Members of Congress denied access to basic information about NSA  —  Documents provided by two House members demonstrate how they are blocked from exercising any oversight over domestic surveillance  —  • Morgan Griffith's requests for NSA information  —  • Alan Grayson's requests for NSA information

Microsoft cuts Surface Pro price by $100 following Surface RT reductions  —  Microsoft is discounting its Surface Pro tablet this weekend, following heavy reductions to its Surface RT costs recently.  The 10 percent price cut to Surface Pro reduces the cost of the 64GB and 128GB models by $100 each in the US.

Facebook Hires First CMO Gary Briggs from Google  —  Mr. Briggs Replaces VP-Product Marketing Eric Antonow  —  Facebook has tapped a seasoned technology marketing executive most recently with Google to be its first-ever CMO.  —  Gary Briggs, who'd previously been chief marketer …

The idea maze  —  The pop culture view of startups is that they're all about coming up with a great product idea.  After the eureka moment, the outcome is preordained.  This neglects the years of toil that entrepreneurs endure, and also the fact that the vast majority of startups change over time, often dramatically.

How “one weird trick” conquered the Internet: what happens when you click on those omnipresent ads  —  What happens when you actually click on one of those “One Weird Trick” ads?  —  You've seen them.  Peeking out from sidebars, jiggling and wiggling for your attention …

Did Goldman Sachs Overstep in Criminally Charging Its Ex-Programmer?  —  A month after ace programmer Sergey Aleynikov left Goldman Sachs, he was arrested.  Exactly what he'd done neither the F.B.I., which interrogated him, nor the jury, which convicted him a year later, seemed to understand.

The Moto X proves Google still needs the Nexus program  —  Nexus is a critical platform for Google to develop and advance Android  —  The Moto X has finally been revealed and although it's the first phone that truly reflects the new company's post-Google philosophies, it's thoroughly a Motorola phone, not a Google phone.

TiVo, media center PC makers alarmed by CableCard-cutting bill  —  The CableCard—that small slab that lets a TiVo tune into cable by authenticating its connection—would lose a regulatory safeguard under a bill nearing introduction in Congress.  —  The “'Consumer Video Device Cost Savings Act” …

Here's why economists hate software patents  —  Should software be eligible for patent protection?  With litigation over software patents increasing rapidly, it's an important question.  And a growing number of economists are concluding that the answer is “no.” The latest is Gary Becker …

The Old Reader lives: Site will stay open to the public thanks to an unnamed ‘corporate entity’ in the US  —  The Old Reader, a popular RSS service and alternative to Google Reader, last week revealed it would be closing its service to the public in two weeks.