| Powerset Co-Founder to Launch Crowdsourced Green VC Fund
Yet another high-flying Silicon Valley entrepreneur is planning to capitalize on the growing popularity of "green" technology, and to do it, he's tapping the wisdom of crowds as well as their cash. Steve Newcomb, a co-founder of search startup Powerset, is in the early stages of launching a ventur- capital fund that would accept green investments as low as $100, with a maximum investment of $1,000. "It would be a breakthrough green venture-capital fund for the people, by the people. As excited as I was about PowerSet, I'm 10 times more excited about this," Newcomb told Wired.com. "Worldwide, there is the potential to raise a multibillion-dollar fund." Newcomb joins a high-profile list of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists who see energy as the big investment opportunity of the next century, including Silicon Valley heavyweights Vinod Khosla and John Doerr.
Will Utah enchant Disney?
A state board is hoping Disney is enchanted enough with a Utah financial incentive that it grows its video-game development operations here. The Governor's Office of Economic Development Board on Friday approved a $5.25 million tax-rebate for Disney Interactive Studios Inc. if the company adds more than 500 jobs in Utah over the next 10 years to develop video games based on intellectual property that Disney has developed. Avalanche Software was founded in Utah in 1996 and was acquired by Disney in May 2005. Since then, the Utah operationhas produced games based on "Chicken Little," "Meet the Robinsons" and "Hannah Montana." Disney created a sister studio, Fall Line Studio, in Salt Lake City in 2006 to focus on games for the Nintendo Wii and DS market. Both Avalanche and Fall Line are wholly owned subsidiaries of Disney Interactive Studios, the interactive entertainment affiliate of The Walt Disney Co.
Microsoft licences too expensive, say schools
Schools do not get good value for money from current Microsoft licensing agreements, IT professionals in the education sector claimed this week. In a series of interviews with education professionals at the BETT educational technology show in London, ZDNet UK found broad consensus that Microsoft educational licensing agreements are too expensive. "A lot of schools are looking at open source budgets come into play here. Microsoft licensing takes a big chunk out of schools budgets. The biggest issue is cost, basically," said Michael Allen, ICT technician of Swanmore College of Technology. Microsoft educational licensing agreements fall into two categories: perpetual agreements, where schools buy software outright; and schools agreements (also known as annuities), where schools buy and renew contracts.
The Footnote Police vs. Ward Churchill
The University of Colorado committee investigating Ward Churchill has found him guilty, guilty, guilty. And on some level, they're right: Churchill is guilty of occasionally shoddy scholarship and the dubious practice of ghostwriting, and perhaps even more. But we should be alarmed by the investigative committee's report, and not merely because the committee exists only because of a concerted effort to fire Churchill for his obnoxious and idiotic comments about 9/11 victims. .
Internet United Kingdom Points Finger at Chinese Army for Increased ...
Isolate them from the global economy as effectively as we can.Target there military installations with nuclear weapons. Note I did not sayattack them with nuclear weapons. Just target. Pressure them to change theirpolicies concerning repression of dissent in their country. Allow the use ofprivateers to target vessels flying the ChiCom flag without reprisal. Shut downany international air traffic in and out of China. Confiscate all Chineseassets in the US and pressure Europe to do the same. If they want to try andmess with our high tech infrastructure we should feel free to mess with themeconomically also.If a bully pushes you on the play ground the worst thing you can do is ignorethem. Push back. Hell break their nose. Bullies are only emboldened byinaction. .
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