AlwaysOn Summit at Stanford---A showcase and meeting ground for new companies in the digital space---- was held last week with about 850 attendees, primarily venture capitalists shopping for new investments and CEOs touting their privately held companies. For the rest of us, this is an opportunity to see...

Two recent developments show sides of the patent system not normally exposed to public view.

The first was ignored by the media: A firm called Channel Intelligence has sued 17 small websites, including three owned by individuals, for infringing a broad patent on user-generated lists. Almost ignored, except that...

Four years ago, in the summer of 2004, I decided to start writing a book. I knew it would take a while, and sure enough, it did. I was thrilled when I finally could hold a real copy in my hands a few weeks ago. The respective Battles of Spellcheck,...

Mohammed El Erian is one of the country's most successful money managers. He's the co-CEO of the Pacific Investment Management Company, better known as PIMCO. That firm oversees more than $829 billion. He previously led Harvard University's endowment to substantial returns on investment. I spoke to him recently about his...

I know it's hard to believe but Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson is a Republican. It was especially hard to keep that in mind during his appearances on the Sunday talk shows this weekend. His stated mission was to garner support for the bailout plans of Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and...

Yesterday the Federal Reserve released the latest Beige Book. Boy are they a bunch of whiners. These central bankers are in such a mental recession it's sick. They need to stop talking to businessmen and listen to Fox news to get the real story.

Below are excerpts...

I have written about how recent upward consumer price trends for Starbucks and McDonald's are indicative of America's slide into penury as the credit crisis hits and the US dollar sinks, and fast-food chains become increasingly unaffordable for millions of Americans.

Add Coca-Cola to the mix to fully...

Today's most emailed story at the New York Times is Tuesday's report on how economic hard times are affecting women's employment rates: "After moving into virtually every occupation, women are being afflicted on a large scale by the same troubles as men: downturns, layoffs, outsourcing, stagnant wages or the...

Quick. What comes to mind when you see a close up of a flaxen-haired young lass with pouty lips and bedroom eyes that includes this caption, "You know you're not the first?" A slightly used BMW, no doubt!

The luxury car brand just made a big mistake by introducing an...

I hold these truths to be self-evident:

America's Captains of Industry, with the blessings and assistance of every branch on the government tree, have bottomed out our nation.

Our nation may never see full economic and social recovery from the personal and professional gluttony and fraternal cronyism practiced in the...

It's one thing when a government agency deregulates or otherwise loosens restrictions in an industry; it's another when that industry is made-up of just two companies.

The NY Times on Wednesday night said the Federal Communications Commission was on the verge of approving a merger between XM and Sirius Satellite...

Last week, Frank Bass from the Associated Press reported that within the small federal contracting world location might mean everything. In fact, in the article Bass stated, "small firms that want to do business with the federal government must keep three cardinal rules in mind: Location, location, location."

He went...

The US dollar's continuing crash is forcing commodities like food and energy that are priced in dollars higher and making restaurants like Starbucks and McDonald's unaffordable for many Americans. Starbucks has had to shut down 600 stores and begin a massive retrenchment due to the margin squeeze accompanying higher commodity...

...in which we continue ascertaining how one retires while still working...

We've got some very serious tricksters here. Hang on to your hair. We're about to get granular -- in a very, very good way.

JS works for a major health-care provider, which I find evocative. He has invented a...

With 600 of THOSE coffee shops closing across the country -- some to cries of caffeine-deprived protest -- I guess I shouldn't quibble about the details.

Two of them in South Los Angeles got the hail-and-farewell treatment from the Los Angeles Times, because their opening had been regarded...

Tuberculosis, a treatable disease, kills 1.7 million people a year worldwide.

TB incidence, according to the World Health Organization, seems to be correlated to broad social factors, like access to clean water and sanitation, HIV incidence and national health expenditures.

A just published study in the...