Monday, November 9, 2015Happy Thoughts Spread Faster On Twitter, Says USC StudyA new study, published by researchers at the University of Southern California, says that positive emotions are more contagious than negative ones on Twitter. The study--which came out of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering's Information Sciences Institute--correlated the tweets spread by users with the prior positive or negative tweets, based on what had appeared in those same users' stream the prior hour. The study said that about 20 percent of users were "highly susceptible" to something it (More info...)
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Tinder Parent Match Group Estimates IPO RangeMatch Group, the parent company of Tinder, said this morning in a regulatory filing that it expects its IPO at between $12.00 and $14.00 per share. The company is looking to list on the NASDAQ Global Select Market as MTCH. Match Group, which is based in Dallas, Texas, is a unit of IAC, and not only runs Tinder, but also Match, OkCupid, PlentyOfFish, Meetic, Twoo, OurTime and FriendScout24.
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RealD Acquired By Rizvi Traverse For $551MLos Angeles-based 3D movie technology provider RealD announced this morning that it has agreed to be acquired by private equity investor Rizvi Traverse Management, in a deal worth approximately $551M. According to the two, Rizvi Traverse will pay $11.00 per share in cash for RealD, taking the company private. RealD said its board, over the past year, has been in a "comprehensive review of strategic alternatives" for the company. RealD is led by Michael V. Lewis, who the company said will reinves (More info...)
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How Imperson Is Using Artificial Intelligence To Bring Miss Piggy To LifeIn what was one of the neatest pieces of technology shown at last month's Disney Accelerator in Burbank, an artificial intelligence startup, Imperson (www.imperson.com), showed how it is working on an effort to bring Miss Piggy to life on social media – making it possible for you and I to have a real, life, back and forth conversation with Miss Piggy---and other characters. We spoke with Eyal Pfeifel, Co-founder and CTO of Imperson, about the startup and its technology—which hints at some o (More info...)
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Click2Jet Launches Marketplace For Private Jet ChartersA new, Carpinteria-based startup, Click2Jet announced late Friday that it has launched a brand new, online marketplace to help users book private jet charters. According to Click2Jet, it is offering up an online service which helps uses with real time search and booking for jet charters, starting with Los Angeles and San Francisco. The new startup is led by John Andruilli, Jr., and says it has relationships with charter jet operators Clay Lacy Aviation, Dreamline Aviation, Sun Air Jets, Global E (More info...)
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Avalon Ventures Spins Out New Company, Iron Horse TherapeuticsSan Diego-based venture investor Avalon Ventures, along with biopharmaceuticals firm GSK said this morning that the two companies are spinning out a new company, Iron Horse Therapeutics, backed by $10M in funding. According to the two, the new company will focus on treatments for amyotropic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The companies said that Iron Horse will also receive R&D support from Avalon and GSK (GlaxoSmithKline), as well as R&D and mentoring support from COI Pharmaceuticals. Avalon Ventures (More info...)
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Faraday Future Uncloaks Mysterious Electric Car Effort In GardenaFaraday Future, a mysterious, electric car company based in Gardena, uncloaked last week, saying it will spend $1 billion on creating a new, U.S. manufacturing facility to build electric vehicles aimed at rivaling Tesla Motors. The startup says it is looking at California, Georgia, Louisiana and Nevada for the location of its factory. The mysterious company apparently is backed by a Chinese billionaire, already has more than 400 employees, and has not revealed any details on its vehicles. The co (More info...)
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Western Digital In Chinese Joint VentureIrvine-based disk drive and storage maker Western Digital Corp. said this morning that it has create a new, Chinese joint venture, to market and sell its data center storage systems in China. Western Digital and Unisplendour Corporation said that the new joint venture will be 51% owned by Unisplendour and its subsidiary, Unissoft (Wuxi) Group Co., Ltd, and 49% by Western Digital. Financial details of the new joint venture were not announced by the companies. The two said the JV will become opera (More info...)
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BlackLine Signs Priceline, Shopify, Yodlee, OthersLos Angeles-based accounting software developer BlackLine Systems, announced a long lineup of name brand companies who have signed up for its software this quarter, including POPSUGAR, Priceline Group Services, Shopify, Spirit Airlines and Yodlee. BlackLine develops software used to automate the financial close process for enterprise companies. The companies are just a few of a number of new customers who signed up with the company during the third quarter, according to the company. BlackLine of (More info...)
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