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Just when you thought the world was so overloaded with caricatures of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs that it just might capsize and dump us all into space, here comes a truly hilarious one to lighten the load.

This installment of Epic Rap Battles of History features a very astute match-up between the two tech giants, spitting pointed jabs at each other until Jobs has to depart and Hal 9000 lights up the whole damn joint.… Read more

The first in a series of meetings to decide concrete enforcement terms for President Obama's digital "Privacy Bill of Rights" has just been announced for July 12, 2012, and its focus is on mobile apps.

The National Communications and Telecommunication Administration (U.S. Department of Commerce) has decided that it's time to put President Obama's Privacy Bill of Rights into practice.

To begin, they've just invited all "privacy stakeholders" to "generate robust input" for the first consumer data transparency code of conduct.

NTIA has selected mobile app transparency as the … Read more

Science, rationality's clever henchman, sometimes has strange ideas.

One that has entered the firmament is a "Galvanic" bracelet that uses physiological signs to measure just how engaged a child is in school.

I am grateful to the Washington Post for revealing that such bracelets are now subject to a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

I hadn't been aware that one's skin could be such a giveaway of my mental state. Sometimes, it's just dry because I forget to lather myself in lovely Philosophy body lotion. (Try it. It smells wonderful.)

And … Read more

The two lawmakers who spearheaded a protest in January against controversial antipiracy legislation said today that they want the country to adopt an Internet Bill of Rights.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), said today at the Personal Democracy Forum 2012 in New York that the country needs a way to guarantee citizens their Internet freedoms.

"What we need is a way to measure how we're going to ensure the voice of [Internet] networks is protected," Wyden said during an interview the two lawmakers gave to Andrew Rasiej, an entrepreneur and founder of the … Read more

Whom should we revere from 50 years ago?

Should it be Pope John XXIII for excommunicating Fidel Castro? Or the Beach Boys for riding into the world with their surfin' sound? Should it be John Glenn for being the first American to orbit the Earth? Or what then was known as the European Common Market (now the EU) for admitting Greece?

I ask because Malcolm Gladwell, author of "The Tipping Point," has expressed decidedly straight views on which of tech's great and current names will be revered in 2062.

I am grateful to the often historical Business Insider … Read more

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has ripped Apple and told it to open its platforms for those folks that just have to tinker. The Apple jab, which started with Steve Wozniak, will draw headlines, but the EFF also pitched a mobile computing bill of rights.

Calling for giving people the liberty to tinker with their mobile possessions, the EFF called Apple's iOS devices, whose usage terms come with a wide array of restrictions, "beautiful crystal prisons."

Hell will freeze over before Apple dumps its usage rules. After all, it's pretty clear from the sales figures that Apple'… Read more

Google today announced a new feature for Android applications offered through the Google Play store. Available immediately for Android developers, in-app subscriptions will allow users to pay for monthly or annual subscriptions directly inside of apps. And as detailed by Google, the feature is set to auto-renew by default with transactions managed by the Google Play store.

In addition to adding a new level of convenience, the move opens the door to added revenue streams and even new types of content through Google Play. Looking forward, today's announcement could entice magazines and news journals to offer subscriptions to consumers … Read more

Update: May 17, 2012 Do I get results, or what? Less than a day after this column posted, Comcast announced it would ditch its 250GB data cap in favor of a 300GB cap with the option to buy additional 50GB chunks for $10 each. Not bad, although it's amusing timing given their current fight over Net neutrality and cap-free Xfinity on-demand streaming.

Bandwidth caps, the death of unlimited data plans, throttling, "data hog" accusations...I get it. Pay-per-use bandwidth is inevitable: the end of unlimited Internet access is at hand. Bandwidth is a limited resource, especially on … Read more

NEW ORLEANS -- Former U.S. President Bill Clinton took the stage here on the final day of the CTIA trade show to emphasize the need for cooperation in solving problems domestically and abroad. And he pointed to the wireless industry as a good example of how this cooperative spirit has created an industry that is changing people's lives.

Clinton was the last keynote speaker at the CTIA conference. It was his second appearance at the industry's semi-annual trade show. He came to Orlando, Fla., in 2007 with former President George H. W. Bush.

The primary message that … Read more