I know, that sounds like Monopoly money, but the reason Cook is making out like gangbusters at Apple is because Jobs collected all of $1 as his annual salary for the last three years he was at Apple. No stocks, no bonuses, no other compensations – one single greenback and… that’s it. Cook, on the other hand, is taking in a cool $377.9 million a year. Some may say this is justifiable given Apple’s continued success after Jobs left the company last year, especially after yesterday’s flusher-than-usual day at the stock market.

What’s more interesting – to me, at least, because I didn’t know this – is that former Vice President and enviro-paladin Al Gore is on Apple’s bankroll. He’s actually been on the Board of Directors since 2003, which I guess is just a fun tidbit to drop in conversations at the watering hole on top of everything else he’s got on his resume. He’s also listed in the report as the Chairman of the Climate Reality Project. You go, Mr. Gore.

Aside from the re-affirming fact that an Apple executive makes more money than you will ever see in your lifetime, the rest of the report appears to be pretty routine. Despite what any of you might think of Jobs and his humble $1-a-year compensation for being Apple’s Chief Executive Wizard, it’s somewhat amusing to wonder if Cook feels any self-applied pressure to mimic the magnanimous actions of Jobs and decline the beaucoup bucks that he’s making.

In fact, from Gore’s perspective, “there is hardly anything as important as to save and protect the vibrancy and freedom of the Internet,” which should provide all the insight you need to grasp the former Vice President’s position. These words were offered by Gore at an event held by CareerBuilder, and, of course, there is video of his response:

With that in mind, it’s easy to see why Gore is so opposed to the idea of SOPA/PIPA. While he acknowledges content creators need protection as well, he doesn’t believe the current bills under review are the way to go about protecting them.

Too bad Gore’s words, like most of the SOPA/PIPA opponents out there, will fall on deaf ears; at least as far as Lamar Smith is concerned.

While speaking at the conference, Gore had this to say, specifically –

Not to mention the new iPhones coming out next month. That was a plug.

If you read the quote carefully, you’ll see that Gore said iPhones, as in plural – multiple phones. Of course, he could have been speaking generally, as in all of the iPhone 5s that will be coming out. Or, the added plural could be a hint regarding two different iPhones hitting the shelves in October.

Recent rumors have suggested that the iPhone 5 might be launching with another model, possibly called the iPhone 4S. The secondary model would be a cheaper model that would look virtually identical to the iPhone 4 but might have a few hardware upgrades.

The Next Web first reported this quote, which was apparently heard by Toby Shapshak, the editor of Stuff Magazine. He was attending the conference and heard Gore talk about the iPhone(s) first hand.

Of course, you might ask why Al Gore would be talking about the iPhone 5 and why should we care what he has to say? If you remember, Gore joined Apple’s Board of Directors back in 2003. So although Gore isn’t one of the true higher-ups at Apple, this is the first time that we’ve heard anyone that’s actually associated with the company say something specifically about upcoming new iPhones.

Yesterday we heard that Apple is planning their next major media event for October 4th. There, they are prepared to unveil the iPhone 5. The event will be hosted by new CEO Tim Cook.

That information suggests the mid-October release date that most have speculated about for weeks now. And Gore said that the new iPhones will be coming out “next month.” Are things finally coming together for the big iPhone 5 release?

Stewart continued, "It’s nothing, he was just using a trick .. to hide the decline. It’s just scientist speak for using a standard statistical technique recalibrating data in order to … trick you … into not knowing about  … the decline.

But here’s what’s great about science, in disagreements we go back and look at the raw data (clip showing data destroyed) … Oh for fxxxks sake! Why would you throw out raw data from the 80′s … I still have Penthouses from the 70′s!

Al Gore

He’s since reversed that ban, after realizing it’s hard to keep a secret with 4,000 people, probably all of them tweeting, blogging, facebooking at will.

Various reports have said barring the press from Gore speeches is standard Gore policy, unlike his counterpart, Bill Clinton, who understands what publicity does for a fella’s game. “Keeps you relevant, reminds ‘em you’re alive and ready to disco,” an imagined Clinton raspily says as he spit-smoothes his eyebrows and dances a little, the White Man’s Overbite ever present.

What is ironic about Gore’s no-press policy is that as co-founder of Current TV, he is at least paper-savvy about citizen journalism. And in this case he’s speaking to 4,000 wireless gadget type folks, smart phones, net books, and Twitter at the ready.

He was also present at the Apple shareholders meeting, which also barred press, only to find out shareholders were live blogging from their iPhones. That’s how we know enough to imagine how awkward it must have been when all those suits sang happy birthday to an absent Steve Jobs like they were singing the Apple national anthem (hands over their hearts?).

But the big point is: We are far beyond press bans these days when anybody with a mobile phone and a Twitter account is automatically a citizen journalist. Or would they ban wireless devices at a wireless conference next time?
 

Steve Jobs
CEO Apple

Fortune posted the live blogged minutes of the meeting as given by shareholders identified only as “Cheddarmuff” and idannyb. And from the sound of it, Apple board meetings get a little lively.

At least, Cheddarmuff’s and idannyb’s notes are far more entertaining than CNN Money’s report. This marked the first time Steve Jobs was unable to attend the meeting due to health issues, an event moving shareholders to demand answers…and about which none came.

Some of the insightful posts:

There was one attempt to talk about jobs health that was shot down quick. Bet there will be more in the Q&A

 AFLCIO made a speech on universal health care … Tried to bring up SJ health. Cooperman cut him off

First question about disclosure of Jobs health quoting 10b-5 rules. Saying company should correct bad data

Arthur levinsom responding…jobs still involved. Succession plan has regularly discussed. No disclosure about health or plan.

After pressing the board repeatedly about Jobs’ impending death, the entire crowd then commenced to singing him happy birthday.

Despite, the occasional sharing of numbers—increasing revenue from $8 billion to $32 billion over 4 years; 13.7 million iPhones sold in 08; iTunes outselling Walmart; new stores opened weekly—the rest of the meeting, according to the live-blogged notes was spent bickering about political issues.

Al Gore
Apple Board Member

And yes, Apple board member Al Gore was in attendance. No, he was not spared wrath from either side of the political spectrum, with corporate heads railing against socialist Democrats and environmental activists calling on him to make Apple greener.

Subsequent reports from journalists who attended kept the boring shareholder meeting tradition alive with reports that Apple reelected the board and that Steve Jobs is still involved in Apple operations.

So we learn two lessons here. 1. In the Information Age, it’s really, really hard to keep a secret, even if you handicap the press. 2. Doesn’t matter if they were handicapped—though it should matter, and the press should have been insulted, outraged, and defiant about the secrecy and active information suppression of a publicly traded company—apparently the (mainstream, Apple-favored) press is boring us on purpose.
 

A Google Earth event of some sort is supposed to be held at the California Academy of Sciences on Monday, February 2nd.  This institution contains an aquarium, a planetarium, a natural history museum, and a miniature rainforest, and Eric Schmidt and Marissa Mayer are supposed to show.

What’s more, Al Gore is scheduled to speak.  So this isn’t likely to be a casual let’s-chat, eat-cookies, and-then-go-home type of get-together.

Toss in Sylvia Earle, who served as Chief Scientist of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, founded Deep Ocean Exploration and Research, and is currently a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, and Stephen Shankland asks, "Perhaps this will be the announcement of Google’s work to add 3D ocean maps to Google Earth?"

Or, since February 2nd happens to be the birthday of Brent Spiner, maybe we’ll get both that and some sort of Enterprise simulator.  Hey, you never know.

Here are today’s reports from around the web:

- Tucows cuts employees by roughly 15%. (MORE)

- Condé Nast and Wired.com cuts 7 employees, approximately 30 percent of staff. (MORE)

- MetaCafe.com fires 11 employees which accounts for 15% of the labor force. (MORE)

- Current (Al Gore’s site) eliminated 30 net positions of 440 total. (MORE)

- Carol.com cuts 25 jobs or a quarter of its workforce. (MORE)

- CBS Interactive which includes CNET is laying off 6 employees while shutting its Juke site. (MORE)

- Six Apart is laying off 16 employees, approximately 8 percent of its total staff. (MORE)

- AdReady trims 10 jobs from 40 staff payroll. (MORE)

According to NewTeeVee Current will losing the TV and will be called Current. Recent Nobel Peace Prize winner and backer of the company Al Gore has been promoting Current.com and said the relaunch will take interactivity to a new level.

The new Current.com will encourage users to submit stories, videos and links as well allow users to submit their own articles, link to outside sources and their own video opinions.

Users will be able to vote for stories or videos but will not be able to see the number of votes for a particular story but instead will see a percentage of up and down votes. Users can also references videos and paste the link into the comment field.

Current will also offer users a "Viewpoints" area where users can record their video opinions on topics ranging from climate change to stem cells or Iraq. Current appears to be offering more social features and allowing users to connect with others with similar tastes. These new features will help the site compete with the likes of YouTube and Joost and set itself apart from the many other social news oriented sites.

Checking out the WebProNews home state of Kentucky in the 18 Seconds site, I found that the state ranked eleventh in “enlightenment.” Our Lexington home rates 55th out of 358 metropolitan areas tracked on the site.

As part of the effort, Yahoo brought on Lawrence Bender to post at the official Yahoo blog, Yodel Anecdotal. The producer of Al Gore’s movie, An Inconvenient Truth, wrote about the project and some of the behind-the-scenes work that brought it online:

By the way, I have to give a shout-out to the amazing engineers who were given a sabbatical from their day jobs to pull it together. 18Seconds.org is a great feedback tool to see how we

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