It wasn’t so long ago that biotech was thought to be the future of the Massachusetts economy, but grim financial news has hit the industry hard. According to story in today’s Globe, funding for biotech has dropped 54 percent from 2007 and small and mid-sized companies are aggressively downsizing.

The crunch hits developing companies hardest, as those with product already on the market will probably be able to withstand the tumult. A couple of interesting takeaways from the story, however. (more…)

In the November issue of Boston magazine, Tom Matlack wrote about “Q,” a microbe discovered in the Quabbin Reservoir that produces pure ethanol from plant waste. As the future of American automakers looks increasingly bleak and interest in alternative fuel technologies continues to grow, this super-efficient little microbe could soon become a big player.

Today, the company that’s been researching Q got a big infusion of funding and a new name.

(more…)

Back in our high school days, we recall everyone being stressed out about the SAT. The high-strung girls in our honors classes had dog-eared books of practice tests, and searched for any tips that would save them time when the day of the big test finally arrived. We, on the other hand, simply read through this SAT guide and figured we’d retake the test if we scored that badly.

(Ed. Note: I showed up at the wrong high school. Thankfully geography wasn’t part of the SAT, or I never would have been wait-listed at Holy Cross.)

Kids these days are facing a bold new world in which college admissions experts suggest standardized tests shouldn’t be as important to the universities high schoolers can’t afford to attend anymore. But don’t tell that to Boston City Councilor Michael Flaherty. He wants to create a website that students can use to prepare for the dreaded SAT.

(more…)

A first date is like the worst job interview ever. While there are laws that mandate your potential employer judge you on your resume, a potential suitor can dismiss you for reasons both logical (you discuss how much you love the name Emma for a girl before the entree comes) and shallow (can’t get past that snaggletooth).

So we’d like to issue a sarcastic thank you very much to the researchers who are putting part of their genetic material online.

(more…)

Our social networking habits have evolved a lot during the past several years. We started out with Friendster, then made the move to MySpace. Now we’ve forsaken the raunchy ads and busy layouts for the Lil’ Green Patches and status updates of Cambridge’s own Facebook.

The site has been warning users that its new interface would soon be the only way they could use the site. Today, the change became permanent, and the anti-New Facebookers are flipping out.

(more…)

In a new campaign ad, Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama paints John McCain as a computer-illiterate old man. Which is probably for the best—if temperamental McCain read liberal blogs, he’d probably keel over and we’d be left with Sarah Palin, much to the horror of Matt Damon.

But we shouldn’t be too hard on the Republican candidate. Maybe he’s an innovator. The Massachusetts state government, after all, is asking its employees to be better about keeping their computers turned off.

(more…)

If we’d read the online listing that read “Want free subway rides for life?” we probably would have clicked to find out more. Unfortunately for three MIT students, a vendor that services the MBTA’s CharlieCard system found the post first, and alerted the agency to the students’ work.

The T won an injunction, so the group couldn’t share their findings at a hacker convention that took place in Las Vegas this weekend. But the T might be a little late in keeping the public from learning that the CharlieCard technology is easily manipulated.

(more…)

After hearing about the iPhone madness surrounding the Apple Store at the CambridgeSide Galleria from Universal Hub, my editor sent me to scout out the situation at the Boylston Street location. I turned onto the busy street off Mass. Ave. and heard chants echoing up ahead. As I get closer to the Hynes Convention Center, the noise grows, and I got more excited. Have the techies revolted? Is the Apple Store under siege?

Turns out, no. It’s just a small band of protestors with a megaphone, urging people to boycott the company that provides food for Hynes. I dodged the pamphlets and the glass behemoth loomed into view. The doorway is clear of people, and through the windows I can see just a handful of mid-day shoppers wandering around on each of the three floors. The good news is that the nightmare, apparently, has ended.

The bad news, I soon realized, is that the lack of people is due to the lack of iPhones available. “Sorry, iPhone 3G is not available today,” a large sign says. (more…)

Nobody likes dealing with the Registry of Motor Vehicles. It seems like the dregs of society are always renewing their licenses at the same time as us, and we almost always forget some receipt or proof of insurance form we need to complete a transaction.

Even the courts get frustrated by communicating with the RMV. Boston.com reports that a state audit found thousands of drivers whose licenses had been suspended by the courts got to stay behind the wheel for years because the Registry has no system to make sure the rulings are entered into their database.

Somebody get Joseph Lally on the phone! It sounds like the state is ready to overpay for some more software.

(more…)

Joseph Lally is many things. He is the former vice president of Cognos ULC, a company that makes business intelligence software. He co-founded Montvale Solutions, which Cognos hired to sell its software.

Lally also seems to have a problem understanding the state’s ethics laws. Just a few months after we learned about his generosity with House Speaker Sal DiMasi’s charity golf tournament, the Globe reports he also allegedly offered a public official a job while Cognos was vying for a lucrative contract.

(more…)