jeff

The 404 125: Where Jeff Bakalar: This is your life!

We're all family on the 404: Jeff's dad and girlfriend both called into the 404 preshow this morning! Today we bring you a handful of insane stories from the Internet: Chinese is the new Black, Zohan + Love Guru = Suck and Blow, a man finally conquers his home printer, and rampant underachievement runs wild on our airwaves. To top you off, we also examine the correlation between hobo love and the rising number of teenage pregnancies. Finally, check out this picture of Kratos, Jeff and Stacie's tortoise and God of all Reptilia: EPISODE 125 Download today's podcast … Read more

Memorable quotes from D6

The witty John Paczkowski has come up with his list of the best quotes from the D6 conference. (See our full coverage here)

Following is a small sample:

"Guys like us avoid monopolies. We like to compete."--Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates

"AOL is the Rodney Dangerfield of the Web. We don't get no respect."--Jeff Bewkes, president and CEO, Time Warner

"I didn't leave business school to go bankrupt."--Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on his first days at Microsoft

"Hollywood is a community that's so inbred, it's a wonder … Read more

Time Warner CEO gets a grilling at 'D'

Updated at 3:47 p.m. PDT to include questions from audience.

CARLSBAD, Calif.--Yahoo's Jerry Yang and Sue Decker may have gotten a tough time from Walt Mossberg, but perhaps they should consider themselves lucky.

Next up at the D6 conference here was Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes. A humorous video poked plenty of fun at the executive culminating in a discussion of whether D host Kara Swisher would cut off Bewkes' genitalia.

Clearly prepared, Bewkes came onstage covering his crotch.

Probably a good idea. In the first 30 seconds, Swisher fired off questions on everything from The … Read more

Amazon's Jeff Bezos: A passion for Kindle and digital content delivery

CARLSBAD, Calif.--Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos kicked off the morning proceedings here at D6 after a night of polite carousing by industry luminaries. During the interview with D co-host Walt Mossberg, Bezos announced a streaming-video service and explained his foray into hardware with the Kindle e-book reader.

On the subject of video and music delivery, Bezos said, "We are working on a new version of video-on-demand, a for-pay streaming service we will release in the next couple of weeks. The streaming service will start instantly, and it's a la carte, for pay."

Regarding competing … Read more

Talking with Microsoft's new Office chief

As a guy who spent a decade in Silicon Valley, Stephen Elop says he, too, had his doubts when he first heard about Microsoft's "software plus services" strategy.

"The initial impression of that, as an outsider, is 'Is that just a cheesy way of saying we are going to hold off as long as we can," said Elop, who was an executive at Macromedia and Adobe Systems before joining Microsoft earlier this year.

But, if Elop was initially skeptical, he's now an ardent believer. In an interview in San Francisco last week, the president … Read more

Gates demos TouchWall computer

In his waning days as a full-time employee, Bill Gates is getting a little touchy-feely.

I'm not sure whether Gates is getting more emotional, but he is definitely big on the power of new user interfaces, especially touch-screen devices. On Wednesday, he is set to show off Microsoft's latest prototype, known as TouchWall.

The device to be shown Wednesday is something like a giant Surface unit turned on its side.

TouchWall is one of several multitouch prototypes Microsoft Research has created, in addition to the tabletop unit that Microsoft's Surface group has begun to sell commercially. Among … Read more

Raikes tapped as Gates Foundation CEO

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said on Monday that longtime Microsoft executive Jeff Raikes will be the organization's next chief executive.

Raikes announced in January he would be stepping down as president of Microsoft's Business Division, the unit that includes Office. In an interview with CNET News.com at the time, he had said he expected his next job would be outside the technology arena.

"This is truly a dream job," Raikes said in a conference call with reporters. Although Raikes is known for his work at Microsoft, he has also been active in charitable … Read more

Razorfish co-founder offering advice again

Jeff Dachis, one of the original Internet cowboys while running Web consultancy Razorfish, is again offering advice to corporate America.

Venture capital firm Austin Ventures is putting up $50 million to back Dachis' new venture, a consultancy that plans to help companies use social networks as well as sell them the software tools they need.

Razorfish was one of those "Web services" companies that skyrocketed to riches during the bubble years only to end up in a heap after the bubble burst.

Noted for his swagger, Dachis was humbled when Razorfish--which had seen $250 million in revenues and … Read more

Kindle back on shelves at Amazon

Barely a month after Jeff Bezos' very public mea culpa over delays, Amazon's Kindle is apparently back on the virtual shelves.

The e-tailer's listing page for the e-book reader indicates that it's in stock and available for purchase, at the usual $399 plus free two-day shipping.

After the Kindle had sold out so quickly after its launch in November last year, there had been some speculation that the delays were caused by production problems or were planned deliberately to stoke more demand. But as Craver David Carnoy indicated, it was probably just a victim of holiday shopping madness.… Read more