Roundup: Ev Williams stumbles to the top, privacy goes obsolete, jet packs are back and more

March 9, 2009 | Camille Ricketts | Comments |

Cisco eyeing Pure Digital? — The maker of the Flip video camera is in acquisition talks. TechCrunch has more.

Rocketeer envy going strong — The Wall Street Journal looks at the public’s fascination with jet packs, and the shape they’re taking today.

A series of fortunate events for Ev Williams – The Twitter founder recounted his haphazard ascent in the New York Times.

Nvidia takes a run at Intel — The company announced its plan to roll out an x86 microprocessor, a market that has long been cornered by Intel. PC World has more.

SunPower heats up — The Solar firm is actively pursuing private and public acquisitions, scouting for companies with full product pipelines. EETimes has the story.

Elon Musk is watching you — Tesla Motors’ chief executive, irked by media leaks, sent a company-wide memo asking employees to sign a tougher nondisclosure agreement and expounding on the virtues of mutual trust. Valleywag explains how it backfired.

Stand strong, Yahoo – Google vice president Marissa Mayer told Charlie Rose that Yahoo should remain independent for the web’s sake. Watch the full interview on the show’s site.

Neokast’s disappearing act – The peer-to-peer live video streaming company mysteriously went dark last fall after early hype. What happened? Bob Cringely has a theory.

Privacy is so over — This, according to Silicon Valley Randall Stross. Read his New York Times essay on how social networks are redefining the term.

Silicon Valley unemployment outpaces national rate — The unemployment rate in the Valley jumped to 9.4 percent, exceeding the national figure of 8.1 percent. The San Jose Mercury News has the “frightening” details.

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About the Author, Camille Ricketts

Camille is the lead writer for GreenBeat. She came to VentureBeat from Google where she worked on its traditional platforms team, particularly in TV. Before that, she was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in New York and London. Follow her on Twitter at @camillericketts, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.

With GreenBeat 2009, VentureBeat's all-star conference on all things Smart Grid, coming up in November, Camille will be expanding coverage of this exciting space. Stay up to date by following @greenbeat2009 on Twitter or by becoming a fan of the event on Facebook here.

  • Silicon Valley: Doesn't shock me a bit actually. Hiring was rather irresponsible for many years, hiring people with little real use for really high salaries, so this is (mostly) self-correction, albeit the fiscally necessary kind.