Felon Became COO of Wikipedia Foundation

he foundation that runs - and accepts donations for - the online encyclopedia Wikipedia neglected to do a basic background check before hiring a chief operating officer who had been convicted of theft, drunken driving and fleeing a car accident. Before she left in July, Carolyn Bothwell Doran, 45, had moved up from a part-time bookkeeper for the Wikimedia Foundation and spent six months as chief operating officer, responsible for personnel and financial management. In March, she signed the small nonprofit's tax return, which listed more than $1.3 million in donations. At the time, she was on probation for a 2004 hit-and-run accident in Virginia that had landed her seven months in prison. Doran had multiple drunken-driving convictions, and records show earlier run-ins for theft, writing bad checks and wounding her boyfriend with a gunshot to the chest. The revelation comes as the Wikimedia Foundation, which runs the volunteer-written Wikipedia and its sister Web encyclopedias in other languages, is staging a fundraising drive and trying to expand beyond a ragtag startup.
''This is indicative of poor management of the Wikimedia Foundation,'' said Charles Ainsworth, a frequent Wikipedia contributor. Ainsworth said he had been considering donating to support the encyclopedia, but won't ''unless they clearly get things fixed.'' The foundation said it had no indication Doran did anything improper with donors' money. However, the organization's most recent audit is incomplete, despite a goal of completing it months ago. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, who is on Wikimedia's board, said he did not expect to find anything amiss but would personally cover any losses that turned up. ''We are very saddened and hurt by these shocking revelations,'' Wales wrote in a message to the Wikipedia community. ''Of course we are doing soul searching about what we could have done different.''

Intex Showcases Their Range of Gadgets

Intex Technologies (India) Ltd, Delhi, elaborated its business plans for Western India for FY 2007-08, in the city. Along with revealing their target of Rs. 115 crore from the region this year, they also had a wide range of their products displayed. Among the range were some of the new Intex mobile phones which have hit the Indian market aside from the Aura and Infi models that were launched earlier. The Envy 1044 is a lightweight mobile (78g) with a 1.8 inch TFT display sporting a resolution of 176 x 220 pixel resolution and 262k colors. It has video caller ID and the memory can be expanded. A 512MB card is provided with the box. It’s equipped with a 1.3 megapixel camera that records video. It supports MP3 playback and files can also be used as ringtones. It also has USB support. The Envy 1044 also has 8 embedded games and loudspeaker. It's priced at Rs. 4,990. The Flair 1107 has a 1.5 inch CSTN display with a resolution of 128 x 128 pixels and 65K colors. It also has a torch light feature and is an entry level mobile priced at Rs. 1,990.
The Estelo 3060 is a slider phone with a 1.3 megapixel camera, an MP3 player and USB support. It has a 2.0 inch TFT display with a resolution of 176 x 220 pixels and 262K colors. The phone's camera also doubles as a web cam for video chats on the PC. The Estelo 3060 also supports Bluetooth. It's available at Rs. 5,440 with 512 MB T-Flash Card and Rs.5,640 with 1GB T-Flash Card.

Sharp Teaming Up With Toshiba for LCDs

Japanese electronics rivals Toshiba and Sharp are joining forces in the liquid crystal display business, company officials said Friday, the latest development in the intensifying competition in flat-panel TVs. More details will be provided later in the day when the presidents of the two companies will hold a news conference at a Tokyo hotel, the companies said. Speculation has been growing recently that Japanese electronics makers will need to work together in the panel business to compete against each other and formidable rivals such as Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea, Taiwan makers and others. The biggest players now in LCDs include Sharp Corp., Samsung, which has a joint venture with Sony Corp., and Hitachi Ltd. Recent media reports have said that Hitachi will drop out of LCD panel production by selling its stake in a joint venture it has with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., which makes Panasonic brand products. Matsushita Electric has been eager to expand its LCD operations. Its current focus is on another technology called plasma display panels. The latest deal will mean that Toshiba Corp. will buy LCD panels from Sharp, according to the companies. Toshiba spokesman Keisuke Omori confirmed the talks about a tie-up, while a Sharp spokeswoman confirmed the deal, while declining to elaborate. Kazuharu Miura, analyst with Daiwa Institute of Research, said the decision reflects Toshiba's strategy to partner with Sharp to ensure a steady supply of panels for Toshiba brand TVs while not producing the panels on its own.