Omidyar Network and Mango Financial ... super partnership

Love what the Omidyar Network stands for and the investments they make.

"Omidyar Network Empowers Underbanked With Investment In Financial Services Innovator Mango REDWOOD CITY, Calif., November 18, 2011 – Omidyar Network today announced it has invested in Mango Financial, a leader in providing innovative financial solutions to underbanked individuals in the United States. The investment in Mango is part of the impact investing firm’s focus on supporting innovative financial services solutions that empower underserved U.S. consumers. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed. Mango offers a suite of services and products specifically designed to meet the needs of the underbanked in America. These services include: prepaid debit cards, bill payment, remittances, high-yield savings (6.0% APY), and renters insurance. Mango’s business model and use of technology enables the provision of these services via a simple, reasonably priced fee structure and with the convenience of mobile payments, mobile account management, direct deposit and one-to-one service via mangomoney.com and retail outlets. “We at Omidyar Network are enthusiastic about our partnership with Mango and its visionary entrepreneurs, founders Roy and Bertrand Sosa,” commented Omidyar Network Investment Director Chris Bishko. “Mango and Omidyar Network share the belief that new technologies and innovation make it possible to deliver high-quality, transformative financial services to underbanked individuals. Mango demonstrates that unbanked consumers can be served in a respectful, empowering manner through a financially attractive, sustainable business model.” Omidyar Network’s investment in Mango represents the first of several that will support entrepreneurial companies that are focused on providing products, services and financial education to underbanked consumers in the United States. Emphasis will be placed on those using innovative business models and technologies that can scale to serve millions by improving financial access and strengthening the financial lives of underserved consumers. Omidyar Network will also seek to support organizations that address factors that strengthen the industry and help promote more efficient markets. “Omidyar Network’s legacy of supporting business efforts that generate positive social outcomes made this a natural partnership and one we’re especially proud to announce,” said Mango Co-founder and President Bertrand Sosa. For more information about Mango, please visit mangomoney.com."

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What a day to have a birthday ... 11/11/11 Is “Nerd New Year” according to Mashable

Felt only right to re-post this from Mashable.

"Nerds and numerologists get ready: the last binary date of the 21st century is approaching. Friday is 11/11/11 — a highly significant date if you believe in the power of numbers. No doubt thousands of us will see the preponderance of ones as a good time to turn over a new leaf — start that new diet or exercise routine, perhaps. There is some logic to this: as a memorable date, it makes it easy to celebrate your profound change of direction in years to come. Friday is also Veteran’s Day, of course, and thus imbued with solemn significance. The First World War ground to a halt at 11 a.m. local time on the 11th of November 1918. This, then, will be the first time the world has ever gathered to remember the fallen at a time when every last number on the clock — including the two-digit year — is 11. But it’s also a date to celebrate, at least for programmers who think in binary code. One group of hackers has dubbed it “Nerd New Year.” They’ll be lining the streets of Redwood City, in the heart of Silicon Valley, for an outdoor hackathon and party, including the countdown to Nerd New Year itself at 11:11 p.m. “It is ON,” organizer Adam Rifkin told Patch. (That’s a binary joke, by the way.) Meanwhile, the makers of ChannelCaster — a media-sharing app for Android — will be marking the occasion by launching a channel dedicated to the movie This Is Spinal Tap, and screening the film more than 11 times during the day. The startup got its name, OneLouder, from the movie’s classic scene where the fake rock band reveals its amps are able to “turn up to 11.” Android fans have another reason to celebrate: 11/11/11 marks the release of the highly-anticipated Droid RAZR. Verizon Wireless shops will open at 11:11 a.m. to start selling the device. If you feel like taking a stroll from the phone store to the multiplex, you may be able to catch a screening of Saw director Darren Lynn Bousman’s new horror flick: 11/11/11. And if you’re more interested in contributing to a movie than passively watching one, you have a couple of options on 11/11/11. The One Day On Earth project is putting together its second visual record of the human experience. Meanwhile the 11/Eleven project is inviting digital submissions of every kind — audio, video, blog post, tweet — from the big day. The planned result: a two-hour documentary to be screened in September 2012. It isn’t just the tech and entertainment worlds taking note. Las Vegas has been swamped with nearly 4,000 wedding applications. South Korea has seen a similar rush — but in the delivery room, with expectant mothers demanding c-sections on the lucky date. If you miss the festivities, the next binary six-digit date will be here in slightly more than 88 years — on January 1, 2100. So if you’re planning on sticking around for that, it may be time to start that diet and exercise plan."

Article originally posted on Mashable

Innovation for good.

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Property creates new possibilities, but it also paralyzes a person’s creative forces

"Following in the footsteps of many prisoners, known and unknown, I must say thank you to prison. It gave me months of intensive contemplation, time to rethink many aspects of life. I have already realized that wealth, and especially vast wealth, does not in itself make a person free. As a co-owner of Yukos, I had to make enormous efforts to protect this wealth. I had to limit myself in everything that might harm this possession. I avoided saying many things, because speaking candidly could harm my possessions. I had to close my eyes to many things, to put up with many things, all for the sake of my assets, to preserve and to increase them. I controlled my possessions; they controlled me. So I would like to warn young people today, those who will soon come to power: Do not envy those who have created wealth. Do not think that their life is easy and comfortable. Property creates new possibilities, but it also paralyzes a person’s creative forces, it dilutes the personality. It is a cruel tyranny, the tyranny of property." - Extract of a letter from prison by Mikhail Khordorkovsky Source