Wonderful video from the days when the Post Office ran the show. Thanks to Brian for spotting it.
Daily Archives: March 31, 2009
Google ventures forth
From the New York Times.
SAN FRANCISCO — Google, which has invested in many startups over the years, will announce on Tuesday that it is creating a venture capital arm whose main objective will be to turn a profit.
The group, called Google Ventures, is expected to invest up to $100 million over the next 12 months. It will be overseen by David Drummond, who will continue in his role as senior vice president of corporate developing and chief legal officer at Google. Investments will be vetted by William Maris, who joined Google about a year ago, and Rich Miner, a co-founder of Android, a mobile software startup that Google acquired in 2005.
Mr. Maris said in an interview that Google will tap the connections of its employees and its ties to the venture capital world to find promising startups in areas like the Internet, clean technology and life sciences…
Interesting that its objective is “to turn a profit”. I’m wondering what other options were considered. It’s probably a good time to be getting in the the VC market, though — given that many other investment firms are getting rather strapped for cash.
Pilgrim’s Progress
Andy Hopper, the head of Cambridge University’s Computer Laboratory, is currently on Sabbatical. He’s flying around the world — in his own plane. Follow his progress here.
Twitter comes of age
Yep. Early indication here.
Courtrooms have already begun dealing with jurors Googling, Facebooking, and Twittering their way through the case. Now, some courtrooms are starting to set regulations ahead of time. The Associated Press is reporting that the Idaho Supreme Court’s criminal jury instruction committee is discussing guidelines that would prevent jurors from using electronic devices to post their thoughts or do research on cases that are in progress.
While nothing has yet been approved, if instructions for jurors are approved, they would be recommended for use in both magistrate and district courts throughout Idaho, the AP said.
Meanwhile, the National Basketball Association has fined Mark Cuban — who has a reputation for complaining — $25,000 for comments he made in Twitter about the officials…
Thanks to Glyn Moody for spotting it.
The Celtic tig…, er, donkey
Front page of this morning’s Irish Times. Junk bond status coming soon. Reminds me of a nice joke that’s been circulating for months in Ireland.
Q: What’s the difference between Ireland and Iceland?
A: One letter and six months.