bill

Bill Gates crowned world's richest person, once again

It looks like telecommunications magnate Carlos Slim has lost his grip on the title of world's richest person.

And who to fill his shoes? None other than Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

With a $72.7 billion fortune, Gates is now $550 million ahead of Slim (who has a net worth of $72.1 billion), according to Bloomberg. This is the first time Gates has earned the biggest billionaire status since 2007.

Gates has seen his fortune grow about $10 billion over the past few months, according to Bloomberg. The increase came not so much from Microsoft stock -- only … Read more

Bill Gates: Steve Jobs was better at design than I was

When the sense of personal competition has gone, when time has passed, the memories become more acute and more accurate.

During Bill Gates' interview Sunday night with Charlie Rose on CBS's "60 Minutes," Microsoft's chairman released some emotion when speaking of visiting Steve Jobs during the Apple CEO's last days.

He said they're talked about what they'd learned and about families.

He said the conversation wasn't melancholy, but it clearly is an emotional memory for Gates.

When it came to business, Gates admitted that Apple "put the pieces" together on … Read more

Bill Gates and learning from Leonardo da Vinci

What inspires a billionaire? In the case of Bill Gates, it's a 500-year-old manuscript penned by Italian genius Leonardo da Vinci.

And at $30.8 million, it was probably a bargain to the Microsoft founder, who considers it a priceless symbol of knowledge. Charlie Rose talks to Gates about the historic document -- the world's most valuable -- for a 60 Minutes story to be broadcast Sunday, May 12, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

Gates won't entertain comparisons of his life to that of da Vinci, who conceived of airplanes and helicopters hundreds of years before … Read more

Debate continues over Internet sales tax bill

CNET Update drops it like it's hot:

In this edition of Update:

- Learn how the Internet sales tax bill could change online shopping and how it impacts businesses.

- Master the art of creating a strong password that's easy to remember.

- Get clues on what the next Xbox can do -- and why it might not require a constant Web connection.

- Discover your inner Dogg with the Snoopify photo-editing app, which taps into the latest app-payment trend.

CNET Update delivers the tech news you need in under three minutes. Watch Bridget Carey every afternoon for … Read more

The 404 1,265: Where we build weapons of mass distraction (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Today I learned Dave Chappelle was in a "Home Improvement" spinoff that was actually made.

- Twelve things that will get you banned on Xbox.

- You won't remember anything, including this article, unless you print it out.

- Senate passes Internet sales tax bill by 2-to-1 margin.… Read more

Patent Quality Improvement Act hits Congress

New legislation introduced to Congress on Monday aims to change the patent review process to curb the influx of new patent-related lawsuits.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, presented a new bill that amends 2011's America Invents Act by making permanent a temporary revision that allows the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to review a patent after it has been granted.

The new legislation, called the Patent Quality Improvement Act, would also change language for what types of businesses are covered under current America Invents Act, something Schumer says would better include technology start-ups.

"The … Read more

Bill Gates: iPad users frustrated, need the Surface

The legion of unhappy iPad users is vast and growing.

They picket Cupertino daily, protesting that Apple make urgent changes to a device that really is substandard. They are very mad and they just can't take it anymore.

No, no, this is not my observation. It's my imagination of Bill Gates' imagination.

For in an appearance on CNBC on Monday, Microsoft's chairman explained very patiently that the iPad is a hive of pain.

I am grateful to the Loop for espying this footage and not using the word "loopy."

Gates told CNBC that Microsoft is … Read more

Benchmark's Gurley: Uber is our fastest-growing company ever

NEW YORK -- Uber is growing pretty fast -- so fast that it may be Benchmark Capital's fastest-growing company ever, one of the VC firm's general partners said Monday.

Bill Gurley, speaking with TechCrunch's Michael Arrington at the blog's Disrupt conference here, said Uber, the taxi-booking service, is "probably the highest, fastest-growing company we've ever worked with," even more than eBay, an earlier Benchmark investment.

Uber is a taxi-hailing app that helps potential passengers locate a ride in real time. They simply put their location into an app, which is then sent to … Read more

Bill Clinton joins Twitter (for real this time)

I can only hope he was influenced more by Stephen Colbert than by Anthony Weiner.

Whichever it was, Bill Clinton is now officially on Twitter. As himself.

Within what seemed like minutes of his arrival, he garnered more than 198,000 followers, all of whom, no doubt, will be hanging on his every syllable.

You may recall that the president was inveigled recently by Colbert to joining Twitter against his own volition. Colbert even opened the @PrezBillyJeff account without the president's apparent knowledge or approval.

Former President Clinton freely admitted to Colbert he was worried about tweeting and getting … Read more