MARIA BARTIROMO AT DAVOS

For her show, Wall Street Journal Week, with Maria Bartiromo, reporting from Davos Switzerland, Maria (I don't know exactly what's appropriate to call her here, so I'll go on a first name basis) provided extremely interesting notes.

This gathering includes many of the most important industrial and political leaders and economic figures in the world.

She did confirm, from personal observation, that Angelina Jolie is pregnant! (In addition to being an actress and a staple of gossip magazines, Angelina represents the UN around the world.)

Maria reported that Bill Gates is committing $900 million toward the study, treatment, and prevention of tuberculosis. She commented that, sometime in the future, he may be remembered more for his foundation's accomplishments than for creating Microsoft.

She reported that the conference was very interested in the developing economies of China and India.

She reported that a major trade agreement with Korea will be announced next week.

An on-camera interview with Ann Linblad, an important Silican Valley venture capitalist, and Craig Barrett of Intel, pointed to the importance of computer software, especially in the areas of collaboration and VoIP. (That was of particular interest to me, because, when I worked for IBM, I developed demonstrations of technologies that allow video and VoIP collaboration over the Internet from websites and kiosks.)

It was a very interesting, right-to-the-point report.