Here’s the latest action:
1) VCs love on Obama
2) Frappr-Platial merge to take on Google
3) Is China is blocking US search engines? Or is it just U.S. jingoism?
4) Wordpress buys avatar company
5) Internet giants agree on copyright protection online — um, except Google
6) Data reveals iLike’s strong music momentum
VCs spend on Obama — Barack Obama is getting the most this year from the private equity crowd. He has raised $128,208 from 75 different VCs, according to PEHub. Running second is Mitt Romney with $94,500 from 51 contributors, while Hillary Clinton ($45,950), Chris Dodd ($22,700) and Rudy Giuliani ($21,100) round out the top five. Democrats got 60 percent more than Republicans.
Consolidation in social mapping companies — Google keeps improving their their social map features, letting you create your own maps and putting them in places like Google Earth, and then sharing with friends. Now Platial, a Portland company that does much the same thing, has acquired competitor Frappr. (Notably, Platial is backed by Ram Shriram, who sits on the Google board. Yes, that’s a major conflict. Update: We asked Shriram whether he is feeling conflicted, and he responded: “Not true at all…I believe Google is a partner but I am not conversant with details”.) Platial says the combined companies will reach 15 million unique users monthly, which isn’t shabby at all. There’s power in fusion. Frappr never took outside funding. Platial raised $3.4 million from a host of players, including Kleiner Perkins, Keynote Ventures, Shriram, Georges Harik, Jack Dangermon, and Ron Conway.
Is China is blocking US search engines? — That seems to be the claim from a bunch a sources today, including reports that Yahoo, Microsoft and Google are all being redirected. However, some people are stepping back and wondering if there’s confusion on the matter, and some veiled anti-Chinese jingoism thrown in. We’ll track this in coming days. [Recommended update: Danny Sullivan's report, which suggests the Chinese blockade is an effort to avoid references to the Dalai Lama.]
Wordpress buys avatar company — Automattic, the company that operates the popular Wordpress blog software, has acquired Gravatar, a company that gives users a 80×80 pixel avatar image that follows you from blog to blog. It appears beside your name when you comment on Gravatar enabled sites. Avatars help identify your posts. What do you guys think? Should VentureBeat enable Gravatar?
Internet giants agree on copyright protection online (surprise: Google not included) — A group of Internet and media companies, including CBS, Dailymotion, Microsoft, NBC Universal, News Corp, Viacom and Walt Disney have agreed to guidelines to protect copyrights online, according to the Wall Street Journal. The principles include using technology to eliminate copyright-infringing content, and blocking infringing material before it is publicly accessible, according to the report. Google didn’t participate, however: Copyright questions, particularly surrounding the posting of video, have bedeviled Google since it bought YouTube. Google’s existing technology wouldn’t meet the agreed standard, because it doesn’t block content from being posted. Google’s technology merely takes it down “in a matter of a few minutes.” Google has been sued by Viacom for $1 billion.
Data reveals iLike’s strong music momentum — iLike has a 90 percent share of the music application installations on Facebook, according to iLike chief executive Avi Partovi at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco today. (Not bad, considering there are 200 different music applications on Facebook). Of the top 10,000 bands featured on iLike, 43 percent of them have more registered fans on iLike than they do on MySpace.
[Matt Marshall and Mark Coker contributed to this report]
9 Comments
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retro said:
As much as I’d like to see a woman president, I don’t trust Hillary as far as I can throw her.
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David said:
He can not manage run washington because washington are not using politics instead they are using principles as USA presiden had said, these principles are mccarthyism, monroe doctrine, destabilization of globe, direct & indirect of over drawing the leaders world wide if against nonroe doctrine,jingoism, controlling of all natural resources globe wide and so on.Washington is being ruling by Bush and Clinton families for long era and it is their local and international criminal.Sooner than later the countries that washington create the hatred of McCARTHYISM are going to react too.Now the whole world will need the Bush and his administration plus washington should be brought to justices If no whether 10 years or 100 years many countries will agree to fight washington for these criminalations committed washington in white house.
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Find said:
I completely agree with all that here is told
So you can find the information on it on my search resource -
Barack Obama said:
Just thought I’d let you know we hit 13,000 downloads today… Download Barack Obama Screensavers! Get them here —> http://www.obamascreensavers.com
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etronicenterprises said:
Seems pretty interesting, looks like Obama’s got his work cut out for himself.
While I’m here, I was also looking at the weekly democratic nominee polls, and it’s almost amazing how Barack Obama came from a 28% deficit to taking the lead over Hilary Clinton just weeks before the democratic caucus.
What do you think of that?
Tell me more at ObamaChoice.com
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Ted Danson said:
fantastic read, thanks
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Lutak said:
Obama has a bigger job cut out for himself than he knows…
Personally, I think that Obama is arrogant…and this will be his downfall amongst educated, well-rounded, mature and informed American voters.
I also believe that websites like the one listed below could ultimately determine why more and more Democrats will defect to John McCain’s camp.
Unfortunately, there is little about Obama that a website like the one below says that can be refuted…that is, unless you’ve flunked Philosphy 101 in college,or never got to college in the first place.
Check it out: http://www.chilkootmarketing.com/index.htm
What can be done?
Sooner or later all of us will have to reckon with our conscience and higher intellectual powers and when this occures we will invariably be forced to choose between either ‘principle’ or the physical attributes of the other candidate.
Which candidate is traveling down the wrong road on critical issues?
Which do you think will win out, come November? ‘
‘Higher principles’ or the ‘physical’ attributes of a particular candidate?
Predictably, older voters will vote in favor of ‘principle’… obviously, because they are more concerned about what happens after death and the legacy they will leave behind.
In contrast, the younger voters, since they have more time left in life to recant, are more likely to be reckless and procrastinate with any decision in favor of principle, and will likely vote in favor of ‘idealism’…
…and these are the young and youthful voters that Obama appeals to and also why a lot of us older folks see Obama as ‘the Pied Piper of the niave’.
However, (which is the next question that begs itself): ‘When does Barack’s own conscience begin to bother him?’
Personally, I think Obama needs to start thinking about what he can do to ‘remake’ his image if he wants to win this election.
I’m not sure that he’ll want to be that person he’s beginning to look like against John McCain…who today represents everything that America stands for.
BUT, if Obama thinks he can win going the way he’s headed, then let him go for it.
But, as for me and many like me who sit on the fence until election time in November, we’ll still be thinking about having to live with ourselves long after this election is over in November and maybe these are the thoughts that the new young voters haven’t entertained yet…
…and, there’s still a lot that can happen between now and November…
…and, this probably means that Obama faces a huge political swamp ahead…one that he has created for himself by being too impetuous on some very important issues…
…which has already gotten him into trouble with some of the very wise old parents of the younger generation.
- Jim Carder
3 Trackbacks
9:35 pm
Akvizice Frappru ve střetu zájmů s Googlem? said:
[...] by mohl představovat onen střet zájmů z titulku. Sedí totiž v Radě Googlu. Sám Shriram to VentureBeatu vyvrátil (nebo se o to alespoň snažil) a celá “kauza” spíš demonstruje, že nejen ČR je [...]
4:07 am
Automattic (WordPress) kupuje Gravatar said:
[...] VentureBeat Tagy: Akvizice, Automattic, Gravatar, Matt Mullenweg, [...]
10:46 pm
VentureBeat » Exclusive: Barack Obama to name a “Chief Technology Officer” said:
[...] The plan extends Obama’s previous advocacy for more open decision making in government. It’s likely to play well here in Silicon Valley, because much of it relies on technology. The announcement is significant, too, because Obama comes to California seeking to bolster his standings here, where he currently trails frontrunner Sen. Hilary Clinton in most opinion polls. In some ways, Obama has come to a moment of truth in his campaign, a testing of whether he can cross the racial divide. Here in the valley, though, he’s right at home, where the local tech leaders and VCs have given him strong support (see our coverage here and here). [...]