By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
When the history of the beginnings of the Internet is written, one web phenomenon that will be discussed will be so-called “Internet meme”. For the great unwashed, an Internet meme is is a phrase used to describe a catchphrase or concept that spreads quickly from person to person via the Internet, much like an esoteric inside joke. The term is a reference to the concept of memes, although this concept refers to a much broader category of cultural information.
Perhaps the most famous early Internet meme was the so-called “lolcat”.
A lolcat is an image combining a photograph of a cat and a humorous caption in language that typically parodies Internet slang. In this case the slang LOL for “laugh out loud”.
I Can Has Cheezburger? sparked an Internet phenomenon by creating a weblog that featured lolcats. Launched in January of 2007 by Eric Nakagawa and Kari Unebasami, the site was sold to Pet Holdings, Inc., a Web startup based in Seattle.
Pet Holdings, Inc. then started the Cheezburger Network.
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By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
Since this is not technically a tech site, I will take a second to give you a primer on what a Cloud operating system is.
The term “cloud” is used as a metaphor for the Internet, based on the cloud drawing used to depict the Internet in computer network diagrams as an abstraction of the underlying infrastructure it represents. Typical cloud computing providers deliver common business applications online which are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on servers.
Attribo.com is a Bangolore based startup beta that is focused on what they call “Cloud Management, Provisioning, Monitoring & Reporting Solutions”. They are trying to solve the end user adaptability issues related to multiple cloud vendors and cloud based infrastructure components. They are attempting to make the cloud experience more end user friendly and easy to manage with feature rich approach.
Attribo is built with a unique integration pattern, which brings on the multiple cloud vendor API features within 24 hours of their release and made available to users via the Attribo 3C management console.
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By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
Today is President Day, and not to dis Mr. Lincoln, but this blog will take this opportunity to praise George Washington. As our first President he oversaw the creation of one of the great startup ideas-the first modern democracy.
The position of president of the United States seemed shaped by the Federal Convention on the assumption that Washington would be the first to occupy the office. In a day when executive power was suspect - when the creation of the presidency, as Alexander Hamilton observed in The Federalist, was “attended with greater difficulty” than perhaps any other - the Constitution established an energetic and independent chief executive. Pierce Butler, one of the Founding Fathers, noted that the convention would not have made the executive powers so great “had not many of the members cast their eyes toward General Washington as President, and shaped their ideas of the Powers to be given a President, by their opinions of his Virtue.”
Washington’s Farewell Address (issued as a public letter in 1796) was one of the most influential statements of American political values Drafted primarily by Washington himself, with help from Hamilton, it gives advice on the necessity and importance of national union, the value of the Constitution and the rule of law, the evils of political parties, and the proper virtues of a republican people. While he declined suggested versions[that would have included statements that morality required a “divinely authoritative religion,” he called morality “a necessary spring of popular government”. He said, “Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”
So instead of just thinking of Presidents Day as an opportunity to buy a washing machine on sale, think of it as a salute to our first president. Had a different man held the office this country would be a very different place and almost certainly we would not still be enjoying the freedoms first overseen by Washington over 220 years ago.
By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
Companies seeking to provide web-based solutions for small business are easy to find on the web. Indeed, GreatStartups.com has covered several startups operating in this space. Fore example, Beezang.com (helps roommates and colleagues manage joint expenses), Outright.com (Free Online Bookkeeping), Projjix.com (helps business engage with consultants) and Invoicera.com (eBilling).
Out of Australia now comes BillsTrust.com. Launched two weeks ago, BillsTrust is a flexible and novel way to pay all your bills and invoices online, both handwritten and printed. The idea is to help users avoid late payment fees by taking care of each and every bill in due time. Once the user has signed up he will have access to a dashboard in which he will see all his upcoming bills queued up as well as historical payment information and digital copies of bills in an archive. That is, the individual will have a true overview of what has to be dealt with, instead of having to browse through bills individually.
When bills are paid by the due date, SMS or email alerts are sent to the client keeping them in the loop at all times.
The system requires no data entry, at least not in the conventional sense as users simply fax/scan and email their bills to the company to have them added to their control panels. Clients are also provided with personalized 2D bar-coded (QR code) stickers, and these are stuck onto the front of their bills as they receive them. The moment a bill is paid the individual will receive both an SMS and an email notification letting him know that the bill has been paid, and also how much money the transaction has entailed.
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By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
8coupons.com, a site that helps you find deals in your local area, has, since December, been offering its new self-service mobile coupon platform free. The promotion is scheduled to last for 100 days. Since launching in 2007, 8coupons.com has offered a self-service mobile coupon platform for small-businesses in New York City. As part of a redesign, the platform is now available nationwide. To celebrate, 8coupons is offering an opportunity for any business to try the service free for 100 days (an $888 value). Businesses can sign up at the site and use the promo code “MobileCoupons” at checkout to receive a credit of $888.
8coupons started in New York City was mostly known for its mobile coupons and its OCHO LOCO! promotions (more on that in a bit). 8coupons.com now aims to be a one-stop shop for locating deals, regardless of where you live. With a loaded database of over 60,000 mobile coupons and deals throughout the country, consumers can now find money-saving information all in one place.
The newly designed site has been upgraded. When a user visits 8coupons.com, the map on the homepage will automatically populate the Top 8 most popular deals based on his or her IP address. This ensures that anyone who visits the site will see the deals that are most relevant to him or her specifically. The Top 8 deals will change dynamically as the user moves the map around to different locations, zooms in on a specific street, or narrows down the deals by sub-categories such as restaurants, entertainment, beauty & spas, services and shopping.
8coupons.com also has so-called “User Submitted Deals”. Consumers can tell everyone about the specials in their local area. To date, there have been over 100,000 user-shared deals on 8coupons.com. Sponsored listings on the site include deals with Valpak, Money Mailer, andRedPlum’s SuperCoups. They also have deals with local bloggers and content partners.
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By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
MerchantCircle.com recently announced that it had signed the one-millionth local merchant to its social network and publishing platform. In case you don’t know, MerchantCircle.com is the largest social network of local business owners.
Out of the estimated 15 million local merchants in the U.S. today, more than one million have claimed their listings and have accessed MerchantCircle’s suite of free and premium tools to reach local consumers online since its launch in 2006. More than 20 million local consumers discover small businesses in their area via MerchantCircle.com every month. The merchants on the MerchantCircle network upload pictures, blog, create coupons and newsletters, and connect with other merchants.
The company is located on Main St. in downtown Los Altos, Calif., and is funded by Rustic Canyon Partners, Scale Venture Partners, Disney’s Steamboat Ventures, and IAC.
By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
For one week, millions of young people around the world will join a growing movement of entrepreneurial people, to generate new ideas and to seek better ways of doing things. Countries across six continents are coming together to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week, an initiative to inspire young people to embrace innovation, imagination and creativity.
From November 16-22, 2009, Global Entrepreneurship Week will connect young people everywhere through local, national and global activities designed to help them explore their potential as self-starters and innovators. Students, educators, entrepreneurs, business leaders, employees, non-profit leaders, government officials and many others will participate in a range of activities, from online to face-to-face, and from large-scale competitions and events to intimate networking gatherings.
Global Entrepreneurship Week 2008 was a great success and a brilliant example of what can be achieved by bringing together different ideas and cultures around the theme of enterprise. In 2009, the goal is to unleash young people’s ideas around the issues that matter most to society, from poverty reduction through to climate change, and to foster a global culture which recognizes entrepreneurs as drivers of economic and social prosperity.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton videotaped a public statement of support for the Kauffman Foundation’s Global Entrepreneurship Week, praising its efforts to create new opportunities and businesses; encourage youth to pursue fresh ideas; and improve the global economy. This year, Global Entrepreneurship Week will be celebrated by more than three million people and 8,800 organizations (1000+ in the U.S.) in 85 countries.
By Co-Editor, Bobby B:
GreatStartups.com is committed to celebrating the entrepreneurial spirit that is embodied in anyone who has started a new business. That spirit has been sorely tested over the last two or three years. However, things appear to have turned a corner.
For the first time since September 2007, the majority (55%) of small business owners have a positive view of the economic environment and its impact on their ability to grow, according to the American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor. However, more firms are at risk of going out of business (17%) than six months ago (11%), due in part to personal funds being tapped out: one-third (32%) say they are using personal or private funds to manage cash flow challenges (up from 23% six months ago).
While there appears to be a widening divide between healthy and struggling businesses, even the healthy businesses are proceeding with caution. Fewer firms have hiring plans than at any point in the eight-year history of the Monitor (falling below the fall 2002 recession level of 26%), and plans for capital investments equal the record-setting low from Spring 2009 (42%).
The semi-annual survey covers a very broad range of topics and offers segmentation by business owner age, industry sector and geographic region. Some highlights from the survey are as follows:
Nearly seven-in-ten entrepreneurs (68%) are stressed out by the economy and three-in-ten (31%) say that the current economy has caused them to question their decision to become an entrepreneur;
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