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<title>Haaze.com / daviswawva / Published News</title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com</link>
<description>Test Web 2.0 Content Management System</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 22 Mar 2011 07:10:26 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
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<title><![CDATA[Young workers want to work for Google, Apple]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=young-workers-want-to-work-for-google-apple</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=young-workers-want-to-work-for-google-apple</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 22 Mar 2011 07:10:26 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>daviswawva</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=young-workers-want-to-work-for-google-apple</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Tech companies make a strong showing in a study released today on the firms young professionals most want to work with.Google topped the list of most-desired employers, employer-branding company Universum found. Apple and Walt Disney Co. were next in line. Amazon.com was the fifth-most-desirable employer. Microsoft came in seventh place, according to the survey, which polled 10,000 college graduates with one to eight years of professional experience. .Those tech firms were surrounded mostly by government agencies. The Department of State was the fourth-most-desired employer, while the Federal Bureau of Investigation came in sixth. The Central Intelligence Agency and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration took the eighth and ninth places, respectively. Teach For America, an organization that places young college graduates in rural and urban schools to teach for two years, came in tenth place.So, why did Google and Apple win Easy, says Universum: their brands.&quot;Companies that have appealing consumer brands generally also succeed in being perceived as attractive employers,&quot; Universum Employer Branding specialist Kortney Kutsop said in a statement. &quot;People nowadays love to work for companies that produce their favorite products and services. Also, market success is an important factor: the company needs to be generally seen as innovative and best-in-class in whatever they do--that's the winning formula.&quot;Even though some employers are more desirable than others, even Google might have a hard time getting young professionals in a single job for an extended amount of time, Universum said. The company found that 25 percent of young professionals want to change their jobs within the next six months, while 28 percent plan to do so in one to two years. Half of all the respondents &quot;have applied for a new job either externally or internally in the past year.&quot;<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[How to make $40 DIY soundproof headphones]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=how-to-make-40-diy-soundproof-headphones</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=how-to-make-40-diy-soundproof-headphones</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 23 Feb 2011 08:10:50 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>daviswawva</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=how-to-make-40-diy-soundproof-headphones</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Ian Anderson crafted his own set of sound-protective hi-fi headphones.(Credit:Ian Anderson)Amateur tinkerer Ian Anderson works in a wood shop and wears earphones to protect himself against a constant exposure to loud noises. To add a little music to his day, Anderson considered buying a set of noise-canceling headphones before committing to make a better pair himself.Anderson started with a pair of Koss KSC75 clip-on style titanium stereophones that feature the same 60-ohm drivers found on the highly regarded Koss Porta-Pro model.Ian Anderson's DIY soundproof headphones (photos) He embedded the KSC75s into a pair of Peltor 105 Professional Noise Cancelling Earmuffs using the tools in his garage and came up with a 3.5mm-compatible stereo surround headphone that also drowns out the loudness in the shop.And with a combined cost of $40 for both headphones ($20 each), the DIY project ended up being less than even the cheapest set of WorkTunes cans. Anderson drew inspiration from dsjackson1's Instructables page with slight technical modifications, but be sure to check out Ian Anderson's blog page for more DIY projects. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Obama announces clean energy plan for buildings]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=obama-announces-clean-energy-plan-for-buildings</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=obama-announces-clean-energy-plan-for-buildings</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 03 Feb 2011 08:11:02 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>daviswawva</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=obama-announces-clean-energy-plan-for-buildings</guid>
<description><![CDATA[STATE COLLEGE, Pa.--President Barack Obama announced a new clean energy program in Pennsylvania on Thursday, seeking to show he remains focused on jobs in a state that may be essential to his 2012 re-election prospects. Obama outlined a plan in his State of the Union address last month to encourage clean energy technologies and to double by 2035 the U.S. share of electricity from clean energy sources such as wind, solar, nuclear and &quot;clean&quot; coal. As part of that program, Obama announced a plan to improve energy efficiency in U.S. commercial buildings by offering businesses incentives to help pay for upgrades of offices, stores, and other buildings, which he said consume 40 percent of the energy Americans use, and could save $40 billion a year. &quot;Making our buildings more energy efficient is one of the fastest, easiest, and cheapest ways to save money, combat pollution and create jobs right here in the United States of America,&quot; Obama told a jammed sports hall at the Pennsylvania State University. &quot;To get the private sector to lead by example, I'm also issuing a challenge to CEOs, to labor, to building owners, to hospitals, universities and others, to join us,&quot; he said. Former President Bill Clinton and General Electric Co Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt will lead this outreach to the private sector, a White House official said. Obama tapped Immelt last month as his top outside economic adviser to chair a presidential panel on jobs and competitiveness. Obama's push for the United States to build a green economy is part of a global race to dominate what is seen as a potentially huge industry in solar, wind, and other alternative energies that offer wealth and energy independence.'Out-innovate and out-educate' With U.S. unemployment at 9.4 percent despite signs of economic recovery, Obama's push for green energy jobs is an important part of his high-stakes effort to tackle joblessness--the problem most on the minds of voters, even as issues like the turmoil in Egypt dominate the headlines. &quot;If we want those jobs and businesses to thrive in the United States of America, we are going to have to out-innovate and out-educate and out-build the rest of the world,&quot; he said. Obama's Better Buildings Initiative is meant to achieve a 20 percent improvement in energy efficiency by 2020, reduce companies' and business owners' energy bills by about $40 billion per year and save energy, the White House said. &quot;This initiative has the potential to really unlock a large amount of investment, some of which is sitting on the sidelines right now ... and create jobs at a time when that has to be our central focus,&quot; a senior Obama administration official said on Wednesday. Administration officials would not detail the plan's cost but said it would be paid for by ending tax subsidies for oil, natural gas and other fossil fuels. The proposal needs congressional approval and that might be a tough sell on Capitol Hill. Obama took Pennsylvania with a margin of more than 10 percentage points over Republican challenger John McCain when he won the presidency in 2008. In 2010, the state's voters backed Republicans for governor, a U.S. Senate seat and a majority of its seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.Story Copyright (c) 2010 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[The gift of iPad: It's better than a sweater, but...]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-gift-of-ipad-its-better-than-a-sweater-but---</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-gift-of-ipad-its-better-than-a-sweater-but---</comments>
<pubDate>Sun, 19 Dec 2010 08:10:01 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>daviswawva</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-gift-of-ipad-its-better-than-a-sweater-but---</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The iPad is easy to get excited about. But after the euphoria of unboxing, there are a few things to consider.(Credit:Brooke Crothers)Though theiPad certainly trumps a sweater as a gift, its utility can get lost on some people. Why Apple's tablet doesn't fall neatly into the well-worn parameters of personal computers of the past. So, here are five things to consider when giving and receiving the cool, new device. iPad gift-giving--a few things to keep in mind:Stump the user: I was pretty clueless when I first started using the iPad. I was convinced it was a solution seeking a problem. That changed, but it took time. Don't expect to find the iPad as an eminently useful device right off the bat. Writer's block: After I started using the iPad more and more, I naturally wanted to use it as a productivity tool. You know, just like a laptop (that has true multitasking). Wrong. Though I do some writing and other light productivity, it ain't a laptop. That's what my MacBook Air is for. Flash fan (not): So, how's that lack of Adobe Flash support working out for ya That's what I always want to ask other iPad owners, to see if it's as big a non-issue as Apple claims. Generally, it's not a giant issue for me, though I know that some people see it clearly as a deal breaker. 3G for me: Maybe it's just me, but I think an iPad without 3G is like, well, aniPhone without 3G. I use my iPad when I'm on the road constantly. I just can't imagine using an iPad to its full potential without it. Safari light: Remember that the iPad's Safari browser is not the same Safari that's on theMac. Because of the iPad's relatively large screen (compared to the iPhone) I forget sometimes that it's really just an oversized smartphone and that it has a smartphone's stripped-down browser. And I will sneak in one more piece of gratuitous advice. The iPad 2 is coming, probably fairly early next year: thinner, lighter and all that good stuff. So, buyer's remorse might rear its ugly head sooner than you would like.  <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Nevada land approved for 500 megawatts of solar]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nevada-land-approved-for-500-megawatts-of-solar</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nevada-land-approved-for-500-megawatts-of-solar</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 17 Nov 2010 08:10:27 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>daviswawva</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nevada-land-approved-for-500-megawatts-of-solar</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A giant parabolic trough at Solar Millennium&amp;39's pioneer project Andasol 1 in Europe, which has been grid-connected since December 2008.(Credit:Solar Millennium)Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar on Monday approved the Amargosa Farm Road Solar Project, the third major solar project to gain approval to be built on U.S. public lands.The two 250-megawatt plants will be built by Solar Millennium, a German company that makes parabolic-shaped concentrated solar panels. Each plant will include a thermal energy storage system so that it can continue to supply electricity during cloud cover or at night for up to 4.5 hours per plant. Some of the solar-generated electricity will be explicitly directed toward powering buildings in Las Vegas, according to Solar Millennium.When complete, the Amargosa Farm Road Solar Project should create about 200 permanent operations and maintenance jobs, and supply enough electricity to power 150,000 U.S. homes annually, according to the Department of the Interior (DOI).Including the Amargosa project, Solar Millennium now has the potential to build 1,500 megawatts worth of solar energy projects in the U.S.In September, California regulators approved four 250-megawatt solar plants near Blythe, Calif., using the company's concentrated solar troughs in conjunction with a deal signed with the Southern California Edison electricity utility. Solar Millennium is building the Blythe project in conjunction with Chevron subsidiary Chevron Energy Solutions.But whether the Amargosa project has all its ducks in a row to move forward remains to be seen.Solar Millennium itself openly acknowledged on Tuesday that while it has signed a memorandum of understanding with NV Energy, Nevada's electric utility, it has not yet signed a power of purchase agreement. The company also said it's waiting on approval for a government loan guarantee.&quot;In line with the financing structure of Blythe 1 and 2, an equity ratio of 20 to 30 percent is also planned for the Amargosa power plants. As with Blythe, we have already applied for the respective loan guarantees with the U.S. Department of Energy in order to secure the debt capital,&quot; Solar Millennium said in a statement.That approval might not happen until the company gets approval from the government with regard to water rights.&quot;Due to the proximity to the Amargosa River, Solar Millennium must additionally seek approval with regard to the Water Clean Act from other U.S. authorities to obtain the final construction approval,&quot; the company announced Tuesday.The Bureau of Land Management, which is part of the DOI, in October approved the use of public lands in California for the Chevron Lucerne Valley Solar Project and the Imperial Valley Solar Project. At the time, the government agency pointed out that the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act's special energy grants in lieu of a tax credits option made both projects eligible for approximately $273 million and $31 million in funding, respectively.Solar Millennium stands to get the same type of deal for the Amargosa project, but it's looking to use loan guarantees as a way to secure more funding it needs to get that approval soon. The Recovery Act grants for solar and wind investment projects are set to expire at the end of 2010. While many have appealed to Congress for a two-year extension on the program, there's a good chance it will not be renewed.Keep in mind that while the first three major projects to win approval through the new DOI have been dedicated to solar energy, the initiative is not exclusively intended to promote solar. The DOI is in the process of reviewing applications for geothermal, wind, and transmission line projects as well.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Sophos unveils free antivirus software for the Mac]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sophos-unveils-free-antivirus-software-for-the-mac</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sophos-unveils-free-antivirus-software-for-the-mac</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 02 Nov 2010 07:10:17 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>daviswawva</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sophos-unveils-free-antivirus-software-for-the-mac</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Sophos unveiled free antivirus software today that Macintosh users can install to detect and block malware that targets computers running theMac operating system.Sophos AV software detects a Mac virus.(Credit:Sophos)Sophos Anti-Virus Home Edition for Mac also detects malware written for Windows that Mac users can spread via USB drives and e-mail, Chet Wisniewski, a senior security adviser at Sophos, told CNET. The software is a noncommercial version of Sophos Anti-Virus 7.2 for Mac, targeted at home users and modified so it is easier to install and use, he said.  The free Mac antivirus software from Sophos, which also launched a Mac support forum, will compete with ClamXav, Avast, and PCTools' iAntiVirus. Sophos has more information about Mac threats in this blog post.  While the vast majority of malware is written for the Windows platform, Mac threats do crop up. Last week, the Boonana Trojan horse surfaced. And in an update to Snow Leopard in June, Apple added software to protect Macs from a Trojan horse that was being distributed by attackers disguised as iPhoto. Updated 8:57 a.m. PDT and 9:30 a.m. PDT: Links to Sophos Anti-Virus Home Edition for Mac and to the Sophos blog post have been added. Also, the image has been replaced.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Gmail Gains Delegation Feature: Who Wants To Answer All My&nbsp'Email]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=gmail-gains-delegation-feature-who-wants-to-answer-all-mynbspemail</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=gmail-gains-delegation-feature-who-wants-to-answer-all-mynbspemail</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>daviswawva</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=gmail-gains-delegation-feature-who-wants-to-answer-all-mynbspemail</guid>
<description><![CDATA[&amp;lt'Insert standard quip about Inbox Overload here.&amp;gt' I know, right We all suffer from it. But what if you could get someone else to answer all your email Well, if you can find such a person, Gmail has a new feature to let you grant them access to your account.Yes, Gmail now supports full email delegation. By way of a new feature in settings, you can grant another Google account holder access to your email account. This allows another person to both send and receive emails on behalf of your account.This feature has been available for some time for Google Apps accounts. But sometimes regular people have assistants too a4&quot; or simply email addresses that they&amp;'d like multiple people to manage in a more coherent way. For example, when a message is sent from the account with access to yours, it appear as being from your address, but with include &amp;''sent by XXXX@gmail.com&amp;''. Nifty.So, who wants to answer all my email I can&amp;'t pay you, but you can get first look rights at hundreds of wonderful PR pitches a day. Totally worth it.CrunchBase InformationGmailInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Battle for your texts: Facebook Messages vs. Kik mobile chat]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=battle-for-your-texts-facebook-messages-vs--kik-mobile-chat</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=battle-for-your-texts-facebook-messages-vs--kik-mobile-chat</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>daviswawva</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=battle-for-your-texts-facebook-messages-vs--kik-mobile-chat</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Facebook can&amp;'t remind us enough that its new messaging service, announced today, isn&amp;'t an email killer. Instead, it&amp;'s an all-encompassing messaging system that works across Facebook chat, email, and text messages.Now that we&amp;'ve seen the product, it&amp;'s clearly notthe threat to email we previously thought. Butthe new messaging service could pose a problem for the hot mobile chat startup Kik, which we&amp;'ve covered extensively.I&amp;'ve fallen head over heels for Kik over the past few weeks because it&amp;'s built specifically for mobile chat. I&amp;'ve always found standard texting technology to be too slow, and even on the iPhone you can feel the creakiness of the aging SMS protocol. Mobile instant messaging is faster, but relies on steady mobile Internet connections. It&amp;'s not unusual for me to lose a Google chat or AIM message because of iPhone reception issues.Kik sits somewhere in between instant messaging and texting &amp;8212' it&amp;'s fast, but not reliant on a steady Internet connection. It&amp;'s no surprise that Kik&amp;'s creator used to work on RIM&amp;'s BlackBerry Messenger, a product that many BlackBerry users have grown addicted to because it&amp;'s much better than texting. Kik one-ups BlackBerry Messenger by being available on multiple platforms &amp;8212' including the iPhone and Android. (RIM just blocked the service on BlackBerry. Threatened much)The service has quickly become my preferred mobile chat method. And with 2.25 million registered users a couple of weeks after launch, it&amp;'s clear that Kik is taking off. But after Facebook&amp;'s new messaging announcement today, I&amp;'m now beginning to wonder if Kik&amp;'s days are numbered &amp;8212' or at the very least, if its growth will plateau.Facebook&amp;'s revamped messaging interface lets us carry a conversation from multiple computers, to our phones, seamlessly. The company is betting that convenience will be compelling to its users &amp;8212' which is why Facebook is working so hard to make sure it integrates with existing modes of communication like email and texting. It won&amp;'t replace any other communication methods yet, but Facebook is definitely training its users to rely on its messaging service for all of their communication needs.Facebook&amp;'s new messaging service will offer the same sort of instant mobile chat as Kik, but users will also have the option to receive texts or emails if they prefer. Facebook is aiming to get rid of the &amp;''BRB&amp;'' (be right back) message we&amp;'ve grown used to leaving when we exit an IM conversation. Now we&amp;'ll never have to leave the conversation.Kik doesn&amp;'t offer any sort of desktop component yet, and it also doesn&amp;'t integrate with email. It&amp;'s purely dedicated to mobile chat. While I still adore Kik for what it offers, the company will certainly need to add more compelling features if it wants to fight off Facebook&amp;'s new messaging play.Next Story: ZenRobotics robot recyclers go for green in the CleanTech Open Previous Story: PC-design guru Rahul Sood takes his leave from HPPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: AIM, Blackberry, BlackBerry Messenger, chat, email, IM, mobile chat, sms, textingCompanies: Facebook, Kik          Tags: AIM, Blackberry, BlackBerry Messenger, chat, email, IM, mobile chat, sms, textingCompanies: Facebook, KikDevindra Hardawar is VentureBeat's lead mobile writer and East Coast correspondent. He studied philosophy at Amherst College, worked in IT support for several years, and has been writing about technology since 2004. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can reach him at devindra@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @Devindra.VentureBeat 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[BrainAthlete monitors an athlete&'s mental state during sports activity]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=brainathlete-monitors-an-athletersquos-mental-state-during-sports-activity</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=brainathlete-monitors-an-athletersquos-mental-state-during-sports-activity</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>daviswawva</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=brainathlete-monitors-an-athletersquos-mental-state-during-sports-activity</guid>
<description><![CDATA[NeuroSky, which makes toys and entertainment products that use its brainwave-scanning technology, is revealing today that its technology is being used in an &amp;''brainwave athletic trainer.&amp;'' BrainAthlete, which is on the market in Japan and arrives in the U.S. early next year, measures an athlete&amp;'s state of mind so he or she can figure out the ideal way to prepare for a big sporting event.The trainer is meant to track an athlete&amp;'s level of concentration, helping them find their &amp;''zone,&amp;'' or the state of mind where they can best perform a sport. The product, which will be built and sold by Japan&amp;'s B-Bridge International, shows that NeuroSky&amp;'s MindSet technology &amp;8212' which has been tested in working products in the toy industry &amp;8212' continues to inspire product makers looking for an innovative new user interface.The trainer application taps NeuroSky&amp;'s ability to detect your brain waves. NeuroSky&amp;'s electrodes detect brainwave activity and interpret whether you are upset, attentive, meditative, or relaxed. Those inputs can then be translated into computer controls for toys such as Mattel&amp;'s MindFlex toy, where you can make a ball rise if you are concentrating.Uncle Milton&amp;'s Star Wars Force Trainer also uses NeuroSky&amp;'s MindSet. With that product, you can make a ball rise inside a tube, without touching it, if you concentrate long enough. The MindFlex and Star Wars toys have sold well, and now NeuroSky is moving on to a new product with partner B-Bridge, which is based in Tokyo.The NeuroSky MindSet probes are built into a standard golf visor. Three non-invasive contacts in the headband monitor the electroencephalogram (EEG) electrical activity from the brain to determine the athlete&amp;'s mental state. So an athlete can now correlate the brainwave activity with his or her actual performance during a workout. Then the athlete can analyze the results instantly.It could prove useful in sports such as golf, where the ability to concentrate is closely linked to how well you play. There are 28.8 million American golfers. Debra Crews, a professor of psychology at Arizona State University, has studied the brainwaves of golfers for a decade. She sees a correlation between mental state and performance accuracy. The problem is that it isn&amp;'t easy to get EEG machinery on a golf course. NeuroSky&amp;'s portable MindSet technology, coupled with B-Bridge&amp;'s visor, fits the bill.Stanley Yang, CEO of NeuroSky in San Jose, Calif., said the company has been researching mental sports performance for five years. For four years, it has been working with the U.S. Olympic archery team. The product began shipping in Japan on Dec. 1 for 40,000 yen, or $476. It will be available in the first quarter of 2011 in the U.S.NeuroSky was founded in 2004 and has 40 employees. Rivals include Emotiv, but no one has offered a portable EEG-monitoring system for athletes. NeuroSky has raised $18.6 million in three rounds of funding, including an $11.8 million round in June. Investors include Taiwan Global Biofund, W.R. Hambrecht managing partner Lee Ting, and Taicom Capital.Next Story: Flash developer Adobe rakes in $1B in record fourth quarter Previous Story: BlackRock leads $30 million round for biofuels company LS9PrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Brain AthleteCompanies: B-Bridge, NeuroskyPeople: Hiro Masumoto, Stanley Yang          Tags: Brain AthleteCompanies: B-Bridge, NeuroskyPeople: Hiro Masumoto, Stanley YangDean 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.VentureBeat 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[Snaptu Doubles Userbase In 5 Months, Now Has 5.5 Million Active&nbsp'Accounts]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=snaptu-doubles-userbase-in-5-months-now-has-5-5-million-activenbspaccounts</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=snaptu-doubles-userbase-in-5-months-now-has-5-5-million-activenbspaccounts</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>daviswawva</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=snaptu-doubles-userbase-in-5-months-now-has-5-5-million-activenbspaccounts</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Snaptu, a Sequoia-backed company that offers a suite of smartphone-like applications that can be installed on more basic handsets, has hit another major milestone: it&amp;'s now up to 20 million registered accounts, 5.5 million of which are active. And it&amp;'s adding users very quickly a4&quot;a4sit was only last June that the company announced that it had 10 million registered users, 2.5 million of which were active. In other words, the company has doubled its user base in only five months.The company isn&amp;'t showing any signs of slowing down, either.  Snaptu reports that it&amp;'s now adding 2.5 million new users a month a4&quot;a4smore than one a second a4&quot;a4sand that it&amp;'s drawing 3.3 billion monthly page views. Snaptu says that 43% of its users are in Asia (including India), with 26% in North America and the rest split between Europe and South and Central America.Smartphones like the iPhone and Android devices may be all we hear about these days, but the vast majority of mobile phones are still running operating systems that are much less sophisticated (and data intensive). That&amp;'s where Snaptu comes into play: users download the company&amp;'s Java application, which they can then use to install &amp;8216'sub-applications&amp;'. Snaptu&amp;'s library of apps includes Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, some news sites (including TechCrunch), and a more generic RSS reader.a4sSnaptu offers these apps for free' it generates revenue through advertising.Many of these services, like Facebook and Twitter, offer their own mobile-friendly web apps, but Snaptu offers a more consistent interface (you can jump between apps using an iPhone-like UI) and says that it&amp;'s been highly optimized for better performance. Whatever they&amp;'re doing, it seems to be working.CrunchBase InformationSnaptuInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Cellular 'business-in-a-box' empowers poor Indonesians - Springwise]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=cellular-business-in-a-box-empowers-poor-indonesians---springwise</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=cellular-business-in-a-box-empowers-poor-indonesians---springwise</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>daviswawva</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=cellular-business-in-a-box-empowers-poor-indonesians---springwise</guid>
<description><![CDATA[In Indonesia, 75 percent of the population a4&quot; or 180 million people a4&quot; live below the international poverty line of USD 2.50/day. Aiming to improve such statistics, RUMA is a social organization that deploys a4Abusiness-in-a-boxa4 solutions to qualifying franchises for a brighter economic future.Recognizing Indonesia''s high cellphone penetration rates, for example, RUMA''s first product is &quot;Rumah Pulsa,&quot; a telecommunications kiosk that enables the entrepreneur to sell prepaid airtime to his or her community. RUMA sells the business kit a4&quot; which contains a phone, promotion materials and an operating manual a4&quot; for USD 23 to future franchisees. A field officer is also on hand to train franchisees in running the business. To ensure it is serving the poor, RUMA conducts a questionnaire to determine a franchiseea4a4s poverty level based on the Progress-Out-of-Poverty Index (PPI) methodology. RUMA is supported by the Grameen Foundation and by Qualcomm. In its first five months of operation, RUMA deployed more than 1,600 microfranchise businesses serving 75,000 consumers. More than 90 percent of RUMA franchises are currently operated by women' all are profitable. RUMA aims to launch a second business-in-a-box offering by the end of this year, and to reach financial sustainability by August 2011. One to get involved in a4&quot; or to emulate in another poverty-stricken part of the world (Related: Solar-powered cellphone kiosks for Ugandan women a4&quot; In Jakarta, healthy meals at sponsored food carts for kids a4&quot; Fighting poverty through microloan guarantees a4&quot; Sanitary pad franchise creates jobs &amp; improves lives.)Website: www.ruma.co.idContact: ruma@ruma.co.idSpotted by: John Greene <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Pandora expects to lose money until 2012]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=pandora-expects-to-lose-money-until-2012</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=pandora-expects-to-lose-money-until-2012</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>daviswawva</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=pandora-expects-to-lose-money-until-2012</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Online radio startup Pandora may have just filed for its initial public offering, but it admits there are still unproven aspects in its business model. In fact, the filing says that Oakland, Calif.-based Pandora expects to post operating losses &amp;''through at least the end of fiscal year 2012&amp;8243' (which runs until Jan. 31, 2012).That seems particularly noteworthy since Pandora is the big success story to come out of all the online music experiments of the past decade. Apple recently listed Pandora as the third-most downloaded free iPhone app of all time. When Imeem founder Dalton Caldwell gave a talk last year arguing that the business model of music startups doesn&amp;'t work, he acknowledged Pandora as the one exception.To be clear, Pandora&amp;'s revenue has grown dramatically in the past couple of years: It was $14.3 million in the fiscal year ending Jan. 31, 2008, $19.3 million a year later, then $55.2 million the year after that. And it brought in $90.1 million during the first nine months of 2010. But music royalty payments (described in the filing as content acquisition costs) have been increasing too, and the company says it has put listener growth ahead of profits:As our number of listener hours increases, the royalties we pay for content acquisition also increase. We have not in the past generated, and may not in the future generate, sufficient revenue from the sale of advertising and subscriptions to offset such royalty expenses. &amp;8230' In addition, we expect to invest heavily in our operations to support anticipated future growth and public company reporting and compliance obligations.The other striking thing about Pandora&amp;'s finances is to the extent that its revenue is still dominated by advertising, despite the launch of the Pandora One pay service in 2009. In the first nine months of 2010, Pandora says it earned $77.9 million from advertising and only $12.3 million from &amp;''subscription services and other&amp;''. That ratio may change as Pandora One matures, but until then Pandora seems to putting a much bigger on emphasis on ads. When listing the key elements of &amp;''building a successful long-term business,&amp;'' the filing mentions new ad products but nothing related to subscriptions.[image via Flickr/epSos.de]Next Story: BioWare to reenergize multiplayer gaming with Star Wars: The Old Republic Previous Story: Web radio service Pandora files for $100M IPOPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Companies: Pandora          Companies: PandoraAnthony 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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<title><![CDATA[The Other Location Shoe Drops: Facebook Deals. Will It Discount&nbsp'Rivals]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-other-location-shoe-drops-facebook-deals--will-it-discountnbsprivals</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-other-location-shoe-drops-facebook-deals--will-it-discountnbsprivals</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>daviswawva</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-other-location-shoe-drops-facebook-deals--will-it-discountnbsprivals</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Today at Facebook&amp;'s event in Palo Alto, CA, the company had a lot to say about their mobile platform. Yes, they had updates to their Android and iPhone apps. And yes, the company implemented a new single sign-on process. And yes, they unveiled a new location write API. But the thing they announced that may have the biggest impact is Deals.There has been a lot of talk about Facebook launching a Deals product ever since talk about them entering the location space began. Some people were disappointed when Facebook Places launched without any deals. Well, they&amp;'re not going to be disappointed anymore.Facebook is launching Deals with 22 premium partners today. And they&amp;'ve giving 20,000 small and medium sized businesses on Facebook access to their new simple Deal creation tool. So what are some of the dealsGap is giving away 10,000 free pairs of blue jeans. And when they run out of those, they&amp;'re giving 40 percent off of any product when someone checks-in to any of their nationwide stores.A smaller cinema chain, Alamo Draft House, is giving away a free pint glass when you check-in. And they&amp;'ll have offers for special events for friends.The North Face is giving $1 to charity for a store check-in or a check-in to a number of national parks.The Palms hotel in Las Vegas is giving away a free third night when you stay for two nights. Or you can get a room upgrade.The Golden State Warriors are giving away access to a free event with players if you check-in to a game.As you can see, these deals are a mixture of nationwide and local. And there are a mixture of deals for products and deals for charity. And there are deals for individuals and deals for friends.The social element is key to these Deals. There will be a way to share deals with your friends. You can check-in somewhere and tag your friends so they all get the same deal. This is very nice.And claiming these deals is as easy as two clicks.It will be verya4sinterestinga4sto see what this means for smaller location services like Foursquare, which has been ramping up these types of deals in recent months. Will it be a case of all ships rising or everyone going over to FacebookIt will also be interesting to see what this means for group buying companies like Groupon. Facebook hasn&amp;'t specifically stated anything in that direction a4&quot; but you can easily see them going in that direction too.And here&amp;'s another key: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted that Facebook is not getting paid at all for these deals. They&amp;'re just doing them because they&amp;'re great for users and businesses who use Facebook. (He did leave open the possibility that some partners may choose to advertise with Facebook, but that&amp;'s not the main intent.)Again, this could spell trouble for rivals. Many of them began by offering free access to deals with the intention that they might get paid for them eventually. But who would pay another service for this when Facebook is offering it for free And Zuckerberg noted today that Places is already several times larger than any other location-based service out there a4&quot; something which is pretty amazing considering it has largely been iPhone-only up until now.Also interesting: what does this mean for Google They are also pushing hard to ramp up Places.Facebook noted that in the next couple of months the Deals tools will roll out to all Facebook page owners. Currently, Deals will be U.S.-only for now, it will roll-out internationally over time.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[SEC looking at secondary markets for Facebook and others]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sec-looking-at-secondary-markets-for-facebook-and-others</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sec-looking-at-secondary-markets-for-facebook-and-others</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>daviswawva</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sec-looking-at-secondary-markets-for-facebook-and-others</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The secondary markets where shareholders of hot private companies like Facebook and Twitter can sell shares their could be facing greater government scrutiny, according to multiple news reports.The New York Times published a story last night stating that the Securities and Exchange Commission  a4Ahas sent information requests to several participants in the buying and selling of stocka4 in Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Zynga. The story didna4a4t have many details about the investigation, and it was a bit strange when SecondMarket, the leading marketplace for these types of shares, said today that it has not been contacted by the SEC. A spokesperson from SharesPost, a similar marketplace, declined to comment on the Times story when I emailed them, except to say that a4Asince its launch, SharesPost has made efforts to keep the SEC&amp;'s Staff apprised of the evolution of its marketplace and we have made every effort to structure our activities to be compliant with previous.a4Now the Wall Street Journal has more details about whoa4a4s being investigated and why. The SEC is a4Afocusing partlya4 on the funds that pool investors together to buy these private company shares, allowing them purchase shares companies over the 500-shareholder threshold. If the threshold is crossed, private companies are required to disclose more information to the public. The SEC is also looking at whether the tech companies are meeting their financial reporting requirements and at whether the people selling shares (who are often former employees) need to be registered broker-dealers, the Journal says.To be clear, it sounds like this is all very preliminary &amp;8212' a spokesperson for one of the funds mentioned by the Journal said ita4a4s premature even call this an a4Ainvestigationa4. But ita4a4s certainly that as these markets grow, the government is taking notice.[image via Flickr/Jacob Ehnmark]Previous Story: Twitter investor Union Square could be aiming for later-stage dealsPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: secondary marketsCompanies: Facebook, linkedin, SecondMarket, Sharespost, Twitter, Zynga          Tags: secondary marketsCompanies: Facebook, linkedin, SecondMarket, Sharespost, Twitter, ZyngaAnthony 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.VentureBeat 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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