bill

Arfa Karim, the youngest girl ever to become a Microsoft Certified Professional, passed away in her native country of Pakistan on Saturday owing to complications from an epileptic seizure and cardiac arrest. She would have turned 17 next month.

Granted the MCP title in 2004, Karim was only 9 years old at the time, making her the youngest MCP in Pakistan and reportedly the second youngest in the world, just behind India's Mridul Seth, who became an MCP at the age of 8. Her excitement about technology first bubbled up after her father bought her a PC, mainly to … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Microsoft had one last shot to go out with a bang at the Consumer Electronics Show today but instead opted to take a victory lap or two.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer did a lot of shouting and talking, but didn't say anything too substantive in his final keynote address at CES. Instead, the company chose to run through a number of its upcoming--but previously announced--projects, from Windows Phone to Windows 8.

The company, however, did say it would bring the Xbox 360 peripheral Kinect to Windows on February 1, and Ballmer said the motion-sensor device has sold 18 … Read more

When is a phone just a phone? A TV just a TV? A Blu-ray player just a Blu-ray player? How about last year? Because in 2012 and beyond, the next wave of consumer electronics evolution is all about the "ecosystem."

That concept, in fact, is the topic of CNET's Next Big Thing Supersession at CES 2012. We'll be talking about this idea of the ecosystem, and how it's changing the landscape of consumer electronics--and turning media and service companies into hardware partners, if not actual hardware makers.

We'll talk one on one with Google'… Read more

We all seek solutions to our financial issues.

Some turn out to be imperfect. Take this one, tried recently by a gentleman who allegedly walked into a Wal-Mart in Lexington, N.C., in order to buy a microwave, a vacuum cleaner, and other unspecified items.

You see, his inventive notion was to proffer a $1 million bill and claim that it was perfectly legal tender.

The way the Winston-Salem Journal has it, Michael Anthony Fuller, 53 was merely being asked to pay $476 for his electronic and other items.

Presumably, he imagined that he would received $999,524 in change … Read more

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has officially put all speculation to rest that he might be coming back to his company.

"Well, I made the transition to work full-time on the [Bill & Melinda Gates] Foundation, and that'll be what I do for the rest of my life," Gates told the Sydney Morning Herald in an interview published today. "I'm part-time involved with Microsoft, including even being in touch this week to give some of my advice but that's not going to change--the foundation requires all of my energy and we feel we're having … Read more

To leap to the next generation of nuclear power technology, Bill Gates-backed start-up TerraPower is approaching countries rather than individual utilities or financiers.

Gates last week disclosed that he brought up TerraPower's fourth-generation nuclear power technology with government officials at the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology during a visit to China. "TerrPower is having very good discussions with [China National Nuclear Corporation] and various people in the Chinese government," Gates told the Associated Press.

Bellevue, Wash.-based TerraPower then said that the company has visited energy experts in the U.S. France, India, Japan, Korea and … Read more

Bill Gates' chief of staff has shot down a report in Fortune that the iconic leader and philanthropist is contemplating a return to Microsoft.

In an instant message conversation, Larry Cohen said that contrary to a report on Fortune's Web site, Gates is not mulling rejoining Microsoft, though he still does work from time to time with product teams. Cohen previously said the same thing to AllThingsD.

Earlier today, the magazine posted an article on its Web site citing a single anonymous, second-hand source, saying that Gates was contemplating a comeback.

"One prominent chief executive told Fortune he'… Read more

Even though it's supposed to be a time of federal fiscal austerity, Bill Gates says its time to double down on energy research.

The software industry icon and philanthropist on Friday published an editorial in Science calling for a massive boost in federal energy research and development from about $5 billion a year now to $16 billion.

"In a time of economic crisis, asking policymakers in Washington, D.C., to spend more money might not be the most popular position. But it's essential to protect America's national interests and ensure that the United States plays a … Read more

Bill Gates is scheduled to take the stand today in a Novell-versus-Microsoft antitrust case whose origins stretch back as far as 1995.

Launched in 2004 by Novell, the lawsuit alleges that Microsoft used anti-competitive tactics to hurt Novell's WordPerfect and Quattro Pro products by holding back key technical information required to make them compatible with Windows 95. Novell claims that Microsoft initially promised its support for the two applications but then pulled back to combat any potential competition against Microsoft Office.

In its suit filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, Novell is seeking $1.2 … Read more