Cyrus Farivar

An article in Fortune last month highlighted the fact that one of the Valley’s biggest venture capital firms, Kleiner Perkins, is essentially turning its back on the consumer Internet, which it helped to fund a decade ago. Kleiner, of course, tossed up mounds of cash for Google, Amazon, Genentech and many other famous corporations in their infancy days.

As Adam Lashinsky writes:

“We made a very deliberate and strategic decision,” [John Doerr, one of the leads at Kleiner,] says with the baritone of a deejay, which he was in college. “We could’ve doubled down on Web 2.0, whatever that is. We didn’t.” Instead, the firm has been diversifying. First, in 2006, it created a $200 million fund focused exclusively on preventing infectious-disease pandemics. Then, last year, it raised $360 million to invest in China — Kleiner’s first foray outside the United States and a project that already is off to a rocky start because one of its two key recruits quit within months. The newest addition is the $500 million Green Growth Fund, launched in May.

Valleywag summed up the article with its cute headline: “No, Kleiner Perkins Won’t Give Your Web 2.0 Startup Money.”

Kleiner is throwing its weight behind AltaRock as well, reports the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Along with those two giants, and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s V.C. firm, Vulcan Ventures, the three are kicking in a combined total of $26.25 million.

The Valley’s love of green tech isn’t just about money (although that is a big piece of it), but how companies and cities (!) try to be as green as possible.

The Silicon Valley Leadership Group, a local business association, has been trying to get its members to cut their energy use. As the Chronicle reported last fall:

Fifteen companies within the Leadership Group have agreed to cut their electricity use, saving enough power to cut carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by 15,000 tons. A dozen businesses have told automakers that they will buy plug-in hybrid vehicles, which run primarily on electricity, as soon as the car companies make them. And 55 companies are competing to see which can persuade the largest number of employees to stop driving to work alone.

An article from last summer in the Examiner said that among 22 Silicon Valley cities from Daly City to Sunnyvale that responded to a survey, “45% have or plan to conduct an inventory of CO2 emissions by city/county operations,” “23% have already set CO2 emission-reduction goals,” and “86% have installed low-energy, light-emitting-diode traffic signals.”

Man, I can’t wait for 2018 — maybe by then my car will be electric and my PG&E bill powered entirely by geothermal, solar and wind. If Google can revolutionize search, I can’t wait to see what it does for green tech.

But there were also a few troubling episodes on the technological front, with text messages and e-mails being used as a way to perpetuate false information.

Wired reported late last night that voters in Florida and New Mexico received a fake text message from 505-507-6041 that says things like: “Due to long lines if you are voting for Barack Obama you can vote tomorrow,” or “Due to the long lines today, all Obama voters are asked to vote on Wednesday.”

The AP adds that there have been reports of similar “robo-calls” and fake texts in Missouri and that the Missouri secretary of state and U.S. Attorney’s Office have been notified. I’m glad that this wasn’t widespread enough to have made a difference, but it’s still a troubling development.

But that’s not all. Thousands of students at George Mason University received an e-mail spoofed to look like it was from Provost Peter N. Stearns saying that “election day has been moved to November 5th. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.” Apparently the FBI is on the case.

And finally, while the outcome of the election was by a pretty overwhelming margin, there were still problems with electronic voting in numerous states, although not enough to have any sort of real impact.

Still,  we as a country really need to have a single standard for federal elections, get rid of these awful e-voting machines, and streamline this whole process so we don’t have to deal with this kind of crap anymore.

On a more personal and professional note, I share with you the news that this is my last post in Machinist, which is going on hiatus beginning tomorrow.

I thank all of you for reading and for your thoughtful and critical comments. If you’d like to follow me and/or any of my other work on public radio or elsewhere, you can do so on my blog: cyrusfarivar.com (where I’ll be announcing the result of our little trial voter-verified election), and/or you can email me at cfarivar [at] cfarivar [dot] org.

Cheers!

CNN will have 44 cameras and 20 computers in each remote location to capture 360-degree imaging data of the person being interviewed. Images are processed and projected by computers and cameras in New York. There’ll also be plasma TVs in Chicago and Phoenix that will let the people being interviewed see Blitzer and other CNN correspondents. Bohrman says the network can project two different views from each city so Blitzer can appear to be in the studio with two holograms.

Jessica Yellin was the first CNN reporter to be “beamed” to the New York newsroom, where Wolf Blitzer interviewed her — and she reported that there were only 35 cameras pointed at her, and that “talk to the cameras in New York.” Apparently representatives in the Obama campaign in Chicago and the McCain campaign in Phoenix will be interviewed as holograms later in the evening.

It’s still unclear who makes this hologram technology, nor how much it costs, nor how exactly it works — nor when I’m going to get it in my house. Man, and I was just getting used to Skype video chat. Still, scope out the video below.

This is without a doubt the best Obama song that I’ve seen so far. It’s got catchy lyrics — Viva Obama! — snappy outfits, a line about healthcare, and that female violin player? Muy caliente!

2) Extra Golden – Obama

This half Kenyan band (just like Obama!) rock out on this chillaxed benga track. Great guitar riffs.

3) Cocoa Tea – Barack Obama

Jamaican reggae star Coco Tea recorded this tune earlier this year, earning a small writeup in the Jamaica Observer at the time.

As he told the newspaper:

“If you notice, Obama is getting a lot of support from the young people, and when the younger generation begin to call for change, it usually comes, as they and the future, and Obama’s future is in their hands. Support for Obama is also coming from other quarters including the Kennedy family, as he is seen as the man with a plan, therefore I was guided by Jah on this one.”

How can you argue with Jah?

4) Docta Musica WashiWara – Barack Obama

This tune comes to us from Cameroon, and if you believe what the Docta says on his Web site: “The video has quickly becomed a big hit on Youtube.” Indeed.

5) crbballgal – BARACK THE VOTE!

How can I deny two fly girls, an ’80s-style synth, and rapping in front of a bathroom mirror? Well done, ladies.

6) Mighty Sparrow – Barack the Magnificent

Mighty Sparrow is the world’s leading calypso singer, hailing from the island of Grenada. Cop a read on the lyrics over here — I’m sure this is the first time that the phrase “Foreign Relations Committee” has worked its way into a calypso song.

7) Obama Song Spanish Reggaeton

I’m not sure who wrote this song, but nothing makes me want to sing “Si se puede!” louder than this reggaeton tune.

Bruce Springsteen – Working on a Dream

This song debuted just two days ago at a rally in Cleveland, so if you drop this joint at your fiesta, you’ll definitely be about 75 percent as cool as the Boss himself.

9) Barackapella – Yes We Can

Although college a capella may get mocked on Stuff White People Like, this cover of the famed will.i.am song is perfectly pulled off by Barackapella, a group from Lewis and Clark College in Oregon. (Also, don’t forget the parody, by john.he.is!)

10) Guru – Obama dance mix

I really, really hope that this is the first song that the Obamas dance to at the inagural ball. Or at least at the party in Chicago tonight.