Business and Technology with Common Sense

Congress Moves to Rein in Illegal Wiretaps

September 28, 2009 By Aaron

The JUSTICE Act, short for the Judicious Use of Surveillance Tools in Counterterrorism Efforts Act, was brought to my attention today. The JUSTICE Act seeks to put constraints on the Bush-era USA Patriot Act and FISA Act Amendment which drove national security efforts here at home post-9/11.

In the past, I have been a very vocal critic of the previous administration and their liberal assumption of power not explicitly granted to them by the Constitution. Namely, the use of these powers was, in my book, impeachable offenses. That Administration has come and gone, but the PATRIOT Act and FISA still haunt us to this day.

We in the technology community should be alarmed.

Filed Under: Aaron Brazell, Venture Files, guest blogging Tagged With: fbi, fisa, government, government_intrusion, national security, patriot act

Government as a Platform?

September 12, 2009 By Aaron
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Data, data, data. This is the answer for government in this new world of Government 2.0. Making government available to the citizens by building platforms for change. These are the ideas bandied around when the Silicon Valley Warlords came to Washington, D.C. this week to put on the invitation only Gov 2.0 Summit and teach Beltway insiders how their successes in the Valley could be instituted in the center of government.

The center of government. The center of politics. The center of policy. Of course, if the warlords have their way, the center of technology.

Filed Under: Aaron Brazell, Featured, Venture Files, guest blogging Tagged With: g2s, gov, gov2s, gov2summit, government, government 2.0, innovation, o'reilly

FriendFeed is now In a Relationship with Facebook

August 10, 2009 By Aaron
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In a move that surprised many in the tech world, Facebook and FriendFeed today announced that FriendFeed has been acquired by Facebook. This announcement came as a surprise to those who see FriendFeed as an annoying, yet open approach to the web whereas Facebook has a history of being a walled garden, often only opening up their data streams in limited or crippled fashions.

More surprisingly, the acquisition was something like Sixth Sense where you watched the movie trying to figure out what the ending would be just to be totally blindsided as the credits rolled. Yeah, it was that sort of satisfactory “ah, you got me” moment. More after the jump.

Filed Under: Aaron Brazell, Venture Files, guest blogging Tagged With: acquisitions, Facebook, friendfeed, News, social-networks, startups

Space: The Final Frontier

July 20, 2009 By Aaron
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Today is July 20th and it signifies a very important day in the history of mankind. It is the day we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the moon landing and, in many ways, the culmination of the advent of the technology age. 40 years ago today, we began a journey into space that has not receded (though we have not recently returned to the surface of the moon).

Much is being made of this anniversary today. WeChooseTheMoon.org, a fascinating real time re-enactment of the mission, including the days leading up to the pivotal moment, is a project of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. It was Kennedy, in an address to a joint session of Congress in 1961, that called on Americans, with a specific mandate to NASA, to put a man on the moon by the end of that decade.

Filed Under: Aaron Brazell, Featured, Venture Files, guest blogging Tagged With: anniversary, lro, lunar, moon, nasa, space

Mobile Apps—Gold in Them There Hills?

May 14, 2009 By Aaron

For those of us waiting outside the Finnish Embassy earlier this week to get in for Mobile Monday (a.k.a. dcMOMO)—all that was missing was the velvet rope. “Okay, we’re only going to let 20 more people in—to the rest of you, we’re sorry.” Me lucky. Geez. You’d think it was a not new club. Well, [...]

Filed Under: Venture Files Tagged With: aamco, bluetooth, finnishembassy, ifart, ihpone, indridea, infomediainc, kongruent, millenials, mobile, pointabout, qorvis, washingtonpost

Great Missed Expectations

April 2, 2009 By Aaron
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Several times in my career, I’ve excitedly joined up with a partner — usually technically adroit, often visionary, always inexperienced. Each time, it seemed a natural fit. We were complementary — I brought a wide variety of tech-marketing and business skills, and most important, experience. And we got along really well. So why didn’t it [...]

Filed Under: Venture Files Tagged With: venture capital