Michael Liedtke

SAN FRANCISCO — When technology breaks down now, people’s lives go haywire, too. Wednesday’s confounding confluence of computer outages at United Airlines, the New York Stock Exchange and The Wall Street Journal delivered a jolting reminder about our deepening dependence on interconnected networks to get through each day. For the most part, technology has worked smoothly while hatching innovations and conveniences that have made our lives easier and our jobs more productive. Computers, though, could bring more frequent headaches as they link together with billions of other electronic devices and household appliances— a phenomenon that has become known as...

Biz Stone knows abandoning a struggling project to try something else can be a smart move. After all, he was part of a team that dumped the seldom-heard podcasting service Odeo nearly a decade ago to work on a new idea called Twitter that transformed how people communicate and made him a multimillionaire. Stone is hoping his latest change in direction pays off as he heads down a new path at Jelly Industries, a San Francisco startup he launched shortly after leaving Twitter three years ago. Jelly made headlines 16 months ago with the release of mobile app that taps into social networks to find experts who can answer...

Yahoo is still struggling to boost its revenue nearly three years into CEO Marissa Mayer’s tenure, magnifying concerns that the Internet company holds little value beyond its lucrative Asian investments. The latest evidence of Yahoo’s financial malaise emerged Tuesday with the release the company’s first-quarter earnings report. Mayer and Yahoo’s chief financial officer, Ken Goldman, eased investors’ disappointment by pledging to cut costs, while indicating that the company may be willing to fulfill Wall Street’s desire for a spinoff of its stake in Yahoo Japan. Yahoo disclosed Tuesday that it already has trimmed its workforce by 1,100 people during the first three months of the...

Google is about to change the way its influential search engine recommends websites on smartphones and tablets in a shift that’s expected to sway where millions of people shop, eat and find information. The revised formula, scheduled to be released Tuesday, will favor websites that Google defines as “mobile-friendly.” Websites that don’t fit the description will be demoted in Google’s search results on smartphones and tablets while those meeting the criteria will be more likely to appear at the top of the rankings – a prized position that can translate into more visitors and money. Although Google’s new formula...

An unorthodox stock split designed to ensure Google (Nasdaq: GOOG)  CEO Larry Page and fellow co-founder Sergey Brin retain control of the Internet’s most profitable company could cost Google more than half a billion dollars. Page, 42, and Brin, 41, have maintained control over Google since they started the company in a rented Silicon Valley garage in 1998. Their ideas and leadership have spawned one of the world’s best known and most powerful companies with a market value of $375 billion and a payroll of about 54,000 employees. Yet many investors have become frustrated with Page’s unwavering belief that Googleshould be spending billions on far-flung projects...

Facebook’s Messenger app is evolving into a multitasking tool equipped to send an animated fist bump to a friend at one moment and then get a little business done in the next. In an effort to pull off the transformation, Facebook Inc. is opening Messenger so outside programmers can build features tailored for the service. By the end of April, Messenger will also be adding the ability to display store receipts and shipping information to help consumers keep track of their interactions with merchants and other businesses. The push to diversify Messenger addresses a potential threat to Facebook’s ubiquitous...

Would you pay to see some of the Internet’s best video clips first? Vessel, a new service trying to change the way that short video pieces make money on the Internet and mobile devices, is betting on it. Instead of free-for-all distribution supported solely by advertising, Vessel will charge $3 per month for exclusive early access to clips of musicians, sporting events, comedians and many other forms of entertainment not available on YouTube or any other digital video service for at least three days. CEO Jason Kilar, formerly head of Hulu Plus, believes Vessel’s model will be able to...

More than half of Americans are worried about the U.S. government’s digital spies prying into their emails, texts, search requests and other online information, but few are trying to thwart the surveillance. That’s according to a new survey from Pew Research Center, released Monday. A main reason for the inertia? Pew researchers found that a majority of those surveyed don’t know about online shields that could help boost privacy or believe it would be too difficult to avoid the government’s espionage. The poll questioned 475 adults from Nov. 26 to Jan. 3 — about a year-and-a-half after confidential documents...

 YouTube is going to release a mobile app that will only show video clips suitable for young children to help parents control what their kids are watching on the Internet. The YouTube for Kids app, scheduled to be released for Android devices on Monday, features thousands of kid-focused channels that provide both entertainment and education. The content is mostly meant for children two to eight years old. Clips are selected by computer algorithms and human review. Although YouTube doesn’t permit pornographic videos or most other clips containing nudity, a wide range of salacious, violent and crude material is available...