This Day in Tech: Schmidt testifies in Senate; Hate Facebook changes?

Too busy to keep up with the tech news? Here are some of the more interesting stories from CNET for Wednesday, September 21.

• In his testimony, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt referred to Microsoft's mistakes (without actually naming the tech firm directly). Meanwhile, Google competitors such as Yelp tell senators during an antitrust subcommittee hearing that the company "rigs" search results. CBS news reports: "The early fireworks appeared when Sen. Michael S. Lee (R-Utah) produced data showing that Google's owned and operated properties often were among the top links." Google says trust us. More from CNET News here.

• Consumer Watchdog took privacy into its own hands. The mimes arrived in Washington, D.C., just in time for Schmidt's testimony. CNET's Greg Sandoval wrote: "They staged their protest on the same day that Google Chairman Eric Schmidt testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on antitrust during a hearing on whether Google harms competition."

• Everytime Facebook makes changes, we hate it. This time is no different. Some of the changes make the Facebook feed look more like Twitter. And CNET's Molly Wood rants about Facebook and Netflix, too.

• What's the Solyndra effect on other solar companies? "If anyone else is trying to raise money, really for any new technology in solar, you are going to be playing defense now with Solyndra," Shayle Kann, an analyst at GTM Research told CNET. "It's probably going to create a more difficult landscape in general."

• Former Vice President Al Gore, who serves on the board of Apple, says multiple iPhones are coming.

• Bill Gates is the richest guy, but Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg is not far behind.

• Yes, the PlayStation Network was down. However, PSN appears to be coming back online.

• So could Facebook become the next AOL or IBM? That's how Google's Vint Cerf sees it anyway.

• Pandora pushes out an HTML5 site redesign in favor of Adobe Flash.

• Twitter gets ready for political ads, in time for the 2012 election. Hopefully, there will not be any underwear shots to repeat Weinergate.

• YouTube adds Magisto automatic video editing tool. Go here to try it out.

• Netflix is adding more TV content, which will play a larger role in the company's streaming service than feature-length films.

• Greenstart unveils clean-tech startups. Here's my video coverage of it, with a quote from Edwin Lee, the mayor of San Francisco.