Thursday, June 20, 2013Rubicon Project Targets BotnetsOnline advertising exchange The Rubicon Project is ramping up its efforts to battle botnets and other non-human traffic for advertisers, saying Thursday that it has launched new tools and programs to protect its platform. Those botnets and others cause issues for advertisers, driving up their advertising costs with false clicks and impressions. Rubicon said its new tools include new detection algorithms to find abnormal traffic patterns, and proactively terminating publishers who are benefiting (More info...)
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Honey Debuts Automatic Coupon Finding Software On FirefoxHoney, the developer of the automatic, coupon- and deal-finding plugin for Google Chrome, said Thursday that it has extended its browser plug-in to the Mozilla Firefox browser. Honey automatically finds coupons and applies them to your shopping cart when you're surfing the Internet, in order to let users get the most savings when buying online--automatically. Honey is based in Pasadena.
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Fullscreen, FishBowl Tie On America's Funniest Home VideosTwo local, next generation media companies--Youtube network Fullscreen, and production studio FishBowl Worldwide Media--said today that they've linked up in a deal to bring the America's Funniest Home Videos (AFV) brand to YouTube. The two said that they are in a multi-year, strategic deal where FishBowl will oversee the YouTube channel for AFV. The companies said the move will help create a younger demographic to the AFV brand and keep the brand fresh for a new generation of fans.
Financial (More info...)
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BitAngels Gets Quick Start, Funds First Deal
BitAngels, the brand new angel investment group co-founded by Michael Terpin, has just made its first investment--and is gearing up for more, the firm said Thursday. BitAngels said it just invested $100,000 into BlueSeed, a firm incubating international companies in the Bitcoin area who specifically are not subject to regulation by the United States. BitAngels said four of its members invested $25,000 each in BlueSeed. BitAngels also said it now has more than 120 angels signed up to participat (More info...)
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Timing Is Everything With MakerBot BuyIn a demonstration that timing is everything, the huge, $604M acquisition of 3D printing maker MakerBot Wednesday probably has those who were involved in Southern California 3D printing startup Desktop Factory shaking their heads. MakerBot was developing low cost, 3-D printers for hobbyists to create their own, 3D printed objects--precisely the market that Desktop Factory had been pursuing. However, Desktop Factory had pioneered 3D printing way back in 2007, before the recent obsession and craze (More info...)
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Banyan Biomarkers Gets $6M For Detecting Traumatic Brain InjuryCarlsbad, California- and Alachua, Florida-based Banyan Biomarkers has raised $6M in a Series A funding, to go towards development of a diagnostic test for traumatic brain injury (TBI). Source of the funding was not disclosed. Banyan Biomarkers said it is developing a blood test which can be used to diagnose traumatic brain injury in patients. The firm said it is currently in the midst of a 2,000 patient, clinical trail funded via a $26.3M contract with the United States Department of Defense. B (More info...)
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Sonos Ties Into Hype MachineSonos, the developer of the user-friendly, multi-room music systems and related software, said this week that it has tied into Hype Machine, a music discovery tool which searches through music blogs to identify the trending songs and artists people are talking about. According to Sonos, users can access their Hype Machine account and play tracks, by linking into the Sonos Labs section on the Sonos controller. Details of the deal between the companies were not announced.
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Clearlake Capital Buys Electronic Data Discovery FirmSanta Monica-based private equity investor Clearlake Capital said this morning that it has acquired Inventus, a provider of electronic data discovery for global law firms. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Inventus is based in Chicago. Inventus will remain headquartered in Chicago, led by current CEO Trevor Campion. Clearlake said its investment group also included Cera Group, a private investment firm based in New York.
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Ceres Names New Board MemberThousand Oaks-based Ceres, which develops agricultural biotech for the energy crop market, announced today that it has named Daniel Glat to its board of directors. Glat comes from Glat & Associates, an agribusiness consultancy in Brazil, and also has served at Pioneer Hi-Bred International/Dupont. Glat replaces Douglas Suttles, who the firm said is stepping down from the board. Ceres is developing strains of sweet sorghum, high-biomass sorghum, switchgrass and miscanthus specifically tailored fo (More info...)
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Kurion Names New CEOIrvine-based nuclear waste remediation technology developer Kurion has named a new CEO. Kurion said this morning that it has appointed William "Bill" Gallo as its CEO, with current CEO Ralph DiSibio remaining as Executive Chairman. Gallo had joined Kurion in March as its Chief Operating Officer, having previously served at AREVA Solar. Gallo is based in San Jose. Kurion develops nuclear and hazardous waste management technology.
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