Fair Value Measurements

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Fair Value Disclosures [Abstract]

Fair Value Disclosures [Text Block]

Note 2. Fair Value Measurements

The Company applies fair value standards for recurring financial assets and liabilities only. The accounting framework for determining fair value includes a hierarchy for ranking the quality and reliability of the information used to measure fair value, which enables the reader of the financial statements to assess the inputs used to develop those measurements. The fair value hierarchy consists of three tiers as follows:

Level 1 — Quoted prices in active markets are available for identical assets and liabilities.

Level 2 — Observable inputs other than Level 1 prices such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data.

Level 3 — Unobservable inputs that reflect a reporting entity’s own assumptions about the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing an asset or liability.

As of December 31, 2011, the Company’s financial assets included short term investments and investments in non-publicly traded companies. The Company considers net realizable value for its investments in non-publicly traded companies for purposes of determining asset impairment losses. For the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company had no impairment losses on investments in non-publicly traded companies.

The carrying amounts for cash equivalents, accounts receivable and accounts payable approximate fair value due to their immediate or short-term nature of the maturity. There was no outstanding balance of the 2011 Notes as of December 31, 2011. The fair value of the outstanding 2011 Notes was approximately $3.8 million as of December 31, 2010. The 2011 Notes approximate fair value based on market rates available to the Company for financing with similar terms. The carrying value of such notes was approximately $3.8 million as of December 31, 2010. The fair value of short term investments was $2.0 million and $1.0 million as of December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively. The short-term investment values are based on a Level 2 valuation technique.