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  • Artist Barred From Selling His Own Artwork For Daring To Promote University Of Alabama Football Feats

    I could have sworn we wrote about this case earlier, but I’m searching around and can’t find the post. It involves Daniel Moore, a painter and fan of the University of Alabama’s football team. Given both those things, he’s been painting portraits of some of the team’s biggest achievements. Now, you might think that any normal person (or university) would be thrilled that its fans had taken things to the level of painting artistic portraits of the team’s greatest moments. What a wonderful statement. Not the University of Alabama, however. It sued Moore for infringement. And while a court found that there’s no trademark infringement if no Alabama logos are shown in the paintings, it also said that, even as such, he was barred from selling merchandise (like calendars) based on his paintings. Robert Ring points out that Moore is appealing the ruling, pointing out (reasonably) that if the paintings themselves don’t infringe, it seems pretty damn hard to see why merchandise based on those same non-infringing painting would be barred. I’m even confused why there’s an issue if the paintings had included Alabama logos. By that logic, any photographs that include a team logo would potentially be infringing as well, which makes no sense. But the biggest issue is why this is even an issue at all. The University should be thrilled that someone is helping promote their team the way Daniel Moore is.

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  • Shortest Day, Longest Night

    Well here it is again, the winter solstice. Here in the northern hemisphere we have our longest night and our shortest day.

    It got me to wondering, how many hours of daylight will you have today? Here in Washington state it’s about 8 hours. 🙁
    Come summer solstice we’ll have @ 18 hours of daylight. 😀

  • Opera Mobile 10 adds Hebrew, Arabic support

    Opera-Mobile-10-beta-2-language-supportWith the first beta versions of Opera Mobile 10 released in November, Opera is making quick progress in adding features and improving performance on its powerhouse mobile browser. Opera Software continues to improve its Opera Mobile 10 browser for Windows Mobile with the release of an upgrade to its latest beta (beta 2). This critical step towards the final version of Opera Mobile 10 includes several updates aimed at improving the user experience.

    Localization for Hebrew and Arabic-speaking regions was prioritized in the Windows Mobile version, and the update brings the following improvements:

    • Support for Hebrew and Arabic Web sites. Right-to-left rendering now works on Opera Mobile 10.
    • Faster loading. When the Opera icon is pressed, watch out for even faster loading of the browser.
    • Increased auto-rotation support. More phones now support auto-rotation.

    Said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software:

    “With each of our beta releases, we put users first. Their needs are our first priority, which is why it was important for us to add bi-directional language support and the ability to input native characters, such as Chinese, into the browser,” “There are millions of Hebrew, Arabic and Chinese speakers out there, and we want to make sure that Opera works seamlessly for them, allowing them to surf the Web within the comforts of their native language.”

    Opera Mobile can be downloaded from this page or directly via this link here.

    Via Unwiredview.com

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  • VIDEO: JDM Lexus LFA commercial hits the tubes

    Filed under: , , , ,

    Click above to view the video after the jump

    Let’s all agree that the Lexus LF-A is an uncommonly passionate manifestation of Lexus’s relentless pursuit. The buzz that’s been generated just by show coverage and reviews have made advertising largely unnecessary, but Lexus has gone and created a spot for its supercar anyway. The music for the commercial is apparently by O.N.O, but it doesn’t matter, all you’ll be digging on is the shriek of that V10 and a few snow-laden powerslides. Hit the jump to see for yourself.

    [Source: YouTube]

    Continue reading VIDEO: JDM Lexus LFA commercial hits the tubes

    VIDEO: JDM Lexus LFA commercial hits the tubes originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Investors Push Yelp To IPO (MSFT, GOOG)

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    Yelp turned down a $550 million-plus-earnouts acquisition offer from Google because Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman is hot to try the IPO market, a source close to the company tells us.

    Our first reaction to this news was disbelief.

    Why would Yelp’s investors allow Jeremy to turn down a $550 million deal when the company’s revenues are only in the tens of millions of dollars?

    But our source tells us investors are the ones most opposed to selling.

    Separately, we’ve also heard Microsoft took Yelp’s temperature and found it cold.

    Heads up! A Google deal could still happen. Yelp and its investors may be playing hard to get hoping to drive Google’s price yet higher. Certainly, we’ve all seen that the company is willing to shell out big cash when it needs to. (See: $750 million for AdMob.)

    Don’t miss: Yelp’s Rejection Of Google Heralds A Massive IPO Boom

    Join the conversation about this story »

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  • American Shale Gas Revolution Threatened By Fracking Environmentalists (XOM, XTO)

    gas8

    A key natural gas drilling technique, known as hydraulic fracturing or 'fracking', is under fire due to environmental concerns in North Texas.

    Dallas News: Hydraulic fracturing involves shooting a high-pressure mixture of water and chemicals underground to crack rock and allow more natural gas to flow out. Environmentalists argue that it can lead to contamination of groundwater supplies, while gas producers say that won't happen.

    Most North Texans use surface water and wouldn't be affected by groundwater contamination, although some residents of rural areas such as Wise County rely on well water.

    The technology is so important that Exxon (XOM) has even threatened to walk away from their acquisition of natural gas producer XTO Energy (XTO) should harsh regulation be enacted.

    Hydraulic fracturing has become a necessary method to produce natural gas in so-called unconventional fields, which have been discovered in Texas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and New York. Exxon is buying XTO to gain a big presence in unconventional fields.

    If hydraulic fracturing becomes illegal in the U.S., that could shut down operations in the Barnett Shale and other big natural gas fields around the country. Such laws could wipe out profit for XTO and hundreds of other natural-gas drillers and could limit domestic gas production.

    As shown in the picture above, unconventional gas, mostly via shale, can provide the U.S. with a massive source of domestic, relatively clean energy. Thus one hopes that additional fracking regulation can be avoided. Read more here.

    See Exxon's natural gas outlook and why they spent $41 billion on XTO >>>

    Join the conversation about this story »

  • CHART OF THE DAY: Supbrime Delinquencies Continue To Soar

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    The latest data out of the Officer of the Comptroller of the Currency is not promising. Seriously delinquent mortgages increased in every category in Q3. Regular prime mortgages haven’t exploded higher, but good old fashioned subprime and alt-A continue to blast to new heights.chart of the day, Seriously Delinquent Mortgages


    Get This Delivered To Your Inbox

    You can get this dropped in your inbox every afternoon as The Chart Of The Day. It’s simple. It’s convenient. It’s free. All we need is your email address (though we’d love your name and state, too, if you’re willing to share it).  Sign up below!

    Join the conversation about this story »

  • hello from south dakota

    hey everyone, my name is jed i am a type 2 and am on insulin.i was diagnosed about a year ago. i hope to talk to yall and mabey learn a few things. thanks
  • CGMS in the UK

    Hi,

    I was looking into CGMS and it seems like it’s something that might be pretty useful.

    I was just wondering if any of you guys (from the UK) have one, and if so, how did you go about getting it? What model? Just general questions like that.

    Thanks a lot,

    David

  • Nearly Full List of Motorola Opus One Specs Leaks

    opus_one_leaked_pic01The Motorola Opus One has been pretty much all but confirmed at this point.  We’ve seen pictures of the device and heard silly stories about its life in the wild.  Up until now, the specs were pretty much rumor and conjecture.  Today the picture gets somewhat clearer thanks to a Boy Genius Report tipster.  According to them, The Motorola Opus One will have Android 1.5 loaded, use a “Zeus” chip, and offer iDEN service enhancements. 

    Here’s a list of specs pulled from BGR:

    • 3.1″ HVGA (320×480) capacitative touchscreen
    • 3 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash
    • Accelerometer, Proximity sensor, A-GPS
    • Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth
    • microSD card slot
    • 2.5mm headset jack
    • Home, Menu, Back, Speaker buttons are capacitive buttons with haptic feedback
    • iDEN PTT & PTX
    • Android LBS which is integrated into the iDEN GPS engine
    • 58mm in width, 118mm in length, 100g weight
    • 512MB Flash / 256MB of RAM
    • 64k and 128k iDEN SIM card support
    • Motorola dual-mic technology noise-canceling for noisy enviroments
    • Flash Lite v3.1.x
    • Corporate email client with ActiveSync support, MOTONAV navigation app, barcode scanner, and document viewer.

    It’s hard to say at this point why Motorola is only loading Android 1.5 on the device.  Our guess is that it’s bumped up to something a little newer by the time it comes out, assuming it’s months away.  Rumors put this handset on either Sprint or Boost Mobile sometime in the new year.

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  • Schumacher Says It Himself: driving for Mercedes F1 is a “very strong possibility”

    Filed under: , ,

    There are hearts breaking all over Italy, and the biggest one of all is that which beats in the chest of Ferrari head Luca de Montezemolo. Michael Schumacher is still under contract to The Prancing Horse as a global ambassador and consultant for their road cars. However, given the opportunity to return to a Formula One cockpit and prove a thing or ten, he appears keen on racing no matter the color of the car.

    Neither Schumacher nor the Mercedes F1 team is revealing anything public about the German’s chances of driving, but it’s been in the press for a few weeks now. Last week, Schumacher phoned Montezemolo and told him there was a “very, very, very strong possibility” he’d end up as a driver for Mercedes. Speculation is that the final say is only waiting on Schumacher’s neck to be declared fully healed after his motorcycle accident earlier this year.

    If the 41-year-old Schumy does race again with Mercedes, it will be with the company that put him on the road to becoming one of the greatest racing drivers ever. And it will come at the expense of a muy doloroso de Montezemolo, who is so torn up about Michael switching camps that he has taken to calling the former Ferrari driver “the real Michael Schumacher,” and the potential Mercedes pilot, “the new Michael Schumacher.”

    If it comes to pass, we’ll play a sad song for de Montezemolo on the jukebox, but we’ll do a dance for the coming F1 season: Rosberg and Schumacher in Mercedes’, Alonso and Massa in Ferraris, Hamilton and Button in McLarens, Vettel in his Red Bull. There hasn’t been a field like that in that kind of machinery in more than a decade. Please let it be March already…

    [Source: Autosport | Image: Juergen Schwarz/Getty]

    Schumacher Says It Himself: driving for Mercedes F1 is a “very strong possibility” originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith interview Pres. Barack Obama

    Will Smith, known for million-dollar movies like “Independence Day,” “Hitch,” “Bad Boys 1-2” and “I Am Legend” and “I, Robot” was nervous. Who would think that the star of the ’90s TV sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” could be nervous in front of a camera? But he was nervous last week during a meeting, even with his wife at his side. Why? Because he was interviewing President Barack H. Obama.

    Will Smith stated, “This is the first time I’ve been nervous in front of a camera in a long time.”

    Obama’s response? “Just think back to Prince of Bel-Air, man.”

    Jada Pinkett-Smith, most popularly known as Lena James from “A Different World,” the voice of the hippopotamus on “Madagascar” and the star of the show “HawthoRNe,” seemed at ease. Check out the Smiths’ interview with Obama on a Nobel Peace Prize speech comment “expanding our moral imagination,” Internet communication, putting yourself in someone else’s shoes and First Lady Michelle Obama.

     

     

  • Commercialization Manager, Nuclear Science & Technology

    Recruiter: Domini Clark ([email protected])

    Battelle Energy Alliance, Idaho National Laboratory (www.INL.gov), is involved with a major growth phase and we are currently looking for a talented Commercialization Manager supporting our Nuclear Science and Technology Directorate, contributing to the advancement of our mission in research science and national defense. With 3,500 world-class scientists, researchers and support staff, the laboratory works with national and international governments, universities and industry partners to discover new science and develop technologies that underpin the nation’s nuclear and renewable energy, national security and environmental missions.

    The Commercialization Manager to maintain and establish strategic, long-term relationships with external customers and with INL management and technical teams in order to promote access to INL facilities, capabilities and intellectual property in a manner that benefits the American economy and competitiveness. Under the strategic direction of a Senior Commercialization Manager, manage assigned portfolio of deployable technology and intellectual property (IP) to advance INL’s Nuclear Science and Technology mission objectives, including:

    • Securing, building strategic intellectual property (IP) assets and identifying the best use of IP and deployable technologies supporting lab-wide and nuclear mission strategies;
    • Providing recommendations and valuations on potential IP;
    • Defining and executing marketing strategies for the strategic portfolio of technologies and IP;
    • Identifying, communicating and mitigating risks of technology transfer decisions for stakeholders/decision makers within the company;
    • Managing the agreement life cycle, e.g., modifications, compliance, performance, termination, etc.;
    • Understanding and ensuring compliance with policies, procedures, and regulations associated with IP and licenses and related contracts (including conflict of interest and fairness of opportunity);
    • Oversee technology and IP deployment projects carried out by junior staff members; and
    • Training INL professionals involved in Nuclear Science and Technology mission accomplishment in technology management and intellectual property aspects.
    • Developing and carrying out nonfederal technology transfer strategies that support Nuclear Science and Technology mission strategies;
    • Preparing for and representing the INL in negotiations in a manner consistent with INL’s mission objectives and policies;
    • Understanding and complying with policies, procedures, and regulations related to Copyright Assertion, Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADA), Work for Others (WFO) and other technology transfer contractual mechanisms used at the INL.

    Qualifications:
    Baccalaureate and seven (7) years relevant experience or advanced degree and five (5) years experience in relevant technical, legal and/or business field. Strong preference towards advanced degrees in technical/science/engineering, business, or law. Experience in commercialization of technology, including experience in contracting, technology transfer and/or intellectual property management highly desired.

    Skills & Abilities:
    The Commercialization Manager must:

    • Understand and appreciate complex legal issues, understand technical issues, manage multiple tasks and projects under time constraints, and communicate and interface and interact effectively with relevant Laboratory personnel (technical and managerial) and multiple external customers.
    • Represent the INL professionally during external negotiations.
    • Possess a knowledge and ability to understand financial information and intellectual property valuation techniques, and be willing to assume responsibility for activities of considerable fiscal significance.
    • Initiate tactical actions to accomplish strategic goals, work independently with limited oversight from the Senior Commercialization Manager.
    • Engage cross-organizational and cross-disciplinary teams to accomplish technology deployment project goals.

    Special Requirements:
    Certified Licensing Professional status or willingness/ability to obtain certification preferred or equivalent training

    Apply:
    To be considered for this position, please apply on-line at www.inl.gov/careers to position #5153 prior to January 21, 2010.

    Additional Information:
    *The INL is located in Idaho Falls, Idaho (www.visitidahofalls.com)*
    *Position requires relocation to Idaho Falls, Idaho – Full Relocation Package offered*
    *Bachelors Degree is a minimum qualification in addition to the specific requirements*
    *To view openings individually and apply go to: (www.inl.gov/careers/index.shtml)*
    *To learn about the INL History and our strategic plan please go to: (www.inl.gov)*

    The INL is located in Idaho Falls, ID (www.visitidahofalls.com). The area is in the heart of some of the most outstanding, outdoor recreation areas in the world. Access to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, Craters of the Moon National Monument, Sun Valley Idaho, scenic Shoshone Falls, Jackson Hole Wyoming, Salt Lake City Utah and areas of Nevada.

    Equal Employment Opportunity
    INL is an Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V

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  • Portable Oxygen Concentrator – A Users Perspective

    A portable oxygen concentrator has become a “must” for the many people with COPD and who need to receive supplemental oxygen. At the same time this type of machine is also a godsend for those who assist or live with them.
    For both the patient and the caretaker, a lack of oxygen saturation is difficult – the patient has to live with either a shortness of breath and all that this entails, or must receive extra oxygen. Those who assist, and this could be a family member or someone from the medical profession, must also provide help and to do so must know their way around the oxygen machine, in this case a portable oxygen concentrator.
    There are some basic differences between an oxygen concentrator and an oxygen tank (either liquid or compressed oxygen) that make for a different approach.

    1. The first difference has to do with storage. A tank holds or stores oxygen while a concentrator does not – it delivers the oxygen as it extracts it.
    2. Another difference is delivery. A portable oxygen concentrator will provide oxygen as on as the machine is turned on and not, as in a tank or cylinder that depends on the amount of oxygen that is stored.
    3. A portable oxygen concentrator on the other hand delivers the oxygen it is extracting from the air around it and this extraction is possible thanks to its power source that makes the extraction mechanism work. Electricity – be it from a battery or as a result of being plugged in. Portable oxygen concentrators use rechargeable batteries which increases dramatically its possibilities for oxygen delivery and by being plugged in, where many models can also be connected to the car lighter socket for example.

    These three basic differences may appear small in nature but in reality are the reason why portable oxygen concentrators have not only become so popular but have also increased the amount and type of activities COPD patients are enjoying. From the point of view of caretakers – especially family members – they are experiencing less demands and have therefore less stress.
    In short:

    • Longer oxygen supply. Even when not plugged in, the battery option which can go from 2 hours onwards depending on the flow rate and the battery capacity. But with a change of battery the whole cycle begins again.
    • The relationship between weight and amount of oxygen that is stored is no longer an issue.
    • There is no need for a refill – this being one of the logistic problems and limitations that used happen to everyone on supplemental oxygen before the arrival of portable oxygen concentrators.
    • Size and shape make these machines more portable.
    • Travel, short distances, long distances or the equivalent in time intervals is much easier. This ease of travel is due to the durability of the oxygen supply and also because public carriers (airplanes, trains and buses) have less restraints than they do for oxygen containers.


  • A1c!

    Down to a 8.4 from a 9.5! Not the best but certainly a good start=). Trying to get into the 7’s atleast by my next.. I’ve only been in the 7’s once my whole diabetic life :l.
  • Office of Technology Management — Assistant Director, Business Development

    University of Illinois
    Office of Technology Management
    Assistant Director, Business Development
    Chicago Campus

    The Office of Technology Management (OTM) at the University of Illinois in Chicago is seeking applicants for the position of Assistant Director, Business Development. The successful candidate is responsible for the management and execution of the business development activities of the Office of Technology Management (OTM) at UIC. The Assistant Director, Business Development and Technology Management will be responsible for conceptualizing, implementing and executing the business development strategy of the OTM as well as advancing the overall goals of the OTM. Other duties include:

    1. Create, facilitate, implement and lead external business development initiatives to advance University of Illinois at Chicago’s intellectual property and maximize its financial results in both the short and long term.
    2. Create and implement an external business development strategy to increase the OTM’s exposure to potential licensees.
    3. Utilizing the Salesforce.com customer relationship management platform, create performance measurements for the business development strategy, create transaction summaries on all external business development activities and provide post-transaction reviews for all processes related to the external business development activities.
    4. Keep all stakeholders regularly informed on status of pending external business development transactions and developing corporate relationships.
    5. Create strategic relationships with other Universities to explore opportunities to bundle like technologies and go to market with complete business solutions.
    6. Assist Director in the management of the unit. Develop, administer and evaluate major programs or projects.
    7. Supervise Technology Management team.
    8. Serve on OTM leadership team to ensure operating activities are within University policy.
    9. Participate in conferences and seminars conducted by the University, Unit, or professional organizations specific to furthering the OTM’s external business development initiatives.
    10. Participate in team project, with all other members of the OTM staff, regarding strategic planning and preparation of the Unit’s annual operating plan and budget.
    11. Develop an annual Professional Development plan.
    12. Act on behalf of the Director of OTM in her absence.
    13. Serve on University, campus, and other committees/teams as assigned.

    Minimum qualifications include a Bachelor’s degree in a related field and five years’ relevant professional experience in business, academic, or government in business development and/or operational management; Master’s degree or professional degree (professional experience and accomplishments may be considered in lieu of the advanced degree requirement) preferred. Other required qualifications include: proven ability to exercise independent judgment and discretion to make sound decisions; strong organizational and prioritization skills with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously; demonstrated keen business intuition, results orientation, and interest in advancing business development activities for university technologies; outstanding teamwork and influence-management skills with the ability to successfully work with others at all levels; effective leadership skills with the demeanor, business maturity, intellect and integrity required to establish immediate credibility and establish results; exemplary skills and acumen to assume roles of greater responsibility over time; and proficient computer skills (e.g., PowerPoint, Excel, Word, etc.).

    This is a full-time 12-month Academic Professional, benefits eligible position. For full consideration, candidates must apply to and submit a letter of application, resume, and names/addresses/phone numbers of three professional references by January 11, 2010 at https://uajobs.hr.uillinois.edu/.

    University of Illinois
    Employee Relations and Human Resources
    809 S. Marshfield Ave M/C 078
    Chicago, IL 60612
    Phone: (312) 996-5130
    Fax: (312) 996-6005

    The University of Illinois is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer dedicated to building a community of excellence, equity and diversity. University Administration welcomes applications from women, underrepresented minorities, persons with disabilities, sexual minority groups and other candidates who will lead and contribute to the diversification and enrichment of ideas and perspectives.

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  • Why The New Christian Values ETFs Are Rip-Offs For Investors

    Church

    Last week saw the launch of new Christian-branded exchange traded funds. Basically, they screen investments for companies involved in controversial businesses, such as arms or alcohol companies.

    They’re surprisingly niche, given that there is a Lutheran Values Fund (FKL), a Baptist Values Fund (FZB), a Catholic Values Fund (FCV) and a Methodist Values Fund (FMV), in addition to a broader Christian one (FOC).

    Which is all fine, some people probably want to limit the kind of companies they invest in according to their personal beliefs.

    What’s disturbing, as Lara Crigger at Index Universe highlights, is that once again it appears we have new ETFs that are niche-branded with pretty steep fees.

    Index Universe: But FaithShares also charges a pretty penny for the privilege of investing according to one’s moral compass: Their Christian-based ETFs charge a 0.87 percent expense ratio, which makes them one of the most expensive ETFs on the market. (It should be noted, however, that each fund does donate 10 percent of its net income back to a denomination-specific charity.)

    So far, religiously themed ETFs have yet to prove themselves more than just a neat PR gimmick. Investors might say they want morally themed funds, but so far, the one such fund available for any length of time has failed to attract many investment dollars.

    We’re always disturbed by these kinds of products, since peoples’ good intentions, whereby they’re more likely to overlook high fees, are in a sense taken advantage of.

    While this can be accepted at some level, these are ETFs not the small religious items one might buy from a gift shop. The managers can earn massive amounts of excess fees off of peoples’ good intentions here, thus you’d hope for fees more in-line with what funds of similar investment complexity would charge.

    Join the conversation about this story »

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  • UK Looks To Lower Taxes On Patents; Encouraging More Patents But Less Actual Innovation

    Jamie Love points us to the news that the UK is working to lower taxes on patent income in an effort to encourage greater patenting. Well, they claim it’s to encourage more innovation:


    Darling said in his speech that the UK “has a remarkable record of ideas and innovation. We’ve won more Nobel prizes than any country of our size. We need to do more to support this ingenuity and ensure this creativity is harnessed in this country. I want to encourage research and development in the pharmaceuticals and biotech industries. So, following consultation with business, I will introduce a 10% corporation tax rate on income which stems from patents in the UK.”

    But all such things really do is encourage more patenting, but less actual innovation. That’s because the tax rate on actual innovation — actually bringing these products to market successfully — remains significantly higher. So, if you do any research at all, you have every incentive in the world to try to just gain income from the patents directly (such as by threatening any company that actually does any innovation and demanding licensing fees) rather than doing the work of actually implementing the product yourself. After all, that’s exactly what the government is telling you to do. It’s saying that if you actually produce an innovative product, we’ll tax you at a very high rate. If all you do is patent it and then squeeze money out of others, we’ll tax you at a much lower rate. I don’t see how that encourages innovation at all. It seems like it would do the opposite.

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  • The language of staffing

    If your company is so big and impersonal that you call the people you have assets, resources, bodies, or any of the many other degrading terms available, you’re doing it wrong.

    When you talk about people, it’s clear that they’re neither interchangeable or mechanic. When you talk about people, you’re almost bound to care. Who cares about an asset or a resource? Everyone cares about Peter or Amanda.

    This language of impersonality usually comes from visions of growth for its own sake. Not because Eric needs some help and Lindsey might be a good choice. It comes because you’re envisioning a project so big and complicated that keeping names in your head would just make it pop. That’s a bad way to hire.

    Instead, push hiring down to the people who will actually care about names. So you might be building a 200-man mega project, but the team responsible for the design of the turbines are the ones in need of a few more hands. Not The Project.

  • Meet the 12 Lucky Browsers European IE Users Will Be Shown Next Year

    As part of the European Union’s antitrust agreement with Microsoft, the company will be required next year to show a list of alternatives to Internet Explorer to any Windows user with IE installed as their default browser.

    Love or hate the government intervention, it’s notable to see which browsers are about to get a big boost in user numbers. The EU says increased viability in the browser market will lead to more competition and more innovation. Here are the companies that will get a first crack at new levels of market viability in Europe.

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    On the Front Page – The Best Known 5

    The first page of the Choice Screen, which users will be presented with when they first turn on their computers or when they click a link for it later, will feature whichever five browsers have the largest market share over the previous six months. Microsoft will begin showing the page to users in March, 2010.

    Right now the top five will include, in the order listed on an EU page about the program:

    • Apple Safari – that’s right, even for Windows!
    • Google Chrome – so soon. If Chrome can grow so fast, it makes you wonder if government intervention is really needed. Of course, Chrome has been promoted prominently on Google pages. That could become part of the next antitrust issue.
    • Microsoft Internet Explorer – gets better all the time, even with dominant market share. Couldn’t the EU just require people to stop using IE 6?
    • Mozilla Firefox – the classic that’s most effectively challenged IE. In fact, it’s done so pretty effectively. Too bad Chrome now runs circles around its performance.
    • Opera – loved by mobile users, loved by Europeans.

    Below the Fold – The Smaller Challengers

    Users will be able to scroll the Choice Screen horizontally and see the next 7 most popular browsers at the time. Here’s who the EU lists as those browsers today.

    • AOL – chuckle if you will, but AOL is doing a lot of innovative work with social networks and lifestreaming these days.
    • Maxthon – is a popular browser in China and has its sights set on beating Opera in Europe.
    • K-Meleon – says it’s a super-fast Windows browser built on Gecko, the same layout engine Firefox uses.
    • Flock – is a Mozilla-powered browser that integrates a whole lot of social features. It’s got such a great feature set that we recently asked Why don’t you love Flock?
    • Avant Browser – says that it, in fact, is the browser that’s the fastest. It includes an in-line RSS reader and a number of other interesting features.
    • Sleipnir – is a highly-customizable browser that says it’s big in Japan.
    • Slim Browser – a Windows browser focused on automating processes.

    That’s the field, so far! Do you think this move will foster increased innovation? Do you think it’s needed?

    Discuss