Dad of Reddit co-founder Aaron Swartz blames government for suicide








Reddit co-founder Aaron Swartz’s heartbroken dad yesterday blamed the US government for his son’s suicide in an emotional eulogy at the young man’s funeral.

“Aaron did not commit suicide — he was killed by the government. And [the Massachusetts Institute of Technology] betrayed all its basic principles” in helping the feds, said grieving dad Robert Swartz to 200 mourners packing Central Avenue Synagogue in Highland Park, Ill.

“Aaron did something that wasn’t illegal and was destroyed by it,’’ Robert added. “He could have done so much more.”

Aaron, 26, hanged himself Friday in his Brooklyn apartment amid charges that he had illegally hacked into millions of archived MIT documents.





SUICIDAL GENIUS: Aaron Swartz died Friday in Brooklyn. Girlfriend Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman (above) yesterday was among 200 mourners at his funeral.

John Smierciak





SUICIDAL GENIUS: Aaron Swartz died Friday in Brooklyn. Girlfriend Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman (above) yesterday was among 200 mourners at his funeral.




Aaron Swartz


Aaron Swartz





As the feds bore down in a case that many experts considered basically much ado about nothing, Aaron became so tormented that he finally “fell into the pain,’’ said his weeping girlfriend, Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman.

“Aaron wanted so bad to change the world. He believed you had to see the world for how it really was to change it,” she told mourners through tears.

“With this [upcoming] trial and everything he was facing the last two years, I think [Aaron] fell into the pain.

“I love him, I miss him and I’ve learned so much from him,” she said.

Mourners included Aaron’s stricken mother, Susan, and two younger brothers, Noah and Ben.

Also attending the service were members of the hacktivist group Anonymous — which offered its own defiant “tribute” yesterday.

The group hacked into two Web sites run by MIT — where Aaron had been studying ethics when he infiltrated its computer systems — to post an “in memoriam.’’

“The situation Aaron found himself in highlights the injustice of US computer-crime laws, particularly their punishment regimes,” Anonymous wrote.

Aaron had planned to post the MIT documents on the Web as a statement in favor of freedom of information. He faced decades behind bars and millions of dollars in fines.

He killed himself two days after his lawyer had futilely tried for a second time to negotiate a no-jail plea deal with prosecutors. But the government’s lawyers had insisted Aaron do at least six months behind bars.

Assistant US Attorney Steve Heymann in Boston was leading the probe. It was revealed yesterday that he also was the prosecutor pushing the 2008 hacking case against Jonathan James, 24, who wound up committing suicide, too.

Heymann could not be reached for comment.










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FIU to take over underwater lab in Keys




















The last underwater research lab in the world, an 81-ton yellow pressurized steel tube anchored 60 feet down next to a Key Largo reef, won’t be scuttled after all.

Florida International University announced Tuesday that it will take over operation of Aquarius, an aging but unique underwater facility the federal government had considered putting on the chopping block because of budget cuts.

“For our students and our marine sciences program, Aquarius offers fantastic new possibilities and is a natural fit for the work we are doing in the Florida Keys and throughout the world,’’ said Mike Heithaus, executive director of FIU’s school of environment, arts and society.





Last year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which owns the lab, had called for ending Aquarius’ operation, even though it cost a relatively paltry $1.2 million to $3 million a year to run.

But after backlash from scientists and a campaign led by South Florida political leaders — including Republican Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart — NOAA awarded FIU a $600,000 six-month grant to cover basic maintenance of the facility, which boasts six bunks, a bathroom, galley, science lab and “wet porch” allowing divers easy entry and exit.

Ultimately, the Obama administration agreed the lab was a valuable asset that couldn’t simply be left to rust. Removing it could run up to an estimated $5 million, said FIU biology professor Jim Fourqurean, who will take over direction of Aquarius.

“This is a big, expensive piece of hardware on the bottom of the ocean,’’ he said. “You just can’t leave it there.’’

To continue its operation, however, FIU plans to develop a new business plan for the lab that will rely on financial support from other government agencies, private industry and groups and other universities, Fourqurean said.

Aquarius, the last of more than 60 underwater habitats once in operation around the world, allows scientists to literally immerse themselves for hours, days or weeks in a coral reef community without having to worry about repeatedly surfacing for air or decompressing from long dives. The facility, previously managed by the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, has hosted 117 research missions and also served filmmakers, Navy divers and 40 NASA astronauts who trained for the working conditions of space stations and zero gravity.

Fourqurean said the lab offers a perfect platform for students, faculty and outside researchers to study many of the problems plaguing South Florida’s water, from climate change to pollution and over-fishing.

It also will raise FIU’s profile in the Florida Keys, said Fourqurean, who is director of FIU’s new marine education and research initiative for the Keys. The school will close Aquarius’ current land base, hidden in a neighborhood, and intends to open a new more visible office along the main highway, he said.

“This fits the strategic vision of FIU growing into the Florida Keys,’’ Fourqurean said.





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Apple scoops PBS on “Downton Abbey” episodes, but PBS is cool with it






NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – Apple is making the entire third season of “Downton Abbey” available on iTunes before every episode airs on PBS – and that’s just fine with PBS.


Fans who buy a season pass on iTunes beginning January 29 will get to see three episodes before they air on PBS. The Season 3 finale airs February 17.






But PBS CEO Paula Kerger isn’t worried that viewers will watch the show online, then tune out PBS. In fact, she says, Apple isn’t the only place Americans can see “Downton” before they can see it on her network.


“You can also buy the DVD sets. They’re being shipped at the end of January, and the DVD sets and Apple are going up at the same time,” Kerger told TheWrap. “I think that for people who are really passionate and want to have it, it’s a great thing.”


Kerger says she hopes more viewers will discover “Downton” on whatever format they like best – and then watch it on PBS next season.


“At the end of the day, my interest is just in seeing it get to the widest possible audience, and there are people that would pick it up on Apple that may not pick it up anywhere else,” she said.


The first episode of the third season premiered to a record 7.9 million viewers earlier this month. Many of those viewers, no doubt, caught up on the previous seasons online or through DVD viewing.


“Downton” airs in the U.K. in the fall but on PBS in January, which means PBS viewers must shield themselves from spoilers. That has led to some grumbling from American fans.


But Kerger said airing the show in January allows the show to get more attention domestically than it might otherwise receive in the crowded fall season.


Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Megan Fox Apologizes for Lindsay Lohan Comments

In the process of explaining her reason for removing a Marilyn Monroe tattoo on her forearm to Esquire magazine, cover girl Megan Fox unleashed what appeared to be a harsh criticism of actress Lindsay Lohan. In light of all the attention Fox's words have garnered, the star has taken to Facebook in an attempt to clarify her comments. 

Pics: New Mom Megan Fox's Sexiest Shoot Yet

"In the newly released article that I did for Esquire, there is a reference that is made to Lindsay Lohan that I would like to clarify before it snowballs into something silly," began Fox in an open letter posted to her personal page.

"The journalist and I were discussing why I was removing my Marilyn Monroe tattoo, especially since, in his opinion, Marilyn was such a powerful and iconic figure for women. I attempted to draw parallels between Lindsay and Marilyn in order to illustrate my point that while Marilyn may be an icon now, sadly she was not respected and taken seriously while she was still living.

"Both women were gifted actresses, whose natural talent was lost amongst the chaos and incessant media scrutiny surrounding their lifestyles and their difficulties adhering to studio schedules etc.

"I intended for this to be a factual comparison of two women with similar experiences in Hollywood. Unfortunately it turned into me offering up what is really much more of an uneducated opinion. It was most definitely not my intention to criticize or degrade Lindsay.

"I would never want her to feel bullied, as she does not deserve that. I was not always speaking eloquently during this interview and this miscommunication is my fault."

Related: How Megan Fox Lost All That Baby Weight

Fox's original quote to Esquire reads as follows:

"I started reading about [Marilyn] and realized that her life was incredibly difficult. It's like when you visualize something for your future. I didn't want to visualize something so negative.

"She was sort of like Lindsay [Lohan]. She was an actress who wasn't reliable, who almost wasn't insurable. ... She had all of the potential in the world, and it was squandered. I'm not interested in following in those footsteps."

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Miami Dolphins bill would bring state money to aging stadiums




















A bill drafted by the Miami Dolphins would give Florida sports teams $3 million a year in state money to improve older stadiums, provided the owner pays for at least half the cost of a major renovation.

Under the law, the stadium would need to be 20 years old and the team willing to put in at least $125 million for a $250 million renovation. That’s less than the $400 million redo of Sun Life Stadium that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross proposed this week, which he hopes will win state approval thanks to his offer to fund at least $200 million of the effort to modernize the 1987 facility.

Miami-Dade and Florida would fund the rest through a mix of county hotel taxes and state general funds set aside for stadiums. Sun Life currently receives $2 million a year through the program, and the Dolphins want to create a new category that would give them an additional $3 million.





While the Miami Marlins and Miami Heat both play in stadiums subsidized by county hotel taxes, the Dolphins receive no local dollars. The bill would change that by allowing Miami-Dade to increase the tax charged at mainland hotels to 7 percent from 6 percent, and eliminate the current rule that limits the money to publicly owned stadiums. Sun Life Stadium, in Miami Gardens, is privately owned but sits on county land.

The bill pits enthusiasm for one of Florida’s most popular sports teams against a lean budget climate and lingering backlash against the 2009 deal that had Miami and Miami-Dade borrow about $485 million to build a new ballpark for the Marlins. Ross also must navigate a Republican-led Legislature that has twice rebuffed his requests for public dollars.

“I would be surprised if that bill even got a hearing in committee,” said Mike Fasano, a Republican representative from the Tampa area and a critic of tax-funded sports deals. “I’m a big Dolphin fan, and have been for years. But with all due respect, we’ve got people who are struggling throughout this state right now . .. The last thing we should be doing is giving a professional sports team or facility additional tax dollars.”

While the bill would open up the $3 million subsidy to other the teams, the Dolphins see it as unlikely that another owner would be willing to put up as much money for renovations as Ross, a billionaire real estate developer.

If the bill were enacted today, any stadium opened before 1993 would be eligible for the money, provided it could show the proposed renovation would generate an additional $3 million in sales taxes.

Ross and his backers are pitching the renovation as a boon to tourism, with Sun Life a magnet for the Super Bowl, national college football games and other major events. The National Football League is considering South Florida and San Francisco for the 2016 Super Bowl, and the Dolphins say approval of renovation funding is crucial to winning the bid.

Sen. Oscar Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, who sponsored the Senate bill, said the funding makes sense because when Sun Life hosts a Super Bowl, the entire state benefits from both tourism dollars and publicity.

“It’s a small price to pay for economic development, and for all the shine we get from major sporting events,” said Braynon, whose district includes Sun Life. Rep. Eduardo “Eddy” Gonzalez, R-Hialeah, is the sponsor on the House side.





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VOTE for the worst liar in history








Lance Armstrong’s lies weren’t the first to lead to a stunning crash. Here is a list of the rest of history’s 10 all-time greatest liars, a rogues gallery of devious dissemblers who can all be enshrined in the forked tongue Hall of Shame.






AFP/Getty Images


RICHARD NIXON — You know when a guy says “I am not a crook,” watch out. “Tricky Dick” Nixon took presidential perfidy to new heights, when he went on TV on August 15, 1973 and said “I had no prior knowledge of the Watergate break-in.” A year later, he resigned.








AP



BERNIE MADOFF — He was more of a Ponzi King than the scam’s inventor, Charles Ponzi. Madoff pretended to be one of the most savvy investors in New York, but his firm was a bogus house of cards that wound up costing his investors $50 billion when it collapsed. Now Bernie cooling his heels in prison.

Spencer A. Burnett



TAWANA BRAWLEY — Her lie set racial tensions in New York to boiling in the 1980s. The Dutchess County teen falsely claimed to have been abducted and raped by a group of men, including a cop and a prosecutor. In 1988, a grand jury found her story was a horrific hoax.

AP



JOHN EDWARDS — A slick haircut doesn’t mean you’re honest. The clean-cut Edwards went from possible President to loathed liar when — after two years of denials — he admitted in 2010 to siring a love child with mistress Rielle Hunter while his wife, Elizabeth, was dying of cancer.

AP



MILLI VANILLI — Their album may have been called “Girl You Know It’s True, ” but it was really a big lie. The “musical” duo of Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan, became laughing stocks in 1990 when they had to return their Grammy for best new artist after it was revealed they did not actually sing the songs on the album.

AP



ANTHONY WEINER — Sure, you were “hacked” Mr. Weiner. When a picture of the Queens Congressman’s “member” wound up on the internet he tried to claim he got shafted — by a hacker to stole the picture and put it on line. Later it was revealed that he actually sent the pic to a young woman who was not his wife. He finally admitted “I have not been honest,” and short time later resigned.

AP



PETE ROSE — He was known as “Charlie Hustle.” It was an appropriate nickname. Baseball’s all time hit leader denied for years that he ever gambled on baseball, even though he was banned from the game in 1989. Then in 2004, he admitted he did place bets on the national passtime, and even bet on his own team, the Cincinnati Reds “every night.”

AP



MARION JONES — She lost her golds on the track, but still takes top honors for lying. The disgraced track star had the five medals she won in the 2000 Summer Olympics stripped for doping, charges she initially denied. She was later sentenced to six months in jail for lying to federal prosecutors who were probing use of steroids.



PINOCCHIO — History’s all time greatest liar, this little wooden “boy” wouldn’t know the truth if it bit him. His fibs were so devious that they actually made his nose grow, making him the forerunner of all politicians throughout history.











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Miami City Commissioner Francis Suarez: I’m running for mayor




















It’s official: Miami City Commissioner Francis Suarez is running for mayor.

The 35-year-old son of former Mayor Xavier Suarez will make the formal announcement Tuesday at a press conference at his Coral Gate home.

Suarez’s candidacy has long been the subject of speculation around City Hall. The chatter intensified late last week, when campaign finance reports showed that in the last three months of 2012 he raised $460,000 through his “political communications organization.”





Suarez, in an interview Monday with The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald, outlined his vision for the city. It includes replenishing rainy-day funds, promoting small business, beefing up the police department and making the mayor a player on the national stage.

“It starts with having a stable government that is forward-thinking and innovative,” he said.

Despite having flush campaign coffers and key allies, Suarez faces a tough road to the Nov. 5 election. Incumbent Mayor Tomás Regalado has already launched his bid for reelection, and observers say his popularity remains high among likely voters.

“It is going to be a competitive race,” said Barry University political science professor Sean Foreman.

Suarez, a real estate attorney, first ran for the City Commission in 2009. He was elected to represent District 4, which includes Flagami and stretches to the city’s western edge, and was previously held by Regalado.

Early on, Suarez and Regalado often appeared in public together. The mayor asked Suarez to serve as City Commission chairman in late 2011.

But the relationship soured last summer, when Suarez grew increasingly critical of Regalado’s administration. He voiced concerns about the high turnover among top staffers and questioned the finance department’s ability to balance the $500 million budget on time.

Suarez said those frustrations prompted his decision to run for mayor.

“I fundamentally believe that the administration is not being run professionally,” he said. “I have concerns about what will happen if nothing is done about it.”

Suarez said he has already proven his leadership abilities. He points to a pair of controversial motions he made, both of which passed the commission: one to cut employee salaries and another to fire then-Police Chief Miguel Exposito, who was feuding with the mayor at the time.

“I’ve taken the lead on very difficult positions,” he said.

During his three years in office, Suarez has had mixed results passing policy. In 2011, he championed changes to the city zoning code that made it easier to build affordable housing. But his biggest legislative push to date — an effort to create a strong-mayor form of government — failed to find support.

Suarez said he has a couple of new proposals to pitch, including a measure that would reduce permit fees for home repairs that cost less than $2,500. He also said he has ideas for using technology to make city departments run more smoothly.

If campaign contributions are any indication, Suarez will have the support of key business leaders, including Jackson Health System CEO and former city manager Carlos A. Migoya and former Mayor Manny Diaz.

Regalado, who has raised about $160,000 for his campaign and enjoys popularity in neighborhoods like Little Havana and Flagami, said he welcomed the competition.





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Can We Trust CNET Again After a Scandal This Shady?






CNET, one of the Internet’s first and most influential authorities on gadgets and tech news, watched its editorial integrity spiral out of control Monday, with staffers quitting and editors left to explain themselves in the wake of explosive new charges over its annual Consumer Electronics Show awards — a scandal, it would appear, that goes all the way to the top of its corporate umbrella, and could shake the entire ecosystem of online tech journalism.


RELATED: CBS Puts CNET in an Ethically Questionable Spot at CES






Contrary to an already controversial move first reported last Friday, CNET parent company CBS didn’t just asked the site to remove Dish’s Slingbox Hopper from consideration for its Best of CES Awards amidst a lawsuit between CBS and Dish; the removal came after executives learned the gadget would take the top award, and that request came down from CBS CEO Leslie Moonves himself, sources tell The Verge’s Joshua Topolsky. Now, CNET’s corporate responsibilities appear to have made the long trusted site bend at will and, despite desperate pushback from some of its writers and editors, it appears CNET may have moved to cover up the series of events that led to the removal of the award.


RELATED: Following Time and CNN, The Washington Post Suspends Zakaria


For CNET, all of this looks very bad. How can readers trust the site for its famously unbiased reviews and industry news coverage if a media-conglomerate overlord is insisting that some things just “can’t exist”? The events that have unfolded since the scandal broke wide open haven’t exactly restored anyone’s faith. Greg Sandoval, a seven-year veteran of the site, announced his resignation Monday morning on Twitter, citing a lack of “editorial independence” from CBS as his motivation. In a separate tweet, he called CNET’s dishonesty about its parent company‘s involvement with Dish “unacceptable.” Since, both CNET and CBS have released not-too-convincing statements. 


RELATED: Does The Times’ Public Editor Regret Its Adventures in Social-Media Babysitting?


Following the Verge report and Sandoval’s resignation, CNET Editor in Chief Lindsay Turrentine explained how CNET editors did everything in their power to fend off corporate insistence on its editorial decisions, but found the power of a pending deal between two bigger media companies too intimidating. So the editors gave in, and waited. “We were in an impossible situation as journalists,” Turrentine wrote, adding that she thought about resigning. “I decided that the best thing for my team was to get through the day as best we could and to fight the fight from the other side.” 


RELATED: What Kind of David Brooks Hater Are You?


Speaking for many a media and tech pundit, Reuters’s Megan McCarthy questioned the front side of the internal debate: 



CNET’s editor-in-chief’s explains why she caved to CBS. Why didn’t she just refuse to award the Best in Show? : news.cnet.com/8301-30677_3-5…


— Megan McCarthy (@Megan) January 14, 2013


For her part, Turrentine seems to have one major regret: “I wish I could have overridden the decision not to reveal that Dish had won the vote in the trailer.” That doesn’t exactly scream editorial independence, as The Verge’s Sean Hollister pointed out on Twitter.



CNET doesn’t get it either. “I wish I could have overridden the decision not to reveal” is NOT editorial independence. cnet.co/VWBv5o


— Sean Hollister (@StarFire2258) January 14, 2013


Turrentinge went on to say that if she had to face this “dilemma” again, she would not quit. Meaning, if this turns into more than a one-time incident, she wouldn’t have a problem bending to CBS again? 


RELATED: Did Cops Target Journalist’s Wife’s Spa with Prostitution Raid as Payback?


CBS’s statement to The Verge hasn’t calmed the critics, either. “In terms of covering actual news, CNET maintains 100% editorial independence, and always will. We look forward to the site building on its reputation of good journalism in the years to come,” reads the CBS reply. But when you’re dealing with angry tech readers, their nerdfest of the year, and the corporate responsibilities  therein, 100 percent of trust is tough to build back.


While CNET struggles to emerge from this mess, the situation appears to be threatening the entire ecosystem of the technology press, which has a history of reinventing its standards on bias in product reviews. A number of gadget and tech-news sites fall under larger corporate umbrellas: AOL owns Engadget; NewsCorp owns The Wall Street Journal and its influential tech coverage; BuzzFeed FWD has to answer to its investors, who put money in all sorts of tech ventures; IAC invests in companies like Aereo but owns The Daily Beast. Turns out this wasn’t just a family feud — the CNET and CBS scandal at CES could set a precedent for years to come.


Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Nicki Minaj Cannot Trust Herself on American Idol

On tomorrow's episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, American Idol judge Nicki Minaj confesses that she's worried about looking like 'a crazy psycho again' on the popular singing competition.

"I am not really a crazy psycho you guys," Nicki says, referring to the infamous web video that showed the singer/rapper launching into a tirade during Idol auditions. "No, I am serious. I am really not."

Nicki calls the outburst a defense mechanism, explaining that she began to suspect that fellow judge Mariah Carey was displeased with her being on the panel.

VIDEO: Nicki Minaj on Idol Drama: There is No Feud!

With the incident still fresh in her mind, Nicki admits that she is "not looking forward to live shows" because she "cannot trust [herself]."

"Just, like, if there's a slick comment being made..." Nicki says before catching herself. "I just want it to go well. It's about the contestants."

Watch the entire interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show Tuesday, January 15. Check your local listings.

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.CO sets sights on changing ‘the fabric of the Internet’




















For the millions of people who equate the Web with .com, . CO Internet is out to change that mindset.

The Miami company that manages and markets the .co domain is already making impressive gains — more than 1.4 million in 200 countries have hung their businesses, blogs, personal projects or dreams on a .co virtual shingle. Still, that’s just a tiny fraction of industry titan VeriSign’s 105 million .com registrants.

“We want to change the fabric of the Internet,” Juan Diego Calle, founder and CEO of .CO Internet, said during an interview in .CO’s Brickell office. “We can only make that happen not by changing what happened in the last 25 years of the Web, which is owned by .com. We want to change the next 25.”





About 2½ years after the launch of .CO Internet, .co — the country code of Colombia — continues to be one of the fastest-growing Internet domains in the world and grew by 24 percent in 2012. .CO Internet is profitable and is projecting to bring in more than $25 million in revenues this year, the company said. The early success of .CO Internet, with operations in Miami and Colombia, is powered by passion and perseverance.

Calle moved to Miami from Colombia at age 15 with his family. He started several businesses, including one he sold in 2005 providing seed capital for what would come next. “I can’t say I ever sat still.” When he learned Colombia would be commercializing the country's .co domain extension in late 2006, he said it hit him like a lightning bolt.

With the right strategy and by “marketing the hell out of it,” the entrepreneur believed .co could solve a huge problem in the market — vanishing Internet domain names. If you’ve tried to nab a new .com address lately, you can relate — it’s difficult to find one that hasn’t been snatched up.

Calle thought that by appealing to the hearts and minds of the entrepreneur, .co could go where .info, .biz, .net or .me had never gone before. But first he needed the right team.

One of this first stops: The Big Apple, to visit Nicolai Bezsonoff, who had been an advisor and shareholder in Calle’s TeRespondo.com, a sort of Ask Jeeves for the Latin American market that was sold to Yahoo in 2005. At the time, Bezsonoff was the director of technology and operations at Citigroup.

“We went out for coffee, he started pitching me on a napkin. I said ‘really dude you want me to leave a big job at Citigroup for this?’ ” said Bezsonoff. “But he kept showing me the numbers … Later, that napkin was on my desk and it was one of those boring days and I kept looking at it and thought maybe I should.” He would become .CO’s chief operating officer.

Lori Anne Wardi, a lawyer and serial entrepreneur who was working at a venture capital firm at the time, became vice president in charge of brand strategy, business development and global communications. “She’s the heart and soul of the company,” said Calle. Eduardo Santoyo, based in Bogota, would become corporate vice president over policy and be the liaison with the Colombian government. “Some would say it was overkill talent but I needed the best. ... When you have a big dream, you have to think big and hire the right people,” Calle said.





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