“Officials of oil giant BP awarded a $500 million biofuels research program to a consortium led by researchers at the QB3 facility at the University of California, Berkeley. The consortium includes the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley Lab in Berkeley and the Joint Genome Institute in Walnut Creek as well as the University of Illinois, which will provide agricultural expertise. In June, BP said it will spend $500 million over the next 10 years to establish the BP Energy Biosciences Institute, which it described as the ‘first facility of its kind in the world.’ The facility will be a dedicated biosciences energy research laboratory attached to a major academic center in the United States or the United Kingdom.”

The Placer County Sheriff’s Department, with assistance from the U.S. Secret Service have arrested a Sacramento and Orange County resident- Tien Nguyen and charged him with operating a sophisticated international identity theft ring. The stolen information was supplied by criminals in Romania who used pop-up ads and “phishing” to acquire sensitive information such as passwords and credit card details. Nguyen then allegedly used computer software and a card reader to “upload” the victim’s identifying information to various magnetic strip cards that could be used for purchases. Authorities believe that Nguyen supplied Stefani Ruland and six others with stolen personal information, which they used to fraudulently obtain Wal-Mart credit cards. They then purchased more than $400,000 in merchandise and gift cards from Wal-Mart stores around the State. All but one of the suspects have pleaded guilty to charges and Nguyen is being held at the Placer County Jail on $1 million bail.

MySpace Launches French Site
MySpace, a popular social network among young adults launched a French version of its site (fr.myspace.com) today. Myspace has already launched versions in the United Kingdom and Italy, and is currently beta testing in Germany. Myspace is based in Los Angeles. In 2005, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. bought Intermix Media Inc., which held MySpace.com for $580 million USD.
Los Angeles Business from bizjournals: