Hypo Venture Capital Headlines: EU determined to ensure eurozone financial stability

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ZURICH: The European Union is “resolutely determined” to ensure the financial stability of the eurozone, the bloc’s President Herman Van Rompuy said Wednesday.

“We are resolutely determined to guarantee the financial stability of the eurozone, the stability of the eurozone is also vital for the world economy,” he told reporters after a meeting with Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey in Zurich.

Among topics raised during the discussions were bilateral relations between Switzerland and the European Union, as well as the eurozone debt crisis.

Calmy-Rey also signalled Switzerland’s support for Brussels in its fight to contain a public debt crisis, saying that it is in Bern’s interest that solutions are found “as the crisis is impacting our country on several counts.”

European stocks closed sharply lower Wednesday over fears that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s decision to resign spells months of political uncertainty for Italy.

In a speech later Wednesday at the University of Zurich, Van Rompuy also stressed that Brussels’ key “aim is to keep the eurozone together with all the 17 participants on board.”

Beyond guaranteeing stability, it also needs to boost growth.

“Our duty is not only to guarantee the financial stability of the euro area. It is also and at the same time to stimulate economic growth. Another major challenge,” he said.

“In the end, only sustained economic growth can bring back confidence, create jobs and absorb debts,” he added.

At the same time, Van Rompuy also called on the EU’s trading partners to do their bit in preventing the world from sliding back into recession.

“It is the own self-interest of non-euro players that we put the eurozone’s difficulties behind us,” he said.

“But inversely, it is also in Europe’s interest that the US stabilises its public debt situation, or that China stimulates its domestic demand and make its exchange rate more flexible.

“Growth is a global responsibility. Some tend to forget this,” noted Van Rompuy.

Hypo Venture Capital Headlines: Debate on modern technology in the classroom needs a reboot

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There’s no doubt that technology brings with it some scary things. The scariest of them all is the uncertainty.

Human beings are creatures of habit and the introduction of anything new typically raises an eyebrow (at least) or pitchforks (more often). It’s a somewhat common theme that is tiresome to me, but one that provokes debate throughout the times.

The common gripe against smartphones and mobile devices is that they are shackles that handcuff an employee to their work – 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

While your boss may have an expectation that because you have a BlackBerry you should be responding to emails at 6 a.m. on a Saturday (emergency or not), this is less about your boss’s disposition and more about a lack of education as to how to use technology to get the best results.

Many people are shocked to hear my iPhone never makes a peep. I get one silent vibrate for text messages (and I’m quick to block those that I do not know) and two vibrations for a phone call.

My iPhone will not beep, vibrate or blink when emails, tweets or Facebook updates arrive. Why? It’s my job to best manage my technology (and not the other way around).

The people I work with know that email is the best form of communication with me and that if it’s an emergency, to please call.

On the other side of this communication, I check my emails (and other digital notifications) when I want to (not in the moment that they happen). The phone does ring, but it’s only on a rare occasion (for those emergencies).

There’s a macro lesson here: If you think your kid is spending too much time on their iPad and not enough time outside getting some exercise, don’t blame the iPad.