Category: News

Tech transfer professionals charged with the task of marketing their IP to licensees have a tough challenge, often operating without a dedicated marketing professionals or even a formal marketing budget. Getting the word out, and generating high-quality leads and ultimately deals, requires creative tactics and resourceful determination. To help you meet that challenge and tap into existing or low-cost tools and strategies, our Distance Learning Division has recruited three tech transfer marketing veterans who have been in the same boat – and made it float. They’ve learned how to do more with less, using “guerrilla” techniques that bring in licensees without spending a fortune on glitzy marketing bells and whistles. They’ll share those techniques in a practical, how-to audioconference: Tech Transfer Marketing on a Shoestring: Guerilla Tactics in a Budget-Cut World, scheduled for Tuesday, March 9 from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm. The session also includes an optional 30-minute add-on web forum for idea-sharing, which is free to the first 20 registrants. You’ll join Melba Kurman (Cornell Center for Technology Enterprise and Commercialization), Jamie Hall (University of British Columbia) and Brandon Reynolds (University of Texas at Tyler) for an invigorating 90-minute presentation featuring a treasure trove of inventive, clever, out-of-the-box ideas to move your innovations to market without busting your budget. CLICK HERE for complete details and to enroll.

And don’t miss these upcoming events – click on the titles for more information:

• Successful Outsourcing for Tech Transfer Organizations – TOMORROW, January 6.
• “Shrink Wrap” Your University’s Technologies for Industry: Packaging Your Innovations to Minimize Corporate Risk and Extract Optimum Licensing Value – Wednesday, January 27
• Patent Prosecution: Best Practices for Reducing Costs While Improving Patent Quality – Tuesday, February 9, 2010

For the first time ever, Sony is streaming their CES 2010 press conference at 4:15 p.m. PST Wednesday, Jan. 6 on live video on the Internet. This is such a great move by Sony because it allows everyday consumers to tap in to the exciting revelations that the massive trade show usually brings. Sony is set to debut many new products during the show, and with these live feeds you will be right there with us enjoying the debut of these new items. Expect to see Sony all stars Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President Sir Howard Stringer, and Stan Glasgow, President and Chief Operating Officer of Sony Electronics USA amongst others enthusiastically show off their product line for 2010.

The press conference will be streamed live by CNET as well as on UStream.TV and can be viewed at the following urls:

• CNET: http://ces.cnet.com/liveatces
• USTREAM: http://www.ustream.tv/sonyelectronics

Thanks to progress made in 2009, triple therapy that improves responses to Hepatitis C treatment will likely be available within the next few years.

by Nicole Cutler, L.Ac.

Looking back on the research and development of 2009, the scientific community witnessed unprecedented innovation in the fight against the Hepatitis C virus (HCV). Based on what has emerged this past year in the pharmaceutical industry, we can expect great strides in HCV treatments well into this new decade.

With an estimated 170 million people worldwide with chronic Hepatitis C, this virus has emerged as one of the most problematic infections of the 21st century. For nearly half of those treated for the most common strain of HCV (genotype 1), the standard antiviral drugs (a combination of interferon and ribavirin) do not succeed in clearing the virus from the liver. Those who are unable to clear HCV are at risk of their liver disease advancing to debilitating – or even fatal consequences.

Hepatitis C does not play fair – especially in which people are most likely to beat the virus. Although about half of HCV genotype 1 infections can be conquered by current treatment, a person’s genes can contribute or detract from those odds:

· Americans with Hepatitis C have between a 38 and 41 percent likelihood of responding to interferon/ribavirin treatment, depending on the level of virus in their bodies as well as the drug dosages.

· The likelihood of responding to HCV treatment is higher among European than American patients.

· Due to genetic differences, as few as 25 percent of African-Americans respond to HCV treatment.

That is why John McHutchison, a liver specialist at the Duke Clinical Research Institute in Durham, North Carolina, tells his patients with HCV that combination therapy would only give them a 40 percent chance of curing their infection. McHutchison also tells his patients that in about 18 months, new treatments could be available that would improve their chances.

The length of time people will have to wait for new HCV medication options depends on the outcomes of drugs currently in Phase III clinical trials. While interferon is a non-specific immune system booster and ribavirin is an antiviral medication, the strategy of most of the up and coming HCV drugs is to undermine the virus’ ability to replicate.

The two drugs that are furthest along in development are the HCV protease inhibitors telaprevir and boceprevir. Right now, both of these drugs are being evaluated as a triple therapy, taken alongside pegylated interferon plus ribavirin.

· Triple therapy with telaprevir – In 2009, clinical trial data demonstrated that 69 percent of genotype 1 treatment-naïve patients cleared HCV in 24 weeks with a combination of telaprevir, pegylated interferon and ribavirin.

· Triple therapy with boceprevir – In 2009, clinical trial data demonstrated that 75 percent of genotype 1 treatment-naïve patients cleared HCV in 48 weeks with a combination of boceprevir, pegylated interferon and ribavirin.

Telaprevir and boceprevir will finish their development cycle in 2010, and the Phase III data is expected to be sent to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for marketing approval in 2010-2011. If there are no glitches in the data, safety concerns or other roadblocks, the FDA could approve these drugs by 2011.

As we plunge into the next decade of Hepatitis C research and development, we are likely to see more effective drug combinations come to fruition. Even if something slows down the boceprevir or telaprevir Phase III clinical trials, a triple therapy for Hepatitis C is coming – and it promises to increase the chances of beating this virus for people from all backgrounds.

References:

http://www.hcvadvocate.org/hepatitis/hepC/HCVDrugs.html, Hepatitis C Treatments in Current Clinical Development, Alan Franciscus, Retrieved December 31, 2009, Hepatitis C Support Project, 2009.

http://www.hcvadvocate.org/news/newsLetter/2010/advocate0110.html, HCV Pipeline, Alan Franciscus, Retrieved December 31, 2009,. Hepatitis C Support Project, 2009.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19684573, Genetic variation in IL28B predicts hepatitis C treatment-induced viral clearance, GE D, et al, Retrieved January 1, 2010, Nature, September 2009.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=hepatitis-virus-hcv-drug-treatment-vaccine&print=true, Triple-Drug Cocktail in the Works for Hepatitis C Therapy, Carina Storrs, Retrieved December 31, 2009, Scientific American, December 2009.

Shawn Lesser, president and founder of Atlanta-based Sustainable World Capital, which raises funds for private equity cleantech funds and private cleantech companies, peeked inside U.S. university labs and reports the best examples of collaboration among academics, businesses, and investors focused on clean technologies. “While many dotcom companies were started by students out of their dorm rooms or basements, don’t look for a similar trend in the cleantech world,” Lesser says. He ranks the top 10 U.S. cleantech universities in 2010 as follows:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. MIT is home to the MIT Clean Energy Prize, which has helped launch several energy ventures, including FloDesign, FastCap Systems, Levant Power, Husk Insulation, and Covalent Solar. In addition, the MIT Energy Initiative, launched in September 2006, is an institute-wide initiative to help meet the energy needs of the future by improving existing systems. Notable MIT cleantech spinouts include A123 Systems, FastCap Systems, Levant Power, Trophos Energy, Promethean Power, 1366 Technologies, Sun Catalytix, and Agrivida.

University of California at Berkeley. Berkeley is home to several partnerships with big industry players. The Energy and Biosciences Institute is a partnership of UC Berkeley, Berkeley Lab, and the University of Illinois that is receiving $500 million from BP over 10 years. The Bio Energy Institute is a partnership of three national labs and three research universities in the San Francisco Bay area that is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) with $125 million over five years. And Berkeley’s proximity to Silicon Valley and the East Bay Cleantech Corridor provides visibility with the entrepreneurs, VCs, and consulting companies driving the growth of new energy. Notable cleantech spinoffs include Amyris Biotechnologies, Adura Technologies, Seeo, Aurora Biofuels, and Progressive Cooling Solutions.

The University of Texas in Austin. A historical leader in energy innovation, R&D, and teaching, UT-Austin has abundant oil and gas on its own lands and deep connections to the energy industry. UT is using its leadership in conventional energy as a launch pad for leadership in cleantech. The inventor of the lithium-ion battery, John Goodenough, is a professor of mechanical engineering at UT, and the university is a leader in algae-based biofuels. UT is a part of a multimillion dollar DARPA-sponsored project to produce jet fuels from algae. The DOE also awarded UT-Austin $35 million for research on carbon sequestration. Its notable cleantech spinouts include ActaCell, Advanced Hydro, Graphene Energy, Organic Fuels, and Inspired Solar.

Stanford University. Stanford has developed a long-range, $250-million initiative to reduce its energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The university also established a $100 million research institute, the Precourt Institute for Energy, to focus on energy issues. In fact, the university spends more than $30 million annually on energy research. In addition, Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), the entrepreneurship center at Stanford’s School of Engineering, is dedicated to accelerating high-tech entrepreneurship education and creating scholarly research on technology-based firms. Notable cleantech spinouts include Amprius, Nanostellar, Rolith, D.light Design, Driptech, and Veranda Solar.

University of Michigan. Driven by the Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies in the Business School, the Center for Entrepreneurship in the College of Engineering, and the student organization MPowered, U-M students are highly engaged in cleantech entrepreneurship. The student-led Wolverine Venture Fund and the Frankel Commercialization Fund have invested in Environmental Operating Systems and Accio Energy, and the Universities TechArb program is poised to leverage U-M’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and stake out a leadership position in the green economy. Notable cleantech spinouts include T/J Technologies (acquired), Sensicore (acquired), Sakti3, and Flexsys Wind Energy.

University of Colorado at Boulder. Viewed as being at the forefront of the sustainability and cleantech revolution, CU-Boulder has created a joint energy institute with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI) partners leading researchers from CU-Boulder and NREL on cross-disciplinary research. Currently, 19 major corporations sit on the RASEI leadership council, including Xcel Energy, ConocoPhilips, Toyota, SAIC, Good Energies, Wells Fargo, and Vestas. In addition, the university leads the Rocky Mountain region in funded research, which exceeds $350 million annually. Notable cleantech spinouts include Ion Engineering and OPX Biotechnologies.

University of Wisconsin at Madison. UW’s Solar Energy Lab, founded in 1954, is the oldest of its kind. More recently, the university has become a focal point for research in bio-energy. To coordinate energy-related research and education, a group of professors came together in 2006 to create the Energy Institute, which is focused on sustainability opportunities through “real world” design and engineering practices. Since then, U-W has become home to one of three DOE-funded Bioenergy Research Centers — the only one based at an academic institution. In 2009, U-W’s College of Engineering entered into a long-term partnership with Vestas, and last May, the university snagged 10 of 71 DOE funding awards for advanced nuclear research, totaling more than $5 million. Notable cleantech spinouts include Virent Energy Systems and AquaMost.

Cornell University. With world-class research in the physical sciences, engineering, and nanotechnology, Cornell is leading New York State’s task force to promote high-tech development through industry-higher education partnerships. Its campus-wide Center for a Sustainable Future fosters multidisciplinary research into new energy sources, environmental and biodiversity initiatives, and economic development projects to implement these programs globally. Notable cleantech spinouts include Novomer and iFyber.

Georgia Institute of Technology. Georgia Tech boasts more than $500 million in sponsored research, and its Advanced Technology Development Center is a nationally recognized science and technology incubator that helps Georgia entrepreneurs launch and build successful companies. Its VentureLab program also helps to move innovations out of university labs and into the marketplace by assessing their commercial potential and assisting in the development of new companies. VentureLab is currently advising a number of cleantech startup companies. Notable cleantech spinouts include Suniva, RideCell, and CoolClouds.

Washington State University. With its legacy in agriculture, power, and applied engineering, WSU’s Clean Technology program is growing rapidly in the ecology-minded Pacific Northwest. Plant science is the engine behind the opening of the Bioproducts Science and Engineering Laboratory, Battelle’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratories, and the recently funded Washington State Algae Alliance. One of WSU’s main objectives is the commercialization of aviation biofuels with partner Boeing Commercial Airlines. Notable cleantech spinouts include GoNano, Ajuga Biosciences, BioGasol, Schweitzer Engineering Labs, and Integrated Engineering Solutions.

Source: Cleantech Group

Dennis Gartman is, like many others, long gold.

The thing is, Gartman thinks buying gold strictly in U.S. dollars is a suckers bet. Today he emphasized his plan for buying gold in foreign currencies.

The Gartman Letter: So many others in the markets scoffed at our strongly held thesis that we wished only to be long of gold in foreign currency terms… hedging away the “dollar risk” of owning gold solely in US dollar terms… that we feel a bit smug about the fact that gold is now trading so much better and is trading so much more consistently in our terms rather than theirs. We can actually “see” a situation where the dollar may rise and rise quite strongly relative to the EUR, Sterling and even the Swiss franc, and gold may actually rise too, for the problems attendant to Europe as the economies of Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Poland et al tear at the very seams of the European Union.

It was only early December when gold in Sterling terms was trading £735, and at its worst, during the obviously powerful correction that gold underwent in December, it fell all the way to £675. From absolute best to absolute worst, gold prices in Sterling fell 8.2%. Gold priced in US dollars, on the other hand, fell 12.7%. In other words, owning gold in Sterling terms saved us a good deal of money on the downside, and now it is turning in our favour while reducing the intra- day exposures we have otherwise. We shall let others laugh at our focus on gold in EUR, Sterling and Yen terms; we know otherwise.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• 11 Surprising Commodities That Kicked Gold’s Ass In 2009
• Jim Rogers Is "Flabbergasted" By Roubini’s Wrongheaded Call On The Gold Bubble
• Gartman: A Gold Correction Would Do Nothing To Derail The Long-Term Bull Market

Paging The Betty Ford Clinic! Mariah Carey made a fool of herself in front of a star-studded audience at the 2010 Palm Springs Film Festival on Tuesday night. The loopy singing legend left fans stunned as she slurred and stumbled through an acceptance speech after she won the Best Supporting Actress Award for her role as a dowdy social worker in the critically-acclaimed drama Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire.

Director Lee Daniels escorted the unsteady MC to the stage and watched in awe as she stumbled through her words, giggled with the audience and hinted that she’d too much to drink. Carey hesitated for a few seconds, looked to the ceiling, sighed and said: “Please forgive me, because I’m a little bit, um …” An audience member finished the sentence for her, to which she replied, “Yeah!” with a laugh.

“Oooooooh, my goodness!” she bellowed.

Somewhere in Detroit, Eminem is laughing his ass off…..

Although Dungeness crab prices have gone up 50 to 75 cents higher than they were a month ago, they are still cheap, and it is still Dungeness crab season in these parts. I love steaming them and enjoying them with a little butter and aioli, but I also like experimenting with new ways of cooking and enjoying crab. This recipe is rather easy, and wow, it’s supergood. Serve with a crispy white wine or a nice hoppy ale, and a crust of bread to soak up the orange garlic sauce.

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Environmental Capital expects to restart in 2010 next week.

As Mark Twain said when a reporter asked him how he should reply to reports that the author had died: “Just say the report of my death has been grossly exaggerated.”

A pair of unrelated developments across two continents illustrate the continues steady movement of nanotech innovations toward commercialization. The U.K.’s Oxford Nanopore University Technologies Ltd inked an exclusive license agreement to develop technology developed at the University of California, Santa Cruz in the labs of David Deamer, PhD, professor emeritus of chemistry, and Mark Akeson, PhD, adjunct associate professor of biomolecular engineering and co-director of UCSC’s Biophysics Laboratory. The technology uses protein nanopores to analyze DNA molecules. Applications of the platform include single-molecule DNA sequencing and molecular sensing. The license follows a similar agreement between Oxford Nanopore and Harvard University to in-license a broad range of nanopore technologies that include additional discoveries from UCSC. The company also holds agreements covering nanopore science with the University of Oxford, U.K., Texas A&M, the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Advancement of the technology is expected to benefit basic medical research and further the field of personalized medicine. The company’s first generation of nanopore sequencing, using its proprietary BASE technology, is poised to be the first label-free DNA sequencing system. BASE sequencing combines a biological nanopore with a processive enzyme arrayed on a silicon chip. Future generations of nanopore sequencing technologies may use solid-state nanopores or may analyze single stranded nucleic acids. Avoiding the use of chemical labels and optical equipment to provide a direct electrical readout that identifies DNA bases is expected to offer a dramatic improvement in sequencing speed while reducing cost. “A label-free approach to DNA sequencing would facilitate a transformation in genomics that could be likened to the broadband revolution,” says Dr. Gordon Sanghera, the company’s CEO.

In the second nano-related development, Johns Hopkins University researchers created biodegradable nano-sized particles that can easily slip through the body’s sticky and viscous mucus secretions to deliver a sustained-release medication cargo. The researchers say these nanoparticles, which degrade over time into harmless components, could one day carry life-saving drugs to patients suffering from dozens of health conditions, including diseases of the eye, lung, gut, or female reproductive tract. The mucus-penetrating biodegradable nanoparticles were developed by an interdisciplinary team led by Justin Hanes, PhD, formerly a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering in JHU’s Whiting School of Engineering and now a professor in the department of ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. The biodegradable particles comprise two parts made of molecules routinely used in existing medications. An inner core, composed largely of polysebacic acid, or PSA, traps therapeutic agents inside. A particularly dense outer coating of polyethylene glycol, or PEG, molecules, which are linked to PSA, allows a particle to move through mucus nearly as easily as if it were moving through water and also permits the drug to remain in contact with affected tissues for an extended period of time.

The nanoparticles could be an ideal means of delivering drugs to people with cystic fibrosis, a disease that kills children and adults by altering the mucus barriers in the lung and gut, according to the researchers. The nanoparticles also could be used to help treat disorders such as lung and cervical cancer and inflammation of the sinuses, eyes, lungs, and gastrointestinal tract. In proof-of-concept experiments, previous research teams led by Hanes demonstrated that latex particles coated with polyethylene glycol could slip past mucus coatings. In a new study, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers describe how they took an important step forward in developing particles that biodegrade into harmless components while delivering their drug payload over time. The technology is protected by patents managed by the Johns Hopkins Technology Transfer Office and is licensed exclusively by Kala Pharmaceuticals, a start-up company in which Justin Hanes is a paid consultant and board member.

Sources: Nanotechwire.com and The JHU Gazette

Free Press has come out swinging against “TV Everywhere”—the cable industry’s bid to migrate its video content from your set-top box to your computer. But no sooner did the advocacy group release its not-too-subtly titled paper “TV Nowhere: How the Cable Industry Is Colluding to Kill Online TV,” than big cable cried foul.

“Free Press’s description of TV Everywhere is a reminder of the admonition that people are entitled to their own opinions, but not their own set of facts,” shot back National Cable and Telecommunications Association CEO Kyle McSlarrow on Monday. “The call for an ‘investigation’ of TV Everywhere has no factual or legal basis, no matter how many times Free Press and its allies repeat the words ‘collusion,’ ‘cartel’ and ‘illegal’.”

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Even as the “late 2010″ deadline for Windows Mobile 7.0 steadily approaches, Microsoft is doing more than just working on the next major version of its mobile OS. Most recently, there have been Microsoft job postings highlighting how the company wants to build synergy between its Windows Mobile and Xbox Live platforms, as well as documentation that confirms an upcoming Windows Mobile 6.5.3 release.

The first job posting, posted on December 21, 2009, asks for a Software Test Engineer that answers yes to the following three questions: “Are you a gamer? Do you want to work on the fun stuff? Do you think mobile gaming and always connected internet has the potential to change the way people play games?” The second one, posted on December 23, 2009, wants a Principal Program Manager who “can help drive the platform and bring Xbox LIVE enabled games to Windows Mobile. This person will focus specifically on what makes gaming experiences ‘LIVE Enabled’ through aspects such as avatar integration, social interactions, and multi-screen experiences.”

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates first envisioned a world where Xbox Live works on many platforms way back in May 2006, but the software giant doesn’t appear to be anywhere near reaching such a goal. Still, we keep seeing related job postings, such as the one last August suggesting the company still hasn’t axed the idea. That said, the fact the company is still hiring for related positions suggests we won’t be seeing Xbox Live on Windows Mobile at CES 2010.

There’s a small chance we’ll see a preview of Windows Mobile 7.0, or at the very least Windows Mobile 6.5.3. The latter has yet to be announced, but don’t worry, it does exist, at least according to an MSDN page on the Windows Mobile Developer Center, titled “Creating Widget Menus” that specifically mentions the new version: “Beginning with the Windows Mobile 6.5.3 release, touchable tiles replace soft keys. For developers, the change from soft keys to touchable tiles is automatic starting with Windows Mobile 6.5.3 (is this what previous rumors referred to as version 6.7?).”

6.5.1 and 6.5.3 builds have made appearances in the wild for weeks now, but Microsoft has refused to comment on them. Hopefully by the end of the week we’ll know more on how the company plans to speed things up.

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Just last month, we were defending Bruce Everiss over a ridiculous libel tourism attempt to have him tried for libel halfway around the world from where he lives. We still defend that post — libel tourism is terrible — but many in our comments pointed out that there may be more to the story, and one of the biggest things was that Everiss simply hated the fact that Evony — the company trying to sue him — came up with a business model that involves exactly the sort of thing we like: giving stuff away for free, and coming up with more advanced reasons to buy. That still doesn’t excuse the libel claim, but Everiss does seem to have a bit of trouble understanding basic economics of digital goods. A whole bunch of you have sent in his recent rant about how many people “stole” Modern Warfare 2. It’s the sort of thing we had thought went out of style years ago, when people realized that every download wasn’t a lost sale, and there were lots of reasons that people might download other than a lack of “moral fiber.” Everiss is having none of it, however, insisting that over 300 million dollars was “stolen” from Activision based on a “one download = one stolen copy” equation that went out of style around a decade ago:

That’s right, over 300 million dollars stolen just of the one game, Modern Warfare 2, in 2009. Obviously Activision had much more stolen from them with other titles, but MW2 is by far the worst affected. According to TorrentFreak 4,100,000 copies of the PC version of MW2 were stolen and 970,000 copies of the Microsoft Xbox 360 version.

Thieves using bit torrents are indulging in the biggest orgy of theft in the history of humanity. When they can steal with no chance of getting caught then they will. How they justify this appalling lack of moral fibre to themselves is beyond me. I have heard a whole litany of empty excuses from the thieves to try and justify their actions but the fact remains that they are benefiting from other people’s labour that they should have paid for but haven’t. So they are thieves.

Yes, according to Mr. Everiss, “benefiting from other people’s labour that they should have paid for but haven’t” means you are a thief. Everiss’ article is about to get traffic from us. He’s about to benefit from us linking to his article. He hasn’t paid us. I think he should. According to his own reasoning, he is a thief. You might spot the logical flaw in that, and it’s the same in Everiss’ own argument. It’s that because one party believe others should pay for their work, you are to assume that that other party must pay for the work. That’s not how transactions work, however. The economy is based on mutually agreeable transactions where one party only pays if they find it worthwhile to pay, and it is the job of the entity trying to make money to give people a reason to buy. Don’t give them a reason? Too bad.

Everiss goes on to then talk up DRM and three strikes as the best “solutions” to piracy, suggesting that he apparently hasn’t paid attention to pretty much all of technological history, and how well such “solutions” have (not) worked. He does (thankfully!) suggest that better business models are another option, but seems to think that’s a lot less important than DRM and three strikes.

The first reader who sent this story in, the creatively named TechWeasel, also wrote up a rather detailed response that he tried to post as a comment to Mr. Everiss’ rant, but for some reason it was not allowed, so I’ll republish it here:

“I’m happy to see more attention being paid to the problem of video game piracy, but I find this analysis questionable.

1) One pirated game does not equal one lost sale. People pirate games for a number of reasons (the litany of excuses referred to in the article), and not all of those reasons amount to “I would totally buy this game if I couldn’t download it for free.” First, there is no mechanism in the video game publishing industry to redress a lack of customer satisfaction. If somebody shells out $60 for a game and ends up not liking it or being plagued by technical issues, they can’t get their money back like they can for most goods. Thus, a tempting solution is to download a copy of the game almost as a trial version, and then to purchase if it turns out to be worth the price. This is only one example. Another reason to pirate is if legitimately available versions of the game are censored in the user’s country (India, China and Australia are heavy on the censorship), thus denying the user the ability to pay for a legimate copy. I am not speaking to the ethics of these reasons, but only trying to point out the fallacy behind the “1 download = 1 lost sale” argument.

2) Where are all the great DS games? Being written for platforms that don’t require the same degree of game design tailoring (two screens, touchscreen w/stylus, low hardware requirements), or which have online distribution channels and thus lower overhead (i.e. WiiWare, iPhone, PSN, XBL). Post hoc, ergo propter hoc.

3) Technical protection is not the best solution, because it punishes legitimate users and drives them away. I did not buy Spore specifically because of its use of invasive DRM (SecuROM) and I have passed over several other games because of their DRM or activation limits. I own multiple computers and often reinstall games when swapping parts. These are lost sales.

4) A mandate for ISPs to stop torrents through disconnection of their customers is akin to the power company cutting off the electricity to somebody’s house because their usage patterns match those of somebody else who runs heat lamps. Internet access is a utility that’s essential for education and work. This is why we have due process. Companies lack the expertise to make these judgments and it would be a financial and ethical burden on them to force them to.

There are some good points here, such as business model migration towards subscriptions or microtransactions. This is the way to go, moving forward. The idea is to minimize deadweight loss – let the publishers do whatever they can to ensure that everyone pays as much as they are willing to for their games, while having the best experience possible. Zynga, the maker of Farmville, Mafia Wars and a host of other Facebook and iPhone games, is doing a good job with this. So is Turbine, the maker of Dungeons and Dragons Online – free to play, with microtransactions for items, perks and other features.

ATVI chose to launch the PC version of MW2 with total understanding that it was a lesser version, that the PC as a platform wasn’t worth the work of adding features that PC gamers expect from their games (dedicated servers, ability to mod, high degree of settings flexibility). As a PC gamer, I reject that, and chose not to buy (or pirate) the game. Others chose to pirate it, probably in part as a form of protest, but also because the neutered PC version of the game just wasn’t worth the price tag that ATVI slapped on it. Good God, Activision doesn’t even make $59.99 off a copy of a game purchased at Best Buy; at least make the math believable. I understand that this stance on the issue is a little too complicated to land easily beneath the headline Bruce chose, but an issue this complicated deserves more analysis.”

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Last may, the Seattle start-up Nanocel won the University of Washington’s annual business plan competition. Now the company — founded by UW mechanical engineering PhD student Dustin Miller and recent UW MBA grad Daniel Rossi — is gearing up for a big 2010. Their planned first products — affordable fluid-based cooling systems for computer chips — will fill a large void in the market, the inventors say. Nanocel’s technology uses a combination of microfluidics and novel plastic materials to cool devices more cheaply than other liquid-based systems and more efficiently than cooling fans. The products use thousands to millions of very thin (between one and 100 micrometers wide) vessels to circulate tiny amounts of liquid in close contact with the computer chips or other device components prone to overheating. Nanocel is not the first to think of replacing fans with liquid, but its technology is the first to combine plastics with microfluidics to create a heat sink, Miller says.

Nanocel is eco-friendly, he adds, in that it could save vast amounts of energy over current air-based cooling methods. Two of the biggest problems in the computer industry are keeping large server farms from overheating and extending battery life in laptops and other portable electronics. “We are currently using over 3% of the nation’s energy on cooling the Internet,” Miller says. Industry calculations say that fluid-based cooling could cut that energy use in half. “That’s a staggering number,” he points out. Potential partners and customers mainly include computer chip manufacturers and designers, but the inventors also are talking with companies that make gaming consoles, servers, and hardware. “There are tons of shelf-ready products that can’t go to market because they’re too hot,” Rossi says. Fans aren’t powerful enough to cool them down, and liquid technologies are too pricey. On an individual scale, a cooling technology that uses less energy will lead to longer battery life, reducing energy usage and keeping more batteries out of landfills. “This can have a real impact, not only at the country level but also at the consumer level,” Miller says. Nanocel is working out a licensing deal with UW’s TTO. “We’re excited about this technology,” says Jim Roberts, UW TechTransfer’s business development officer. “We think it has many applications. They’ve got all the right ingredients to be a successful company.”

Source: Xconomy

You’d be forgiven for making the jump from “LG’s new Blu-ray player has a hard drive” to “LG’s new Blu-ray player can rip and store your movies,” but you’d definitely be wrong. Still, the BD590 has its charms.

LG’s been taking networking in Blu-ray players seriously ever since introducing Netflix streaming with the BD300 in mid-2008, and basic connectivity has since become more or less an industry standard, with each generation of new players edging closer and closer to become generalized settop boxes, not just optical media players. So it makes sense, I guess, to throw some storage in there.

The BD590 touts its storage for music—it will rip CDs, at least—home/downloaded movies, and photos, all of which can be transfer either by USB or Ethernet port, though apparently not through its 802.11n Wi-Fi connection. On that note, wouldn’t a NAS/Blu-ray/media center box be kind of amazing? Anyway.

DVD and Blu-ray archiving are sadly absent, though there are some pretty obvious technical and legal reasons behind that decision. (250GB isn’t very much space when you’re talking raw Blu-ray rips, and the only way to circumvent Blu-ray encryption is by full-on cracking it, which the MPAA could have issues with.)

The BD590’s price is TBD, but a $300+ tag wouldn’t be surprising. We’ll find out more as we approach the box’s Spring/Summer release date. [LG]

Leading LG’s 2010 portfolio of Network Blu-ray Disc Players is model BD590 – the only Blu-ray Disc player to feature an integrated hard drive, thereby creating a Media Library that delivers easy storage and instant playback of music, photos, personal videos and movies purchased from the VUDU service.
With its built-in 250GB hard drive, LG’s BD590 enables consumers to consolidate their digital media files in a single device for exceptional high-resolution enjoyment. Consumers can quickly copy and archive their CD music collection onto the BD590 by making use of the product’s MusicID® feature powered by Gracenote®.
For the first time in any home Blu-ray product, the BD590 will feature Gracenote’s MusicID-Stream™, which allows consumers to hear a song playing in a movie or TV show by simply pressing a button on their remote control. Gracenote then returns rich information on the song, such as artist and genre, along with album cover art. Photos or personal videos that may have been scattered throughout the home on PCs or digital cameras can now be simply imported via the USB or Ethernet port to create a single organized library of personal memories.
Through LG’s NetCast functionality, the BD590 also allows consumers to purchase movies from VUDU, with the option to stream or store movies directly on the hard drive. Consumers also will enjoy built-in Wi-Fi connectivity that allows consumers flexibility when installing a home entertainment system by connecting directly to any existing 802.11n wireless home network. Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) functionality expands entertainment options by enabling easier access to family videos and pictures stored on other DLNA-enabled systems, allowing consumers to enjoy their favorite memories on the big HDTV screen, rather than smaller computer monitors.

You won’t catch me wearing a Bluetooth headset. No sir, not me. My girlfriend got me one a few years ago to use while driving, and while I did that reluctantly, I immediately ditched the thing when I moved to the city and sold my car. Call me old fashioned, but I like holding the receiver to my ear. Plus, any time I see someone with a Bluetooth headset I can’t help but think of this clip (which contains profanity). But there are many benefits to using a Bluetooth headset, and there are many people who benefit from using them — especially car drivers. So, with the help of everyone on the BBGeeks staff, we’ve compiled a list of our favorite Bluetooth headsets. Clearly we’re not going to cover them all, so let us know if we missed one that you particularly like.

(more…)

This week on TreeHugger, the most awesome maps that are making us change how we look at the world, scientists try to mimic cockroach’s brainless running, turning pee into hydrogen power, and more!

Yellow Power: Making Hydrogen From Pee
We do go on about the benefits of urine separating toilets, and how we have to redesign our plumbing systems to scale up dry composting and pee separation. Now we have another great reason to convert to urine separating toilets: It might become a great source of hydrogen.

22 Most Amazing Maps Changing How We See The World
we’ve gathered up some of the most impressive maps we saw over the year, from interactive maps, to those that please the eye, to those that tried to make a difference in the world. Enjoy!

Microsoft Debuts Environmental Atlas of Europe
From shipping routes opening up through the ice of the Baltic Sea to a massive plankton bloom off the coast of Ireland, from diminishing reindeer herds in Finland, satellite images of the changes global warming is bringing to Europe are being deployed online.

Just What We Needed Dept: Birdwatchcam Takes Pictures For Birdwatchers Short On Time
Touted as a device for avid birdwatchers who don’t have time to get out in the field, the Birdwatchercam can be mounted to a tree to track your feathered friends. But, if you’re an avid birdwatcher, wouldn’t you rather see the birds? Well, if you lack the time, here’s a gadget you might be interested in.

LED Light Bulb Aims Light Only Where You Want It
Designer Seokjae Rhee has come up with an interesting idea for an LED bulb that can light up a room only where you want it to. With a remote control, you can aim the light in a particular direction or adjust the range of the light.

Scientists Look to Cockroaches as Biomimicry Solution for Super Powered Running Robots
It isn’t just the capability of getting over rocky areas or moving quickly that scientists want to mimic – it’s also a cockroach’s brainless ability to zip from here to there that the researchers are after.

Guy Adds Boat Tail to Car, Increases MPG by 15.1%
Darin Cosgrove has increased the fuel efficiency of his car by 15.1% by adding a homemade boat tail made from cardboard, aluminum and duct tape to the vehicle.

10 Top Techy Tools for Easy Sustainable Eating
Luckily, in our tech-savvy world, we have access to some great online and electronic tools that help us eat more eco-friendly without adding any hassle to our daily lives.

TreeHugger’s EcoModo column appears every week on Gizmodo.

Andrew characterizes this scenario as a “libertarian litmus test”:

I want to pitch to the credit card and financial industry a new innovative online survey. It is targeted for older, more mature long-time users of our services. We’ll give a $10 credit for anyone who completes it. Here is a sense of what the questions will look like:

– 1) What is your age?
– 2) What day of the week are you taking this survey?
– 3) Many rewards offered are for people with more active lifestyles: vacations, flights, hotels, rental cars. Do you find that your rewards programs aren’t well suited for your lifestyle?
– 4) What is the current season where you live? Are any seasons harder for you in getting to a branch or ATM machine?
– 5) Would rewards that could be given as gifts to others, especially younger people, be helpful for what you’d like to do with your benefits?
– 6) Would replacing your rewards program with a savings account redeemable for education for your grandchildren be something you’d be interested in?
– 7) Write a sentence you’d like us to hear about anything, good or bad!
– 8 ) How worried are you you’ll leave legal and financial problems for your next-of-kin after your passing?

Did you catch it? Questions 1,2,4,7 are taken from the ‘Mini-mental State Examination’ which is a quick test given by medical professionals to see if a patient is suffering from dementia. (It’s a little blunt, but we can always hire some psychologist and marketers for the final version. They’re cheap to hire.) We can use this test to subtly increase limits, and break out the best automated tricks and traps mechanisms, on those whose dementia lights up in our surveys. Anyone who flags all four can get a giant increase in balance and get their due dates moved to holidays where the Post Office is slowest! We’d have to be very subtle about it, because there are many nanny-staters out there who’d want to coddle citizens here.

I’m not sure why this is supposed to be a hard question for libertarians.  I mean, I might argue that preventing people from ripping off the marginally mentally impaired would, in practice, be too difficult.  Crafting a rule that prevented companies from identifying people who are marginally impaired might well be impossible–I’m pretty sure that if I wanted to, I could devise subtler tests than “What day of the week is it?”  And while the seniors lobby is probably in favor of not ripping off seniors, they’re resolutely against making it harder for seniors to do things like drive or get credit, which is the result that any sufficiently strong rule would probably have.

But it’s pretty much standard libertarian theory that you shouldn’t take advantage of people who do not have the cognitive ability to make contracts.  Marginal cases are hard not because we think it’s okay, but because there is disagreement over what constitutes impairment, and the more forcefully you act to protect marginal cases, the more you start treating perfectly able-minded adults like children.

The elderly are a challenge precisely because there’s no obvious point at which you can say:  now this previously able adult should be treated like a child.  Either you let some people get ripped off, or you infringe the liberty, and the dignity, of people who are still capable of making their own decisions.

Konzcal is, I take it, in favor of more paternalism.  But the objection that I have to paternalism is not that it prevents companies from more effectively ripping off their customers.  The presumption that a majority of American adults are essentially children puts the state in loco parentis, which hands too much power to people who are not nearly as clever and wise as they believe themselves.  It is morally wrong for companies to attempt to capitalize on dementia, just as I believe it is morally wrong for casinos to attempt to identify, and monetize, their customers with serious gambling problems.  But giving that moral belief force of law is not necessarily a good idea, particularly if it involves eroding the presumption that we are adults capable of, and responsible for, running our own lives.

MobilityMinded has published this video of the LG eXpo fingerprint security system in action.  They note that the setting to activate it is not where one would expect, which is unfortunate given how much more user-friendly it is rather than the default 4 digit Windows Mobile pin lock.

Read more at MobilityMinded here.