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According to reports by the venture capital database, VentureDeal, overall venture funding for Internet technologies in the first quarter of 2010 held steady compared to the last quarter of 2009.

These reports assess four sectors: alternative energy, biotech, telecom and wireless, and Internet and ecommerce. Of these areas, overall investment in biotech sector fell, while alternative energy and telecommunications startups received more funding than last quarter.

If you failed to notice Google's lovely new artwork this morning, today is Earth Day. The purpose of the day in recent years has been to reflect on our energy consumption and to raise awareness on how to better preserve our planet, and startups can play a significant role in that preservation. Seedcamp, arguably the largest and most influential incubator in Europe, is teaming up with IBM and other organizations to host SmartCamp, a series of networking events across the globe designed to uncover the hottest early-stage companies with an environmental focus.

Figures released in February suggested that VC investment in cleantech startups, particularly those focused on energy efficiency, was on the rise.

To help prepare college students for jobs in this emerging green economy, Columbia University and IBM are announcing the launch of the Smarter Cities Skills Initiative.

A co-sponsored initiative from Microsoft Bing and Gnomedex will give incentive to developers working on economy- or ecology-themed apps this summer.

The Will Code for Green contest calls for submissions that help "deal with the worsening global economy or... improve the ecology of the planet Earth." Two $10,000 grand prize winners and three $3,000 runner-up prizes will be announced at the 2009 Gnomedex technology conference, which takes place August 20-22, 2009, in Seattle, Washington. There is a catch: Entries must use Bing APIs. But is that catch really so bad or unexpected? Gnomedex (and blog network Lockergnome) founder, Chris Pirillo, doesn't think so.

On Tuesday, January 20th, 2009, America and the whole world will gather to watch Barack Obama be inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America. Many have called Mr. Obama the Internet President because of the unprecedented way his campaign used the medium to raise funds, raise awareness, and ultimately outmaneuver John McCain. But what can we do now to help turn this country around? Read on for 7 things every one of us can do on the Internet to help Obama restore America.