mind-blowing TED got under way. (In case you aren't familiar with TED just click here.)

On Thursday there was a mix of physical and computer artistry, film production techniques, and clean-energy invention on tap with a focus on looking beyond current models of innovation. The ideas abound at TED, and it can be a rather dizzying experience. Every time you turn around another luminary is discussing their … Read more

Webcast: TED Prize winners

Watch three remarkable people reveal their wishes to change the world live from the TED Conference in Long Beach, Calif., via Webcast at 5 p.m. PST Thursday.

Tune in and get inspired as TED Prize winners--deep-ocean explorer Sylvia Earle, astronomer Jill Tarter and Venezuelan maestro José Antonio Abreu--unveil their ideas worth spreading. Special introductions by Al Gore, Quincy Jones, and Richard Branson.

Read Daniel Sieberg's TED posts on Day 1 and about what TED is.

Buzz Out Loud 905: Buzz off malaria

We were really thinking about calling this episode something to do with prehistoric snake. Because Natali is very into the prehistoric snakes. Although she can't kill them. Instead we discuss Bill Gates releasing mosquitoes at TED, the Congress sort of delaying the DTV transition, and Google trying to steal your health information.

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 905

Bill Gates Unleashes Mosquitoes On Rich TED Conference Crowd http://www.alleyinsider.com/2009/2/bill-gates-unleashes-mosquitoes-on-rich-ted-crowd http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7871210.stm

DTV delay passes, 264-158 http://arstechnica.com/telecom/news/2009/02/dtv-delay-passes-264-158.arsRead more

TED conference: Gates, Gore, robot wars

Bill Gates released mosquitoes into the audience, Naturally 7 recreated the sound of musical instruments with their voices, and Al Gore admonished the coal industry for its "clean" image campaign.

All in all, it was just another day at the Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) Conference, a premiere and exclusive gathering of visionaries and luminaries that is taking place this week in Long Beach, Calif.

Wednesday started on a sobering note with Juan Enriquez, a philosopher and researcher, who explored how the U.S. economy is floundering but encouraged people to "dance through the flames" and focus … Read more

Gates spreads malaria message with mosquitoes

Bill Gates opened a jar of mosquitoes on stage at an elite tech conference Wednesday to draw attention to the plight of malaria victims.

The Microsoft co-founder released the insects, which are notorious for spreading the deadly disease, during the Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) Conference in Long Beach, Calif.

"Not only poor people should experience this," Gates told the audience before assuring them that the insects were malaria-free.

The insect release, which was first reported on Twitter by Facebook's Dave Morin, was initially characterized in some reports as a swarm, but some in the audience reported seeing … Read more