Mediterranean Might Have Filled In Months

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Geminid meteor shower may light Iowa sky tonight - DesMoinesRegister.com

Sky News

Geminid meteor shower may light Iowa sky tonight DesMoinesRegister.com If the clouds part tonight and Iowans are willing to brave the frigid December cold, they may see the Geminid meteor shower light the night sky. The peak of the annual shower, ... Catch a shooting star — Geminid meteor shower is in the skyGillette News Record 'Gem' of a meteor shower underwaymsnbc.com Geminid meteor shower SundayYuma Sun Asheville Citizen-Times -Manila Bulletin -Daily News & Analysis all 175 news articles »

Panda genome resembles dog: Chinese media

A question of character

Denmark: nearly 1,000 climate protesters released

Supreme Court may decide whether workers' text messages are private

Green Day Rock Band Announced - Crispy Gamer

SCRAWL (blog)

Green Day Rock Band Announced Crispy Gamer Rock group Green Day, Harmonix, MTV Games and Warner Bros./Reprise Records that they are working together on a new standalone version of Rock Band dedicated to the popular band called Green Day: Rock Band. The game will feature Green Day's most popular ... Green Day: Rock Band AnnouncedVGrevolution Video game creator Harmonix lays off 39Boston Globe Beatles Rock Band game publisher tries to stoke salesVentureBeat Shacknews -Nintendo World Report -GameSpot all 187 news articles »

'Uncharted 2' nabs top prize at VGAs (AP)

AP - The cinematic action adventure "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves" nabbed three prizes including game of the year at the Spike TV Video Game Awards.

Google Releases Experimental Phone To Employees

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The Google Phone identifies as an early replicant

The Gruber brings us this bit of news: the new GPhone identifies as Nexus One in browsing logs. Five points to anyone who can remember what the Nexus models were?

In Blade Runner the Nexus Six models were the “rogue” replicants and someone – not saying who – was a Nexus Seven model.

So is Google saying they’re the Tyrell Corporation, working on the first off-world employees for their future colonies? Or is someone just playing a funny.

Super skinny media center PC fits behind your TV

I’ve never heard of Piixl but that doesn’t mean they can’t hold a place in my heart. This 3GHz Core 2 Duo machine mounts right behind your HDTV and will cost about $4,000, a pretty penny for something so thin and innocuous.

Called the EdgeCenter 3770 the device is designed to run home theatre and kiosk applications and remain completely out of sight. It’s a clever solution to the thorny problem of convincing the rich and famous to stick computers into their living rooms. Available right about now, but in the UK.

London, the 12th December 2009

PiixL Ltd, a London based Technology Start-up, is excited to announce the release of their new EdgeCenter range this week! The EdgeCenter is a totally new breed of Media Center Computer, designed to be mounted directly behind flat screen TVs through their VESA mounting interface, for example between a flat screen TV and a wall mount mechanism. Only 30mm deep and adjustable to fit screens sizes ranging from 37 to 70 inches, the EdgeCenter stays quiet and invisible while leaving all the useful controls, I/Os and Physical Media readers accessible right behind the edge of any flat screen TV!
Beyond its striking design, a few features instantly single out the EdgeCenter from any other Media Center Computer available today:

- Ultra flexible design: already available with processors ranging from Core2 Duo to Two-Way Core i7, optional Discrete 7.1 Audio, up to four TV Tuners and the latest generation of Graphic cards, providing both Media Oriented and Power Users the perfect solution!
- Easy to use: The first ever computer with built-in PowerLine networking! Comes with Windows 7, MyMovies extension pre-installed and a choice of of accessories carefully selected for a one-stop, all-in-one platform.
- Durable: Unmatched components quality sourcing, all aluminium chassis, and a truly future proof Design where
all components can be upgraded at PiixL’s facilities.

via Eng

Nexus One, The Google Phone, Captured In The Wild (Picture)

Nexus One, The Google Phone, Captured In The Wild (Picture)

Apparently, Googlers aren’t supposed to be tweeting the details of the Google Phone, but they have no problem tweeting about how awesome it is. And they also apparently have no problem showing it off. And not surprisingly, pictures of the device are starting to hit the web. Without further ado, this is it.

Cory O’Brien, a San Francisco-based blogger, got his hands on one tonight and tweeted out that picture. He also notes that, “Google Phone = iPhone + a little extra screen and a scroll wheel. Great touch screen, and Android.”

As you can see, the Google Phone, which is apparently being called the “Nexus One” (for more on that, see here), does look exactly like the HTC Passion, which everyone was including in their posts earlier. You’ll also notice that there’s a key difference: It’s not HTC-branded at all.

[thanks Alberto]

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

FDIC sends a big F-U: completely blacked out documents in response to WaMu takeover freedom of information requests

FDIC sends a big F-U: completely blacked out documents in response to WaMu takeover freedom of information requests

On the plus side, at least one agency in the Administrative branch knows how to redact a document.

Both agencies have declined repeated requests to answer questions about how they decided to close WaMu. WaMu is just one of 155 financial institutions closed since the housing crisis got under way in 2008, including six closed so far this month.

Under FOIA, agencies are required by law to provide information within 20 days.

The FDIC has offered several explanations for the delay, most often citing its workload. A lot of banks have failed since the onset of the financial crisis, they said. "We're drowning in paperwork," one of the agency's FOIA officers said.

Make's 2009 Open Source Hardware Guide

Make's 2009 Open Source Hardware Guide

MakerBot is an affordable, open source 3D printer. It makes almost anything up to 4" x 4" x 6" using ABD plastic. Price: $750 and up

Maybe Goldman's bankers are getting guns after all (and even if they aren't, man, this shadowy carry-permits-for-the-rich thing is scary) - UPDATED

Then, a Wall Street Journal reporter filed an article in which New York law enforcement repudiated the armed Goldman Sachs story, saying that there was no record of Goldman Sachs bankers getting NYC carry-permits. On this basis, the WSJ called the story a myth.

Now, a third salvo: an anonymous tipster writes in with word of a secretive, undocumented parallel handgun permitting system available to the wealthy. Essentially, a would-be gunslinger just pays a small-town sheriff somewhere in the USA to make him a "reserve" or "honorary" officer. Now he is entitled to carry all through the USA, without being subject to normal regulations, even as they pertain to ammo, or even carrying guns onto commercial, scheduled airplanes.

The anonymous tipster's point seems to be, "If you disbelieve the armed Goldman banker story because the NYPD doesn't have a record of carry permit applications, then perhaps you should reconsider, because these vampires could be legally arming up without having to go through the NYPD." Click through the jump to read the whole story.

Update: In the comments, Phanatic cites the applicable law and makes a compelling case that this theory isn't true -- or that, at least, it's overstated.

Update 2: William Gibson writes, "Ran the story past a friend at LAPD. Smart guy, and usually very clear and accurate on this sort of thing. His reaction:

'In 2004, President Bush signed into Federal LAW, the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act, formerly known as HR 218. LEOSA does empower full time sworn law enforcement officers to carry in all 50 states. This law extends to retired law enforcement officers provided certain provisos are met (i.e. regular qualification). However, with respect to "reserves" and "honorary" titles. In order for a reserve to qualify under LEOSA, they must undergo the same rigorous training and certification as a full-time sworn officer. Simply being bestowed a badge and title by some hick Sheriff will not cut it. You must then be certified by the state by undergoing hundreds of hours of training and required field time. I highly doubt most of these "gifted" individuals have done so. On the other hand, it is true that certain wealthy patrons have obtained CCWs by heavily supporting certain regimes. That is true... As a matter of fact, any hick sheriff can give out a CCW that is good for his county and state. However, the CCW holder will not be able to cross state boundaries unless there is a reciprocity agreement with the other states.'

Well, they are the ones who are bogus because they don't understand how CCWs (pistol permits) operate. Let me give you some insight into CCW in restrictive places like NYC and California. The key fact is there are *two* parallel CCW systems. There's the official system, and there is a whole parallel "stealth" system which I will explain after explaining the official system. I hope you will indulge my long email to understand the ugliness of this particular area of law in the US.

In the ten "may-issue" states, which include NY, CA and 8 others, permits are handled by a local official, usually the chief of police or the county sheriff. These officials decide who gets permits, usually based on power, money and status. These permits are public records.

When the police chief of NY says, "Goldman Sachs execs aren't getting permits!" he means, they are not applying to NYPD for permits. That's not a surprise to me, because the VIP status threshold for permits in NYC (and LA and SF) is very very high, above the status of most corporate executives.

(Note that in NYC, unlike most of the US, a permit is needed to merely possess a gun, so the chief knows about all those applications. In California, no permit is needed to possess, but a permit is needed to carry, and that permit is highly restricted in urban areas.)

That's the "official" permit system.

There's also a little-known parallel permit system in place, which has substantial advantages over the "official" system.

Permits in this parallel system are not public records. They may be issued from other states. The permits themselves are *fantastic* because they let the holder possess and carry guns in all 50 states and in DC (state-issued permits are much more restricted). They also let the permit holder disregard a lot of state gun laws (things like magazine limitations, assault weapons bans, etc, which are present in California, NY and a few other states). Also, permits within this parallel system are available at lower status / dollar thresholds than within the official systems in places like NYC. In short, this parallel, stealth system is the smart way to go, with numerous advantages.

This parallel system is the result of the intersection between the various "reserve" or "honorary" officer statutes which exist in every state, and a 2004 Federal law called the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act. It's often referred to as the LEOSA, or even more commonly, HR218. In fact this parallel system was (intentionally or not) created by HR218, so it's necessary to understand this little-known law to understand the parallel permit system.

HR218 says that a law enforcement officer (as defined by the statute) can carry his gun in all 50 states and in DC, and generally is not bound by nutty state- level restrictions, like magazine capacity laws, hollow point ammo bans in NJ, that kind of thing.

Put HR218 together with all the states that have "reserve" officer programs, and you have a stealth permit-for-dollars system.

In short, what happens is this: a wealthy New Yorker, with a need to carry a gun in NY (and other states, such as when he visits NJ or DC, two places where permits are impossible) finds a financially-strapped small-town police department in some other state, like Alaska for example. The wealthy New Yorker buys the town's PD a new Crown Vic, or makes a donation of some kind.

The police chief then gives the wealthy New Yorker credentials as a "reserve" officer, which do not have any powers of arrest, or any duties, but do qualify as a "law enforcement officer" under HR218. (Remember, every state has various "reserve" officer statutes, and many states have no training requirements at all for those "reserve" officers.) At that point, the chief is happy to have a new Crown Vic, and the New Yorker is happy that he has a permit which lets him possess and carry in every state and exempts him from NY's asinine restrictions (magazine capacity and so on). And it's all "stealth": his reserve officer status is not a public record anywhere.

Given that many people can afford to donate a Crown Vic, but very few people have the VIP status and "juice" to get an official NYPD carry permit, and given that a NYPD permit is actually much more restricted than HR218-carry, you can imagine that the "official" permits in NY may be just the tip of the iceberg. The NYPD chief would have *no way* of knowing how many people are (legally) owning and carrying pistols in NYC using HR218. There is *no* central registry or database of such information. "Reserve" officer status is something which exists only in the private files of the issuing police department, which may well be a small town in Montana or Alaska or somewhere like that.

I have no idea of the actual scope of these "stealth" HR218 "permits" because they are, in fact, stealth.

So the NYPD chief's statements that Goldman Sachs execs aren't getting gun permits is baseless and probably incorrect.

There are a few other neato aspects of these HR218 permits. Because these people are "officers" they can also get letters, on department letterhead, authorizing even cooler things. Want to carry a machine pistol (like a Glock 18 or mini-Uzi) in NYC? If you can get officer status, and the right letter of authorization, from a police chief in a small town in a rural state, you probably can do it legally. Want to carry your piece *on commercial flights*? Again, get an "armed 24x7" letter from a small-town police chief, and you can carry your pistol onto commercial flights. I have no idea how common these practices may or may not be, but the legal framework is in place and it's a win-win for both parties involved.

Here in California we have a big problem with sheriffs such as Sheriff Baca operating extremely corrupt, financially-motivated CCW programs, and so some Californians have explored the idea of bypassing California's CCW law using HR218, and have posted a lot more research about this legal framework. They also want to bypass California's weird handgun restrictions ("not unsafe" handgun roster and magazine limitations). Here is the discussion thread.

Maybe Goldman's bankers are getting guns after all (and even if they aren't, man, this shadowy carry-permits-for-the-rich thing is scary) - UPDATED

Pizza made from a whole pig

The Portuguese video documents the creation of the revolting Porco Pizza, a pizza whose crust is an entire, flattened suckling pig.

Campo e Lavoura: Porco Pizza (Thanks, Rodolfo!)

Pizza made from a whole pig

Realms of Fantasy magazine website now has PDF of current ish

It's great to see the print sf/f magazines really starting to explore the web. I really enjoy RoF!

Realms of Fantasy Magazine (Thanks, Douglas!)


Source: Boing Boing | 12 Dec 2009 | 11:37 pm

Realms of Fantasy magazine website now has PDF of current ish

Raver killed by bass

Raver killed by bass

Is this Facebook's "Microsoft Moment"?

Is this Facebook's "Microsoft Moment"?

Mugshots of people arrested while wearing unfortunate ironic t-shirts

Update: Weird, the site is suddenly unavailable, as of 10pm PT, Dec. 12. Maybe it'll be available again. Sorry!


Source: Boing Boing | 12 Dec 2009 | 11:05 pm

US, Russia talks on cyberspace security: report

Source: Gizmodo | 12 Dec 2009 | 10:20 pm

Google Confirms Employees Have 'Google Phone' - PC Magazine

Reuters South Africa

Google Confirms Employees Have 'Google Phone' PC Magazine Google confirmed Saturday that their internal developers are using an unreleased Android based phone, as contradictory rumors about a "Google Phone" flew back and forth across the Internet. On an official Google blog, vice president of ... Google Phone May Be in WorksNew York Times Google to produce, sell own "Nexus One" phones: reportReuters Google contradicts self, confirms own GooglephoneRegister Washington Post -CNET News -PC World all 254 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Dec 2009 | 10:00 pm

Best Man Rigs Newlyweds’ Bed To Tweet During Sex. Not Kidding.

When a man in the UK was asked to be the best man at his friend’s wedding, he was touched. So touched, that he promised not to pull any pranks before or during the wedding. After the wedding though, that’s another story.

This man, who is choosing to stay anonymous, has set up this Twitter account for the sole purpose of automatically tweeting when the newlyweds are having sex. I’m not kidding. Read the entire tweet stream from the bottom up if you want the full story. But basically, this guy was watching his friend’s house while they went on their honeymoon and he placed a device under their mattress. This device, which is similar to the one found here, is a pressure-sensitive pad that tweets out when sexual activity starts, when it ends, the force of the “action,” and a “frenzy” rating.

December 9 saw the first such action. This is the first report:

They’re on the job! #1 – Action commenced at 12.21GMT. Weight: 84KG.

And then it was over — 3 minutes later:

They’re off the job! #1 – Action concluded at 12.24GMT. Duration: 3 m.15 s. Frenzy Index: 8 (scary). Judge’s Comment: “Is that it?”

But alas, that was just a test of the guy jumping on the bed to make sure it would work. It did. So the real first action is as follows:

They’re on the job! #2 – Action commenced at 15.50GMT. Weight: 151KG.

22 minutes later:

They’re off the job! #2 – Action concluded at 16.12GMT. Duration: 22 m.05 s. Frenzy Index: 4 (easy listening). Judge’s Comment: “Good work!”

Before everyone goes crazy over this, remember that all of this is being done anonymously. Neither the friend nor the couple are known. In fact, who knows if this is even real, and who cares, it’s hilarious. Still, the man claims he will let his friend in on the fun soon. “What you will NEVER know is who they are. Or who I am.I figure I’ll tell my mate in due course that he’s had an audience.So spread the word!,” writes the anonymous man. Consider it spread.

So why’s he doing this? “BTW – he stitched me up something rotten when he was my best man so I reckon this is reasonable payback ,” he tweets.

Oh Twitter, the joys never end. What will they think of next?

[photo: twitter/pnoeric]

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

Source: TechCrunch | 12 Dec 2009 | 9:54 pm

US and Russia Open Talks On Limits To Cyberwar

andy1307 passes on this from the NY Times: "The United States has begun talks with Russia and a United Nations arms control committee about strengthening Internet security and limiting military use of cyberspace. American and Russian officials have different interpretations of the talks so far, but the mere fact that the United States is participating represents a significant policy shift after years of rejecting Russia's overtures. Officials familiar with the talks said the Obama administration realized that more nations were developing cyberweapons and that a new approach was needed to blunt an international arms race ... While the Russians have continued to focus on treaties that may restrict weapons development, the United States is hoping to use the talks to increase international cooperation in opposing Internet crime. Strengthening defenses against Internet criminals would also strengthen defenses against any military-directed cyberattacks, the United States maintains."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 12 Dec 2009 | 9:26 pm

Google to produce, sell own "Nexus One" phones: report

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Google Inc plans to sell its own cellphone direct to consumers as soon as next year, bypassing wireless operators in a rare strategic move, the Wall Street Journal...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Dec 2009 | 8:33 pm

Google to produce, sell own "Nexus One" phones: report

Source: Gizmodo | 12 Dec 2009 | 8:00 pm

Google phone coming in January?

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile, Web, Google

So with all the other excitement surrounding Google these past two weeks, leaks and rumors about the next Google phone are just icing on the cake. Unfortunately though, the only info we really have on this phone are tweets from Google’s people who were recently given the device. So the information we have isn’t much, but it pretty much solidifies the Google phone rumor.

Ok so first off, the Google phone is an HTC phone. Some suspect it to be the Passion/Bravo. Other tweets describe the phone as being thinner than the iPhone so at least we won’t be carrying a brick around in our pockets.

Like an iPhone on beautifying steroids.

ZOMG we had fireworks and we all got the new Google phone. It’s beautiful.

Other features included in these tweets say that it has a trackball and doesn’t have a physical keyboard. These things lead me personally to believe that it is the Passion/Bravo as well. The device will be running Android 2.1 and speculated to be released in January. That would lead up to expect an announcement at CES, or maybe the countdown on Google is counting down to the phone announcement as well. (To see this countdown, go to the Google homepage and hit “I’m Feeling Lucky” without typing anything in the search bar.)

Whatever it is, all the new HTC phones are looking good so I’m excited that it is any of them. Watch Gadgetell for further updates.

Read [Engadget]

Full Story » | Written by Greg Billetdeaux for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 12 Dec 2009 | 7:41 pm

Prime Number - New York Times

PhysOrg.com

Prime Number New York Times By THE NEW YORK TIMES 2: The number of “riders” on the “horse” in the Big Dipper. Sharp-eyed stargazers can distinguish one “rider” from the “horse” — the small star Alcor sitting above the larger star Mizar. But it turns out that there are actually ... New Star Found in Big DipperFOXNews Big Dipper: New! Improved! Now With More Stars!Tonic Two Big Dipper constellation stars actually sixUSA Today (blog) Slashdot -Bloomberg -Hindustan Times all 44 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Dec 2009 | 7:37 pm

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed again in '10 - GameSpot

New York Daily News

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed again in '10 GameSpot By Staff, GameSpot LucasArts prepping follow-up popular actions series; trailer shows return of original game's onetime Sith protagonist, possibly as a Jedi. When word first surfaced that a new Star Wars game would be unveiled at tonight's 2009 VGA ... Star Wars: Force Unleashed II AnnouncedThe Money Times 'Force Unleashed 2' in 2010; 'Arkham Asylum 2' teasedNew York Daily News Star Wars The Force Unleashed 2 AnnouncedCrispy Gamer Destructoid -Gaming Bits (blog) -GamerCenterOnline (blog) all 22 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Dec 2009 | 7:33 pm

The Limits To Skepticism

jamie found a long and painstaking piece up at The Economist asking and provisionally answering the question: "Does the spirit of scientific scepticism really require that I remain forever open-minded to denialist humbug until it's shown to be wrong?" The author, who is not named, spent several hours picking apart the arguments of one Willis Eschenbach, AGW denialist, who on Dec. 8 published what he called the "smoking gun" — it was supposed to prove that the adjustments climate scientists make to historical temperature records are arbitrary to the point of intentional manipulation. The conclusion: "[H]ere's my solution to this problem: this is why we have peer review. Average guys with websites can do a lot of amazing things. One thing they cannot do is reveal statistical manipulation in climate-change studies that require a PhD in a related field to understand. So for the time being, my response to any and all further 'smoking gun' claims begins with: show me the peer-reviewed journal article demonstrating the error here. Otherwise, you're a crank and this is not a story. And then I'll probably go ahead and try to investigate the claim and write a blog post about it, because that's my job. Oh, and by the way: October was the hottest month on record in Darwin, Australia."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Gizmodo | 12 Dec 2009 | 7:00 pm

Wordpress interates with twitter to make blogging easier

Section: Web, Web 2.0 / Social Networking, Web Browsers

The very popular blogging platform Wordpress has integrated the Twitter API to bring blogging and microblogging closer together. Now, if you have a Twitter App that supports a custom API URL, you will be able to post new updates to your blogs as well as view any updates to blogs that you have subscribed to. Tweetie 2 is supposedly going to be one of the first third-party apps to support this new feature to interlink the two services.

Tweetie 2’s new software will make this setup very easy. To integrate your Wordpress account, you will have to enter your Wordpress.com account information to Tweetie’s settings. Then you will have the option of updating to both your Twitter and blog or just your Twitter.

This is the first step from Wordpress to bring microblogging and blogging closer together for the public. As both Twitter and Wordpress’ traffic grow, it seems fairly obvious that the both blogging platforms have become fairly reliant on each other for new users and traffic.

Read [TechCrunch]

Source: Gizmodo | 12 Dec 2009 | 6:00 pm

Anchovy is king in Peru, for now

The most fished species in the world, anchovy stock is at historic highs in Peru that may be short-lived due to climate change and overfishing. Peru's fleet can catch around 20,000...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Dec 2009 | 5:51 pm

WordPress.com Implements the Twitter API

This morning Matt Mullenweg announced on his blog that WordPress.com has enabled posting and reading blogs via the Twitter API. Now any Twitter app that supports a custom API URL (Tweetie is one such) can be used to either post updates to a WordPress.com blog, or to read updates from blogs to which one has subscribed. Dave Winer calls the move by Automattic, WordPress.com's parent company, "deeply insidious," and notes that 10 years ago he did a similar thing in his Manila blogging platform when the Blogger API came out. Winer opines that Automattic's move has made the Twitter API into an open standard, due to WordPress.com's large base. Winer notes (in a comment on the above-linked post), "The fun starts if they [WordPress] relax some of the limits of the Twitter API and fix some of the glaring problems."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 12 Dec 2009 | 5:37 pm

Men in Iran don hijab drag on Facebook to support a political prisoner

In Iran, hundreds of men are presenting themselves as women in Hijab on their Facebook profiles to support Majid Tavakoli, a student activist who was arrested earlier this month. Authorities claim Tavakoli disguised himself as a woman to escape after delivering a speech in Tehran on Student Day.


Source: Boing Boing | 12 Dec 2009 | 5:32 pm

Saturday Morning Science Experiment: Flour On Fire

Blow Huge Fireballs with Your Breath!
by WonderHowTo

Flour is not as innocuous as it may seem. Like other carbohydrates, it's really just a tiny chain of sugars at heart. And (as anyone who's ever made s'mores knows) sugar can light up like a dried-out Christmas Tree that's been exposed to an electrical spark. In fact, flour dust is highly explosive. Today's experiment takes advantage of the burnability of flour to create a cool fire-breathing trick.

Thumbnail image courtesy Flickr user pinkmoose, via CC

Source: Boing Boing | 12 Dec 2009 | 5:29 pm

Venture Capitalists Ron Conway And Sean Parker Battle For Charity

Sean Parker (Founders Fund, Facebook, Plaxo, Napster) and angel investor Ron Conway are doing a little smack talking over who’ll raise the most money for charity. Conway is raising for the UCSF Foundation, and Parker is fighting Malaria through Malaria No More.

So far Parker is in the lead, with more than $15,000 raised (he’s tying it to his 30th birthday party tonight). Conway, who started later, has nearly $7,500. They’re both using Causes on Facebook, one of Parker’s companies, to raise the money.

We’re not picking sides, and both are very worthy causes. Donate early and often. And consider asking friends to donate instead of giving holiday gifts.

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

Source: TechCrunch | 12 Dec 2009 | 5:25 pm

Shop online December 17 and take advantage of Free Shipping Day

Section: Web

Last minute Christmas shoppers or anyone else interested in online shopping can save a few dollars by taking advantage of Free Shipping Day. On Thursday, December 17, more than 580 online retailers will participate in a program that promises free shipping guaranteed to reach your house by Christmas Eve.

Holiday shoppers tend to shy away from buying gifts online after December 12, so FreeShipping.org spearheads an effort to encourage deals from sellers. Not all orders will qualify for free shipping, but hundreds of websites will offer some type of deal this Thursday. To address customer fears that gifts may not arrive in time, FreeShippingDay.com maintains a list of shipping deadlines for participating websites. For most stores, December 17 is the absolute latest date to order free standard shipping and guarantee a December 24 delivery, but many offer express shipping options.

Anyone still looking to cross off names on a gift list would be wise to consult free shipping day. Though some deals include restrictions, it is useful to have a scorecard of who has the best shipping value and speed of delivery. Among the familiar names like the Apple Store, Amazon, and Best Buy, there’s also a long list of smaller retailers. Browse the full list at FreeShippingDay.com. Also keep in mind that some websites already have free shipping deals available, so if you don’t want to wait, look around now.

Read [FreeShippingDay.com]

Source: Gizmodo | 12 Dec 2009 | 5:00 pm

Buyout firm sues Citigroup over EMI auction (AP)

AP - A private equity firm that paid billions of dollars for the struggling music company EMI has filed a lawsuit against Citigroup in an attempt to reclaim some of its investment.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Dec 2009 | 4:34 pm

Crunchpad/JooJoo war of words heats up with lawsuit and recent interview

Section: Business News

On Friday, Michael Arrington announced that TechCrunch had filed suit against Fusion Garage, its former partner in the development of the Crunchpad Internet tablet. Gadgetell has covered the oft-delayed Crunchpad, which was pronounced dead by Arrington last November after he alleged that Fusion Garage tried to sell the product without his company’s involvement. Soon after, Fusion Garage resurrected the Crunchpad under a new name - JooJoo.

As expected, TechCrunch has sued Fusion Garage and the two companies have very different accounts over who owns the right to the JooJoo/Crunchpad. TechCrunch claims it “conceived, initiated, developed, directed, and promoted the CrunchPad project” and provided cash and other business resources. In its court filings, TechCrunch says it worked side-by-side with Fusion Garage throughout the development process, only to be told “out of the blue” that Fusion Garage wanted to cut TechCrunch out of the deal. In a blog post, Arrington even alleges that his company paid for direct expenses because Fusion Garage was taking on “unsavory investors and borderline loan sharks.”

Fusion Garage CEO Chandra Rathakrishnan says there was “no investment or no contractual or business relationships between both parties” and that this wasn’t even a handshake deal. He counters that Fusion Garage took on the risks during development, hired the talent, and performed the duties to build the device. In this video interview with Engadget, Rathakrishnan reveals new details about the JooJoo and the company’s relationship with Arrington.

Read [TechCrunch] Read [Engadget]

 

Source: Gizmodo | 12 Dec 2009 | 4:00 pm

Open Source Hardware Projects, 2009

ptorrone writes "MAKE's yearly open source hardware guide is now online with over 125 projects in 19 categories. The creators of all of these projects have decided to publish completely all the source, schematics, firmware, software, bill of materials, parts list, drawings, and 'board' files to recreate the hardware. They also allow any use, including commercial. In other words, you can make a business making and selling any of these objects. This is similar to open source software like Linux, but hardware-centric."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 12 Dec 2009 | 3:40 pm

Recession-O-Rama deals for the Weekend 12.12.09

Section: Video, HDTV, Gadgets / Other, GPS/Navigation, Green, Gaming, Accessories, Peripherals, Mice / Keyboards, Web, Websites

Christmas is nearly two weeks away and I’m sure many of us, me included, have not even begun shopping for Holiday presents.  Hopefully, some of the deals for this week’s Recession-O-Rama will help you pick out some great gifts for family and friends.  Today, we have deals ranging from Wii accessories, HDTVs, GPS’, USB Mouse, and a Blu-Ray player. 

Wii InCharge

Our first deal today is from Buy.com, who has Wii InCharge: Inductive Dual-Charger for Wii Wireless Remote for $25 and comes with free shipping.  Normally selling for $35, the Wii InCharge allows users to charge up to two Wiimotes at a time.  It does not matter whether they are in the protective sleeve or not, the inductive charging works in either case.  Each full charge will deliver about 25 hours of gameplay.  Overtime, the amount of batteries you can save by using this will definitely save you money, and not to mention help out the environment a little bit.  It includes two rechargeable battery packs to use in place of conventional batteries.  Of course, the Wiimotes are not included with the Wii InCharge device. 

LG 47LH30 47” HDTV

The second deal for this weekend is the LG LG 47LH30 47 inch HDTV from Buydig.com.  Selling for $799, the 47 inch HDTV sports a max resolution of 1920 x 1080, contrast ratio of 50,000:1, response time of 5ms, and a brightness of 500 cd/m2.  This is definitely one of the lowest prices currently available for this model, and it comes with free shipping to boot. 

Magellan RoadMate 1424

Next up we have the Magellan RoadMate 1424 that is on sale for $119, but if you use the coupon code: BONUSBUY, you will receive an additional $7 off.  It normally sells for $150, but it comes with an instant $31 rebate.  The Magellan RoadMate 1424 features a 4.3 inch touch screen, 6 million POI’s, and has preloaded maps of the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada.  6th Avenue Electronics will be selling this GPS with free shipping as well. 

Logitech V220 Cordless Optical USB Mouse

Continuing, we have the Logitech V220, which is a cordless optical mouse.  This is a one day special as Dell is selling it for $12, after you instantly save $17.  It is meant to be handy and portable, so the mini receiver fits easily into the mouse for travel, it features 1000 dpi high-definition optical technology, a battery meter, and has soft, comfortable side grips. 

Magnavox NB500MG1F Blu-Ray DVD Player

Our last deal for today is the Magnavox NB500MG1F Blu-Ray DVD Player. On sale at Walmart.com, this Blu-Ray DVD player features full HD 1080p output, 24 fps, HDMI output, and is Energy Star compliant.  In addition, it weighs 4.2 pounds, and is small enough to fit conveniently on a shelf near your HDTV.  It sells for $78 and $1 for shipping costs. 

That’s all the deals we have for this weekend, visit again next week to see what other deals we have in store.  Happy shopping!

Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 12 Dec 2009 | 2:59 pm

Microsoft Invents Price-Gouging the Least Influential

theodp writes "In the world envisioned by Microsoft's just-published patent application for Social Marketing, monopolists will maximize revenue by charging prices inversely related to the perceived influence an individual has on others. Microsoft gives an example of a pricing model that charges different people $0, $5, $10, $20, or $25 for the identical item based on the influence the purchaser wields. A presentation describing the revenue optimization scheme earned one of the three inventors applause (MS-Research video), and the so-called 'influence and exploit' strategies were also featured at WWW 2008 (PDF). The invention jibes nicely with Bill Gates's pending patents for identifying influencers. Welcome to the brave new world of analytics."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 12 Dec 2009 | 2:34 pm

News sinks Windows Mobile 7 fans

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile

Looks like another setback for Windows Mobile 7, as another rumored delay will push the launch date back to “late 2010”.  Windows Mobile 7 is the much delayed follow up to the less-than-impressive Windows Mobile 6.  We’ve been hearing potential launch dates that go back to 2008.

According to Microsoft UK head of mobility Phil Moore:

“It has been put back until late next year but it is definitely coming. You’re going to see a lot more on Windows Mobile 7. Giving the enterprise users and consumers what they want will be part of Windows Mobile 7. You’ll get flexibility on a much easier touch UI.”

Meanwhile, Google employees are “dogfooding”, a term they use to describe eating your own dog food first via a mobile device running Android 2.1 test software and is supposedly “like the iPhone on beautifying steroids.”  Their GPhone now confirmed to be real and to be available unlocked so Google can completely control the software/hardware experience.  HTC is building the phone for Google.

The iPhone marches on new lands, opening China and Korea in recent months widening the devices appeal.  The App Store continues to be the hot fashion for branding your company with over 100,000 apps expected to triple in two years time.

If only one thing is clear, Windows Mobile 7 will have a lot of ground to make up.

 

Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 12 Dec 2009 | 2:07 pm

Brazil and the Magic Bean Stock

Jatropha is one bean in the bio-fuel swirl that's worth book-marking to see if it ever makes something of itself. This little weed first caught my attention a year ago when it fueled a 747 on a two hour flight. ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Dec 2009 | 1:39 pm

600 detained at climate rally urging bold pact

Tens of thousands of protesters marched through the chilly Danish capital and 600 were detained Saturday, in a mass rally to demand an ambitious global climate pact just as talks hit a snag
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Dec 2009 | 1:30 pm

Copyright Industries Oppose Treaty For the Blind

langelgjm sends in a piece from Wired, which details the background of a proposed treaty to allow cross-border sharing of books for the blind — a treaty which is opposed by an almost unified front of business interests in the US, with the exception of Google. "A broad swath of American enterprise ranging from major software makers to motion picture and music companies are joining forces to oppose a new international treaty that would make books more accessible to the blind. With the exception of Google, almost every major industry player has expressed disapproval of the treaty, which would allow cross-border sharing of digitized books accessible to the blind and visually impaired. Google's chief copyright counsel believes the industry-wide opposition is mainly due to 'opposition to a larger agenda of limitations and exceptions... We believe this is an unproductive approach to solving what is a discrete, long-standing problem that affects a group that needs and deserves the protections of the international community.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 12 Dec 2009 | 1:29 pm

Google Releases Experimental Phone to Employees (PC World)

PC World - Google has handed out a new mobile phone running its Android software to some employees, stirring another wave of speculation that the oft-rumored Google Phone is real.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Dec 2009 | 1:20 pm

Tens of thousands march for Denmark climate pact

Tens of thousands of protesters marched through the chilly Danish capital and 600 were detained Saturday, in a mass rally to demand an ambitious global climate pact just as talks hit a snag
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Dec 2009 | 1:13 pm

AT&T: On the Decline? - PC World

Product Reviews (blog)

AT&T: On the Decline? PC World On the heels of AT&T's disastrous attempts to fight back against Verizon's clever "there's a map for that" ad campaign (Luke Wilson? Is that all you got?) comes more bad news for those who've hitched their smartphones to Ma Bell's wagon. ... AT&T Takes the Blame, Even for the iPhone's FaultsNew York Times AT&T 3G service disruption hits San FrancsicoCNET News The Macalope Weekly: Put down that iPhone!Macworld Apple Insider -Wall Street Journal -BusinessWeek all 162 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Dec 2009 | 1:11 pm

Weekend Update 12.13.09–A New Hope [Digital Daily]

Just like other parts of the world, Silicon Valley has its own special magic during the holidays. We gather together around the old-timey glow of a CRT monitor and drag out our old CDs—especially the ones that say things like “Sign up for AOL now and receive 500 hours free.” With the familiar tone of a dial-up modem log-in on the stereo, we can almost smell the sweet aroma of irrational exuberance of holidays past. It’s this seasonal magic of limitless possibility that captured the tech word this week, featuring the miracle of rebirth, new jobs, and the greatest miracle of all, a possible Verizon (VZ) iPhone.

Kara soothed some furrowed brows with her NPR voice early in the week, before heading out to New York to attend the Diddy-studded relaunch party of Aol (AOL). She said that the real miracle of Aol seems to be its incredible resilience. Weekend Update thinks the 25-year-old online player was bitten by a radioactive roach sometime in the late 80s—it’s the only explanation. In any case, at the event, Kara caught former CBS (CBS) interactive head Quincy Smith on camera briefly and followed with a post about his part in a new niche banking venture. She rounded out BoomTown this week with a wrap-up of the party, featuring a little video chat with good ol’ Woz. Apple (APPL) co-founder Steve Wozniak was his usual jolly self, which got Weekend Update to thinking: He’s friendly, loves gadgets more than any human should and always seems to be sequestered in some workshop, toiling away before emerging for special occasions. We might be getting a little “Glenn Beck” paranoid here, but Woz and Claus do rhyme.

Digital Daily was in the holiday spirit too and brought us some prognostications a la the ghost of Christmas future. AT&T (T) is foretelling a grave future if it can’t get its coverage in order. No “incentive” programs are in place yet, but the company did release an app that allows users to geo-tag locations where service is bad, though we’re not sure yet what they’ll do with the data. More iPhones on the network plus lack of action may slow down connection speeds so much that even Jacob Marley could beat AT&T in a bandwidth race, and we’re pretty sure he’s wrapped in chains. While AT&T grapples with correcting its own network transgressions, John posted about a prognostication from an industry analyst who says that as time progresses we’re increasingly likely to see a Verizon iPhone. While the analysis is complex, the math is simple. Over time, Apple will see fewer and fewer iPhone converts at AT&T as the carrier slowly slurps up those remaining in the bottom of the cup. Moral of the story: We may start hearing that sucking sound between 2010 and 2012. John finished out the week with a snapshot of Aol. There were fewer sugarplums and candy canes and more about the long, wintery walk ahead of the oddly new Internet player. The reality is that shares in the post-spinoff Aol were down a few points, even as management was doing its best to put on a brave face. Sometimes a fruitcake is still a fruitcake, even if you gift-wrap it.

MediaMemo was in the holiday spirit too, even if the world of media is a little more somber this holiday season. Peter started things off with coverage of a new Nielsen report that puts TV viewing down somewhat, even as Internet video viewership rises. While one explanation might be that the screentime balance is finally beginning to shift, Weekend Update has another hypothesis: There are not nearly so many hilarious cat-dressed-as-Santa videos on TV as on the Internet, and that’s just want the holiday viewers want. Arguably, the biggest shakeup this week was over at Facebook, where the elves have been working feverishly on yet another privacy agreement. Peter reported that king elf Zuckerberg thinks sharing is the best default and sort of puts his profile where his mouth is (even if he keeps certain data, like his cellphone number, just for his friends). Finally, not to be left out of the Aol party, Peter also delivered some insight about the shape of things to come with a post about New York Times veteran Saul Hansell heading over to do some kind of work in Aol’s new content factory. No word yet on what sort of gift this particular wise man will be delivering.

Walt and Katie were in full swing this week, working hard to make sense of some of those last-minute gift items. Personal Technology was devoted to the Nook, a much anticipated e-reader from Barnes and Noble (BKS). Similar to the Amazon (AMZN) Kindle in its display capabilities, the Nook sets itself apart, in theory, by augmenting its text display with a small color screen to aid navigation. Walt said this one needed a little more time in the workshop and that future iterations may take better advantage of the interesting dual-screen idea. Mossberg’s Mailbox wasn’t full of tins of cookies yet, but Walt did answer some mail about the end of Microsoft (MSFT) Money for the Mac and recording all your favorite shows onto a computer. He also helped one wayward would-be smartphone owner examine options less costly than the Motorola (MOT) Droid. Katie came to every mom’s rescue with a great post breaking down the Wii, Xbox and Playstation 3 field. If that weren’t enough, she includes a cheat sheet of features and options that will take the confusion out of the impending trip through your favorite electronics superstore gauntlet.

While we’re not yet roasting chestnuts (Kara hates it when we start fires in the office), AllThingsD most certainly is getting its stockings hung with care. Is it weird that we are noshing on a potato latke while we do that? Either way, stay tuned to the AllThingsD crew, and please feel free to leave comments–no one likes an empty mailbox during the holidays. Weekend Update will catch you again next week.

Source: All Things Digital | 12 Dec 2009 | 1:10 pm

Hundreds detained at mass climate rally

Tens of thousands of protesters marched through the chilly Danish capital and 600 were detained Saturday, in a mass rally to demand an ambitious global climate pact just as talks hit a snag
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Dec 2009 | 12:57 pm

AP IMPACT: Science not faked, but not pretty - The Associated Press

Modesto Bee

AP IMPACT: Science not faked, but not pretty The Associated Press LONDON — E-mails stolen from climate scientists show they stonewalled skeptics and discussed hiding data — but the messages don't support claims that the science of global warming was faked, according to an exhaustive review by The Associated Press. ... Global warming talks hit hurdleDetroit Free Press Climategate: Beyond the EmbarrassmentU.S. News & World Report Why Copenhagen Still MattersBusinessWeek Washington Post -Los Angeles Times all 434 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Dec 2009 | 12:31 pm

Nanotech Ink Turns Paper Into a Low-Cost Battery

jangel writes "Stanford University researchers have demonstrated a way to turn ordinary paper into a battery, which may be crumpled or pressed into any form. It's said the technology promises greater durability, higher efficiency, and faster energy transfer than traditional batteries. The technique uses special ink made of carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires. Thanks to the small diameters of these materials, the ink sticks strongly to the fibrous paper, allowing the battery to be extremely durable. The paper battery could last through 40,000 charge-discharge cycles — at least an order of magnitude more than lithium batteries. According to the researchers, the paper batteries will be low-cost, may be crumpled or folded, and can even be soaked in acidic or basic solutions, yet their performance does not degrade. 'We just haven't tested what happens when you burn it,' one of the researchers quipped." This is the same Stanford research team, lead by Yi Cui, whose work with nanotechnology for battery applications we have discussed before. We've also delved into alternate routes to the holy grail of the ultra-thin battery.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 12 Dec 2009 | 12:26 pm

TEDxSV: Reid Hoffman On Philanthropic Movements On The Web

We’re at TEDxSV, a Silicon Valley outpost of TED’s conferences on innovation, which is taking place today at Stanford University. First up is LinkedIn founder and angel investor Reid Hoffman, who is addressing the concept of iMovements on the web. I’ll be live-blogging his remarks.

Hoffman says that one of his ambitions is to be a public intellectual, to be able to influence millions of people with innovations and change. Hoffman thinks that the internet, which is scalable and low-cost, is the optimal platform for cause-based organizations. The web is more about people than technology, Hoffman asserts.

When Hoffman invests in a startup, he looks at three things: scalability, margins and the structure. These three attributes are the same things that make web-based causes or philanthropic movements more effective. Three types of cause-based organizations have developed on the web because of this potential, which are non-profits (Hoffman highlights micro-lending platform Kiva.org as an example of this), hybrid infrastructure organizations such as Mozilla or Creative Commons, and companies developing their own cause-based movements on the web.

One of the things that Hoffman finds interesting is that corporations, because they have the reach of millions of people, they can make cause-based initiatives part of their web based platform. This is exemplified by Facebook’s Causes application.

The causes that success capitalize on the internet “peer play” says Hoffman. So how do you coordinate the actions of millions of people in the world to make social change? Hoffman says that micro-groups on the internet can help organize these causes effectively.

The key part of the future of cause-based movements will be the boiling up of problems and issue and the coordinated intelligence and collective ideation on how to tackle these problems. There is a value in the crowdsourcing of ideas to help make social change, concluded Hoffman.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Source: TechCrunch | 12 Dec 2009 | 12:09 pm

WordPress Makes Blogging On The Fly Easier, Integrates With Twitter API

This morning, a blogging platform and a microblogging platform have become more symbiotic. WordPress has enabled posting and reading the blogs the platform powers via the Twitter API.

This means any Twitter app that supports a custom API URL can be used to either post updates to your WordPress.com blog, or to read updates from blogs you’ve subscribed to. Tweetie 2, an iPhone and desktop Twitter client, will be one of the first third party apps to implement this.

As Twitter’s traffic continue to grow, WordPress sees its growth also rising. It makes sense to become more symbiotic with the Twitter ecosystem, considering the rapid growth of the use of third party applications. In fact, WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg told ReadWriteWeb recently that WordPress was trying to develop more ways for Twitter and its platform to overlap.

The integration of WordPress functionality with Tweetie is actually pretty cool. All you need to do is add your WordPress account to Tweetie’s settings and you will then be able to post a status update to your WordPress.com blog and also have it displayed in the blog reading view. You can also enable geotagging to show the location of your status update.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Source: TechCrunch | 12 Dec 2009 | 11:32 am

Friday News Feedbag for Dec. 11, 2009

If this is your first exposure to the Friday News Feedbag...we're glad to have you in the club. Welcome to Feedbag Nation. Below you'll find an video link to a weekly podcast where you can watch three of us Discovery ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Dec 2009 | 11:24 am

Fines Fail To Curb Cell Phone Usage While Driving

andylim writes "An in-depth study of over 14,000 London drivers by the Transport Research Laboratory has found an increase in the number of London motorists making and taking calls using their handsets at the wheel between 2008 and 2009, even though harsher penalties were introduced in 2007. It seems that most people, at least in London, still don't respect the fact that there's a much higher risk of being involved in an accident if you're using your cell phone."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 12 Dec 2009 | 11:20 am

Predictions: Microsoft: Windows 7 Leads, But Office 2010 Lags (PC World)

PC World - Techinciter believes 2010 will be another tough year for Microsoft, though less so than the year that is about to end. Windows 7 will be a hit with business users, but Office 2010 has a lot of convincing to do. Like Windows XP, Office 2007 is proving to be long-lived and hard to displace.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Dec 2009 | 10:59 am

The Google Phone, Unlocked (Confirmed And More Details)

Last night, we started seeing some Tweets from Google employees and others about a new Android-powered Google phone that was apparently handed out at an “all hands” meeting. Now Google is confirming that this indeed “dogfood” testing a new Android device with employees around the world. But this isn’t just another Android phone. Very trustworthy sources who have seen the phone say that it is the Google Phone we first wrote about last month (despite the uninformed saying we were dreaming). It will be branded Google and sold by Google as an unlocked phone, which could change everything. The phone itself is being built by HTC, with a lot of input from Google.

Source: MobileCrunch | 12 Dec 2009 | 10:54 am

UN faces 'major setback' if failure at climate talks: Pachauri

The head of the Nobel-winning UN panel of climate scientists warned on Saturday that failure at the Copenhagen talks on tackling global warming would deal a heavy blow to the nation-state...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Dec 2009 | 10:54 am

Can Nokia Recapture Its Glory Days? - New York Times

New Zealand Herald

Can Nokia Recapture Its Glory Days? New York Times Losing ground in North America to iPhones and BlackBerrys, Nokia has decided to close its New York flagship store. By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ IF there's anywhere left in the world where it's still impolite to flash a BlackBerry or an iPhone, it's Nokia's ... Apple calls Nokia a copycat in patent countersuitArs Technica Apple Sues Nokia, Claims InfringementBusinessWeek Apple, Nokia clash for lengthy court battleReuters eWeek -PC World -Wall Street Journal all 610 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Dec 2009 | 10:54 am

The Google Phone, Unlocked (Confirmed And More Details)

Last night, we started seeing some Tweets from Google employees and others about a new Android-powered Google phone that was apparently handed out at an “all hands” meeting. Now Google is confirming that this indeed “dogfood” testing a new Android device with employees around the world. But this isn’t just another Android phone. Very trustworthy sources who have seen the phone say that it is the Google Phone we first wrote about last month (despite the uninformed saying we were dreaming). It will be branded Google and sold by Google as an unlocked phone, which could change everything. The phone itself is being built by HTC, with a lot of input from Google.

Source: CrunchGear | 12 Dec 2009 | 10:54 am

Scientists: Climate talks aim too low for target

The cuts in greenhouse gases offered at the 192-nation climate conference are "clearly not enough" to assure the world it will head off dangerous global warming, a key U.N.-affiliated...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Dec 2009 | 10:53 am

NSF-Supported Presentations At AGU Conference Present New Discoveries

Water in Earth's critical zone; declining water resources in the U.S. west; "zebra stripes" in rock; dark energy under the sea-floor; undersea volcanic eruptions; Sumatra earthquake zone among topics
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Dec 2009 | 10:51 am

Merkel sees CO2 reduction programme by 2030

The Copenhagen climate conference could come up with a deal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions globally by 2030 and Germany may cut CO2 emissions by up to 40 percent, Chancellor Angela...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Dec 2009 | 10:47 am

The Google Phone, Unlocked (Confirmed And More Details)

Last night, we started seeing some Tweets from Google employees and others about a new Android-powered Google phone that was apparently handed out at an “all hands” meeting. Now Google is confirming that it is indeed “dogfood” testing a new Android device with employees around the world.

But this isn’t just another Android phone. Very trustworthy sources who have seen the phone say that it is the Google Phone we first wrote about last month (despite the uninformed saying we were dreaming). It will be branded Google and sold by Google as an unlocked phone, which could change everything. As we wrote in our original post:

Google is building their own branded phone that they’ll sell directly and through retailers. They were long planning to have the phone be available by the holidays, but it has now slipped to early 2010. The phone will be produced by a major phone manufacturer but will only have Google branding (Microsoft did the same thing with their first Zunes, which were built by Toshiba).

There won’t be any negotiation or compromise over the phone’s design of features – Google is dictating every last piece of it. No splintering of the Android OS that makes some applications unusable. Like the iPhone for Apple, this phone will be Google’s pure vision of what a phone should be.

The phone itself is being built by HTC, with a lot of input from Google. It seems to be a tailored version of the HTC Passion or the related HD2 (Unlocker scored some leaked pictures back in October which are of the same phone).

Here are the details we know so far about the phone: It will be called the Google Phone and will launch in early January, 2010. It won’t be sold by any one carrier, but instead will be an unlocked GSM phone. In the U.S., that means T-Mobile and possibly AT&T, whose exclusivity deal with the iPhone is about to run out. It will be running Android 2.1

The phone is “really, really fast,” says someone who has seen one in action. It runs on a Snapdragon chip, has a super high-resolution OLED touchscreen, is thinner than the iPhone, has no keyboard, and two mics. The mic on the back of the phone helps eliminate background noise, and it also has a “weirdly” large camera for a phone. And if you don’t like the touchscreen keyboard, a voice-to-text feature is supposed to let you dictate emails and notes by speaking directly into the phone.

CrunchBase Information

Google

Android

Information provided by CrunchBase

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Source: TechCrunch | 12 Dec 2009 | 10:47 am

Starent Networks shareholders endorse Cisco merger (AP)

AP - Starent Networks Corp. has cleared a key hurdle toward its pending acquisition by the world's largest maker of computer networking equipment.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Dec 2009 | 10:42 am

Facebook and Google: Contrasts in Privacy (PC World)

PC World - The headlines recently have been dominated with news of online privacy. Facebook has implemented changes that affect the privacy of status updates, and Google made headlines for its apparent disregard for privacy.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Dec 2009 | 10:38 am

The Medium Is No Longer The Message, . . . You Are

Editor’s note:  This guest post is written by Seth Goldstein (@seth),  the Co-Founder of socialmedia.com, which is building the first ad server based on people not pages. Its platform provides authoring, serving and reporting across different types of social media. All of its ads are real messages from real people. Seth is also the Co-Chairman of the IAB’s Social Media Committee.

Social Media and Identity

We are witnessing a profound change in the media and advertising industries due to the emergence of social media.  Companies that did not exist ten years ago, like Facebook and Twitter, have captured significant share of the attention economy from traditional publishers.  Underscoring this trend is the fact that at the same time that Businessweek was selling for less than $5 million (plus assumption of debts) to Bloomberg, Foursquare’s pretty cousin Gowalla drove up Sand Hill road and collected $8.4 million for a minority stake.

Amidst this disruption, media companies are chasing after “their” audience in order to continue to broker the attention of that audience to marketers.  But just at the moment that media has mastered the art of blogging, search engine optimization and CPM yield management, they are now faced with a new set of consumer behaviors that elude their programming faculties: mobile devices, location-based services and the social graph.

Driving this change in consumer behavior is the emergence of social media as a means of content production.  Social media started more than ten years ago with online personal communications tools such as Evite, Shutterfly and Blue Mountain Arts.  Since that time, systems have been built to support broader and more subtle social interactions.  This has been achieved primarily by the introduction of new creative formats that make it easy for individuals to express information about themselves (such as status updates, tweets and check-ins) and new distribution models that enable this personal information to be shared easily among friends and followers.

Social media’s ascent has led to an Internet experience based less on pages and more on people.  As a corollary to this (and counter to Marshall McLuhan’s thesis), the medium is no longer just the message.  The permanence of words and images and their meaning in context has long been promoted as a foundation of media theory.  In an increasingly real-time environment, however, content gives way to identity, and traditional contextual analysis gives way to dynamic social interactions.

The medium is the message . . .  is the member.  This is why there can be no discussion of social media without a simultaneous discussion of identity, and why the growth of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter are one and the same with the growth of identity systems online.  There are a number of technology and business trends that are converging around this thesis.

Here are some that seem to be of particular importance as we head into 2010:

• The only check and balance for Facebook is Twitter.  Twitter is significantly smaller than Facebook in terms of users, and its social graph is asymmetrical and therefore looser.  But what it lacks in terms of the size of its contributors, it makes up by offering a broadcast media model.  Celebrities find it easier to reach large audiences directly by using Twitter.  Even though Twitter follows far more of a media model than Facebook, it too is being pulled into the identity space by  Google who is unlikely to integrate Facebook Connect under any condition. Google is bringing the Twitter API to the fight (while Yahoo and  MySpace drop their identity ambitions and happily incorporate Facebook Connect).  The interesting question here is Microsoft.  Although it is impossible to imagine Microsoft siding with Google on anything these days, integrating Facebook Connect may end up doing to Windows what Microsoft itself did to IBM many years ago.
• Agencies are tired of being treated like commodity procurement organizations.  They want to increase their margins through the application of data to media and become demand side platforms (DSPs).  This is the strategy of IPG’s Cadreon unit and Vivaki’s “audience on demand network” which both look to add proprietary data from sources such as cookie exchanges and re-targeting databases. In addition to leveraging new data to better target existing creative assets, agencies wish to also transcend the one-off  “give me a big campaign idea” business.  Consumers will increasingly ignore the high-bandwidth, homepage-takeover distraction tactics of traditional online marketing.  The average social media users have trained themselves to focus on real messages from real people.  Agencies will need to learn how to produce low bandwidth advertising content that can be shared and distributed in lots of different ways by lots of different social groups, all the while preserving some underlying essential brand equity.

• Publishers don’t want their quality audiences sold cheaply outside of their sites.  Their expensive sales organizations have no chance of maintaining high CPM rates from an agency that can offer the same audience to its client at a fraction of the price by sprinkling some cookie data on top of a remnant ad network buy.  This will embolden premium (top 100) publishers to align themselves with consumer advocacy groups looking to erase cookies and anonymize users.  ESPN and the WSJ would love it if all of their readers were rendered anonymous as soon as they clicked away.  This echoes Murdoch’s supposed interest in removing his content from Google’s search engine index. The value of “free” distribution is materially impacted when the distributor is able to separate a user’s identity from the context of his consumption.

• Advertisers will recognize that they have a fiduciary responsibility to maintain their own social graph.  Until now social media has been an ROI-free playground for brands looking to experiment with new formats.  Marketers have built Facebook and iPhone apps, only to learn that distribution is not free.  Now they are managing Twitter accounts and Facebook brand pages that deliver more scale, but still with limited insights that they can own and apply to the rest of their marketing initiatives.  Consumers, meanwhile, are constantly talking about brands within their communities and are expressing their affinities for commercial products and services.  Advertisers can no longer afford to cede knowledge about these interactions to the social networks within which they are occurring.  Inevitably, companies will require their own social graph data that includes all mentions of their brands and information about the identity of users (and their friends) discussing them.

So what are media companies and advertisers to do as the former audience use their social identity as a fulcrum for content creation?  To prepare for this change in the media economy, companies need to establish an identity framework that integrates Facebook Connect and/or the Twitter API.   And in order to profit economically, startups might want to address one of the agency, publisher or advertiser challenges listed above.

Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors

Source: TechCrunch | 12 Dec 2009 | 10:34 am

Journal Highlights Forest Service Early Warning System

A national early warning system designed to assist land managers in rapidly detecting threats to forest health is featured in the cover article of the October 2009 issue of Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing (PE&RS), the journal of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS).
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Dec 2009 | 10:15 am

Tropical Cyclone 05B Forms SE Of Chennai, India

Image Caption: NASA's Aqua satellite's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument captured Tropical Storm 05B on Dec. 10. 05B is the rounded area located to the southeast of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The area of purple in the middle of the storm indicates strong thunderstorms and high, cold thunderstorm cloud tops. Credit: NASA JPL, Ed Olsen
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Dec 2009 | 10:12 am

Rumor: Dell Tablet to be unveiled at CES

Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Laptops

Well with Apple heading the way in the tablet rumor department, it is fair game that Dell throws its ring into the hat as well.

According to Pocket-lint, Dell will be showing the world its new, 5-inch tablet at CES. The tablet will run on Android OS and be released in the UK early in the coming year. Dell of course, had nothing to say but the classic no-comment:

Dell continually develops and tests new products that extend the mobile experience. We have not made any product announcements and do not comment on speculation, rumour, or unannounced products

Dell has shown us in the past that it can make products that meet Apple’s standards with a lower price. This is evidenced in the new Inspiron Zino HD which closely resembles the Mac Mini. Let us hope it can continue that trend.

Read [Pocket-lint]

Full Story » | Written by Greg Billetdeaux for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 12 Dec 2009 | 9:36 am

'Climate One Stop' Unveiled In Copenhagen

Image 1: A screen shot of the Climate One Stop web site.Image 2: A screen shot of the SERVIR web site, http://servir.net.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Dec 2009 | 9:24 am

TRMM Satellite Sees Cyclone Cleo Coming To A Close

Image Caption: The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite flew over Tropical Storm Cleo on Dec. 10 at 20:23 UTC. There was one small area of heavy rainfall, in its northwestern side (in red) of about 2 inches per hour. Credit: NASA/SSAI, Hal Pierce
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Dec 2009 | 9:01 am

Eat Less Meat And Dairy, For Planet's Sake

According to a senior authority on climate change, eating meat has a major impact on global warming and could become as socially unacceptable as drunk-driving.To help reduce global carbon emissions, Lord Stern of Brentford says people will have to consider turning to a vegetarian diet."Meat is a wasteful use of water and creates a lot of greenhouse gases.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Dec 2009 | 8:40 am

Fla. judges, lawyers must 'unfriend' on Facebook (AP)

AP - Florida's judges and lawyers should no longer "friend" each other on Facebook, the popular social networking site, according to a ruling from the state's Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Dec 2009 | 8:02 am

It’s All About Selling for Survival

The one skill which entrepreneurs need is something they don’t teach in business school—selling.  Yes, I know that “selling” conjures up negative images of used-car salesmen peddling clunkers. But the ability to persuade people to believe in you is a necessity. That’s because sales is not just about selling things for money. Selling is about life. Convincing the perfect soulmate to go out on a date is a sales job. Enticing your children to eat their vegetables is a sales job. Negotiating a raise with your boss is a sales job. And, yes, selling your company to Google is definitely a sales job. A sales job in that you are listening to others, finding out what they want or need, and giving it to them in a form that they appreciate. And guess who the best salespeople in tech companies are? Your developers.

Let me explain why I believe this.

I started my career as a geek. I ended up as Chief Technology Officer of Seer Technologies, a software startup which we grew from zero to $120 million in revenue and took public in a short five years. And then I became CEO of my own very successful startup called Relativity Technologies (until I burnt myself out and needed to shift gears).  A number of skills helped me through this ascent. I learned a lot about motivating and managing people who were sometimes smarter than me, about understanding markets and communicating effectively, and also a few really boring things like accounting, finance and law. But if I had not learned how to sell then my company would never have made it past three guys in a room with a phone and some laptops.

I didn’t believe this in my youth. I thought coding was the exact opposite of selling. I always associated “sales” with hustling and sleazy ways to convince customers to spend money on things they didn’t need. And you had to work fast to get that check before the dupes backed away.

One day I was promoted to project manager. After thrashing through a few uncomfortable meetings, I quickly understood that running a good project required a form of selling to my peers and managers. I also realized that perhaps sales was not so simple. In fact, convincing my staff that the ideas I had made sense was far more difficult than writing clean code. And persuading management to supply sufficient staff and funding to implement my ideas was harder still.

Being a successful project manager meant learning to listen closely to what others thought, to make them feel included, and to give them what they wanted and needed to succeed. It meant constant communication that was honest yet finely nuanced. It was hard work but ultimately very rewarding. I could listen and focus on helping others to achieve their goals and at the same time advance myself quite easily. When I was able to focus on a global view of helping my company succeed, I found it much easier to avoid destructive departmental politics. I rose up the ranks to become a vice-president of technology at one of the world’s five largest investment banks.

Then I got the chance to become CTO of a startup which would market technology which my team had built. Selling became an even more important skill. We all were living on borrowed time and the only thing that would give us more time was sales to put money into company coffers. We had a truly amazing product, much better than that of our competitors. But the stark reality was that unless we could really sell well, our competitors had a big advantage. They were a known quantity. They were not going out of business tomorrow. They played golf, went out for beers, and had lunch with our competitors.

My guru and mentor was my boss, Gene Bedell. One of the first things Gene did when we launched our company was to put everyone through a sales training boot camp. Gene had run billion-dollar businesses and reached the executive levels in investment banking. He had even convinced IBM to seed our company, a software spinoff from Credit Suisse First Boston. At first my technology team protested at being taught to learn about qualifying prospects and closing sales rather than the latest version-tracking software tools.

Within months, we were closing multimillion dollar sales with blue-chip customers across the globe. We did this with only two experienced sales reps and part-time sales support from our development staff. That’s because developers with sales training are incredibly valuable as a part of the sales process. They have two essential ingredients that make people persuasive—credibility and trustworthiness (for the most part).  So while a prospect may not really believe a salesperson, for example, when he says a system is reliable, they’re far more likely to believe a developer they respect.  This is a very powerful ingredient in the sales process, and one we used regularly.  We would compete with some of the largest software companies in the world—and win the sale almost every time. As CTO, I also took it upon myself to sell strategic partners. My biggest catch was a deal with IBM-Japan worth $8.6 million.

With a culture that put customer support and sales above everything else, we grew  into a profitable $120-million-a-year revenue machine. Our developers formed long-term bonds and friendships with our customers. They would go to great pains to understand customer requirements and build products that would sell. More often than not, new development projects would be funded directly by customers. Whenever there was a customer-service problem, our top engineers would voluntarily work around the clock and fly all over the globe to personally provide support.

So, how do you learn sales? It’s easy. There are literally hundreds of books on selling. The methods vary, but in essence all of them teach you about the basics of understanding customer needs and honing your message. There are also hundreds of “selling seminars” conducted all over the world. Be wary of any which teach you to sell things a customer doesn’t want. It is one thing to persuade someone to buy something which they need, it is another thing to con people. My personal favorite book (and I am a little biased here) is one by Gene Bedell himself, titled Three Steps to Yes: The Gentle Art of Getting Your Way.

By the way, I’m not the only guy saying this kind of stuff. The high priests of the Lean Startup Methodology, like Dave McClure, Brad Feld, and Eric Ries, all advocate a “get to sales ASAP” approach. “Recovering venture capitalist” Healy Jones blogged about how he was shortchanged with his Wharton MBA. Yet a quick conversation at any networking event in the Valley yields a simple observation that most technology workers don’t think that selling is part of their job description. The smartest technology entrepreneurs realize that everyone in the company is in sales and the sooner they embrace that reality, the easier it will be for that startup to grow and prosper. Coder, biz dev, PR, QA—nope. You’re all in sales. It’s all about selling for survival.

Editor’s note: Guest writer Vivek Wadhwa is an entrepreneur turned academic. He is a Visiting Scholar at UC-Berkeley, Senior Research Associate at Harvard Law School and Director of Research at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization at Duke University. Follow him on Twitter at @vwadhwa.

Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors

Source: TechCrunch | 12 Dec 2009 | 7:56 am

www.BackgroundNow.com Releases Background Checks for Its Top-Ten Most Requested Criminal Records for the Week Ending December 12, 2009

HOUSTON, Dec. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Each week www.BackgroundNow.com releases background checks for its Top-Ten Most Requested Public Records.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Dec 2009 | 7:56 am

Facebook's Privacy Settings: 5 Things You Should Know - ABC News

New York Times (blog)

Facebook's Privacy Settings: 5 Things You Should Know ABC News Facebook has begun rolling out its new privacy settings to all of its 350 million users. If you haven't seen it already, you will soon have to go through a wizard that will guide you through the process of confirming your privacy settings. ... Facebook Changes Privacy Settings Yet AgainPC World 3 Facebook Privacy MistakesChannelWeb Understanding Facebook's new privacy settingsTheNewsTribune.com San Francisco Chronicle -CNET News -CBS42 all 166 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Dec 2009 | 7:08 am

Eee Pad, another tablet joins the fight

Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Laptops, Gadgets / Other, Household

So lets see, in one corner we have the rumored Apple Tablet, in another corner we have the newly renamed JooJoo, and a rumored Dell tablet to be revealed at CES in another. The market for tablets has just exploded in the last few months. And as evidence, we have another to add to that list.

Digitimes released a statement saying that Asus is planning to add another computer to its Eee-line. Called the Eee Pad, it will feature a 4 to 7-inch screen and offer a combination of tablet PC and MID functions. They also stated that this has been inspired by the rumored Apple Tablet.

If this is true or not, I’m not sure but I guess it can’t be all bad. As much as some of us would like it, a world where the only tablet was the Apple one or the JooJoo would be a bad one. Monopolies are not good for technology as we would never see any advance in it. So with all the tablet rumors/releases we are going to see in the next few months, just remember, it’s good for us.

Read [Digitimes]

Full Story » | Written by Greg Billetdeaux for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 12 Dec 2009 | 7:02 am

Cattle Farming Contributes To Brazil's Greehouse Gases

Cattle farming is the leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions in Brazil, as it is responsible for four-fifths of the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest and three-fourths of the burning of forests and vegetation throughout the country, besides emitting most of the country's methane, an important greenhouse gas produced in the digestive system of cattle.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Dec 2009 | 6:00 am

The Google Phone: This changes everything (mostly)

We don't have much information on the Google Phone just yet. In fact, it sounds more like a party favor than anything else. However, if and when Google starts selling this thing, prepare for some of the strangest - and coolest - times in mobile we've ever experienced. What do we know? It's an HTC phone - probably the Passion, a distant cousin to the beautiful HD2 - with large touchscreen. It's GSM unlocked and everyone at Google has one so whatever the super secret specs are, they won't stay super secret for long. But what if Google starts to sell this thing? This is "a big deal" on the level of Neo learning Kung Fu in The Matrix. This means Google is making hardware.

Source: TechCrunch | 12 Dec 2009 | 4:56 am

The Google Phone: This changes everything (mostly)

We don’t have much information on the Google Phone just yet. In fact, it sounds more like a party favor than anything else. However, if and when Google starts selling this thing, prepare for some of the strangest – and coolest – times in mobile we’ve ever experienced.

What do we know? It’s an HTC phone – probably the Passion, a distant cousin to the beautiful HD2 – with large touchscreen. It’s GSM unlocked and everyone at Google has one so whatever the super secret specs are, they won’t stay super secret for long.

But what if Google starts to sell this thing? This is “a big deal” on the level of Neo learning Kung Fu in The Matrix. This means Google is making hardware.

For nigh on three decades computer manufacturers have been secure in their positions of power. Dell and HP, for example, ruled the roost while upstarts from Asia like Sony positioned themselves in the consumer electronics market. This stasis has held back innovation for years.

But suddenly service providers are doing hardware. Amazon has the Kindle, Barnes&Noble has a lumpen Nook, and now Google has a phone. What’s next? The Credit Suisse Fondue Set?

When service providers make hardware, they have a different set of priorities. They have a lower number of SKUs so their products have to be great. They control a lot of the software so the UI is great. They control the distribution so there’s a bit of the “rarity” and “early adopter” factor to consider. This sort of stuff is what CE and PC manufacturers would kill for – after all, when’s the last time you drooled over a desktop?

PC makers are working in commodities. Service providers traffic in rarity. In this neophilic age it’s the first few months of a product’s existence that is most important. When Dell launches a phone, it’s news. When Google launches a phone it’s a Moon Shot.

We don’t know enough right now to say how interesting this be, but it’s definitely intriguing.

Source: CrunchGear | 12 Dec 2009 | 4:55 am

Startup-Hunting at the End of the Earth

I’m sitting in Buenos Aires now, but last week I was in Puyuehue. Yeah, I had no clue where that was either when I got talked into embarking on a 20-something-hour day of travel to get there. If you look at a map of South America and trace your finger to the very bottom of Chile, that’s roughly where I was.

I sighed getting on the plane just four days after I got home from India. Having already traveled to Rwanda, Israel, China and India this year in search of the world’s best entrepreneurs, the journey was now quite literally taking me to the end of the earth.

The organization that did the arm-twisting is called Endeavor and thanks to the trip they have the not-too-uncommon distinction of having proved me wrong. For a long time, I didn’t believe any government or non-profit could really help develop clusters of high-impact entrepreneurs. But Endeavor has in very tangible ways, especially here in Latin America and South America.

It started ten years ago to find and help the most promising high-growth companies in emerging markets. It doesn’t actually invest in the 270 or so companies it has selected to be “Endeavor companies,” and a lot of that “help” is hard to quantify—free consulting, coaching and mentoring, and introductions to potential investors.

Indeed, a few entrepreneurs are dubious of how much Endeavor can really do at first blush. But here are a few stats: Endeavor companies have generated some $3.15 billion in revenues, generated nearly 100,000 jobs, and 93% of them are still business. If nothing else, Endeavor has a good eye for talent. (Although you can argue that success rate means they don’t back the riskiest bets that may need them most.)

A more tangible sign Endeavor has made a difference: Nearly 30 of these entrepreneurs have helped develop startup ecosystems by starting venture funds in emerging countries and a whopping 81% of them have donated cash or equity to support Endeavor.

Endeavor pores through hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs and makes its selections at one of five annual International Selection Panels held in far-flung places around the world. I traveled thousands of miles to this one to see the newest collection of South American candidates and also to see up close how the whole process works. The biggest surprise: It does actually work. Well, that and all the Brazilians were nice to me. (Disclosure: I paid all travel expenses and the regular conference fees.)

The real strength of the Endeavor model is the local teams. They’re staffed by young energetic—and frequently emotional—locals who scour their markets for the best entrepreneurs and nominate them for selection. I’m not quite sure how they find them all.

One of the selected companies was Medix, a medical device company that will generate more than $45 million in revenues this year. 77-year-old Jack Cheja—who never even graduated high school and doesn’t look a day over 60—used to import incubators and when Argentina placed a ban on those imports, well, he just decided to start making his own models. That came in handy a few years later when his daughter gave birth to premature triplets.

Medix now owns 90% of the Argentinean market and is going head to head with giants like General Electric in the rest of the developing world. Cheja is grooming his son, Diego, to take over. The elder Cheja says he didn’t even know he was “an entrepreneur” until the Endeavor crew reached out to him. Indeed, when Endeavor founder Linda Rottenberg started the organization there was no real word for “entrepreneur” in most of these countries. (At least none with a positive connotation.)

Meeting teams like the Chejas I was struck by a deep cultural difference: In America, we can hardly handle Christmas with our families, but most of Endeavor’s teams are like the Chejas—father-son, mother-son, or brother-sister duos. Diego Cheja even joked their succession problems were solved for the next generation too, pointing at his son snoozing away in a stroller.

That DNA-based succession planning can be a good thing and a bad thing. Many candidates are struggling with the transition from family-owned businesses to high-growth startups. For instance, the Argentinean Martinez family has roasted and sold coffee for generations. While most people consider the smell of coffee vaguely comforting, for Marcelo Salas Martinez and his brother Mauro coffee smells like his parents, his grandparents and home. But that warm and fuzzy feeling is also knotted up with a lot of ambition.

The brothers are expanding the business by building a chain of cafes in Argentina, and potentially other areas of South America. But the path is unclear: Building their own stores is expensive, but franchises haven’t always worked out either. That’s one reason they welcomed Endeavor’s advice. “Sometimes in a family business, you need fresh air,” Marcelo said. (Pictured right, with his mother in his grandparents’ original roasting plant.)

Here’s how Endeavor’s selection process works: A panel of experts—investors, former Endeavor entrepreneurs, executives at high growth companies— pair off and grill the entrepreneurs for a day. Then the next day in sometimes-contentious sessions, they vote on who should be selected. There’s no quota—they can select all or none of the companies. But the vote has to be unanimous.

This is where the emotion comes in. Many of these entrepreneurs have no access to mentors, capital or basic how-to’s of building a high-growth venture, so becoming an Endeavor company means a lot to them. But put the entrepreneurs themselves aside for a moment—the local Endeavor teams have investing months researching and coaching these entrepreneurs by this point, and no one wants any of their entrepreneurs turned down. They sit in the corner struggling to be quiet like nervous stage mothers.

That pent-up emotion can give way to relentless lobbying if an expert is planning on voting against a company. I’d argue this is actually a negative in the process, as some panelists said they felt bullied to change their votes. But I have to admit, I even started getting upset watching the deliberations.

Delightfully, Endeavor cuts this tension with a 24-hour open bar, evening karaoke parties and 1 a.m. pool parties. The night after their pitches, the Martinez brothers lead the room in a rousing, boozy, Spanish rendition of “I Only Want to Be with You.” Just like at a winning soccer game, one of the brothers half-ripped his shirt off at the end.

It may sounds like a junket; actually it was anything but. These were intense sessions of tough-love advice, and I was impressed at how many entrepreneurs took it in the right spirit, dutifully jotted down notes and asking follow up questions, even seeking the experts out for follow-up conversations if they weren’t selected. There was none of the defensiveness that you frequently see during pitches at US conferences.

In a future post I’ll write more about my favorite company I saw in Puyuehue, but now, I’ve got to catch a flight home.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Source: TechCrunch | 12 Dec 2009 | 4:40 am

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