Microsoft

Exclusive video: Steve Ballmer’s intense, tearful goodbye to Microsoft

As reported on The Verge. By Nilay Pate Outgoing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has always been a speaker and performer like no other — his absolute enthusiasm for his company is electric in person, turning ordinary corporate events into raw displays of emotion that are often criticized but never forgotten. That energy was on full display earlier this week, as Ballmer led his last Microsoft employee meeting as CEO — he’s announced his plan to step down within 12 months,…

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Government

Goodbye, government: shutdown affects science, the environment, and health

As reported on The Verge. By Carl Franzen Hardest-hit agencies are those in charge of forward-thinking projects Congress was unable to pass the funding bill before the deadline, and as of midnight tonight the US government has begun shutting down. The US government is headed for a shutdown as of this writing, after members of Congress were unable to reach a compromise on the federal budget. They have until midnight tonight to pass a new funding bill…

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Business PC

With Weak Back-To-School Sales, The PC Market Is Now Microsoft’s To Save

As reported on TechCrunch. by ALEX WILHELM Splat. That’s the sound the PC market just made. According to Sterne Agee analyst Vijay Rakesh, back-to-school computer sales were “virtually absent.” Put in other words: The traditional September bump that students provided to PC OEMs as they headed back to classrooms failed to generate a meaningful sales delta. It’s like missing spring for the larger PC market. The best way to view this news is that consumers are repudiating traditional…

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Application

Dropbox update adds automatic screenshot saving, iPhoto imports

As reported on Engadget. By Sarah Silbert It’s not a huge update, but today Dropbox gains the ability to automatically save your computer screenshots. Next time you immortalize that Gchat, your screen-cap will be saved to your Dropbox account and copied to your clipboard as a link for sharing. (You’ll have the ability to opt out of this new feature, should you feel so inclined.) In a nod to Mac users, the cloud storage service is also adding automatic iPhoto…

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Business Internet

AT&T brings 300Mbps fiber internet to Austin in December, gigabit by ‘mid-2014’

As reported on Engadget. By Timothy J. Seppala Now that AT&T is actually laying down fiber-optic line in Austin, we have yet anotherreason to be jealous of Texas’ weird city. According to Ma Bell, “tens of thousands” will be getting 300Mbps downloads (and uploads), the “fastest internet speeds available” in town to the general public, come December. Those subscribers can snag a free upgrade to gigabit service — GigaPower, as the company calls it — when it’s available in the middle…

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