NEWS

• U.S. military cyberwar: What's off-limits?
  Ex-NSA and CIA head tells Black Hat crowd that rules for when military can attack foreign networks might exempt power grids and financial networks.
• Ballmer says Microsoft at work to rival iPad
  Though short on details, Microsoft's CEO said it is Job One to make sure that Windows 7 is an attractive option for slates and tablets.
• Graphics chip market seeing big changes
  As Nvidia falters, AMD's ATI graphics unit is on the rise, spurred by "radical" shifts in a notoriously fickle market, says Mercury Research.
• Ballmer talks up Microsoft's consumer business
  Microsoft's CEO takes the stage at the company's financial analyst meeting. CNET's Ina Fried is in Redmond with coverage live from the event.
• In D.C., digital transparency has grown messier
  The government using the Web to make its policies and processes more "open" sounds sunny, but the inability of a Supernova conference panel to go into much depth about it highlights its complexities.
• Searchable Facebook user data posted to Pirate Bay
  The names and Facebook profile Web addresses for 171 million accounts are scraped from the site and posted on file-sharing site Pirate Bay.
• EV charging station recharges without wires
  Evatran introduces a "hands free" EV charging station that eliminates the need to remember to recharge at the end of the day--or dirty your hands.
• The future of concert ticketing
  An experiment by Topspin and the Pixies for a couple of U.K. concerts demonstrates that in the future many acts won't need ticket brokers or promoters.
• The jailbreaking exemption has its limits
  The "essential use" exemption means that only customers can legally perform jailbreaks. And it doesn't stop companies such as Apple from various work-arounds, argues Stanford Law Fellow Larry Downes.
• Who's bringing what? Divvyus helps you sort it out
  Planning a barbecue, dinner party, or anything else that means group resource gathering? Divvyus lets you dole out those tasks in an orderly fashion.
• YouTube bumps video limit to 15 minutes
  Want to put videos longer than 10 minutes up on YouTube? It's now a reality, with a new 15-minute limit.
• HTC revamps key management staff to spur growth
  Taiwan mobile phone maker announces series of new jobs and promotions in management staff as part of ongoing effort to drive future growth.
• Nevada, Sicily to find staying power in molten salt
  Solar thermal plants to retain heat and produce power even on sunless days.
• VC confidence down after several up quarters
  Concerns over the U.S. and global economies and regulatory uncertainties prompt a drop in confidence among venture capitalists.
• IBM picks up data compression company Storwize
  Big Blue acquires privately held company and its technology for compressing data in real-time and making it available to analytics apps.
• Microsoft makes its case to Wall Street
  The software maker is kicking off a daylong analyst meeting in Redmond, Wash. CNET's Ina Fried will have live coverage of the meeting throughout the day.
• The new Amazon Kindle
  The Nintendo 3DS will have a price and release date in two months, YouTube may change user video uploads to 15 minutes, and Amazon releases a new version of its Kindle e-reader.
• Solar thermal seeks U.S. breakthrough
  The new technology could move the United States away from its dependence on fossil fuels--if it can overcome the high price tag for the massive plants needed.
• Road Trip Pic of the Day, 7/29: What is this?
  If you know what this is and where it's located, you could win a prize in the CNET Road Trip Picture of the Day challenge.
• Best Buy to offer Clearwire 4G service
  Through its the new Best Buy Connect service, the electronics retailer plans to offer customers a new 4G tier starting in 2011.