Steve Wozniak had one of the most amazing career starts -- inventing the modern personal computer -- in U.S. history. But how do you follow that? How do you live the rest of your life in the shadow of something you did when you little more than a teenager? Most people in similar circumstances surrender to self-pity, self-parody or self-destruction. But Woz, who is about to compete on, of all things, 'Dancing with the Stars', has found a different path. An appreciation of one of high tech's most unusual characters by Edgelings editor-in-chief Michael S. Malone

As we predicted a few days ago, new Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz has now completed her own audit of the company whose reins she has assumed . . .and has now made her move. Yesterday, she effectively reorganized the entire company, further integrating and simplifying what she described as a "silo" structure that was slowing down the company. Among her moves: 1) A slimmer management structure; 2) CTO Ari Balogh will lead combined tech and product groups; 3) Hilary Schneider to lead North America; 3) CFO Blake Jorgensen walks. Yahoo stock was up as much as 7 percent on the announcement -- most likely because investors think Bartz has one more card left to play: a long-term strategy for the company . . .perhaps even its sale.

Burned by last week's scandal involving its unilateral attempt to monetize the private information of its users, Facebook yesterday announced that henceforth it will invite its 175 million users to vote on questions of "rules and framework" in the words of CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the announcement press conference. How will this work? According to Facebook, the company will propose new initiatives regarding terms of service, etc. If more than 7,000 people comment, the policy will be put to a vote and the result will be binding . . .if more than 30 percent -- or 53 million -- active registered users vote. And if there is no quorum -- which seems pretty likely given the comparative indifference of most Facebook users to the internal operations of the site -what happens then? Facebook has yet to elaborate.

Now that we've finally had a clear look at President Obama's economic package, it becomes apparent that -- whatever was said during the campaign -- this Administration is going to heavily tax not just the wealthy but, in high cost-of-living regions like Silicon Valley, the middle class as well. Combine that with the already heavy tax load typically enforced on citizens of these regions . . .and you have the recipe for local collapse. Commentary by Forbes publisher and regular Edgelings contributor Rich Karlgaard.

While Microsoft and Mozilla (and even Google) talk about the fast new browsers they've got under development in their labs, Apple has beaten them to the market. First reviews of the new Safari 4 are scintillating so far. Apple's new browser is not only screamingly fast, but very stable so far in testing. Perhaps best of all, Safari 4 has scored a scored a perfect 100% on the industry standard Web Standards Project's Acid3 test -- which looks at whether a browser renders text the way the engineers of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript intended. This is not only good news for iPhone and Mac users, but could even pull users away from Internet Explorer and Firefox, the number 1 and 2 browsers in use today.

Yesterday, Google announced that it would join, as a third-party, in the anti-trust investigation being waged by the European Commission against Microsoft and its Internet Explorer. This may seem like a clever strategy now, says Edgelings editor-in-chief Michael S. Malone, but it will come back to bite Google one day.

Putting all of the pork and politics aside, why has the new Economic Stimulus failed to . . . well, stimulate? Why is each new initiative from the White House on saving our downward spinning economy met with a drop in the stock market and even lower public approval ratings? It's because both the markets and the general public realize, if only intuitively, that the Feds are wasting their time trying fix a world that is gone, not the one that is emerging. Here's a link to a Wall Street Journal commentary on this subject -- and the crucial role that entrepreneurs can play in saving our economy -- by Edgelings editor-in-chief Michael S. Malone and contributing editor (and Edgelings co-founder) Tom Hayes.

You would think that after last week's scandal at Facebook, that other tech companies would pause before making an unusual move and ask itself if this is really a wise thing to do. But you would be wrong. Witness Microsoft's bonehead move this week in asking newly laid-off employees to give some of the money back: how much will that cost in bad publicity versus money recouped from ex-employees? A commentary by KNTV-NBC reporter and regular Edgelings contributor Scott Budman

You know how this works: troubled company brings in a new CEO to straighten out the company. The new CEO makes a few comments about the company's troubles, but also good things about how the employees are loyal, hard-working, blah, blah. Then everything goes quiet for a few weeks . . .just long enough for those employees to settle down and start believing that maybe nothing is going to change that much after all. Then BOOM -- the CEO, who has been working on a battleplan during the quiet period -- reappears with a new organization chart in one hand and a meat-axe in the other. That's how big public company CEOs play it -- even when they're nice, caring bosses like Carol Bartz, Yahoo's newly-hired chief executive. This week, she emerged . . .and the reorganization of Yahoo began. It's going to get a lot wilder from here.

Wouldn't the best kind of electric car be the one you don't have to plug in -- that would draw power from the road itself? Scott Budman, KNTV-NBC reporter and Edgelings contributor, has just seen such a technology . . .and in the process also gotten a glimpse of our future.

Did Microsoft's HR department get a little sloppy in accounting its severance packages? That's what TechCrunch is reporting. It has a copy of a letter to a laid-off employee that suggests that the company gave that person too much money . . .and now wants some of it back. “An inadvertent administrative error occurred that resulted in an overpayment in severance pay by Microsoft,” says the letter “We ask that you repay the overpayment and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience to you.” That's what you call getting screwed over twice by your former employer.

This week, the social networking giant Facebook -- once again -- tried to implement a new scheme to make money off the content created by its users. And once again it got caught doing so, civil liberties groups mobilized in response, and Facebook backed off. Why does Facebook keep trying this tactic, despite all of the bad publicity and distrust it creates? It may be that the company believes it has no choice. Commentary by Edgelings Editor-in-Chief Michael S. Malone

Don't look now, but while you've been busy worrying about keeping hackers and other digital predators from breaking into your company's IT network, your biggest security threat may be coming from your own employees. Commentary by security expert and regular Edgelings contributor Charlie Martin

Dick Lynch, chief technical officer for Verizon, has at last committed the cellular carrier to equip two U.S. cities with its super high speed Long Term Evolution (LTE) data networks by the end of this year. Though he described these installations as pre-commercial deployments, Lynch also told the audience at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona that he expects to have 25-30 cities similarly wired by 2010. Tests of LTE show performance of 50-60 Mps to downstream users. Verizon and Vodafone have also conducted city-wide LTE tests.

The economics of publishing mean that print newspapers are doomed. Will government subsidies and “fairness” be used to keep them unburied? Commentary by regular Edgelings contributor Charlie Martin.

With the exception of Hollywood, President Obama nowhere got more vocal support from local bigwigs than in Silicon Valley. But now, as the new President backs greater union power and supports an economic stimulus package that does nothing for high tech or entrepreneurship, those voices are strangely quiet. Where are they? Forbes publisher and regular Edgelings contributor Rich Karlgaard says its time for Obama's supporters in high tech to starting IMing their new pal in the White House.

Sometimes it's the little things that make all of the difference in life. For KNTV-NBC tech reporter and regular Edgelings contributor Scott Budman, the secret to happiness may turn out to be a simple iPhone application that takes all -- well, almost all . . .there's still potholes -- out of taking a taxi.

While Washington is locked in debate over what is the best way to stimulate back to health "the worst economy since the Great Depression", on the ground in Silicon Valley the earliest indicators are suggesting that the recovery has already begun. The question now, asks Edgelings Editor-in-Chief Michael S. Malone, is whether the government's economic medicine will cure -- or kill -- this newborn boom.

Though it's not entirely true, there is still a lot of evidence to support the generally held belief that every since Steve Jobs' return to Apple, Microsoft has been trapped in a perpetual game of catch-up . . .like the nerd who imitates the cool kid in hopes of capturing some of his success. Case in point: yesterday, confirming rumors that had been swirling around the industry for months, Microsoft admitted that it is planning to open a chain of company retail stores. To help execute this strategy, the company has hired Walmart and DreamWorks veteran David Porter. "We're working hard to transform the PC and Microsoft buying experience at retail by improving the articulation and demonstration of the Microsoft innovation and value proposition so that it's clear, simple and straightforward for consumers everywhere," said Microsoft COO Kevin Turner, in a quote that helps to explain the company's problem.

Bet you didn't see this one coming. Unnoticed earlier this week in the hoopla surrounding the introduction of Amazon's new Kindle 2 e-book is that, due to some of its hardware (its Sprint modem, in particular), the device is only compatible with U.S. networks. And that's just the beginning; imagine all of the licensing agreements that will be required with international publishing houses. In other words, for now excited consumers everywhere else in the world will only be able to read about Kindle . . .and not on a Kindle. Is Amazon planning an international version of the Kindle 2? No doubt. But for now, the company isn't talking.

Bucking both long-term manufacturing and short-term economic trends, Intel Corp. yesterday shocked the tech world by announcing a $7 billion investment in upgrading its fab facilities in New Mexico, Arizona and Oregon. The world's largest semiconductor company has a history -- going as far back as the great 1974 tech recession -- of raising the stakes when times are bad. Already this year the chip firm has announced that it will hold steady on its R&D investments, even as many of its competitors are paring back. But Tuesday's announcement contained a second shocker: at a time when most U.S. tech firms continue to ship manufacturing off-shore, Intel has decided to buck the trend by investing in domestic manufacturing. If this is a trend -- and Intel's moves usually are -- it's a good one for both the U.S. economy and for U.S. manufacturing jobs. Along with a link to a relevant Computerworld story, here's a video report (click headline above) from KNTV-NBC reporter and regular Edgelings contributor Scott Budman.

Now it's getting interesting: the eBook business, which barely existed a year ago, is now rapidly becoming the hottest consumer market in tech. This week has already seen the introduction of Amazon's Kindle 2, the follow-up to the industry's first great break-out product. Now, reports are that Canadian bookseller Indigo Books & Music is preparing to announce it's own eBook software, "Shortcovers", as an app for the iPhone, Blackberry and Google Android operating system. First reviews are that while Shortcovers doesn't offer as many features as Kindle, it does offer the advantage of being integrated into platforms -- smartphones -- that are already in millions of pockets around the world. And this is only the beginning; the eBooks business is only going to get more exciting as the population of users grows.

After serving as chairperson of Senator John McCain's bid for the White House, it was only a matter of time before eBay's ex-CEO Meg Whitman made a bid for public office. The question is will she be the winnining bidder for California's top spot? Scott Budman reports for Edgelings and NBC Bay Area News.

We warned you last week that it was coming . . .and yesterday's formal announcement of Amazon's second generation Kindle proved to be even bigger than predicted -- not least because author Stephen King showed up to announce that he had specially written a new novella for the Kindle 2. Meanwhile, first reviews of the device are already coming in -- and they are almost uniformly positive. Good news for Amazon. But the best news for consumers is that, unlike the Kindle 1 at its introduction, you'll actually be able to order and receive the damn thing in less than six months. All that will change, of course, if Oprah whispers a word about the Kindle 2 on her show.

It goes without saying that times are tough these days in tech, just like everywhere else. Still, even in the coldest times there are companies so hot that they manage to buck the trend. KNTV-NBC reporter and regular Edgelings contributor Scott Budman has found just such a high-flying company, and in the most unlikely place: biotech.

Advanced Micro Devices, playing catch-up to Intel as fast as it can, will today introduce new models to its desktop Phenom II family of processors. The new additions, notably the $145, 2.8 GHz, X3 720 Black Edition, adds triple-core models to the existing line of quad-core devices. All are designed to compete head-on with their Intel Core 2 counterparts, either with greater power at a comparable price, or equal power at a discount price. To underscore just how anxious AMD is to get back into the game, these new models are available "immediately."