richard branson

NEW YORK--There must be something squirreled away in the human brain that is hard-wired to go absolutely bonkers at the sight of anything that's shiny, slick, and begging to be touched. That, after all, is how Apple CEO Steve Jobs sells products.

But an iPad is only as good as the things you can do on it, and in this sense the device is implicitly a bit of a challenge, an Everest to climb or an English Channel to swim, for developers and entrepreneurs: What can you do on this? How can you take advantage of the features it … Read more

Virgin Group CEO and entrepreneurial icon Richard Branson promised "one hell of a party" for the kickoff flight for air carrier Virgin America's first international route from San Francisco to Toronto on Tuesday, and if the trays of mimosas and acai-cranberry cocktails that kept getting toted past his first-class seat were any indication, his promise would not be broken.

Branson, a British national who was knighted in 1999, has become one of Silicon Valley's icons of late for his enterprises in green energy and the fledgling Virgin Galactic space company, and Virgin America is headquartered in … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--So a British billionaire, a Hollywood action hero, and an unusually good-looking city politician walk into an airport terminal.

That would be Virgin Group CEO Sir Richard Branson, California governor (and erstwhile Terminator) Arnold Schwarzenegger, and San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, who were all on hand at San Francisco International Airport on Tuesday morning to kick off Virgin America's inaugural flight from San Francisco to Toronto. It's the three-year-old Burlingame, Calif.-based airline's first international route.

"To get Virgin America established, we had many battles," Branson said in the press conference, sounding more like … Read more

Virgin chief Richard Branson has seen the enemy and it is carbon.

Branson is touting the Carbon War Room, a group of entrepreneurs, public sector officials, and industry leaders as a way to "remove gigatons of carbon out of industry." Branson, speaking at the SAP Sapphire conference, a coordinated Orlando-Frankfurt powwow with customers, Branson said:

When asked where information technology fits into this war on carbon, Branson noted that the industry plays a big role. Information technology companies and industry leaders need to … Read more

MOJAVE, Calif.--Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson and legendary aircraft designer Burt Rutan, whose SpaceShipOne took the $10 million Ansari X Prize in 2004, unveiled the VSS Enterprise Monday, a sleek commercial rocket plane that represents the ultimate thrill ride for well-heeled space tourists and amateur astronauts.

Seating six passengers and two pilots, Virgin Space Ship Enterprise--also known as SpaceShipTwo--will begin test flights next year with commercial launchings carrying paying customers starting after government regulatory requirements are met. More than 300 people have already put down deposits or paid the full $200,000 cost of a ticket for future sub-orbital … Read more

The 404 is a big supporter of open-source information, so we invite our buddy Nic Hill, director of Truth in Numbers: the Wikipedia Story, to shed some light on the site and its ongoing controversy. He gives us the full rundown on how Wikipedia works, his experience working on the film, and his travels around the world expounding the merits of information and community.

Free digital content is an intrinsic right, or at least it should be. That's the Wikipedia.com ethos, and we're still in the dark about how the site actually works. Luckily, Nic Hill is … Read more

Sometimes, apparently unrelated events are really part of a strategy.

You trim your eyebrows. You visit a shrink. You suggest a late meeting with an attractive co-worker. Only afterwards do those around you see the connection between the three.

I am getting the same feeling about Google.

Google always wanted everyone to believe that it would never change. That it was a fine and spiritual body, eager to do good, while taking charitable donations on the side. (the side of the page, to be precise)

A sort of Mother Teresa with sideburns and a poetic songbook.

Now, as Bronski Beat … Read more

Happy April Fools' Day!

As expected, Google's Gmail rolled out a fake "custom time" feature, which purports to let users send e-mails into the past and consequently never miss important deadlines again. The new feature "utilizes an e-flux capacitor to resolve issues of causality," Google wrote.

"I just got two tickets to Radiohead by being the 'first' to respond to a co-worker's 'first-come, first-serve' email," a fake testimonial on the Custom Time site read. "Someone else had already won them, but I told everyone to check their inboxes again. Everyone sort … Read more

GreenRoad Technologies exists because, as a driver, you probably suck.

The company has developed a software program that analyzes a person's driving habits and then reports back to their boss, insurance company, or, conceivably, the rental car agency. The idea is to identify problem drivers and/or bad driving habits (rapid starts and slamming breaks). Conversely, good habits can be rewarded. The software largely gets sold to owners of large fleets of cars, like delivery companies. But it's not all criticism. The program also provides drivers tips on how to improve on safety and fuel economy.

By installing … Read more