Mereja

Author: Serkadis

  • Corruption Index today, Development Aid Reform tomorrow?

    Transparency International (TI), the international anti-corruption NGO, just released its annual corruption perceptions index (CPI).  No big surprises. This is no surprise.  Corruption does not tend to change dramatically from one year to the next.  Yet it is certainly worth reviewing the new data.

    Before so doing, a warning:  governance indices (including those we are associated with) are not highly accurate.  Therefore, precise rankings are misleading. There is a need to be transparent and precise about the extent of imprecision in each index, as well as the implications of such imprecision for comparisons across countries and over time.

    When differences between two countries are large (or the change for the same country over an 8-year period is substantial), and such change is informed by many independent sources, one can have confidence that those differences are meaningful.  Small differences in ranks or ratings imply that the two countries being compared are in a ’statistical tie’.  Yet there is such large variation in anti-corruption performance across countries, that there are many comparisons that can be made with high confidence — without pretending precision in rankings…

    New Zealand, Denmark, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland and Finland are at the top.  Comparisons among themselves, or trying to ‘anoint a ‘No. 1′ would be silly hair-splitting.  Yet one can suggest that any country in that top group does perform better than the US or France, for instance, both of which cannot be meaningfully distinguished from each other (or from Chile, for that matter…).

    On the other end of the spectrum one finds well over a dozen countries regarded by the TI index as rife with corruption, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Chad, Somalia, Myanmar (Burma), Equatorial Guinea, Venezuela, Haiti, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.  Conflict is rife in some, authoritarianism and extractive industries in others.

    Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan and Pakistan are among the top US development aid recipients and fare very poorly on corruption.  Nigeria, the DRof Congo (Kinshasa), Egypt, Uganda and Kenya are also large recipients of US aid and fare badly on corruption.
    This ought to be a concern, particularly now that the US government and Congress are embarking in a full fledged review of its foreign aid program.    But it is important to probe beyond the surface.  First, even if there are high levels of corruption in the country when the US provides massive aid, are there at least signs that improvements are taking place, so that there is movement in the right direction?
    Second, are the US funds helping promote improved governance and anticorruption, and thus supporting this movement in the right direction for the whole country, or is it mostly wasted?  And third, let us also look at other countries which are large recipients of US development aid, such as Colombia (where over the past decade there has been a notable improvement in anticorruption), or Ethiopia (where there is some corruption, but the real challenge is voice and democratic accountability).
    In sum, there is a need for further selectivity in development aid, not only by the US but by donors in general, but one has to look at this issue beyond Iraq and Afghanistan alone, and more broadly than anticorruption efforts alone.One healthy debate that ought to deepenIraq, Afghanistan, Sudan and Pakistan are among the top US development aid recipients and fare very poorly on corruption.  Nigeria, the DRof Congo (Kinshasa), Egypt, Uganda and Kenya are also large recipients of US aid and fare badly on corruption.

    Focusing on the group of countries that are performing very poorly on corruption, which include other dozens in addition to those listed above as well, may spur further debate about aid effectiveness.  This could be healthy.  In fact, right now in the US there are now at least three major efforts underway to review that country’s official foreign aid strategy and programs, one from the White House, another from the State Department, and yet another in the US Congress.  Indicators are key to evidence-driven policy making.

    Looking at the indices on corruption, it is simple to see that countries where the US has channeled large amounts of development aid, such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan and Pakistan, and to a large extent Nigeria, Egypt and Kenya, are not faring well on corruption.

    It would be equally simple to rationalize pulling back from development aid.  That would be simplistic and misguided, for the US, or for other bilateral or multilateral donor agency.   Yet business as usual in development aid is not an option.  [Actually, I stand corrected; continuing old practices of funneling funds seems to be the only ‘option’ being on the table in some aid agencies nowadays…]

    It is critical to probe below the surface and ask tough questions, like these ones for starters:

    1.  Even if there are high levels of corruption in the country when the US (or other donors) provide massive aid, is there evidence that improvements are taking place, and that there is a reformist leadership (not just in central government) committed to future changes — so that there is a likelihood of sustained movement in the right direction?   In other words, let us not focus on mere levels of corruption, even if dire.

    2.  Aren’t there some cases of significant aid flowing to countries where there is no endemic corruption, and what can one learn from these?   The focus on the Iraqs, Afghanistans and Pakistans can blindside one to the fact that there different country cases as well.  Colombia has been a large recipient of development aid, and over the past decade there have been notable improvements in controlling corruption.  Then in Ethiopia corruption is not endemic, another relatively large aid recipient.  Of course both countries feature other challenges (to different degrees), such as in the democratic accountability and human rights front.  Liberia, through resolute leadership, provides another potentially interesting case study in improvement in the short term.

    3.  Are the programs  funds being provided by the aid program actually helping promote improved governance and anti-corruption in meaningful way, with full country leadership and partnership?  Or are they perpetuating corrupt governments, leaders and institutions?  Or are they simply being wasted and not making a difference (while they could be making a big difference somewhere else)?

    4.  Where the public leadership and central government is entrenched and highly corrupt, what alternatives to working with central governments can be deepened?  What has worked, and what has not?

    5.  What is the exposure to corruption in the very projects and funds provided by development aid?   [This is a well known concern, and a relevant one, although often concentrating solely on this fiduciary issue has meant ignoring the all-important development effectiveness concern in the previous four sets of questions].

    Needless to say, corruption cannot be the only lens by which aid effectiveness needs to assessed.  It is often a symptom of broader governance failures. Nonetheless, a likely conclusion from a serious review of development effectiveness if governance and corruption are taken head on would be that further selectivity in aid programs may be needed.  Yet the devil will be in the details.  And in the polity.

    Further consistency in applying criteria for helping countries is also sorely needed, even if imperfectly.  The treatment of similarly corrupt governments by official donor agencies tends to be very different depending on geo-oil-politics, undermining credibility and impact.  This is just for starters, and was also part of an interesting exchange today with a journalist of Sphere/AOL News, here.   And this story in today’s NYT on the politics of corruption between the US and Equatorial Guinea is very telling.

    Plenty of work ahead.

  • Personas 1.4 Allows Users to Randomize Favorites and Undo

    Personas developers stay true to their ‘Your browser, your style!’ motto and have updated the addon to provide even more ease-of-use and customization options to users worldwide. The already well-known Firefox and Thunderbird extension has recently reached version 1.4 and got various new features, including the possibility to look for and to apply new designs from a developer users are most fond of, explore the favorite skins or undo a selection they made.

    The most important novelty that the updated Personas brings is surely the ‘More from…’ button that appears when someone chooses a Persona. For example, if someone finds a Firefox theme that best suits their preferences, they will also have the chance to periodically check back that particular developer and explore the additions. Previously, this action required accessing getpersonas.com, searching for the developer name or the design title, then clicking the page of the creator. All these actions will now be replaced by simply pressing the designated button.

    The previous flavor of the extension introduced the Favorites section. Version 1.4 further enhances it by allowing users to randomly apply a theme from the Favorites category, rather than a more general one (one can still choose to do this, if they want to browse through the more than… (read more)

  • How Much Money Did Joyent Really Raise?

    Intel today said it’s invested an undisclosed amount in Joyent, the 6-year-old Sausalito, Calif.-based startup that started out as a web hosting company but eventually evolved into a cloud service provider. Neither Intel nor Joyent disclosed the amount of money invested, but Intel’s investment in the company is a strategic bet for the chipmaker, as it faces a smaller end user base for its silicon thanks to enterprises turning to computing delivered as a service to help limit the number of servers they buy. First the deal specifics.

    Intel Capital has invested $8.5 million into the company, as per a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.  Sources tell me that Dell has also invested an undisclosed amount of money in the company. Dell has not returned my request for comment, but the company has been supplying gear to Joyent for a long time. Joyent shifted vendors from Sun to Dell over two years ago, a move I wrote about. Previous investors in the company include Peter Thiel, former PayPal-executive-turned-hedge-fund-investor whose investments include Facebook.

    Jason Hoffman, CTO Joyent @ Structure 09 Conference

    I emailed Joyent CTO Jason Hoffman, who declined to comment on either the total funding raised or the other co-investor. He added that the company engaged with Intel Capital after meeting them at our Structure 09 conference, held in June in San Francisco. One thing led to another and eventually, the funding took place. Hoffman said that the company plans to use the money to make an aggressive push into China and other Asian economies where demand for IT infrastructure is growing at a rapid clip. (Related research note from GigaOM Pro, sub. req’d.: Why Bringing Cloud Computing to China Is Joyent’s Golden Opportunity.)

    So why the Dell and Intel interest in Joyent? I’ve been talking to a lot of folks involved with the cloud computing industry, and there has been a growing concern with the Cisco-EMC-VMware joint venture company.

    Joyent isn’t a mere service provider, but has actually built a software competency, which makes it one of the strong contenders in the cloud computing market, especially as large enterprises look to build private clouds. Joyent has been aggressively helping companies build private clouds based on its software delivered on Dell machines. There are several significant companies that are using Joyent’s offering. For Dell (or any server maker), that is the kind of push that is necessary as the bulk of enterprise customers beginning to buy their compute hardware as a service.

    In an email to his partners, Joyent CEO David Young wrote:

    Joyent plans to take cloud computing to a place where our  competitors, built on virtualization foundations such as VMware ESX, Microsoft HyperV, Xen, KVM, won’t be able to go. That made the decision to raise money a clear choice and one that translates into greater benefits for Joyent, its customers and the market-at-large. We see a clear opportunity, and we intend to race towards it.

    Intel Capital agrees with our vision for the market, as said best by Lisa Lambert, Managing Director of Intel Capital:

    “Cloud computing technologies play a crucial role in allowing companies to scale their data center infrastructure to meet performance and TCO requirements. Joyent’s approach to flexible and cost-effective cloud control and cloud development sets it apart and provides measureable performance advantages versus the competition in this fast growing sector.”

    It’s no wonder that Dell and Intel want to get in on a piece of this market while they still can.

  • Harper College Honors Distinguished Alumni, Daily Herald

    By Eileen O. Daday | Daily Herald Columnist

    Rolling Meadows Fire Chief Ronald Stewart always dreamed of being a firefighter, but now he has a new feather in his cap, that of a Harper College distinguished alumni.

    Stewart was one of five inducted last week at the Palatine community college, during a formal reception held with its administrators. The others are: Shirley Garrison, former public relations director at Alexian Brothers Medical Center; Robin Turpin, a senior director at Baxter Healthcare; Beverly Goodman, a geo-archaeologist at Hebrew University of Jerusalem; and Tom Schnecke, a vice president for CBS 2 in Chicago.

    As a career firefighter, Stewart admits feeling a bit uncomfortable with being in the spotlight, but he concedes his story represents the trend in public safety: that higher education makes the difference when it comes to promotions.

    “When you combine on-the-job experience with the education and knowledge you get in college level courses,” Stewart says, “it gives you the edge to meet the challenges of the modern day fire industry.”

    Coming out of Fremd High School, Stewart completed EMT and paramedic courses before landing a job with the Rolling Meadows Fire Department at the age of 21. He thought his job history would earn him a shot at promotions.

    It wasn’t until he met Sam Giordano, who heads Harper’s Fire Science program, that he contemplated studying for his applied associate degree.

    “He really advocated veteran firefighters getting their degrees,” Stewart says, “not only to be competitive for reviews, but to gain added skills and knowledge of the industry.”

    His education made the difference, he said, in getting the nod as deputy chief of his department before later being named chief. After completing his associate degree at Harper, Stewart earned his bachelor’s degree in June from DePaul University.

    Today, the department that Steward leads requires an associate degree at the lieutenant level and a bachelor’s for higher rankings. As a result, many of his front-line supervisors are enrolled in Harper’s fast track degree program for their associate degrees.

    “Many people are intimidated by the idea of going back to school, but you have to take that leap of faith,” Stewart says. “The reality is, without higher education, your opportunities are limited.”

    Shirley Garrison

    Garrison, of Arlington Heights, dates her connection to Harper back to 1970, when as a returning student she enrolled in journalism courses. She already had a marketing degree from the University of Illinois, but more than 20 years later, as a recent divorcee with three children, she was determined to make a life on her own.

    With other single moms, Garrison became one of the first faces of what would evolve into Harper’s Women’s Program. While taking her courses, she helped college officials promote the program to local women’s groups.

    Her journalism courses and job experience earned Garrison a job in public relations with Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village, where she worked her way up to director.

    Now retired, Garrison continues to remain enrolled in Harper courses, this time in its Lifelong Learning Institute, where this fall she signed up for 10 new classes.

    Robin Turpin

    Robin Turpin, of Lake Zurich, is now Senior Director of Global Health Economics, IV Nutrition for Baxter Healthcare.

    In the 1970s, it was at Harper where she first discovered her love of psychology, after starting out in pre-med.

    “An enormous benefit of Harper is that you are able to explore a variety of career options, and then refocus as necessary,” says Turpin.

    She went onto complete her core courses before transferring to Loyola University, where she ultimately obtained a doctorate in Applied Social Psychology.

    In the 1980s, Turpin returned to Harper to teach psychology, before taking posts with the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and Merck & Co, Inc.

    Tom Schnecke

    Schnecke, presently vice president of Broadcast Operations/Engineering for CBS 2 in Chicago, says Harper’s electronics engineering technology program helped him focus his career path.

    At Harper, while taking classes in that field Schnecke became involved with the college’s young radio station. He went on to serve as WHCM’s adviser and he helped lay the groundwork for an FCC license and propel the station on to the FM dial.

    Since graduating from Harper, Schnecke earned a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College and a master’s in Radio/TV/Film from Northwestern University. He spent over 20 years at NBC before joining CBS 2 in 2003.

    Beverly Goodman

    Goodman works as a geo-archaeologist at Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. She attended Harper in 1992 and 1993.

    Goodman is a coastal geo-archaeologist using underwater excavations to study the ancient history of coastlines in the Mediterranean, but she credits her anthropology course at Harper with opening the door to her life’s work.

    She later transferred to the University of Wisconsin to major in anthropology, before ultimately earning a doctorate in geology from McMaster University. Her summers spent on an Israeli excavation site helped earn her a Fulbright Scholarship to study in there for a year, where she eventually chose to launch her career.

    “The foundation I received at Harper, more than prepared me,” Goodman says. “It was fantastic.”

  • No More Heroes coming to PS3 and Xbox 360

    Yes folks, it’s confirmed. Suda51’s free roaming action video game No More Heroes is getting a high definition treatment, a new scan from this week’s …

  • Paltalk Picks Up Virtual Phone Service Vumber

    Paltalk, an online video chat firm, announced today that it has acquired Vumber, a virtual phone service, in an effort to capture additional revenues by offering virtual phone numbers to existing subscribers. The deal could provide Paltalk with additional features to bolster its existing video conferencing product, and give it a leg up against services like Skype in an industry that’s becoming increasingly competitive.

    Like Google Voice, Vumber was created to allow users to create virtual phone numbers that link to their mobile or home numbers, adding an extra layer of privacy and security to consumers who don’t want to share their personal contact information. But despite having a paid subscription model, Vumber, which was founded in 2006, was never able to realize the revenue it needed to support its expenses.

    The acquisition builds on an existing relationship between Paltalk and Vumber. The companies entered into a partnership and a revenue-sharing agreement in early 2008, when Paltalk made disposable phone numbers from Vumber available to its video conferencing customers. Knowing that its partner was having financial troubles, Paltalk  made an offer to pick up the Vumber assets and integrate them into its own service.

    Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Paltalk CEO Jason Katz said in an interview that four Vumber employees have joined the Paltalk staff. In addition to personnel, Paltalk gained all of Vumber’s hardware, two trademarks, and one patent on anonymous calling that is pending approval.

    There will be no interruption in service to existing Vumber users. Paltalk hopes to bring more functionality to the Vumber platform, such as offering PC-to-phone calls out, as well as PC-to-phone calls in. “It’s a matter of making some of our features available [to Vumber], and making some of their features available on Paltalk without losing the brands for either one,” Katz said.

    Paltalk, which offers a video social-networking service that allows multiple users to chat in real time, has been profitable since 2004. The company was founded in 1998, and introduced a subscription service to its users in 2001. Katz wouldn’t disclose how many of Paltalk’s 4 million active users are subscribers, but said that 85 percent of the company’s revenue comes from subscriptions.

    In addition to acquiring Vumber’s assets, being profitable enabled Paltalk to buy out venture capital firm Softbank Capital Partners’ stake in it earlier this year. Softbank paid $6 million for 20 percent of Paltalk in 2004, but Katz said his company was able to buy back that stake at a solid profit to the VCs. And now, with a profitable video conferencing business and new virtual phone features, Paltalk has even more artillery against competitors.

  • Norwest Closes $1.2 Billion Venture Fund

    Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), one of the most respected funds in Silicon Valley, says that it’s closed NVP XI, a $1.2 billion fund that will invest in diverse sectors and geographies. NVP, which recently recorded a major hit with the $405 million sale of video conferencing equipment maker LifeSize, is one of the few venture funds to close a mega-fund. Khosla Ventures ($1 billion) and Greylock Partners ($575 million) are two other partnerships that have been able to raise mega-funds. At the same time, there have been numerous reports of many partnerships struggling to whip up interest in their second or third funds. “Track record is what that matters,” said Promod Haque, general partner with NVP, in a conversation earlier today.

    Haque’s track record is a mile long. In the last bubble, he rose to prominence with the mega-billion-dollar sales of Cerent (to Cisco), Siara (to Redback) and several other telecom and chip companies. Norwest, which has been investing for about 48 years, has raised a total of $3.7 billion. Haque explained that NVP would continue to invest in companies of all shapes and sizes in the U.S., India, China and Israel. In addition, NVP is also going to focus on health care IT and medtech.

    “Health care and medtech (and genomics) are increasingly becoming software-centric and we have expertise in software investments,” Haque said, explaining his rationale behind the investments. Norwest, which also was the largest investor in Rackspace is bullish about the prospects of cloud computing and broadband-focused startups, such as Cyan Optics. (Read my post about Cyan.)

    I asked Haque how he reconciles investing in early-stage companies and his late-stage investments — after all, they do need completely different mindsets. He doesn’t think so, saying the only difference is in the number of checks he writes as an investor. “In growth-stage companies, we write one big check, but in early-stage companies you write multiple checks,” he said. “Startups that are on the right track and growing fast need a lot of cash.”

    Photo source: Flickr user aresauburn.

  • Just Because People Say They’ll Pay For Something, It Doesn’t Mean They Will

    I’ve been ignoring this one, but people keep submitting it. BCG came out with a report over the weekend on a survey it did, claiming that about half of all people would pay for online news. It was amusing to see people react to this, as some reported it as “most won’t pay for news” and others reported it as “oh my goodness, a lot of people will pay for news.” Of course, the reality is that this is just a survey of what people say they’d pay for — and history has shown that surveys are notoriously poor indicators in terms of getting people to accurately reflect what they will and will not buy. Besides, just a day later, a totally different survey claimed that 80% of people wouldn’t pay for news online. The answer is that no one knows how many people would pay for content online, but I’d bet that the number is lower than what both of these surveys predict, and we’ll see that soon enough.

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  • The world’s smallest 16GB flash drive

    316DGF44opL._SS400_USB drives keep getting smaller and smaller. For your viewing pleasure: the Wink. Advertised as the world’s smallest USB drive, it really is quite diminutive.

    Ideal for attaching to a keychain or necklace, or smuggling out of a secure data facility in on your body, the Wink is a just solid piece of plastic with contacts on it, providing the minimal hardware required in order to connect to a USB port. Oddly though, it looks almost exactly like a Verbatim Tough-n-Tiny.

    They’re available now from your favorite retailer; the flavors it comes in are 2GB for $7.95, 4GB for $10.95, 8GB for $19.95, and 16GB for $37.95.


  • No More Heroes coming to the PS3 and Xbox 360

    Yes folks, it’s confirmed. Suda51’s free roaming action video game No More Heroes is getting a high definition treatment, thanks to a new scan from th…

  • Update on NTIA/RUS funding

    Thanks to Ann Higgins for sending an article from TeleCompetitor with what appears to be some insider news on the stimulus funding. Here are the short facts (taken pretty much straight from the article):

    1. 18 RUS BIP applicants have been notified that their applications made it to the second phase of the review process.
    2. There were 11,000 reply comments for all 2,200 applications, indicating significant incumbent challenges of unserved/underserved claims by applicants
    3. Eighty percent of all applications received at least one reply comment
    4. RUS needs to validate all challenge claims, which will lengthen the award notification process
    5. Announcements of award winners will begin ‘sometime’ in December, but the award notifications will be done on a rolling basis and will be ongoing well into 2010
    6. Campanola revealed some interesting insight into the traditional RUS loan program as well, including “over 90% of all traditional RUS loan applications last year were for FTTH projects.”
    7. As the article points out – these details indicate that a lot of work still needs to happen.

  • Bleeding Edge TV 325: HP Envy 13 and Envy 15 notebook computers

    In this episode, we give you a look at the Envy 13 and HP Envy 15 notebooks. These are the flagship, top-of-the-line HP notebooks, incorporating great displays with a clickable trackpad (although, it doesn’t support multitouch gestures.) The Envy 13 also has a ridiculous 16-hour battery life. For those of you audiophiles out there that need something with a bit more punch, you’ve got the HP Envy 15 Beats Limited Edition, which comes with the Studio headphones, DJ tools software, and a few custom settings as well. Want one? You can find all three models on Amazon:

    Hit the video above for the full scoop on the HP Envy notebook line.

    Here’s how to get the show:
    Subscribe: iTunes iPod / H.264 | iTunes MPEG-4 | RSS H.264 Feed | RSS MPEG-4 Feed

    |Download| – iPod-formatted H.264
    |Download| – Apple TV High Resolution
    |Download| – MPEG-4

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    Bleeding Edge TV 325: HP Envy 13 and Envy 15 notebook computers originally appeared on The Bleeding Edge on Tue, November 17, 2009 – 7:18:10


  • Yes, Bad People Use Facebook Too

    Reader Tina alerts us to an article about how some students in Venezuela have been arrested for using Facebook to monitor other students’ activities, and then rob them while they were out. Of course, it appears the plan wasn’t that foolproof, considering they were caught. The rest of the article discusses Facebook and Twitter usage in Venezuela, and how the police and the government are trying to use those tools to crack down not just on crime, but also on dissent… at the same time that government protesters are using the tools to make themselves more widely heard (and organized). There isn’t that much surprising — and it seems that the role of social networks is merely to amplify what is going on already in the country, which is about what you’d expect. Still, it is interesting to see this sense of wonder that some people have over the fact that not everyone who uses Facebook uses it for “good” reasons.

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  • Why imeem Really Sold Out

    akv.jpgThis morning news broke that MySpace, the second-largest social network that’s currently reinventing itself as a music destination, was buying imeem, a free online music service that has been remixed (and remade) more times that ’90s dance anthem “Keep on Moving.” TechCrunch, which reported on the news, didn’t reveal what the deal terms were. I have been dialing sources for information, and have found an interesting backstory behind this sale.

    First, it was essentially a fire sale. Imeem, which in the past has been threatened into submission by large music labels, was feeling the heat from second-tier music labels wanting to get their pieces of flesh. On Oct. 21, The Orchard Enterprises, one of the largest independent record labels, sued imeem in U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York. According to the suit, imeem had to pay $150,000 per infringement. On those terms, for multiple infringements, the total could have run into billions of dollars.

    Remember the billion-dollar lawsuit filed by Viacom against YouTube? Imeem, I’m pretty sure, knows how painful it is to fight the record labels in the courts. The company fought Warner Brothers, but had to eventually settle by giving up equity in the company. A long, bruising battle is something imeem couldn’t quite afford since it was running low on cash. And it couldn’t pay these guys off. By selling to MySpace, which already has arrangements with The Orchard Enterprises, some of these legal threats might go away. Interestingly, with this deal, record labels that owned a nice chunk of imeem could see their equity in MySpace Music go up as well.

    At the same time, founder & CEO Dalton Caldwell hadn’t been able to rustle up more cash. I bet the investors who have pumped in more than $35 million (including $10 million in debt) got tired of putting more cash into what seems like a bottomless pit. Back in September, news emerged that Sequoia Capital, one of the long-time backers of imeem, opted out of funding the company. Back in May, Warner Brothers wrote off a $16 million charge, but gave imeem new money and forgave future royalty payments in exchange for more equity. Fat lot of good that did them.

    I have been fairly skeptical if imeem and their ilk, mostly because I felt that they cut bad deals and had painted themselves into a corner. Frankly, I am not that hot on MySpace Music, either. MySpace earlier bought iLike, another free music service, for $10 million — a firesale price – mostly to get hold of the talent. The bargain basement sales of iLike and imeem once again shows that the online music industry remains as risky as walking through a minefield punch-drunk.

    Well, I guess when the company had a choice between locking the doors or teaming up with MySpace, it wasn’t a hard decision to make.

  • Burton Vice Mitts keep your hands warm and your (energy) drink cold

    mittensLiving up by Lake Tahoe, I’m always on the lookout for new gadgets and technology for when I go snowboarding. Case in point: the Burton Vice Mitt. Okay, it’s a mitt, but what’s the vice part? A drink holder, you say?

    Designed for skiers and snowboarders, the Vice Mitts are made up of high tech fabric and leather, and feature a zip-out “koozie” that allows you to hold a beverage without your hand getting cold. Seems like an obvious thing really, but Burton is the first company to have this feature. I guess the other guys were afraid people might misuse it. Only energy drinks in that koozie, people!

    Priced at $70, the Burton Vice Mitts are probably going to be something I’m going to purchase this year before the season starts.

    [via Dvice]


  • TISP Forum: Legislative Roundtable on Telecommunications Policy

    Thought folks would be interested in the following…

    TISP Forum: Legislative Roundtable on Telecommunications Policy
    Wednesday, December 2, 2009
    12:00 to 1:30 PM
    Room 180
    HHH Institute of Public Affairs

    As we look toward the next legislative session, Rep. Sheldon Johnson, Chair, Telecommunications and Infrastructure Division, MN House of Representatives, and legislative colleagues will lead a discussion on important issues in broadband policy and economic development in Minnesota. Items up for discussion include the recent MN Broadband Report, the prospects for statewide franchising and the impact of the telephone referendum requirement on broadband entry.

    Please join us for this event. Brown bag lunch welcome.
    Soda, coffee and cookies provided.

  • HD2 Welcomes Android in a recent Picture

    thumb_450_Android on HD2 HTC Ceo said on the release of the HD2 that it will be a Windows Mobile only phone. In a recent twit by Arne Hess, it shows the beastly HD2, but what is that in its screen. It is running android in the picture, which does not seem to be Windows Mobile the last time I checked.

    Edit: Recently found out this is in fact a great photoshop picture. Still up because its a good photo. He got me good……. well at least we can laugh about it, as well as Wmepxerts are laughing about it too. :) good one

    Get more on this with Wmexperts

    WM

  • PSP 3000 Police light mod


    Just the thing for playing GTA. One clever modder has mounted 10 LEDs into his PSP 3000.

    The L and R buttons flash, there are a couple of LEDs behind the speakers, and the four epilepsy invoking LEDs on the back flash in response to the sound coming out of the thing. Here’s a breakdown of how he did it, if you’re curious.

    [Via Ubergizmo]


  • Folks Can Digg Shoes For Needy Kids

    With an offer that reminds me of the OLPC “give 1, get 1” promotion (but hopefully without the delivery complaints), Digg is selling a Digg-branded shoe, made by TOMS Shoes. For those who haven’t seen its commercials, TOMS Shoes has the catchy promise (called One for One) that for every pair of shoes it sells, it gives away a pair of new shoes to needy kids in developing countries.



    This bit of marketing is brilliant because it ties together a nice “reason to buy” story with a physical good (the shoes), and the whole story promotes both Digg and TOMS Shoes. Eventually, I assume Digg and TOMS could also easily create a Threadless-like store for more custom shoes (instead of T-shirt designs). The current shoe design was created by a Digg employee, but it seems possible that Digg users could submit shoe designs of their own. And apparently, TOMS shoes sells T-shirts, too, so Digg users may get to Digg/Bury some T-Shirt designs someday as well.

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  • Lego Indiana Jones 2 – The Adventure Continues

    It is a known fact that the movie industry is all about creating new fictional or real content for the sole purpose of entertaining viewers by challenging them to either take part in adventures or discover the human spirit. The Indiana Jones franchise has been around for some time now and has made it from the wide screen into our homes by being incorporated into the videogame industry. This is how everyone can experience the thrill of being a great adventurer from the comfort of their own home either by playing new and daring adventures or by reliving some of their favorite movie scenes.

    Most particularly, LEGO has embraced the Indiana Jones trade mark since June 2008, ever since the release of the first LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures. The result was a smashing hit, in part because the developer created an animated cartoonish figure that abides both the LEGO and the Indiana Jones distinct and unique characteristics. The game was a perfect mix of adventure and good old fashioned fun, and also followed the script of the original motion picture. Children were thrilled because they got to play in a LEGO world and adults were entertained by the humorist events and sense of adventure that the game brought forward.
     

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