Earlier this month, tech columnist Troy Wolverton went off the grid and -- to much to his surprise -- loved it.

Tech columnist Larry Magid describes how an Ooma device can cut phone costs while traveling.

Columnist Mike Cassidy writes that Gaye Clemson's "Tandem Computers Unplugged" is a tribute to a Silicon Valley company that evaporated in acquisition. Tandem may be gone, but to this day it stirs strong memories and emotions.

Google expanded with the speed of a supernova last year, spending more than $400 million dollars on new equipment for its growing "Googleplex" in Mountain View. That growth is reflected in data compiled annually by the Santa Clara County Assessor's Office, which taxes business "personal property" such as computers, servers, copiers and office furniture separately from land and buildings. The report provides a window into the pace of growth at some of the region's biggest firms, with cloud computing and the Internet being the big drivers.

In a verdict that would have warmed the heart of the late Apple

CEO Steve Jobs, a federal jury on Friday handed Apple a resounding legal victory in its bitter patent war with Samsung, ordering the South Korean tech giant to pay more than $1 billion in damages for "willfully" copying the iPhone and iPad.

A day after a federal jury slapped Samsung with a $1 billion penalty for violating Apple's patent rights, the panel's foreman described the verdict as a billboard-sized message to tech companies that copy products: "If you elect to take the risk, you may end up paying."

For consumers, Apple's sweeping patent victory over Samsung could mean fewer choices of mobile phones and tablets and higher prices in the short term but more innovative and distinct gadgets over the long haul, legal and industry analysts said.

Columnist Chris O'Brien writes that after spending millions of dollars on this trial, and risking a potentially humiliating loss, Apple got a powerful endorsement from a jury that closely examined the evidence, including the design process behind some of Apple's greatest hits: Apple invented this stuff. They're the innovators. They're the leaders. Everyone else is just a copycat.

Hours after a team of masked gunmen tied up employees and stole tens of millions of dollars worth of computer chips last year, a police investigator found a hard-copy footprint: a piece of paper left behind by one of the suspects. It turned out to be the clue that helped investigators break the case and, just like that, Silicon Valley's biggest chip heist may have been solved because of a simple mistake.

John Woolard, CEO of BrightSource Energy, talked to the Mercury News about the future of solar energy and BrightSource's upcoming projects.

Award-winning architect Frank Gehry may not have his own Facebook page, but he's become such a good friend of the social networking giant that he is going to design its new West Campus building in Menlo Park.

For the past few years, the "Madden NFL" series has been treading water. Every iteration boasted visual improvements and gameplay tweaks, but fundamentally, it's been the same football title that gamers have been playing for the past decade. With all the advancements in online connectivity, social networking and programming, the series cried out for a revamp. It needed a fresh look that took advantage of the current technology. EA Tiburon has slowly worked toward it, and finally, that game has arrived.