Loaded: Kevin Bacons of the Net Video
Loaded: Kevin Bacons of the Net Video Transcript
>> Barack Obama signs up for Scribe, that's why he takes gadget kiosk to the airport and we take a look at the anti-climatic Yahoo shareholder's meeting. It's Monday, August 4, I'm Natalie Del Conte and it's time to get loaded. ^m00:00:12 [ music ] ^m00:00:16 Last Friday was the Yahoo shareholder's meeting in the Bay area. We're expecting some fireworks or perhaps some changing of the guard, but it was actually a lot more civilized than that. Kara Tsuboi was there, take a look:
>> Did you overpay on compensation? I think you were involved in overplaying your hand with Microsoft and you have overstayed your welcome as recklessly; so the honorable thing and if there's again, a high against vote, step down from this board.
>> That was as tense as it got during the Q and A portion of the Yahoo shareholder meeting.
>> It was more subdued than I was thinking it would go. For example, the room wasn't even packed to the gills. Jerry Yang is not gonna be raising the white flag anytime soon.
>> Nonetheless, shareholders we talked to afterward expressed frustration about the company's direction and stagnant stock price.
>> Their growth is just not happening and so you start to lose hope a little bit as far as the company goes.
>> I want a clean slate, I want a whole new board. Somebody's gotta come in here and turn this whole company around.
>> Even though investor Carl Icahn will now occupy a seat on Yahoo's board, he was barely mentioned.
>> I think it's a good thing but it's not the cure all for this company. I mean, he's one shareholder and there are a lot of us out there and just having him and having a couple of other people on this board, doesn't fix this board in my opinion. I think some more changes need to be made.
>> When investor Carl Ikon joins the board on Monday, he and the other board members will have until August 15 to name the 2 additional members. Their choices will be interesting, as it could lay the groundwork for future leadership positions within the company.
>> For Kara's full report got to News dot com.
>> Do you feel that you are the Kevin Bacon of instant messaging? In fact we all are. A new study from Microsoft proves the old theory that everyone is connected to someone else by only 6 degrees of separation. Microsoft surveyed 30 billion electronic communications of 180 million people and found that we are all connected to just about anyone in the world by an average of 6 point 6 degrees of separation. So with just a little bit of digging you could meet Cher or Jimmy Carter or the Uni-bomber, if they let prisoner's instant message, which I don't think they do. AT and T has nailed down the exclusive rights to sell the iPhone for at least another year. Apple and AT and T have reportedly agreed that AT and T will be the only carrier, offering iPhone service in the U. S. through 2009; so if you're holding out to get one through T-Mobile, Sprint, or Verizon, don't hold your breath. I can't say I love this news, I was hoping that eventually I could take my iPhone off of AT and T's dismal service but that's not gonna happen. Amazon has acquired Abe Books, a rare and out of print bookseller. The two companies have worked together for a long time now, so Amazon went ahead and just bought the cow. Abe Books is approximately 110 million books listed for sale and claims tens of thousands of sales everyday. I usually find books on there through a site called campus I dot com, which aggregates all online booksellers and then gives you the cheapest price. Give it a try if you haven't already. Best Buy is reportedly gonna start putting vending machines for electronics in airports. The machines will sell consumer gadgets such as MP3 players and digital cameras. I've seen iPods in vending machines before in hotels, but never actually purchased one. I can see how you might want to though, in an airport when you're faced with a long flight or vacation and forgot a digital camera, or you might want a flash memory card or a last minute gift. Comcast got a pretty big slap on the wrist from the FCC last week. The government agency ruled that Comcast's blocking of torrent traffic was wrong and that the company will have to disclose details about it's current network practices from here on out. It will have to stop filtering traffic by the end of the year. Comcast can appeal this ruling, but I doubt they will. They've been trying to show goodwill lately, so they'll do what they can to show that their network is free and clear. Barack obama has a Scribe account, of course I don't think he's actually updated it himself but his staff is using Scribe to make transcripts of important documents publicly available. If you go to Scribe dot com slash Barack Obama, you can find transcripts of speeches, public statements, and more. Obama has always embraced social media to make his positions accessible and this is just one more example of that. Those are your headlines for today, but I will be back tomorrow with more. Thank you for watching. I'm Natalie Del Conte with CNET TV and you've just been loaded. [ music ]
Barack Obama signs up for 'Scribd,' Best Buy takes gadget kiosks to the airport, and we take a peek at the anticlimactic Yahoo shareholders meeting. Plus, Microsoft proves that we are all the Kevin Bacons of the Internet.
