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What was the unlikely culprit behind a 75 percent drop in United Airlines' stock on Monday? An erroneous Google News search, that's what.

The problem was that an investor news service, the South Florida-based Income Securities Advisors, found a Chicago Tribune article from 2002 via Google News and consequently included it in that day's news digest--which wound up on Bloomberg's news wire. The content of the story wasn't the sort you want to be publishing if it isn't true: that United Airlines had filed for bankruptcy. Considering the state of the airline industry today, it … Read more

I am sure there will be those who are excited to the point of valiumity at the vast array of startups vying for the attention of frightfully important people at TechCrunch50.

However, being the champion of the disgruntled, I would like to tell you about the five companies who should have been there, but were rejected due to reasons that might be best described as extremely bloody suspect.

1. Phishingphleet.com. Such a nifty idea, this. You register with Phishingphleet.com and they create truly realistic emails to persuade people you know to give you money. For example, the company … Read more

Most of the time our Macs run smoothly due to the well-designed Mac OS X (choose your big cat) operating system. But over time, as you download more applications, visit more Web sites, and begin to use up space on your hard drive, your Mac won't run as quickly and smoothly as it did out of the box. Some users reason that it must be a RAM or hard-drive issue, but more often than not it's a question of maintenance rather than inadequate hardware.

I've talked about programs for uninstalling old or unused apps in an earlier post, … Read more

The California Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a long-standing state law ruling that employers can't restrict employees from working for a competitor or soliciting former clients when they leave the company.

That may be good news for California-based tech employees who want to take their skills to another company, or head a start-up that may directly compete with their former employer. "Noncompete" contracts, in place largely to protect an employer's intellectual property, began being used by companies during the dot-com boom to prevent losing valuable workers in a competitive technology labor market.

Microsoft and Google battled … Read more

CNET News senior writer Dawn Kawamoto contributed to this report.

Time Warner has taken a step closer to splitting up AOL's business, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Time Warner is expected to announce Wednesday that it has completed the internal process of separating AOL's dial-up Internet access business from its advertising business, the newspaper said.

Time Warner has been talking about splitting the company into two different entities for a while now. And it's been a main focus of Time Warner Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes, who took over as CEO seven months ago. AOL has long … Read more

I've been signing up with some of the major job sites. I started with NotchUp.com, mostly because I was curious about NotchUp's rather unusual strategy. Candidates are paid for interviews set up through NotchUp.com, while NotchUp itself gets fees from the participating companies.

NotchUp recommends that candidates ask for approximately a full day's pay for an interview. That seems like an extraordinarily high price. Companies are free to make a lower offer, though. I set my asking price well below that day's-pay level, and I'm still not surprised I've had no inquiries. I wonder if it's working for anyone else.

On the recommendation of a friend in the business (he actually works for a different jobs site), I also signed up for TheLadders.com, which specializes in jobs with salaries above $100K/year (which we in California refer to as a "subsistence wage").

… Read more

Even makeup has entered the age of high definition. To our surprise, Samsung recently teamed with makeup-services provider Make Up For Ever to present a workshop that paired makeup with HDTVs.

The rationale? The new demands of digital technology, where high definition tends to amplify details up to six times more than standard definition. This basically translates to talc-based makeup now accentuating, instead of hiding, those pimples, pigmentation, eyebags, enlarged pores and, horror of horrors, wrinkles when viewed on high-def TV.

This can be brutal not just for professional actors and actresses, but also for brides obsessed with their appearance … Read more

Internet service provider EarthLink could be interested in buying AOL's dial-up business, its CEO told The Wall Street Journal in a story published Wednesday.

EarthLink CEO Rolla Huff first brought up the idea of EarthLink buying AOL and other dial-up providers during the company's quarterly conference call Tuesday.

"We believe we're best-positioned to be the consolidator in this industry," Huff said during a conference call with analysts.

The news has spurred a flurry of speculation that EarthLink is looking to buy Time Warner's AOL. Huff wouldn't comment specifically on whether his company has … Read more

The California Clean Tech Open, dubbed the "start-up in a box" contest, named 44 finalists Tuesday. It awards $100,000 in cash, office space, and professional services to each of the six winners. Categories are air, water, and waste; energy efficiency; green building; renewables; smart power; and transportation.

The Google-sponsored contest, run by the nonprofit Acterra, touts success stories such as GreenVolts, which makes photovoltaic solar concentrating systems, and BuildFast, which sells eco-friendly house kits for developing regions. Contest organizers said that tech for the developing world has become an increasing area of focus.

Prizes are due to … Read more