The Northwest Entrepreneur Network hosts its monthly venture breakfast at the Bellevue Harbor Club. Non-members $40, members receive a discount. Information and registration here.
Author: Wade Roush
Between 2007 and 2014, I was a staff editor for Xconomy in Boston and San Francisco.
Since 2008 I've been writing a weekly opinion/review column called VOX: The Voice of Xperience. (From 2008 to 2013 the column was known as World Wide Wade.)
I've been writing about science and technology professionally since 1994. Before joining Xconomy in 2007, I was a staff member at MIT’s Technology Review from 2001 to 2006, serving as senior editor, San Francisco bureau chief, and executive editor of TechnologyReview.com. Before that, I was the Boston bureau reporter for Science, managing editor of supercomputing publications at NASA Ames Research Center, and Web editor at e-book pioneer NuvoMedia.
I have a B.A. in the history of science from Harvard College and a PhD in the history and social study of science and technology from MIT. I've published articles in Science, Technology Review, IEEE Spectrum, Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Technology and Culture, Alaska Airlines Magazine, and World Business, and I've been a guest of NPR, CNN, CNBC, NECN, WGBH and the PBS NewsHour. I'm a frequent conference participant and enjoy opportunities to moderate panel discussions and on-stage chats.
My personal site: waderoush.com
My social media coordinates:
Twitter: @wroush
Facebook: facebook.com/wade.roush
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/waderoush
Google+ : google.com/+WadeRoush
YouTube: youtube.com/wroush1967
Flickr: flickr.com/photos/wroush/
Pinterest: pinterest.com/waderoush/
Essentials of Bootstrapping
The Northwest Entrepreneur Network offers a workshop on getting through the period that every startup endures when cash is extremely tight and the demands of fueling the company’s growth are monumental. Bootstrapping—the corporate version of Europe on $10 a day—is a critical and immensely useful skill that enables startups to stay alive until they can … Continue reading “Essentials of Bootstrapping”
Web Surveys That Work
Bellevue Community College offers a three-hour course on connecting with customers, employees and members quickly and cost effectively through Web surveys. The course covers determining whether the Web is your best option, selecting tools and services, maximizing response rates, using skips and data validation, accessibility, and making sure your data is reliable. Registration $65, information … Continue reading “Web Surveys That Work”
Certified ScrumMaster Training
SolutionsIQ Agile thought leaders conduct a two-day course on the essentials of Scrum management in software development projects. Registration $1,200; information here.
Profits & Privacy: Exploring the Boundaries of Digital Marketing
WTIA’s June Technology in Focus Series event looks at how managers can monetize online audiences while respecting their privacy. Information here.
VOIP Phones for Small Business
Congruent and Microsoft host a lunchtime demonstration and test drive of the Microsoft Response Point system. Register free here.
Monotype Will Raise $60 Million in Secondary Offering
Monotype Imaging (NASDAQ: [[ticker:TYPE]]), the Woburn, MA-based maker of electronic fonts and text imaging software that went public last summer, announced last night that it’s planning a secondary public offering of 5 million shares of its common stock at $12.00 per share. The 170-employee company, the creator of famous fonts such as Times New Roman … Continue reading “Monotype Will Raise $60 Million in Secondary Offering”
You Say Staccato, I Say Sfumato: A Reply to Nicholas Carr
One of my prized possessions is an enormous book called Leonardo da Vinci: The Complete Drawings and Paintings. You know how a lot of old art or history books have a few glossy color plates bound into the center? Well, this book has 695 of them, each one measuring about 12×18 inches, and together they … Continue reading “You Say Staccato, I Say Sfumato: A Reply to Nicholas Carr”
Delve Networks Un-Pluggd; Startup Relaunched as Video Search Provider, To Compete With Cambridge Companies
Seattle-based audio and video search company Pluggd rebranded itself yesterday as Delve Networks and launched a video hosting and search technology that seems designed to compete directly with services from Cambridge, MA-based EveryZing. The development’s bicoastal impact was particularly interesting to us, given Xconomy’s impending expansion to Seattle (for more on that, watch this space … Continue reading “Delve Networks Un-Pluggd; Startup Relaunched as Video Search Provider, To Compete With Cambridge Companies”
What to Do When Rover Resents Roomba
When I got an iRobot Roomba vacuum cleaner a few years ago, my dog’s first reaction was mild curiosity, followed by total disinterest. He was clearly intelligent enough to understand that the gadget wasn’t alive—and that therefore it wasn’t a rival or a threat. Alas, some people’s dogs just aren’t as smart. An article in … Continue reading “What to Do When Rover Resents Roomba”
PeopleAhead Has Forward-Looking Take on the Online Job Board
The Web has been around for long enough that many online businesses that once seemed revolutionary have begun to look routine, tired, even fundamentally flawed. In many industries, there is an emerging second generation of Web businesses that hope to supplant their pioneering predecessors. Look at online comparison shopping in the financial industry, for example. … Continue reading “PeopleAhead Has Forward-Looking Take on the Online Job Board”
Eurekafest
Celebrate the inventive spirit at EurekaFest, June 25-28, presented by the Lemelson-MIT Program and the Museum of Science. Join a community of inventors and innovators at the Lemelson-MIT Awards Ceremony or see a nationwide high school invention showcase on the MIT campus. Saturday at the Museum of Science, watch live presentations of award-winning student inventions, … Continue reading “Eurekafest”
Utility Scale Energy Storage
The New England Clean Energy Council presents a briefing session featuring a panel of experts (energy storage firm and utility executives, technologists, venture capitalists, and consultants) discussing opportunities and issues around utility scale energy storage. The session will address economic, technical, and regulatory hurdles, debate the feasibility of various storage solutions, and try to project … Continue reading “Utility Scale Energy Storage”
American Superconductor Scores Huge Contract with Chinese Wind Turbine Manufacturer
While New England boasts a home-grown cluster of cleantech and green energy startups, the region is also becoming a major supplier of infrastructure and equipment for green energy projects around the world. In April, Merrimack, NH-based GT Solar won a $91 million contract to supply Dutch photovoltaic manufacturer The Silicon Mine with reactors needed to … Continue reading “American Superconductor Scores Huge Contract with Chinese Wind Turbine Manufacturer”
As iPhone 3G Launch Nears, Boston Developers Ready Their Apps
The last time Steve Jobs got up on stage and talked about the iPhone, at January’s MacWorld expo, he had a big piece of Boston-related news: local firm Skyhook Wireless had been tapped to provide the Wi-Fi-based location finding feature for the iPhone’s newly upgraded map application. As it turned out, Boston didn’t have a … Continue reading “As iPhone 3G Launch Nears, Boston Developers Ready Their Apps”
MoneyAisle Lets Banks Bid Against Each Other for Customers
The Web has brought comparison shopping to nearly every corner of commerce, including banking. In fact, thanks to years of advertising, LendingTree’s tagline—“When Banks Compete, You Win”—is one of the most familiar on the Internet. But now a startup in Burlington, MA, is arguing that the “competition” on LendingTree and similar financial-industry websites is often … Continue reading “MoneyAisle Lets Banks Bid Against Each Other for Customers”
Long Courtship Preceded GlaxoSmithKline’s Sirtris Acquisition
GlaxoSmithKline’s purchase of Cambridge, MA-based Sirtris Pharmaceuticals—a deal completed today—was on the drawing boards long before it made headlines in late April, according to an interesting story by Boston Globe reporter Todd Wallack. “We’re getting married to someone that we’ve been dating for a while,” Sirtris CEO Christoph Westphal told Wallack. Sirtris, which went public … Continue reading “Long Courtship Preceded GlaxoSmithKline’s Sirtris Acquisition”
Megapixels, Shmegapixels: How to Make Great GIGAPIXEL Images With Your Humble Digital Camera
Size matters, at least when it comes to the resolution of digital photos. As much as I love my iPhone, its built-in 1200×1600-pixel camera just doesn’t work for serious photography. Problem is, it’s been my only camera for almost a year, ever since my previous digicam croaked during a cross-country road trip. But a couple … Continue reading “Megapixels, Shmegapixels: How to Make Great GIGAPIXEL Images With Your Humble Digital Camera”
Nuance to Raise $100 Million in Public Offering
Burlington, MA-based speech software company Nuance Communications said today that it will sell 5,575,000 shares of common stock to the public at $18.15 per share in an offering that will close on June 10. If sole underwriter Thomas Weisel Partners exercises an option to buy additional shares, the offering could pull in as much as … Continue reading “Nuance to Raise $100 Million in Public Offering”
Podcamp Seattle
From the event’s website: “PodCamp is an informal ‘unconference’ event where people come together to connect, learn and share about online social tools, such as blogging, podcasting, videoblogging, Twitter, wikis, virtual worlds, etc. Our Seattle event is aimed at new media enthusiasts, marketers, PR and ad people, and technologists. Curious about Twitter? Wondering where consumers … Continue reading “Podcamp Seattle”
Podcamp Boston 3
From the event’s website: “How many times have you heard this old saw: ‘The best part of a conference is the conversations in the hallway.’ What if the conference WAS the hallway? That’s the power of PodCamp Boston, the power of community, the power of conversation. The power of putting smart people from every walk … Continue reading “Podcamp Boston 3”
Rockport Capital Launches World’s Largest Cleantech Fund
Boston-based venture firm Rockport Capital is upping the ante on cleantech investing. The six-partner firm, which has focused since its founding eight years ago on cleaner and more efficient energy and production technologies, announced today that it has finished raising its third fund. It’s Rockport’s largest fund by a long shot, weighing in at a … Continue reading “Rockport Capital Launches World’s Largest Cleantech Fund”
Acumentrics Gets $15.6M DOE Grant for Fuel Cells
Westwood, MA-based Acumentrics, which makes uninterruptible power supplies for military and industrial customers and is developing new solid oxide fuel cell system that could produce as much as 10 kilowatts of power, said today that it has received a $15.6 million, three-and-a-half-year grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to continue work on the technology. … Continue reading “Acumentrics Gets $15.6M DOE Grant for Fuel Cells”
Turbine Confirms $40 Million Series C Round
We reported on April 30 that Turbine Entertainment, publisher of The Lord of the Rings Online and other popular massively multiplayer online games, had raised $40 million in a Series C venture round, bringing its total financing to some $90 million. Now Turbine has confirmed the news, adding one bit of additional information: Time Warner … Continue reading “Turbine Confirms $40 Million Series C Round”
MITX Hands Out Technology Awards
At a ceremony at the Cambridge Royal Sonesta that was briefly interrupted by a fire alarm last night, the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX) announced the winners of its fifth annual MITX Technology Awards, which are intended to recognize innovative technologies developed in New England. The organization gave out awards in 14 categories. Some … Continue reading “MITX Hands Out Technology Awards”
Oh Friendly Day: Boston VCs Launch National Network for Renewable-Energy Entrepreneurs
As I wrote last year in a piece entitled “Go East, Young Man,” cleantech investors Rob Day and Andrew Friendly both left California around the same time in early 2007—Day to become a principal at Wilmington, MA-based @Ventures and Friendly to become a senior associate at Waltham, MA-based Advanced Technology Ventures. The two men already … Continue reading “Oh Friendly Day: Boston VCs Launch National Network for Renewable-Energy Entrepreneurs”
W3C Launches eGovernment Forum, Encourages Public-Private Mashups
Citizens depend on their governments for documents and information ranging from driver’s licenses to tax forms to maps. And the more of this information is stored on the Web using open formatting standards such XML, the more people will be able to access it and re-use it for the public good. At least, that’s the … Continue reading “W3C Launches eGovernment Forum, Encourages Public-Private Mashups”
Mass Impact: Boston and Climate Change
The Boston Society of Architects and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology sponsor a major symposium focusing on the issues and opportunities facing the Boston region in a period of global climate change. The goal of the gathering is to establish a design, research and policy agenda for Boston and the New England region that is … Continue reading “Mass Impact: Boston and Climate Change”
2008 What’s Next Forum & Technology Awards Ceremony
The 2008 What’s Next Forum & Technology Awards, sponsored by the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange, will recognize and celebrate innovative technologies developed in New England. Winners will be announced in nine categories. (Check out the finalists here.) This year’s keynote speaker and special honoree is Dr. Amar Bose, Chairman & Technical Director. The ceremony … Continue reading “2008 What’s Next Forum & Technology Awards Ceremony”
To Pay Off Debt, Iron Mountain Will Borrow Some More
Boston’s Iron Mountain, the physical and electronic records storage giant, said today that it plans to offer $300 million worth of “senior subordinated notes” to the public. Subordinated notes are loans that lenders agree can be paid off after all of a company’s other outstanding debts in the event of bankruptcy. Iron Mountain said it … Continue reading “To Pay Off Debt, Iron Mountain Will Borrow Some More”
Explosion Leads to a Little Down Time for Xconomy (and Thousands of Other Sites)
Houston, you have a problem. Saturday afternoon, a transformer explosion blew out three walls of the electrical equipment room at The Planet‘s primary data center in Houston. The Planet is the Web hosting provider for thousands of online businesses, including Xconomy. The explosion knocked out power to the entire facility, which houses some 9,000 servers … Continue reading “Explosion Leads to a Little Down Time for Xconomy (and Thousands of Other Sites)”
Announcing Xconomy’s June 24 Forum: The Promise and Reality of Cloud Computing
Yes, “cloud computing” is a trendy buzzword. But it’s also a real technology serving as the platform for a growing number of innovative businesses. And within a few years, it seems certain, big chunks of the everyday computing done by large enterprises and average consumers will be handled in the cloud. Here’s what a few … Continue reading “Announcing Xconomy’s June 24 Forum: The Promise and Reality of Cloud Computing”
Clean Technology IP Seminar
Law firm Wolf Greenfield will hold a seminar on “Clean Technology and Intellectual Property: Managing Convergence and Protecting Novelty” on June 11, at Le Méridien Cambridge. A panel of industry and academic leaders will cover: Where IP should be prioritized in the business strategy How to secure protection for converging technologies Identifying innovation when core … Continue reading “Clean Technology IP Seminar”
Web Innovators Group 18
After a late-spring hiatus, the Web Innovators Group gathering, hosted by David Beisel of Venrock, returns on July 15. The companies slated to present have not been announced yet, but the venue is the same: the Cambridge Royal Sonesta. Free registration here.
ATV Backs [x+1]
Waltham, MA-based Advanced Technology Ventures is the lead investor in a $16 million financing round announced this week by [x+1], a New York City startup that provides behavioral targeting tools intended to eke more sales from Web marketing. Existing investors Hudson Venture Partners and Blue Chip Venture Company also joined the round.
Employee Non-Compete Agreements: Protecting Innovation or Stifling It?
Spark Capital and Harvard Law Schools Berkman Center for Internet & Society will host a panel discussion on the benefits and drawbacks of non-compete agreements in employment contracts. Berkman Center executive director John Palfrey will moderate the discussion, which will also include Brightcove founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire, Akamai general counsel Melanie Haratunian, Harvard University … Continue reading “Employee Non-Compete Agreements: Protecting Innovation or Stifling It?”
Gazing Through Microsoft’s WorldWide Telescope
I was 13 years old when Carl Sagan’s 13-part PBS miniseries Cosmos appeared in 1980. I was so hypnotized by the combination of Sagan’s storytelling, Jon Lomberg’s space art, and Vangelis’s music that I decided to become an astronomer. I saved up to buy a telescope—an Edmund Scientific Astroscan, a fantastic beginner’s instrument that is … Continue reading “Gazing Through Microsoft’s WorldWide Telescope”
Debating Non-Compete Agreements
We got an interesting note this week from Bijan Sabet, a general partner at Boston’s Spark Capital who’s been on a campaign to get rid of non-compete agreements, the clauses in many employment contracts that prevent people who’ve left their jobs from engaging in similar businesses for a certain period. We interviewed Bijan on the … Continue reading “Debating Non-Compete Agreements”
Colombian State Orders 65,000 XO Laptops
The department (or state) of Caldas in central Colombia has signed an agreement to purchase 65,000 XO laptops for public-school children, the One Laptop Per Child Foundation announced today. It’s the third largest single order received by OLPC, behind Peru’s purchase of 270,000 machines last December and Uruguay’s order of 100,000 last October. Caldas, a … Continue reading “Colombian State Orders 65,000 XO Laptops”
Akamai Details Winners, Losers in Broadband Race
About one-fifth of all Internet traffic passes through an Akamai server on the way to its destination—and even the four-fifths that doesn’t leaves ripples in the network that the Cambridge, MA-based content distribution network can easily detect. Indeed, with 34,000 servers monitoring traffic within and between 950 networks in 70 countries, Akamai may have the … Continue reading “Akamai Details Winners, Losers in Broadband Race”
Verenium Commissions Ethanol Plant
Cambridge, MA-based Verenium will hold a dedication ceremony tomorrow in Jennings, LA, for the nation’s first demonstration-scale cellulosic bioethanol plant, the company announced today. The plant will use Verenium’s specialty enzymes to break down biomass from sources other than food crops into as much as 1.4 million gallons of ethanol per year. Technology Review’s Kevin … Continue reading “Verenium Commissions Ethanol Plant”
Why Isn’t Lionbridge King of the Globalization Jungle?
Being the leader of the pride, it seems, doesn’t guarantee you a nice meal everyday. Waltham, MA-based Lionbridge Technologies (NASDAQ: [[ticker:LIOX]]) may be the world’s largest provider of localization services, helping hundreds of other companies from Microsoft to Merrill Lynch to Pfizer go global by translating their websites, product manuals, software programs, and drug warnings … Continue reading “Why Isn’t Lionbridge King of the Globalization Jungle?”
Science Below the Surface
When I took my dog out for a walk yesterday morning, the sidewalk was strewn with old EKG readouts, as if we had just missed a macabre ticker-tape parade. I picked up one of the sheets—probably flotsam from the hospital across the street—and gazed at the thin blue trace, tremulously crossing a field of pink … Continue reading “Science Below the Surface”
Brightcove Opens Japanese Subsidiary
It’s International Week for the local Internet video cluster. Yesterday we reported on ExtendMedia’s deal with Bell Canada enabling Canadian Internet users to download movies on same day the films are available on DVD. Now there’s news that Cambridge, MA-based Brightcove is opening a subsidary in Japan. Brightcove, founded in 2005 by former General Catalyst … Continue reading “Brightcove Opens Japanese Subsidiary”
ExtendMedia Extends Movie Downloads to Canada
U.S. residents have access to a growing number of online video portals, such as Movielink, Cinemanow, and Apple’s iTunes store, where they can buy or rent movies for download on the same day they’re available in retail stores on DVD. Thanks to the complexities of international licensing, however, most of these services aren’t accessible to … Continue reading “ExtendMedia Extends Movie Downloads to Canada”
The Executive Bloggers of Boston
The Cluetrain Manifesto, the classic book on how the Internet has changed the way consumers relate to corporations, was published in 1999. The word “blog” appears nowhere in it. (While the term “weblog” had been coined a couple of years earlier, it wasn’t until late 1999 that the short form “blog” caught on as a … Continue reading “The Executive Bloggers of Boston”
Private Equity Hub’s Fenway Shindig
peHUB (our favorite financial blog) will be in Boston on June 13 for an evening of drinks and networking with the city’s top private equity and venture capital investors. It’s the final stop on peHUB’s Across America tour, so they’re doing it in style at Fenway Park! No content, just cocktails and conversation. Tickets cost … Continue reading “Private Equity Hub’s Fenway Shindig”
Vlingo Survey Finds Epidemic of “DWT”—Driving While Texting
Text messaging, a longstanding habit among many Asian and European mobile phone users, is finally catching on with Americans. A major survey commissioned by Cambridge, MA-based speech-to-text software company Vlingo shows that 55 percent of all U.S. mobile subscribers send text messages—and 42 percent use their phones for texting as much as they do for … Continue reading “Vlingo Survey Finds Epidemic of “DWT”—Driving While Texting”
Web Analytics Wednesday
SiteSpect hosts the June iteration of the world’s only global social networking event for Web analytics professionals. Founded in 2005, this event has connected nearly 4,000 people worldwide. It’s a great opportunity to meet other industry professionals and find out what’s going on in the world of web analytics. This event is free and food … Continue reading “Web Analytics Wednesday”
Negroponte Unveils 2nd Generation OLPC Laptop: It’s an E-Book
I’m “live blogging” from the One Laptop Per Child Foundation’s day-long media event at the MIT Media Lab. The big news is that OLPC founder Nicholas Negrponte has just unveiled the design for the foundation’s second-generation laptop, which isn’t really a laptop at all but a double-screened, fold-up electronic book. Below are five shots of … Continue reading “Negroponte Unveils 2nd Generation OLPC Laptop: It’s an E-Book”