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Showing posts from January 24, 2010

Rip Torn's Bank Robbery Arrest Seals His Reputation for "Most Drunk Prolific Old Actor Alive" [WTF?]

I mean, at what point does anybody think getting drunk and then break into banks is a good idea? Once Rip Torn sobers up, he might be able to tell us. Because he got arrested after doing so last night. State police responded to an alarm at the Litchfield Bancorp building in Salisbury, CT at 9:40 PM last night. Police say they found Torn "with a loaded revolver" and he was "highly intoxicated." Law enforcement sources tell us Torn gained access through a broken window, which they believe Torn broke himself. Torn was taken to the Troop B barracks in North Canaan and is being held on $100,000 bond. Cops say Torn was charged with carrying a pistol without a permit, carrying a firearm while intoxicated , first-degree burglary, first-degree criminal trespass and third-degree criminal mischief. Via TMZ, this kind of actually sounds like a movie the 78 year-old Rip Torn would be in. Except he'd play the cop who'd show up and be like, "Rip Torn? What

Will China Eat America’s Lunch in Cleantech?

In the State of the Union Address last Wednesday, President Obama said “the nation that leads the clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the global economy and America must be that nation.” At the same time, on the other coast, 75 clean energy investors, entrepreneurs, and researchers were debating whether the U.S. can gain this leadership position. They agreed that even though Silicon Valley leads the world in technology, it is not clear if it will ever lead in Cleantech. The Valley may develop some breakthrough technologies, but without government help these are unlikely to translate into global leadership. The technology world is rightfully allergic to government assistance and intervention. Cleantech is different, however, and we aren’t dealing with a level global playing field. In the State of the Union Address last Wednesday, President Obama said “the nation that leads the clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the global economy and America must be

Guest Post: The Yo-Yo Life of a Tech Entrepreneur

This is a guest post by Mark Suster , a 2x entrepreneur who has gone to the Dark Side of VC. He started his first company in 1999 and was headquartered in London, leaving in 2005 and selling to a publicly traded French services company. He founded his second company in Palo Alto in 2005 and sold this company to Salesforce.com, becoming VP Product Management. He joined GRP Partners in 2007 as a General Partner focusing on early-stage technology companies. TechCrunch Europe ran an article in November of last year that European startups need to work as hard as those in Silicon Valley and I echoed the sentiment in my post about the need for entrepreneurs to be maniacal about their businesses if one wants to work in the hyper competitive tech world. This is a guest post by Mark Suster , a 2x entrepreneur who has gone to the Dark Side of VC. He started his first company in 1999 and was headquartered in London, leaving in 2005 and selling to a publicly traded French services comp

Belgian Band Gets Creative With Video Annotations On YouTube

YouTube has long introduced ways for users to annotate their videos and add links to external websites, other videos on the site, and more. But I haven't seen that many people or companies make use of video annotations in creative ways - I don't spend that much time on YouTube to be honest, so maybe it's just me. Belgian electro band The Subs got in touch with us to let us know how they use video annotations to spice up their The Famous Videocast project , and the result is pretty neat if you ask me. YouTube has long introduced ways for users to annotate their videos and add links to external websites, other videos on the site, and more. But I haven’t seen that many people or companies make use of video annotations in creative ways – I don’t spend that much time on YouTube to be honest, so maybe it’s just me. Belgian electro band The Subs got in touch with us to let us know how they use video annotations to spice up their The Famous Videocast project , and the re

Patent Troll Sues Apple Over Wireless Messaging Technology

Intellect Wireless , a tiny company based in Reston, VA has filed suit against Apple over mobile picture/video messaging technology it claims to have successfully patented years ago. The patent infringement suit was filed on 28 January in Illinois Northern District Court. The complaint states that Apple infringed on the company's patents when it provided wireless portable communication devices (you know, like the iPhone) that "receive and display caller ID information, non-facsimile pictures, video messages and/or Multimedia Messaging Services." Intellect Wireless , a tiny company based in Reston, VA has filed suit against Apple over mobile picture/video messaging technology it claims to have successfully patented years ago. The patent infringement suit was filed on 28 January in Illinois Northern District Court. The complaint states that Apple infringed on the company’s patents when it provided wireless portable communication devices (you know, like the iPhone)