points

In today's show, it's time to Hangout with the world, seek out new smartphones and take a ride on the Yahoo drama train:

Your Google+ Hangout video chat sessions can now broadcast live to the world. Google made it easy to share the live stream of a Hangout on your Google+ page, or embed it on another Web site. You can see how many people are watching, and once the live show is done it can be uploaded to YouTube.

Google has been working with some television shows to broadcast their Hangouts live. If you want to check it out, … Read more

The "Wizard of Omaha" isn't buying the official explanation Yahoo has offered about CEO Scott Thompson and the misrepresentation of his educational background on his resume.

Last week it was discovered that Thompson did not possess the degree in "computer science" that he had claimed. Yahoo said the error had been "inadvertent."

The disclosure stepped up the pressure from activist investor group Third Point to fire Thompson as it wages a proxy battle to gain seats on Yahoo's board. And on Monday, legendary investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett expressed sharp … Read more

Pull up a seat and get out the popcorn. High noon came and went with Yahoo refusing the demand by activist shareholder Dan Loeb and his investment company, Third Point, to fire CEO Scott Thompson.

Third Point has just responded with a demand that the company turn over books and records related to Thompson and the board's vetting process.

In a statement issued after Yahoo ignored the deadline, Third Point indicated it plans to scour Yahoo's internal records for evidence that it will no doubt use to press its escalating proxy fight for seats on the company's … Read more

The activist shareholder gunning for Yahoo's board is about to ratchet up the pressure.

Daniel Loeb, who heads the hedge fund Third Point, seized on the revelation this week that Yahoo's CEO had lied on his resume to demand that the board fire CEO Scott Thompson by noon EDT Monday.

And what happens if, at 12:01, Yahoo decides to maintain radio silence? For Third Point, it would signal the start of an escalating power struggle for control over a company in crisis.

"Isn't everyone a fan of the 1952 western 'High Noon?'" a source … Read more

Hedge fund Third Point upped its battle with Yahoo's board by asserting that Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson does not have the computer science degree claimed on his resume.

In a letter to Yahoo's board, Third Point CEO Daniel Loeb said that Thompson received a degree in accounting from Stonehill College, but not "accounting and computer science," as stated on the Yahoo company Web site. Third point said it inquired at Stonehill College and found that it did not offer computer science degrees when he graduated.

Third Point, which owns 5.8 percent of beleaguered Internet company … Read more

Google co-founder Sergey Brin and his wife, 23andMe founder Anne Wojcicki, have committed to giving $1 million to a Bay Area charity, but only if the organization can get other Silicon Valley titans to pony up another million.

In an interview with CNET last week, Tipping Point Community CEO Daniel Lurie, whose charity distributes donations to dozens of nonprofits throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, said that Brin and Wojcicki have agreed to the gift, assuming Tipping Point can find matching funds from others in the technology world.

Lurie said that Brin and Wojcicki have been long-time supporters of Tipping … Read more

Microsoft announced on its Office for Mac Blog today that it has made its Service Pack 2 for Office for Mac 2011 available for download. This update addresses a number of problems users have been having with Outlook, but also fixes some aspects of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

The update is available via Microsoft's included Autoupdate utility, but can also be downloaded from Microsoft's Web site. The update is about 110MB in size, and after installing the version of your Office installation will be 14.2.0.

With the release of Office 2011 Microsoft replaced its old Entourage … Read more

Many people enjoy it when technology works automatically. Sometimes, though, a little stick-shift principle might be the wiser course.

I make this entirely free suggestion on having heard about Father Martin McVeigh, a priest in County Tyrone, Ireland.

McVeigh was making a presentation to parents of children preparing for Holy Communion. Like any modern pastor would do, he prepared a PowerPoint and carefully inserted his USB stick into a computer.

For reasons that seem not entirely clear, scenes of gay pornography appeared on the screen. Yes, in a slideshow.

The Associated Press offers that the parents at St. Mary's … Read more

Embattled Yahoo reportedly has a new plan for keeping dissident shareholders at bay: pack its board with supporters ahead of an anticipated proxy fight with hedge fund Third Point.

AllThingsD reports that Yahoo leadership is beating the bushes for three more directors to fill the vacancies created in February when five of its 11 board members announced they wouldn't stand for re-election. Yahoo has already named two new directors -- former Rovi CEO and patent-litigation enthusiast Alfred Amoroso and former eBay exec Maynard Webb.

The struggling Web giant, however, is in a race against time. Last month, Third Point named an alternative slate of four candidates, … Read more