Video conferencing company Blue Jeans Network announced on Wednesday that it has raised $25 million in a joint effort put forth by NEA, Accel and Norwest Venture Partners.

A large chunk of the newly raised capital will go into an advertising campaign meant to woo corporate customers away from their current enterprise solutions for video conferencing and towards the Blue Jeans Network.

The Blue Jeans Network already features a giant billboard in San Francisco and the goal will now be to woo firms away from pure audio conferencing to an affordable video conferencing network. Among its clients are Facebook and Match.com.

With its new funding in hand the Blue Jeans Network has now raised nearly $50 million.

Using it’s already earned funding the Blue Jeans Network recently launched a browser-based conferencing solution that is inter-operable with Skype, Google Hangouts, Polycom and Cisco. The Blue Jeans Network has also added the ability to create customized log-in pages and single sign-on for employees. In announcing its new $25 million in funding ($48.5 million through series C funding) the company also announced that the beta version of its browser program was now available for Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari.

The company’s newest and most affordable product to date is meant to end the reign of MCUs or Multipoint Control Units which can cost $250,000. Company’s using the Blue Jeans Network video-conferencing service can buy plans starting at just $299 per port (per party involved in each call).

Do you think the Blue Jeans Network will have a successful run? Considering its founder has already successfully sold two company’s to Cisco I’m not going to bet against it.

Blue Jeans Network Raises $25 Million, Announces Web Browser Beta Program is a post from: The Inquisitr

Sasha Grey, the retire porn star who has also been featured on the HBO series Entourage, made headlines last year when she was a featured reader at Emerson Elementary School in Compton, California to read to underprivileged kids.  Now one of the companies that used to film Grey doing her “thing” has decided to use part of the proceeds from Grey’s last film  “Anal Artists,” to help promote literacy among kids. They announced that a portion of the sales would go to the National Education Association’s Read Across America Program.

The National Education Association, which is the country’s largest teacher’s union said in a statement to the Huffington Post that they were not interested in the money or the actress.  The Statement said,

“Sasha Grey is not affiliated with the National Education Association’s Read Across America program nor has she been invited or endorsed by NEA to read at any of the association’s Read Across America Day events, and NEA will not accept any proceeds from her latest, or any of her films,”

Howard Levine of Exile Distribution, who is in charge of the company who is releasing “Anal Artists said the NEA was discriminating against them.  He said in a statement,

“Anyone that’s supporting reading and helping kids and donating money to their cause should be accepted. I don’t understand why they would not accept that — only the fact she was in adult films. I understand their position — they don’t want to be associated with any adult film stars. I think that everybody has a slanted opinion on what the adult film community is so I know that they’re trying to be politically correct.”.

Sasha Grey stood her ground herself over the issue saying she has every intention of continuing to be involved with the education and illiteracy issues.

She said,

“Promoting education is an effort that is close to my heart. Illiteracy contributes to poverty; encouraging children to pick up a book is fundamental. I committed to this program with the understanding that people who have their own opinions about what I have done, who I am and what I represent. … I have a past that some people may not agree with, but it does not define who I am.”

She also sent out a tweet thanking the NEA and Read Across America for supporting her decision to stay involved.

The NEA said they couldn’t figure out why she would say that because,

“At no time has NEA sent letters or messages of support (or otherwise) or any other communications to Ms. Grey,” according to an NEA statement Monday.

Do you think the NEA should accept Sasha Grey’s porno money?

Sasha Grey Porno “Anal Artists” Contributing to Literacy Program [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr