Sen. Harry Reid giving discharged Army infantry officer Dan Choi his West Point ring back to celebrate repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

Elizabeth Edwards, July 3, 1949 – December 7, 2010 

Truly one of the most impressive people I’ve ever met in politics.

DECEMBER 3, 2010, 9:42 PM
A Silicon Bubble Shows Signs of Reinflating

By JENNA WORTHAM AND EVELYN M. RUSLI

Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg NewsEvan Williams, left, who has started several Internet companies, including Twitter, and Fred Wilson, a venture capitalist who says investors are eager to participate in young start-ups.

In a memorable scene in the “The Social Network,” the actor Justin Timberlake, who portrays the Silicon Valley investor Sean Parker in the movie, leans over the table and tells the founders of Facebook in a conspiratorial tone: “A million dollars isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? A billion dollars.”

These days in Silicon Valley, a billion dollars seems downright quaint. The enthusiasm for social networking and mobile apps has venture capitalists clamoring to give money to young companies.

The exuberance has given rise to an elite club of start-ups — all younger than seven years and all worth billions. Successive investments in Twitter have reportedly increased its value 33 percent, to $4 billion, while Zynga, creator of the popular Facebook game FarmVille, is worth more than $5 billion.

Google was willing to pay $6 billon for Groupon, an online coupon company that was valued at $1.35 billion only eight months ago. And Groupon was willing to reject the bid on Friday evening, presumably because it could sell for even more money later.

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