From Silicon Valley to Yokohama, Manuel Castells tracked the ways states can accelerate the technological modernisation of economies.

Many believed the technical and business wizard would not, indeed could not, die, writes Alistair Fairweather.

Stewart Butterfield, who with his wife Caterina Fake created Flickr, used his resignation letter from Yahoo! to embark on a flight of fantasy.

With Yahoo! facing pressure from a corporate raider, the internet giant has reopened discussions on a tie-up with Microsoft, but for a new deal that would probably not be an outright takeover. The two firms said over the weekend that they were exploring new options two weeks after Microsoft withdrew its offer to acquire the struggling internet pioneer.

Microsoft can build a competitive online advertising business without Yahoo! but it "could just take more time", CEO Steve Ballmer told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Friday. The comment came as analysts and industry watchers awaited an imminent announcement on Microsoft's next move in its unresolved quest to acquire Yahoo!

Microsoft announced on Monday that it is expanding the range of business software it makes available as a service on the internet. The move comes as people increasingly use writing, accounting, email and other programs online instead of buying packaged software and installing it on their own machines.

Yahoo!'s rejection on Monday of Microsoft's buyout offer sets the stage for the United States software giant to up the ante or attempt a coup by ousting the internet firm's board of directors. Yahoo!'s board of directors spurned Microsoft's takeover bid, saying the $44,6-billion offer is too low.

Google said on Tuesday it plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to help drive down the cost of electricity made from renewable energy below the price of coal. The project, dubbed Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal, is hiring dozens of engineers and targeting investment financing.