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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: China, higher education and our economic future

In mid-September, I’ll be traveling to China’s Liaoning province as part of a delegation led by Indiana State University, hosted by Liaoning University. We’ll arrive in the country too late for the Olympics, but we’ll be there to talk about another form of global competition-economic development. It’s appropriate that the two universities are co-hosting a conference on economic development issues, given the importance of human capital in our economy. It’s especially appropriate for China, where higher education has become a…

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Busted for copying software

Author Solutions, the Bloomington company that helps people publish their own books, has admitted to using
copies of software from Adobe, Microsoft and Symantec.

The penalty? $50,000.

Author Solutions says the violations began under prior ownership and that it cooperated…

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Indiana auto insurance rates show uptick, report says: Despite rise, state still among cheapest in nation

Auto insurance rates are climbing nationally, led by increases in Indiana that topped all other states, according to a report released last month by Insurance.com. The online auto insurance agency said the lowest car insurance quotes, on average, jumped 3.4 percent, to $1,893 per year, from the first quarter to the second. Rate increases in Indiana nearly doubled the national average, rising 6.7 percent, or $94, to $1,501. Arkansas and Rhode Island followed, with 6.1-percent and 5-percent spikes, respectively. Sam…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Can you still do business while unconnected? Amid the legions of the digital fanatics are the professionals who just say no to gizmos and gadgets

I’m not big on those classification schemes that put people into categories. You know what I mean, schemes such as, “There are two kinds of people in the world: those who classify others, and those who don’t.” I’m not sold on Myers-Briggs, for example. I consider it a parlor game with no significant predictive value. All classification schemes leak around the edges, so I avoid them for the most part. However, there is one categorization to which I now subscribe:…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Why the resurgence of railroads will help drive state

I have two friends who are train fanatics of the worst kind. These guys aren’t just dazzled by the sight of a large train; they furtively seek them out. One friend has made it his life’s ambition to ride every rail line in Great Britain. The other scours eBay for rail schedules from the 19th century. Both of these wonderful men have exceptionally tolerant wives. I am a bit concerned my 4-year-old is turning into one of these creatures. He…

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EDITORIAL: Privatizing MAC worth exploring: Saving cash shouldn’t be only goal

Privatizing MAC worth exploring Saving cash shouldn’t be only goal The bad news: The Mayor’s Action Center-city government’s primary vehicle for responding to citizen complaints-is vastly ineffective. When nearly half the residents who call the center hang up the phone in frustration before reporting their problems, you know something isn’t working right. The good news: Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard recognizes there is a big problem with the MAC and says he wants to fix it. In late July, he issued…

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EDITORIAL: Privatizing MAC worth exploring: Saving cash shouldn’t be only goal

Privatizing MAC worth exploring Saving cash shouldn’t be only goal The bad news: The Mayor’s Action Center-city government’s primary vehicle for responding to citizen complaints-is vastly ineffective. When nearly half the residents who call the center hang up the phone in frustration before reporting their problems, you know something isn’t working right. The good news: Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard recognizes there is a big problem with the MAC and says he wants to fix it. In late July, he issued…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Why the resurgence of railroads will help drive state

I have two friends who are train fanatics of the worst kind. These guys aren’t just dazzled by the sight of a large train; they furtively seek them out. One friend has made it his life’s ambition to ride every rail line in Great Britain. The other scours eBay for rail schedules from the 19th century. Both of these wonderful men have exceptionally tolerant wives. I am a bit concerned my 4-year-old is turning into one of these creatures. He…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Can you still do business while unconnected? Amid the legions of the digital fanatics are the professionals who just say no to gizmos and gadgets

I’m not big on those classification schemes that put people into categories. You know what I mean, schemes such as, “There are two kinds of people in the world: those who classify others, and those who don’t.” I’m not sold on Myers-Briggs, for example. I consider it a parlor game with no significant predictive value. All classification schemes leak around the edges, so I avoid them for the most part. However, there is one categorization to which I now subscribe:…

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Lawsuits stem from hiring of sales reps: Big device makers battle to protect trade secrets

A spate of lawsuits involving the state’s largest medical-device makers underscores the fiercely competitive nature of the life sciences sector, particularly when the billion-dollar companies need to protect trade secrets. Warsaw orthopedics manufacturer Biomet Inc., Indiana’s fourth-largest private company, is at the center of much of the messy litigation, which stems from a former sales representative’s move to rival Zimmer Holdings Inc., also based in Warsaw. In two unrelated lawsuits, Biomet sued in July 2007 the Kentucky sales rep and…

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Study costs, public support mount for commuter rail: Key vote on northeast corridor could come next month

Worsening gas prices and congestion have some commuters demanding faster progress on launching a rapid transit line. They can quibble about slowness in getting it done, but lack of study hasn’t been an issue. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Development Organization spent $4 million since 2002 on a rapid transit study that concluded earlier this year, according to records provided by the agency. Most, or 80 percent, of the funds paid to eight consulting firms came from federal transportation funds, with 20…

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BEHIND THE NEWS: Software maker off target with timing for $86M IPO

When it came to timing its initial public offering, ExactTarget Inc. didn’t exactly hit a bull’s-eye. The Indianapolis-based maker of e-mail marketing software filed to go public in mid-December, well into the market swoon that began before Halloween. Since then, the market’s only gotten spookier. The S&P 500 has shed another 13 percent, leaving the bellwether index 18 percent off its October high. Not surprisingly, ExactTarget is stuck at the starting gate. It hasn’t moved forward with launching its $86…

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Startup NICO reassembles Suros’ management team: Medical-device maker aims to launch product soon

Medical-device maker Suros Surgical Systems was one of the fastest-growing companies in Indianapolis history. Just six years after forming it in 2000, founders sold it for $248 million. Is it any wonder they want to work together again? In late July, former Suros Chairman Jim Baumgardt and former Vice President of Sales Jeff Hanthorn joined locally based NICO Corp., the startup launched early this year by former Suros CEO Jim Pearson and Joseph Mark, one of Suros’ founders. The mission…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: What you might not know about messengers

I’d like to put in a kind word for one of the most underused tools in business. It lets you stay in contact with lots of others online, send and receive files, make phone calls, keep in touch with things at home, and even hold Web videoconferences, after a fashion. It’s known generically as “instant messaging,” but you may know it under any number of trade names: MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ, AIM and many others. I use both MSN…

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Going mobile: Local executive carves niche as national expert on fast-growing banking-industry technology trend

Move over home computer, the more nimble mobile phone and competing handheld devices have taken the helm as the hippest ways to conduct banking business online. What’s more, an Indianapolis banking executive is at the forefront of the mobile-banking information movement and is promoting the benefits on a blog he created that is attracting scores of new viewers each month from around the world. Brandon McGee, 34, may keep bankers’ hours at the downtown office of the Columbus, Ohio-based Huntington…

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NOTIONS: Bless the blogosphere, all praise social networking

A few months ago, after considerable cajoling, my friend Erik convinced me to join yet another online social network. This one’s called Smaller Indiana. It bills itself as “making people and ideas findable.” So now, in addition to being “LinkedIn” with a few hundred of my friends and colleagues past and present, and in addition to being what BusinessWeek calls a “fogey on Facebook,” I’m also a Smoosier-the moniker for Smaller Indiana members. No sooner had I become a Smoosier…

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Pitch-Perfect Price: Digonex Technologies’ software helps retailers profit from demand

Is every song downloaded from iTunes really worth 99 cents? Indianapolis-based Digonex Technologies doesn’t think so, and it has developed a computer program using some complicated algorithms to prove it. The company’s software compiles sales data and re-prices items for online sales, allowing merchants to maximize profits by adjusting prices up or down based on demand. Consumers don’t notice a difference. “What we’re doing is a big idea,” said Digonex CEO Jan Eglen, 65. “Most of the [pricing systems] you…

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Doctors put records in patients’ pockets:

Arming patients with portable electronic medical records that physicians can access during emergencies is becoming more prevalent among health care providers. The Heart Center of Indiana in Carmel, a partnership between St. Vincent Health and The Care Group Inc., the state’s largest cardiology group, recently started the practice. Community Health Network and Dr. Tim Story, who chairs the largest group of physicians at Clarian North Medical Center, are among others who have rolled out portable records systems. The health information…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Are applicants snickering over your want ads?

One of the biggest complaints techies have about employers is how their want ads are written. Some techies avoid certain jobs on the basis of their ads alone. It may come as a surprise to HR professionals, but in many cases their ads are received with mingled mirth and sarcasm. There are many sins the want ads commit. One of the most common is just general cluelessness. I’ve seen want ads that request 10 years of experience with a product…

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Fishers planning tech incubator: Town hires former IU Emerging Technology Center chief to lead biz park

Fast-growing Fishers has the kind of assets economic developers dream about-strong schools, affordable housing and median family income of $81,971. Now the town wants to build on that foundation by adding a high-tech business park to its list of amenities. “Businesses are looking to come to a site where they can find employees with the requisite level of education and the ability to get additional education close by. Education is the key,” said Fishers Town Council President Scott Faultless. “We…

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