(Photo: Alley Cat Allies)

A group of cats rights activists are decidedly not amused by the recent backlash against the Internet's favorite mascot. Last week, the New York Times ran a story called "That Cuddly Kitty Is Deadlier Than You Think" based on a Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute report, which set off a firestorm of “Cats are killers!” stories--angering cat ladies everywhere.

Cat advocates refuse to stand for this breed of anti-cat propaganda, and they intend to do something about. In a newsletter sent out by the Maryland-based cat charity Alley Cat Allies, the Times and its ilk are taken to task for publishing "junk science" that was "authored by researchers with an anti-cat track record." They maaaaad, bro.

Alley Cat Allies relies on a system called “Trap-Neuter-Return," which they say has lead to a reduced number of feral cats being trapped and sent to kill shelters. The group claims the recent stories decrying murderous felines are based on "biased research that could lead to more outdoor cats being rounded up and killed." They also claim the study cites a researcher who was "convicted and fired for trying to poison cats." Yikes.

"We cannot stand for cats to be scapegoats," reads the outraged newsletter, which directs readers to a link where they can sign a petition asking the Smithsonian to disavow the study. Hey now, let's not bring the goat lobby into this.

(cbinsights.com)

News flash: it is not 1999 anymore, and it appears that corporate venture capitalists have adjusted accordingly. CB Insights released its Q1 Corporate Venture Capital Report yesterday, revealing that CVCs participated in just 84 deals totaling $1.09 billion, a record low for the past five quarters.

But while overall CVC funding is down 20 percent, funding for the Internet sector is up 30 percent, with CVC deals in that sector increasing for the third straight quarter.

Corporate venture capital refers to the direct investment of corporate funds into external startups—as opposed to corporate venturing, which involves internal innovation support. For example, AOL Ventures, the venture capital arm of AOL, which invested in TastemakerX last quarter, and Time Warner Investments, which made deals with Conviva and Bluefin Labs this spring.

CB Insights analyzed data on the activity of over 200 corporate venture capital arms, concluding that corporate deal and funding volume continue to fall. CVCs participated in only 11 percent of all venture deals for the first quarter. CVC funding in the mobile and telecom sector fell 45 percent from last quarter, although CB insights expects to see an increase in Q2’12. Corporate funding for the green sector is also at a five quarter low.

The report found that when CVCs do invest, they tend to be involved in larger deals. According to CB Insights, CVCs spent, on average, $5.5 million more per deal than traditional VCs in Q1 2012.

CVCs were also found to be later stage investors—only 32 percent of all CVC deals were early stage investments in Q1 2012—as well as frequent co-investors. The average CVC deal in Q1 had 4.3 investors, and over 90 percent of CVC deals involved at least one co-investor.

Findings revealed that CVC activity in New York and Massachusetts has fallen for the fourth consecutive quarter, with Texas nearly overtaking New York for the third place spot. California remains in the lead, having received 60 percent of national corporate funding in Q1.

“CVCs are not partying like it’s 1999,” concluded CB Insights CEO and co-founder Anand Sanwal.

A physical representation of digital Bitcoins. (flickr.com/zcopley)

Bitcoin usage is on the rise; the virtual currency is now employed by everyone from advertisers to artists. In fact, Bitcoin has apparently grown so popular that it warranted its own FBI report.

Published in late April but leaked yesterday, the unclassified document--of which Wired provided a PDF--outlines the federal government's fears surrounding the Bitcoin currency, primarily that in the near future, "cyber criminals will treat Bitcoin as another payment option alongside more traditional and established virtual currencies."

Because Bitcoin is a decentralized P2P currency, that makes it much harder for the FBI to track. The report estimates that the Bitcoin economy is worth in total anywhere from $35 million to $44 million.

Of course, the anonymity that comes hand-in-hand with Bitcoin is partially why its appeal has been so vast. Sure, you can use it to buy drugs on Silk Road, but you can also use it to buy food at Manhattan restaurants.

Though do so at your own risk--the FBI report also points to cases of fraud on Bitcoin users from other Bitcoin users. As Wired notes:

The bigger risk for crooks and others who use bitcoin might not come from law enforcement identifying them, but from hackers who are out to rob their virtual Bitcoin wallets dry. There have been several cases of hackers using malware to steal the currency in the virtual wallet stored on a user’s machine.

Cyber-criminal-on-cyber-criminal crime? How meta.

level343.com

With the rise of status tracking apps like Fitbit and WakeMate, it should come as no surprise to hear that people love quantifying and compartmentalizing every sliver of their daily lives. It appears that Valley veteran Google has also picked up on this trend.

In an effort to seem like they actually care about your privacy, the company announced today on its blog that you can now receive "Account Activity" reports in your inbox. The monthly reports will give you a glimpse of your account statistics, like amount of emails sent and received, types of searches you conducted and what browsers you used.

"Sometimes it's helpful to step back and take stock of what you're doing online," reads the post. "If you sign up, each month we’ll send you a link to a password-protected report with insights into your signed-in use of Google services."

The search giant is touting the reports as a way to stay up to date on your account activity and fend off any potential privacy breaches. But while the reports are certainly appealing to our inner narcissist, they also serve as a vaguely creepy reminder of just how much information Google has on you. And who wants to be reminded that their top search was "bropinning" and their most e-mailed person was their mom? Just like, as a random example...