Scott Duke Harris

Causata aims to push customer-intelligence technology to an unprecedented level.

"What Do Facebook Quizzes Know About You?"

Silicon Valley is renowned for tech wizardry. But with the global economy sputtering and the valley's unemployment rate at a record 11 percent, many innovators are focusing their most creative energies on managing every penny.

A special, lowered capital gains tax for investors in companies that debut on public stock exchanges could help stimulate the economy and create many new jobs, leaders of a national venture capital group said Wednesday.

ZeroG Wireless is introducing a new chip that provides a tiny bit of Wi-Fi connectivity to literally billions of electronic devices that today are unconnected. Companies may use the chips to collect usage data on all kinds of electronic appliances.