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<title>Haaze.com / asttravel / All</title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com</link>
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<pubDate>Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:11:15 +0000</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[At Hacker Dojo, Silicon Valley techies build toward success]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=at-hacker-dojo-silicon-valley-techies-build-toward-success</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=at-hacker-dojo-silicon-valley-techies-build-toward-success</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:11:15 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>asttravel</dc:creator>
<category>Gaming</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=at-hacker-dojo-silicon-valley-techies-build-toward-success</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Since 2009, Hacker Dojo has become a home away from home for a wide variety of Silicon Valley techies and entrepreneurs looking for a hacker space with a sense of community.(Credit:Daniel Terdiman/CNET)MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Every day around 10 a.m., the five employees of YourVersion show up for work. Since hackers tend not to be early risers, their favorite workspace is usually still available.As a former TechCrunch 50 People's Choice winner, you'd think that the company would be well ensconced in plush Silicon Valley offices. But YourVersion, a personalized content aggregation service, is into &quot;extreme bootstrapping,&quot; said its CEO Dan Olsen. So rather than blow thousands of dollars each month on rent, he and his team gather here each morning in a funky industrial building with a decidedly hodge-podge interior aesthetic.And they're hardly the only ones. Indeed, YourVersion is joined daily by a wide variety of other techies and entrepreneurs at the Hacker Dojo, one of a growing number of so-called hacker spaces popping up in and around Silicon Valley and elsewhere. And it has quickly become a fixture in the lives of the 250 people who pay $100 a month for membership, many because the place offers members a quiet place to work, free coffee, and, perhaps most important of all, super-fast, &quot;hundred up/hundred down&quot; Internet service, said Katy Levinson, one of its five directors.A day at the Hacker Dojo (photos) Stopping by the Hacker Dojo on a gorgeous afternoon, as I did on Thursday, you could be forgiven for looking around the mostly empty rooms wondering how the place could have 250 people ponying up $100 each month. But according to Levinson, a software engineer at Google, and fellow director Brian Klug, an entrepreneur, the building is often hopping with hackers, especially in evenings and during its weekly happy hours.All around the two-level space--where every room looks different, yet where there's a common college dorm-type of feel--there are tables set up for people to hack away, whether it's individually on personal projects or in teams on the next Facebook. A few first-come, first-served &quot;cubby&quot; offices fit one person each, and a couple of giant rooms with very high ceilings can seat a couple of dozen people and their laptops.In it togetherTrying to sum up what exactly Hacker Dojo is, Levinson says the place is &quot;one-third event venue, one-third co-working space, and one-third big social living room.&quot;Being daytime during my visit, the space is mostly being used by people working on various projects. Here and there, individuals, teams of one or two, and larger groups, like the five from YourVersion are sitting at various tables, tapping away on their laptops and trying to get their work done.YourVersion was founded in Olsen's Palo Alto garage. But when he had a new baby, it became clear that &quot;you can't do two start-ups in one place,&quot; said his co-founder Chris Haase.Forced to move, the team went in search of co-working space somewhere in the Valley. But other hacker spaces cost too much, Haase said, and were even a bit too buttoned-down for the team's tastes. When they finally found Hacker Dojo, they knew they'd found their home. &quot;The Dojo had it all,&quot; Haase said, &quot;space, close to CalTrain (a regional commuter train), food, coffee, and [high speed Internet].&quot;Related links&amp;149' Word Lens for iPhone Translates Spanish to English--in Real Time!&amp;149' Hackers create tools for disaster relief&amp;149' IBM breakthrough could measure rapid changes to atoms &amp;149' Building circuits, code, community at Noisebridge hacker spaceAt the same time, Haase said he and his team value the sense of community they found at the Dojo. On the one hand, members seem to take it upon themselves without being asked to give tours to visitors. And on the other, he said, there's a very real sense that regardless of the project they're working on, the members are all in it together. And given how well connected everyone is to many Silicon Valley tech powerhouses, that can play out quickly in tangible business help.Haase recalled that the YourVersion team was looking to expand its mobile offerings toAndroid tablets but didn't yet have one. At that time, the Samsung Galaxy was the only such device. When they put the word out about what they were looking for at the Dojo, it turned out that another member worked at Samsung and was able to quickly make a connection to just the right person in the company. Before they knew it, the team had a loaner and was able to start the testing they needed. Event space While some find the Dojo is ideal as a work space, others members see the key offering as being able to host events. Klug said that on average, there are two per week, everything from Startup Weekends to Random Hacks of Kindness to Security B-Sides to Bay Threats. Use of the space for such events is free of charge, so long as any member can attend without paying. The five directors of the Dojo maintain the right to veto any event that is sales-oriented.And while Hacker Dojo is beginning to find stable financial footing, that hasn't always been the case. Opened in late summer 2009, it has always relied on the cooperation of members to take care of routine maintenance--Klug said there are monthly &quot;fix-its&quot; where members pitch in to &quot;do whatever needs to be done to keep the place together. But only now, thanks to the growing membership and the resulting income, is Hacker Dojo able to finally spend some money on improving the building's infrastructure, Klug added.In fact, that's a crucial element. Hacker Dojo doesn't have a team of high-paid employees. Rather, it's up to all the members to make sure things keep working. It's what some might call a &quot;do-ocracy.&quot; If something needs to get done, someone inevitably steps up to do it.&quot;We're a whole bunch of members,&quot; said Klug, &quot;who come together to pay rent, keep the place clean, and build cool stuff.&quot;Geek features Although the Hacker Dojo isn't home--guidelines prohibit members from staying in the building, which is open to members 24/7, for more than one night--there's little treats all over the place that are reminiscent of what geeks might put in their own houses, if only they had the space.Hidden high on the walls in one of the two giant event rooms are several virtual-reality cameras that together are part of a video game development platform. Levinson pointed to the outline of a big blue &quot;box&quot; on the floor and explained that anyone inside the box can wear a special antenna on their head that can communicate with the cameras and tell a nearby computer where they are in the 3D space. The computer then feeds a projection to a pair of special glasses where you can see where you are, she said. The idea is that people can make their own games and use the system to test how movement works in 3D space. The system was installed by a member who didn't have the space for it at home.There's also an electronics room, complete with a CNC machine, as well as three 3D printers. These are expensive items that the Dojo could never have afforded on its own. Instead, like the video game/virtual reality system, the devices were donated by members who had had them in storage. &quot;'If you [keep them] here,'&quot; Levinson recalled the donors saying, &quot;'will you give it a life&quot;And tucked against one wall is a small button with a label: &quot;More cowbell.&quot; If you push it, a mechanism is activated that, invokes Christopher Walken's geek-famous battle cry and yes, rings a cowbell installed near the ceiling. As well, signs everywhere of a truly geek bent: stickers reading &quot;Danger: No civilian access. Live fire ahead&quot; and &quot;Success+pony=dojo,&quot; a Frisbee painted to look like the Google Chrome logo, a Linux shark, giant Pac-Man ghosts made from Post-Its, a copy of the complete &quot;Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.&quot;Making moneyWhile there's obviously a sense of shared community at the Dojo, it's OK for members to turn the projects they work on there into true money-making ventures. Already, said Levinson and Klug, several companies have already &quot;graduated&quot; from the Dojo--meaning they've turned the project or products they worked on there into real-world successes and have moved on.A couple of examples include Word Lens, an app that can auto-translate foreign language signage on the fly, and Kuplia, a shared shopping service that is now in beta. There's also been teams working toward the Lunar X Prize that have called the Dojo home. This book is evidence of what some want to be spending their time on at the Hacker Dojo(Credit:Daniel Terdiman/CNET)But even for those who haven't made it yet, the Dojo seems like a place that can help get them there. In the Dojo's library, I find dozens of computer books, and, tellingly, a copy of the &quot;Director of Venture Capital&quot; left out on a table. Levinson said there are groups that spend time at the Dojo that push each other to work hard and to get better at what they're doing. She recalled some folks who would push each other to build a new app each week, and others are good about getting together regularly to compare business goals and help each other see if they're meeting them.In other words, while the Dojo has some of the trappings of a geek play house, it's really not that at all. This is a place where people come to do real work, and to build real products. If they happen to make friends and feel part of a community of like-minded people while they're there, then that's obviously a bonus.As I'm leaving, I run into Haase again. He tells me a few more things that he likes about spending time at the Dojo, but I want to ask him about the idea of &quot;graduating.&quot; What happens if YourVersion gets to the point of growing too big for the Dojo. After all, the office that the team snags every morning at 10 a.m. seems like it can only seat five comfortably.&quot;That,&quot; Haase said with a big smile, &quot;is a problem we'd love to have.&quot; <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[OnLive launches its PlayPack library of games for $9.99 a month]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=onlive-launches-its-playpack-library-of-games-for-9-99-a-month</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=onlive-launches-its-playpack-library-of-games-for-9-99-a-month</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>asttravel</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=onlive-launches-its-playpack-library-of-games-for-9-99-a-month</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Online gaming service firm OnLive launched its all-you-can eat $9.99-a-month subscription plan for gamers to access a library of video games. The move, which the company announced in December, is aimed at disrupting game retailers, much the way Netflix did to DVD sellers when it offered monthly subscriptions for a library of movies.So far, the library isn&amp;'t too fear-inspiring for game retailers. With 38 titles, OnLive has a respectable number of games for users to play, but it&amp;'s a long way from having a gigantic library. Over time, though, it could become an interesting revenue source for game publishers and a new option for gamers who don&amp;'t want to spend $60 on a single game.OnLive offers instant gratification with its games-on-demand service that debuted in June. Users log into OnLive and immediately play games that are computed and stored on OnLivea4a4s data centers. Users dona4a4t have to download anything and dona4a4t need a high-end computer to play high-end games. So far, OnLive has been offering a la carte game sales and game rentals. Since OnLive focuses on digital distribution of games, it can disrupt retailers such as GameStop and put more profits in the hands of game publishers.The company will keep offering those options. But today, OnLive started the $9.99 a month PlayPack subscription. Users wona4a4t be able to get the newest premium games in the PlayPack. But they will get high-quality recent games that are perhaps six months old or so, and they will be able to play new indie games as well as classic games.OnLive said that the strategy is aimed at vastly broadening the companya4a4s potential market of game customers. With a flat-rate subscription, OnLive will pursue the same path that Netflix has successfully followed, attracting users who dona4a4t necessarily want to dish out a lot of money for one title but dona4a4t mind paying a monthly fee to sample a bunch of games. For premium new games, OnLive offers a la carte pricing, much like Applea4a4s iTunes store does.Current PlayPack titles include Bioshock, Hidden Path, FEAR 2, Frontlines: Fuel of War, Supreme Commander Forged Alliance, NBA 2K10, Tomb Raider: Underworld, Titan Quest Gold, Unreal Tournament 3, Tropico 3, LEGO Batman, Defense Grid Gold, Saw, and World of Goo.OnLive is now shipping its MicroConsole game system, which costs $99. The MicroConsole is a small adapter that plugs into your TV and allows you to play high-definition games on your flat-panel TV. The OnLive hardware could disrupt the more expensive consoles, especially as more high-end games become available. If you want to play on a PC or a Mac with a computer monitor, you dona4a4t need the MicroConsole.OnLive investors include Warner Bros., Autodesk, Maverick Capital, AT&amp;amp'T, British Telecommunications and The Belgacom Group. The company was founded nine years ago and has 200 employees. Because its technology is potentially disruptive to traditional game retailers, investors recently valued the company at $1.1 billion.Next Story: T-Mobile announces Galaxy S 4G and 3D-capable G-Slate tablet Previous Story: RIM, Apple and Google locked in a tie for smartphone dominancePrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: BioShock, Defense Grid Gold, FEAR 2, Frontlines, Lego Batman, NBA 2K10, SAW, Titan Quest Gold, Tomb Raider Underworld, Tropico 3, Unreal Tournament 3, World of GooCompanies: OnLive          Tags: BioShock, Defense Grid Gold, FEAR 2, Frontlines, Lego Batman, NBA 2K10, SAW, Titan Quest Gold, Tomb Raider Underworld, Tropico 3, Unreal Tournament 3, World of GooCompanies: OnLiveDean is lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He covers video games, security, chips and a variety of other subjects. Dean previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News, the Wall Street Journal, the Red Herring, the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register and the Dallas Times Herald. He is the author of two books, Opening the Xbox and the Xbox 360 Uncloaked. Follow him on Twitter at @deantak, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat. Have news to share Launching a startup Email: tips@venturebeat.comVentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Nokia workers walk out to protest Microsoft deal]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nokia-workers-walk-out-to-protest-microsoft-deal</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nokia-workers-walk-out-to-protest-microsoft-deal</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>asttravel</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nokia-workers-walk-out-to-protest-microsoft-deal</guid>
<description><![CDATA[More than 1,000 Nokia employees have walked out of the company&amp;'s offices to protest the just-announced deal between Microsoft and the mobile handset giant, according to a report in Finnish newspaper Helsingin Santomat.You can read an English version of the story here, courtesy of Google Translate. The walkout occurred at Nokia&amp;'s Tampere offices in Finland, where about 1,500 of the nearly 3,000 employees work on the Symbian operating system &amp;8212' the same operating system that will be phased out in favor of Windows Phone 7 as part of the deal. (Though see the caveats from a Nokia spokesperson in the comments of our initial announcement post.)Employees at the Oulu offices, where about half of the 2,000-person workforce is involved in Symbian, reportedly &amp;''erupted&amp;'' after the announcement.Nokia chief executive Stephen Elop has confirmed that the company will be cutting jobs in Finland and other countries. The chairman of a local white-collar labor union estimated that the restructuring will mean the loss of thousands of Finnish jobs,  and the country&amp;'s economic minister described the move as &amp;''the biggest structural reform that has ever impacted new technology in Finland.&amp;''[Image via Helsingin Santomat. Story found via Thinq.]Previous Story: Bing Gordon&amp;'s love poem to the game industry, and to me (video and poem text)PrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Symbian, Windows PhoneCompanies: nokiaPeople: Stephen Elop          Tags: Symbian, Windows PhoneCompanies: nokiaPeople: Stephen ElopAnthony is a senior editor at VentureBeat, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining the site in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. (All story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com) You can also follow Anthony on Twitter. Have news to share Launching a startup Email: tips@venturebeat.comVentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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