Most of us who work in the world of open innovation and crowd sourcing are familiar with leveraging the power of the collective to come up with new consumer product ideas or solutions to scientific or technical challenges. But how often do we see organizations using the crowd to save the world (and why don't we see it more often)? Recently, Humanity United and the United States Agency for International Development Read More
The Split is (Not) Bananas
One of my favorite sources for internet gambling news, iGaming Business, is reporting that shares in bwin party have jumped 24% recently following rumors the group was thinking about splitting up into regulated- and unregulated-focused operating entities. I hope this is true and if it is I applaud whatever genius came up with this idea. Why would I use a term like "genius" to describe this idea? Because I thought Read More
The Hypocrisy of the United States Gambling Laws
Gambling is for the most part under the jurisdiction of state law in the US, and every state has laws that relate to gambling. Some form of legal gambling is permitted in 48 of our 50 states, however only one state (Nevada) has legalized most forms of gambling on a state-wide basis. Gambling has been a vital part of American society since the 18the century, and the general trend is that the availability of and Read More
Lifetime Brands – an Open Innovation Success Story
You might not recognize the name "Lifetime Brands", but you almost certainly will recognize their brands: Farberware, KitchenAid, Mikasa, Cuisinart, and Pfaltzgraff are only a handful of the recognizable names under which Lifetime sells its wares. In fact, you probably have a number of their products in your kitchen. I have been to their headquarters and seen their showroom - it's like a kitchen junkie's dream come Read More
¿Qué pasa Spain?
I figured since I recently referenced France in one of my posts, I would give Spain equal time. Historically, in most places in the world, spending on gambling hasn't been significantly affected by fluctuations in the economy. A recent report from the Charles III University of Madrid (UC3M) states that People in Spain are spending less on gambling now than they have done in previous years. Igaming Business recently Read More
CrowdFlower Completes One-Billionth Crowd Judgment
According to their own press release, CrowdFlower recently announced the completion of the one-billionth "crowd judgment" on its platform. CrowdFlower refers to itself as the "leader in crowd microtasking". What exactly are crowd judgments and crowd microtasking? Using CrowdFlower's platform, a crowd contributor can "judge" a variety of "microtasks". In practice, this takes the form of determining whether a search Read More
What's the "Ultimate" Las Vegas Casino?
What's the "Ultimate" Las Vegas Casino? For some of you Las Vegas veterans (or residents), names like Bellagio or Caesar's might immediately leap to mind. Some might say Wynn or Rio, or relative newcomers like Cosmopolitan or Aria. All are fine properties of course, but thanks to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, all eyes should be focused right now on Station Casinos. Station Casinos owns Ultimate Gaming, which, Read More
Meet the New Barton Bill, Same as the Old Barton Bill
Two years ago to the day, I first shared my thoughts on the "Barton Bill" - a bill that was introduced to the US House of Representative by Texas Republican Joe Barton. The Barton Bill aimed to legalize online poker at the federal level in the US. In case you didn't read my post on the subject from two years ago, to be overly simple and brief, I had concerns. My concerns were irrelevant - the Barton Bill Read More
If At First You Don't Succeed …
If at first you don't succeed, even if it costs you over ten million dollars and forces you to file a lawsuit, try try again! That's PokerStars' motto when it comes to trying to obtain a New Jersey online gaming license. In round one, PokerStars teamed up with Atlantic Club Casino and Hotel. Without rehashing the details that led to the deal's demise, I will at least touch on the high points. Atlantic agreed to Read More
Crowdsourcing genetic data
According to Rajaie Batniji's recent article, earlier this month, researchers and advocates from 40 countries formed a global alliance to enable the secure sharing of genomic and clinical data. The potential benefits of sharing this type of data are significant, however concerns are being raised that there also may be serious risks. On the plus side, using an open innovation approach could help scientists unravel Read More
