Boston College Venture Competition produces Silicon Valley startups

New York, NY - (Zennie62's trip to TechCrunch was sponsored by Christine Smith Associates, Inc., the Premier Female Contractor in NYC.) The TechCrunch Disrupt Conference in New York City featured startups that were considered to have the best chance of "disrupting" or changing a given industry. Such a compartmentalized event makes it's easy to forget there are other organizations that support startups. One such organization is the Boston College Venture Competition (BCVC).

I learned about BCVC from Sophia Monroe, a volunteer at TechCrunch Disrupt. I ran into three of them multiple times each day and it was during those encounters that I learned about the Boston College Venture Competition.

As it turned out, Sophia Monroe is the Executive Director of BCVC, so I asked for an interview.

Boston College Venture Competition funds startups

The BCVC is a student run business plan competition at Boston College. "Next year, will be our fifth year anniversary," Sophia said, "We have three companies out in Silicon Valley right now. Two of which are funded and the third is looking for funding."

The best known of them is WePay, started by Boston College alumn Bill Clerico and Rich Aberman, who also founded BCVC. WePay allows groups to collect money online and for fundraisers,or events, or something like a bachelor party. Sophia said WePay "just raised $1.65 million from investors including Ron Conway (the founder of SV Angels)."

The second company is Wakemate, which was funded by Y Combinator (as was WePay). Wakemate produces a cell phone accessory that "will analyze your sleep to find the optimal time for you to wake up. You will feel refreshed and energized every time you wake, even from naps!" according to its website. It's developed by "Perfect Third, Inc."

The third one is called PIQC.net and is in search of funding. PIQC is an exciting visually-based student-run search engine that also needs some work. When I typed "zennie abraham" the largest bubble I got was listed as "Victorian Houses." Well, I must have done something wrong, but that aside, the three companies have exciting products and services.

Sophia said BCVC started to fill a void in the Boston College community. As much bad news comes out about our education system as a whole, this is a good news story. Boston College Venture Competition, and other programs like it, give students a chance to realize their dreams of starting a successful tech business.

Yes, one has to be a student at Boston Collage to benefit from BCVC, but if there's not a similar program at your college, contact BCVC for advice and guidance.

For more information visit their website here: BCVC.

Should Bud Selig give Tigers' Armando Galarraga his perfect game?

On early Thursday morning, this space posted a blog about the Tigers' Armando Galarraga being robbed of a perfect game by umpire Jim Joyce, who apologized to him for the bad call. Here's what was written, in brief:

Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga could just see his chance to join the Oakland Athletics' Dallas Braden and the Philadelphia Phillies' Roy Halladay in the 2010 perfect game club getting closer and closer.

Galarraga was just one out away from the perfect game mark tonight against the Cleveland Indians when the unthinkable happened. Umpire Jim Joyce called what should have been a run-to-tag-the-plate out as an infield hit. Here's the video:

As you can see Armando beat Cleveland's Jason Donald to the bag; Donald was clearly tagged out at base because Armando beat him. What was going through Jim Joyce's head at the time is anyone's guess. That Jones apologized for the bad call only makes the entire episode that much worse but Galarraga took it with class and Jones was "utterly distraught"

The dominant Internet topic

As of this writing, the Jim Joyce blown call impacting Armando Galarraga' perfect game is the Internet's dominant topic. Detroit fans are upset. Baseball fans want instant replay. But the main question, and the focus of this pole below is "Should MLB Commissioner Bud Selig give Tigers' Armando Galarraga his perfect game?"

I said he should because Jim Joyce admitted the error and that alone is rare, to take a perfect game away on a blown call, then admit it. What do you think? Should MLB Commissioner Bud Selig step in and give Armando Galarraga his perfect game?

create a free poll on pollsb.com

Jim Joyce robs Tigers' Armando Galarraga of perfect game

Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga could just see his chance to join the Oakland Athletics' Dallas Braden and the Philadelphia Phillies' Roy Halladay in the 2010 perfect game club getting closer and closer.

Galarraga was just one out away from the perfect game mark tonight against the Cleveland Indians when the unthinkable happened. Umpire Jim Joyce called what should have been a run-to-tag-the-plate out as an infield hit. Here's the video:



As you can see Armando beat Cleveland's Jason Donald to the bag; Donald was clearly tagged out at base because Armando beat him. What was going through Jim Joyce's head at the time is anyone's guess. That Jones apologized for the bad call only makes the entire episode that much worse but Galarraga took it with class and Jones was "utterly distraught" according to freelance reporter David Hogg on Twitter.

Hogg also tweeted...

@amandarykoff That might have been the most gut-wrenching interview I've ever done. The audio doesn't do it justice.
about 2 hours ago via TweetDeck in reply to amandarykoff

Still, Jim Joyce's sorrow over his error is not enough to quell Detroit Tiger's bloggers. Big Al over at Bless You Boys is just plain seeing red over it:

I feel as if something was robbed from me. Something I'll never get back, and never see again in my lifetime. I cannot even fathom how Armando Galarraga and the Tigers must feel.

As I'm still livid, I could care less as to how Joyce feels, apologetic as he has been, despite his being considered one of baseball's better umpires...everywhere but in Detroit...Joyce blew the biggest call of his career, and his legacy will live on in infamy, with the likes of Don Denkinger.

The Tigers can forgive Joyce. Personally, I want my pound of flesh.

This will go down as the rarest of events in Major League Baseball history. As rare as a perfect game is, to have it taken away by an ump who admits the error is just un believable.

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig should give Armando Galarraga that perfect game. It's only the right thing to do.

Stay tuned.

Paul McCartney's White House Event by: Nikky Raney

Earlier tonight Sir Paul McCartney, 67, accepted the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.

The show is to be broadcast as a PBS special July 28 for those of us who were unable to attend the White House event.

Sir Paul was very grateful, "I wouldn't have believed you if you told me as a kid growing up in Liverpool that this would happen. So it's very special for me."

McCartney was happy to receive the prize, but it made him even more happy to receive the prize from President Obama. McCartney stated:

"Even though you have difficult issues (facing you), there are billions of us who are rooting for you."

Obama said of the Beatles, “They helped to lay the soundtrack for an entire generation."

As apart of this tribute Stevie Wonder, The Jonas Brothers, Faith Hill, Jack White, Dave Grohl, Elvis Costello, Corinne Bailey Rae, and other artists performed some of McCartney's best hit songs. Even though The Jonas Brothers are the last people I would ever expect, but at least it wasn't Justin Bieber.

Jerry Seinfeld made an appearance; he expressed his confusion toward McCartney's lyrical choices referring to "She was just 17. You know what I mean."

"I'm not sure I do know what you mean, Sir Paul. I think I know what you mean. And I think there's a law enforcement agency in a couple of states that might want to ask you a few questions."

Sir Paul McCartney ended the night by singing "Hey Jude." The honoree waited until President Obama left the room before saying his final bit:

"After the last eight years, it's great to have a president who knows what a library is."

The Gershwin Prize is a BIG DEAL. This is the highest award given by the American government for pop music. McCartney is the third to receive this award, after Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder.

The award is named after George and Ira Gershwin, brothers who were legendary songwriters in America.

I noticed that no one mentioned anything about Ringo Starr. Hmm, maybe he wasn't invited. I think it's a bit strange that there was no mention of John Lennon (and no mention of George Harrison). I love the Beatles, but I remember there being three other band members other than Paul McCartney... but that's a story for another time. There were over 200 guests including his girlfriend (Nancy Shevell) and his children.

Congratulations to Paul McCartney.

He was apart of one of the greatest bands of all times, and he definitely is deserving of this award.

(photo courtesy of ForgottenJournal)

Blog post written by: Nikky Raney

The Future of Journalism

p.s. make sure to read about the love song McCartney sang to Michelle Obama.

Steven Hill, porn star, killed 1 and stabbed 2 in L.A with sword

Also: Porn Actor Kills, Porn Actor Steven Hill, Porn Star Steven Hill, San Fernando Sword Attack, Stephen Hill, Stephen Hill Porn, Stephen Hill Porn Star, Steven Hill, Steven Hill Porn, Steven Hill Porn Actor, Steven Hill Porn Star, Sword Attack, Van Nuys Sword Attack, Los Angeles News

Van Nuys, CA- Steven Hill is an until now largely unknown 34-year-old porn star who according to ABC 7 News in Los Angeles, killed one person and stabbed two others with a "Samurai-type sword," and is on the loose.

It happened at the Havenhurst Airport Business Park, in Van Nuys, in the offices of a company called Ultima DVD, which is in the video distribution business but "there is filming going on their as well" according to ABC News in LA. Here's the video:

A Samurai Sword

Steven Hill was reportedly about to be fired for "inappropriate conduct" which is saying something considering the line of work he was in. The ABC 7 News' Carlos Granda obtained video from a surveillance camera that showed Hill getting out of a car and carrying what looked like the reported sword.

Steven Hill reportedly lived and worked in the office park, which one witness said she didn't event know was legal to do.

According to The Huffington Post, the incident started at a small "social gathering" late Tuesday at Ultima DVD; Hill had been told to leave the studio by Wednesday.

Los Angeles police Detective Joel Price said Hill just "went off and and stabbed people that probably had absolutely nothing to do with him being let go."

Steven Hill is now the focus of a manhunt around the L.A. Basin area.

Stay tuned.

Steve Rattner money manger to Mike Bloomberg to be banned by SEC? by Suzannah B. Troy

The New York Times reports that the SEC is considering banning Steve Rattner, Mike Bloomberg's money manager as well as a huge democratic fund raiser along with his wife.. Remember Rattner stepped down from his job at The White House as Car Czar to supposedly spend more time with his family? I guess he considers Mike Bloomberg family because he has be seen at City Hall. Read on and tune in to my YouTube about this and related issues. Most people tuned in believe Rattner stepped down from his job at the White House because of these pension fund scandals.


If the SEC gets it's way this could hurt Steve Rattner's book deal. Joyce Purnick paints Rattner as golden in her phony bio on Bloomberg and side note does the same with developer Mike "Red Square" Rosen who has brought the Lower East Side the hideous ugly Red Square development with Lenin on the roof top while Rosen lives in the symbol of gentrification which was once a welfare building called the Christa Dora. Is sure helps to have friends at The New York Times when you are trying to sell your book and of course  yourself "brand" and saint.


Well, Rattner is going to have a harder time even with friends like Mike Bloomberg, the owner of The New York Times and Joyce Purnick who like Rattner use to work for The New York Times. 


Listen to the revealing interview of mine with Michael White on "mayor Bloomberg off-shore mayor" and we talk about Steve Rattner ">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5zmHtdSZNw  




Here I interview Clayton Patterson being fined by the City of New York on being fined for graffiti on his door vs. Mike Bloomberg's legalized graffiti on the steps of Grand Central Station. "> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7oQQarpO6U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbD1HWEV7g4   I would like to paint words on the steps of the public space aka Grand Central which states "Think Bloomberg".


Did you ever start to wonder if guys like Rattner and Bloomberg have gone just a little to far and need some limits?


They are not the most forthcoming and transparent of guys.
Yet Mike pushed CityTime which I renamed the tax payers Titanic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Tz4eMcP2LU




Here I am protesting Mike Bloomberg's inauguration and I speak up Steve Rattner and the pension fund scandal.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRaUt2T4PN0 http://www.youtube.com/my_playlists?p=7F596B8929F6C3E0 My YouTube playlist of Steve Rattner Mike Bloomberg YouTubes

Lakers v. Celtics: the Celtics talk too much

The Los Angeles Lakers and The Boston Celtics are back to assure great NBA TV ratings and give Boston and LA yet another version of the same reason to hate each other.

In the past, these Lakers Celtics NBA Finals contests have went so far as to divide the country with whites and conservatives cheering for the Celtics because Larry Bird played for them, and blacks and hipsters rooting for the Lakers.

Today, Doc Rivers, who's black, is the coach of the Celtics, and all of their star players are black. The Celtics have the spice and the swagger. The Lakers, by contrast, have the Zen Master that is Phil Jackson coaching them in the NBA Finals for the third straight year, and has reached the NBA Finals remarkable 13 times.

Phil Jackson has learned a thing or three along this remarkable path of success; something the Celtics' Doc Rivers and the Celtics team should learn. When to talk. For the Lakers, Phil Jackson does the talking during The Finals; for the Celtics, it's everyone from Doc Rivers to the water boy. The Celtics talk too much.

Take Ramona Shelburne's ESPN article from LA and Rachel Nichols's TV segment. The Celtics, in responding to Jackson's statement that the Celtics play a smack down game, offered Rivers view, Ray Allen's view, and Kevin Garnett's view.

Then there was the Celtics' Paul Pierce, who offered this blast:

I really don't have no friends on the Lakers. I don't know who on this Boston team does. So it's going to be interesting. I'm not going to say it's going to come to blows, but it's definitely going to get fiery and it's going to get real competitive.

The Boston Celtics have done a lot of talking over the course of this week. What the Celtics need to do is shut up and play basketball.

Steve Jobs Apple iPad will not save journalism

Charlie Sheen's iPad will have a lot more than Old Media apps

At the All Things D Conference on Tuesday, Steve Jobs was asked the now all-too-familar question: "Will the iPad save journalism." Rather than chuckle or make the All Things D interviewers Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher look stupid, Jobs gave an answer that was essentially feeding them catnip. Jobs said:

We have a lot of goals for it, but one of my beliefs very strongly is that any democracy depends on a free, healthy press...I think we need editorial now more than ever," he said. One way to overcome the economic hurdle is for people to pay for content, he added, and the iPad offers a way to have applications rather than just static web pages."

Those statements prove Steve Jobs himself is so in love with his elegant creation the iPad, he thinks it can stop a tidal wave and keep Charlie Sheen out of jail. The comments at the All Things D Conference also prove that Steve Jobs is old. He doesn't really understand how much culture has changed because of the advent of the web, demographic change, and web economics. All of this and Steve himself is still feeding the same monster that's eating the press as this is written.

It's no wonder Apple had this awful iPad video I mentioned before:



All of this was evident to me at the Tech Crunch Disrupt Conference last ween in New York City, as I was talking to a WIRED Magazine representative about their new iPad app. All of the iPads were adjusted such that it looked as if the machine was just for WIRED. It looked like an electronic version of the magazine. But when you pressed the appropriate control, the WIRED content went away and its app was in a sea of other iPad apps on the screen.

All iPad apps face the same life fate: people get excited about them, the app is hot, it builds a following, then its used, and as it is, other apps are created to compete against it, so it eventually becomes used less and less and just one of a sea of apps on the machine.

And Old Media expects to survive in that process? That's silly. Additionally, and to rub salt in the wound this blogger created, appropriate since Steve Jobs quipped that he didn't want to "see us descend into a nation of bloggers," WIRED had not figured out how to price their iPad app to reflect content changes, according to the rep I talked to.

The WIRED iPad app's price does not include update pricing because WIRED had not figured out how to do that as of this writing.

OK. So lets' say they did figure it out. Here's my question: how do you notify the user and get that person to pay again for the WIRED content with the same energy they did so (assuming they do) when the app was first released? Just saying they will is the stuff of fools. The System Dynamics of web and mobile user behavior is they will not.

Why does an iPad media app have to be a paid affair? Why can't a media company make a free app, stuff it with adds by sponsors, and promote the hell out of it? That would harm the "paywall" apps like WIRED's, reducing their potential revenue and causing the app to get lost in that sea of icons I referred to.

Then, what's to stop popular bloggers or any blogger from having their own free iPad app? Nothing. After a time, the same System Dynamics of Internet choice, click demand, and oversupply of choices will conspire to wreck Old Media dreams that the iPad will save it.

And the same bloggers Steve Jobs seems to discount will end up taking over his beloved iPad.

Stay tuned.

Bloomberg's Orwellian Ad Campaign by Suzannah B. Troy

http://mayorbloombergkingofnewyork.blogspot.com/2010/06/bloombergs-legal-graffiti-vs-clayton.html

Watch my sometimes humorous but very serious  two part YouTube series and see how Mike Bloomberg, the little emperor of NYC lives above the laws, changing them, enforcing them on a certain group of New Yorkers with the goal to push them out including ticketing them to death, etc.

I interview Clayton Patterson on being given a $300 ticket for his door that has graffiti on it and he wants the graffiti to stay but we have a nanny mayor and the city demands Clayton paint the door black to remove the graffiti.

It is hard to distinguish from the photo above if this Orwellian Ad campaign on the public steps of Grand Central Station is for Mike's private empire or his public although way the bottom it does say Bloomberg.com it seems very similar to his Orwellian Ad campaign for mayor of New York City where he spent a record amount of money to win or buy the election.

In my two part interview, Clayton Patterson  talks about how the mayor is driving out the people, and how the mayor is part of a movement that wants everything homogenized meaning everything made the same -- like the tv shows...."Housewives", like Starbucks --  could be anywhere -- any  city and we talk about how that is how Bloomberg wants women...

Bella Abzug could have been speaking up  anywhere  and you would have said that outspoken woman with the hat who said "Women belong in the house --- House of Representatives" is from New York.  She could have only been from NY but Bloomberg and the movement that "thinks Bloomberg" that shares his ideology and this newest ad campaign instructing us to "Think Bloomberg" is "the Starbucks Nation" where it is "chain foods, chain stores, chains for the indivduals...

This ad campaign is truly Orwellian instructing the view how to think and appears to be just like his mayoral campaign and very difficult to distinguish is this "legalized graffiti"?, work or pleasure, oops, I meant to say is this promoting Bloomberg the mayor or Bloomberg the 2nd income of Mike Bloomberg that brings him billions when the world is mostly have an economic meltdown?

Watch the YouTubes and stay tuned....

I am waiting for a call back from Bloomberg's public relations person.

I want to know how much the ad campaign on the steps at Grand Central station cost and the procedure to make it happen so I can do a very small one too?

Do you think I can afford to do so?

What did Mike pay the advertising firm to come up with "Think Bloomberg" and is it the same firm that worked on his mayoral campaign.

Are the keeping their muscles warm for a presidential campaign?

Will Clayton Patterson have to fight for the right to have his front door the way he wants his front door to look and not uniformed as demanded by our nanny mayor how has the money and connections to put "Think Bloomberg" anywhere he wants including public spaces in Grand Central Station.

Stay tuned!!!!!

Miley Cyrus says Full Circle about Nick Jonas, her ex-boyfriend

The unstoppable Miley Cyrus, who's visibility just plain increased with the Miley Cyrus Lap Dance Video controversy, caused a new smaller-scale bit of news during her concert in Lisbon, Portugal.

Miley says her new song Full Circle is about a Jonas Brother...

"It's about two people. They're always gonna come back together no matter what anyone says, the bad people that try to keep you apart. It's a personal story, surprise, surprise, it's about a Jonas brother," she said, then Miley says, "You didn't hear that."

Here's the video of Miley at the concert, spilling her info:



Nick Jonas, her ex-boyfriend.

No word from Nick Jonas but apparently breaking up from him was so hard she's not over it. According to Justjared, in 2008, Cyrus said

"[Nick and I] became boyfriend and girlfriend the day we met,” he 15-year-old Hannah Montana star shared. “He was on a quest to meet me, and he was like, ‘I think you’re beautiful and I really like you.’ And I was like, 'Oh, my gosh, I like you so much.' Nick and I loved each other. We still do, but we were in love with each other. For two years he was basically my 24 / 7. But it was really hard to keep it from people. We were arguing a lot, and it really wasn’t fun."

Also, Miley and Nick were both two years younger as teens. Now she's 17 and undoubtedly changed a great deal with still a long way to go, but reflecting on what she did and probably thinking about another go at it. She also said the breakup made her go "hardcore" in her look, which may explain the turn toward the sex-based image.

The question is what does her current 22-year-old boyfriend Liam Hemsworth think? My guess is he's already putting her restless feet to sleep.

Charlie Sheen of "Two and A Half Men" off to jail on assault charge

Charlie Sheen 

Charlie Sheen, the famous actor of the CBS TV Show Two and A Half Men and movies like Wall Street and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, has been sentenced to 30 days in jail for the assault of his wife Brooke Muller, according to TMZ.com, which broke the story.

Charlie Sheen was given a choice of straight probation or jail time, but took the later because the probation option was considered "too risky."

With the 30 day sentence, which could be reduced to 17 days for good behavior, there will be no probationary period.

Sheen is to appear in Aspen on Monday of next week to enter a "no contest" plea.

Arrested on Christmas Day

Charlie Sheen was arrested on Christmas morning 2009 in Aspen, Colorado and charged with a class-four felony claim of second-degree assault, a class-five felony charge of menacing and a misdemeanor count of what is called "criminal mischief."

At the time, Sheen and Muller were to get marriage counseling:



Sheen also must complete 36 hours of anger management counseling before Monday and has 10 hours complete as of this writing.

Outside Lands Festival San Francisco schedule released today

"Outside Lands" the popular festival set for San Francisco's Golden Gate Park August 14th and 15th 2010, just released its schedule today.

The 2010 Outside Lands list features former Grateful Dead members Phil Lesh and Bob Weir of Furthur, The Kings of Leon, The Strokes, My Morning Jacket, Phoenix, Social Distortion, Al Green, Gogol Bordello, Nas and Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley, The Levon Helm Band, Cat Power, Empire of The Sun, Wolfmother, Bassnectar, Chromeo, Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros, The Temper Trap, Pretty Lights, Janelle Monae, Amos Lee, The Devil Makes Three, Tokyo Police Club, Beats Antique, Rebith Brass Band, Wild Beasts, and a host of other bands. Here's the presentation video listing them all:



Tickets for this popular festival of music, food, and wine go on sale Wednesday. Visit SFOutsideLands.com for more information.