123People.com

This has to be the most amazing/creepy internet tool I've seen in a while!
You can look up anyone by name or zip and it aggregates all of their personal and digital info! Enjoy/Beware :)

"Anti-Prop. 8 Campaign Gets A Boost From Apple" (Los Angeles Times)

Cool, big business taking a stand on social issues:

"Apple Inc. said Friday that it was donating $100,000 to fight the proposed ban on same-sex marriages in California, taking a rare political stand that may win over some customers and irk others.

The computer and gadget maker joined such companies as Google Inc., Qualcomm Inc. and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. in declaring opposition to Proposition 8, which would define marriage as only between a man and woman.

“We strongly believe that a person’s fundamental rights – including the right to marry – should not be affected by their sexual orientation,” Apple said..."

"Russian, Plus American Tourist Return from Space" (Associated Press)

"Richard Garriott, a 47-year-old computer games designer who created the Ultima game series, paid US$30 million for trip to the International Space Station. When he lifted off Oct. 12, he became the first American to follow his father into space..."

How Toxic Is Your iPod? (SCIAM)

"There's a big question behind this podcast: how environmentally friendly is an iPod? The answer: this Apple is more brown than green. But it's getting greener.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has not only revealed new environmentally friendly MacBooks, he has unveiled new iPods that are the most toxin-free ever. They’ve eliminated the poison arsenic and the brain-damaging mercury—and sheathed it in a recycleable aluminum skin.

Why do we care? When you trash last year's model—or any old technology for that matter, remember the Walkman?—it often ends up in a landfill or, even worse, exported to countries like China or India. There laborers are paid a pittance to smash, crack, melt and cook the materials out of old electronics. The result is local children with lead in the blood and adults poisoned by toxic fumes..."

Bill Gates' Mystery Startup: bgC3 (PC Magainze)

No one's really sure if bgC3 is just to help coordinate activities for his other organizations, or if it's some new tech/business related initiative.

"Todd Bishop, who has covered Microsoft for the last five years at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, has helped kick off his new TechFlash.com site with by revealing some details behind bgC3, a new startup apparently backed and founded by Bill Gates.
Gates, who stepped down as Microsoft's chief executive earlier this year, is apparently not quite ready to quietly spend the rest of his days fishing on Lake Washington.

"Is this Bill Gates' next big business?" Bishop writes. "A Gates insider gives an emphatic no—saying it's not a commercial venture but rather a vehicle to coordinate the software mogul's work on his business and philanthropic endeavors."...

Aetna Links Up With Microsoft's HealthVault (WSJ blog)

"Aetna is taking a new step toward making patients’ health records portable.

The national insurer will begin allowing enrollees in its plans to transfer medical records to Microsoft’s year-old health record site, HealthVault. Starting next month, many Aetna members will be able to move information from their Aetna “personal health record” — an online repository of data that includes claims, diagnoses, test results and prescriptions — to HealthVault, the WSJ reports.

This is part of a broad effort among tech companies, insurers and health providers to help patients access all of their health info in one place and transfer it easily to doctors or hospitals, among others. Sites including HealthVault and Google Health, which launched earlier this year, are trying to become central points where patients’ data are available to them, for instance, when they switch from one insurer to another..."