Valleywag’s got a scoop that Nokia is acquiring (all or part of) Ryze, the early online professional networking service.
This is interesting because lately (as in the last year or so), Ryze has radiated a sense of neglect. At one point, most of the activity on it seemed to be driven by Indians, many of whom were recruiting for MLM companies. I thought this to be a pity, because, early on, Ryze provided a lot of utility without the UI snazziness that Friendster was focusing on, and the tight rule set of LinkedIn.
If the story is true, congratulations are in order for Adrian Scott. In an early social networking panel we participated in, Adrian struck me as being the most cerebral and least arrogant entrepreneur on the panel. Among his many accomplishments, he’d received his Math PhD at 20, and managed to live in the Bahamas full-time.
UPDATE: In the comments, Scott Allen reports from Adrian that this is just a rumor.
Cem Sertoglu 
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Heard it straight from Adrian today on the Ryze Network Leaders board – this is just a rumor:
“Ryze Limited has not been acquired by Nokia. While we are approached by companies with business proposals on a regular basis, our focus right now is building our team in our new facility in Panama, so we can improve the service we provide to our members.”
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