Topic: The Mercury News

Google Drive says it may 'publicly perform' your files. What's that mean?

Google Drive goes live this week. Should users be wary of how their information will be used? Google says no. 

Painter of light Thomas Kinkade: 'I really like to make people happy.' (+video)

Artist Thomas Kinkade, who died Friday, produced idyllic scenes that became a huge commercial success. 'I'm trying to bring light to penetrate the darkness many people feel,' he said.

Occupy Wall Street movement intrigues, confounds the tea party

Even as analysts note similarities between the two populist uprisings, many tea party activists say a merger could never happen. Many are put off by Occupy Wall Street's civil disobedience and economic prescriptions.

Jerry Brown taking his budget-cutting campaign into GOP territory

After the collapse of the California budget deal, Jerry Brown is appealing directly to Republican voters where they live, including a GOP-friendly proposal to reform public employee pensions.

Medal of Honor drops Taliban team from multiplayer mode

Medal of Honor has changed the name of one of the teams in its multiplayer mode. But the gameplay remains the same.

Léo Apotheker: Will software salesman measure up as HP CEO?

Léo Apotheker, a software strategist, must lead hardware-maker HP into a new world of software services.

Steve Jobs preparing to revolutionize the newspaper business?

Steve Jobs and Apple are rumored to be preparing a newspaper subscription service. Could Steve Jobs shake up another industry?

Halo: Reach review scores? Not yet.

Halo: Reach review scores have been embargoed until days before the game's release.

Android OS growing in leaps and bounds

Google's Android and Nokia's Symbian OS will share control of the smartphone market by 2014, an analytics firm said Friday.

iPad versus iPhone: Which had the better opening weekend?

Apple has confirmed its iPad sales figures. They don't match iPhone 3GS numbers, but Wall Street is happy.

Despite outcry, Anthem Blue Cross to go ahead with big rate hike

The decision by Anthem Blue Cross to hike its California customers' insurance rates by up to 39 percent has sparked hearings in Congress and at the California State House. Obama and Democrats cited it at Thursday's healthcare summit.

Silicon Valley's innovation engine at risk, report says

A new report warns that Silicon Valley's status as a center of economic growth and innovation is in danger. Silicon Valley has lost 90,000 jobs since 2008, and venture capital funding has plunged.

California governor's race: All about the money?

Personal wealth is both an asset and drawback for GOP candidates in the California governor's race. Republican billionaire Meg Whitman has put another $20 million into her campaign.

San Jose police get ear-mounted video cameras in battle for image

A few police in San Jose, Calif., will test ear-mounted video cameras to record their interactions with the public. The pilot technology advances the police point of view at a time when bystander cellphone video often shapes perceptions of police behavior.

Like Maria Shriver, many Californians break cellphone ban

California's first lady was filmed thrice talking on a handheld phone while driving. State highway patrol's cellphone citations are up from last year.

Dugard case: Is California's parole system overstretched?

Jaycee's abductor was a parolee, Phillip Garrido. His story is now framing the debate about how the state should relieve overcrowded prisons, and who should be watched most closely.

In cash-strapped California, plans for a high-speed rail line are rebuked

Coming soon: Google your electricity use

Google.org, the philanthropy arm of the information giant, announced Tuesday that it is developing software that will allow users to monitor their home's electricity use in near real-time over the Web.

Kamikaze pelicans baffling Calif. scientists

Scores of weak and disoriented California brown pelicans have been slamming into cars and boats, landing on highways and airport runways, and turning up dead in back yards and parking lots many miles from their normal coastal habitats.

Bay Area seeks to become electric-car capital

The mayors of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose announced an ambitious public-private partnership last week to develop a $1 billion network of charging outlets for electric cars.