By: Co-Editor, RB:

We have covered several startups involved in education, education aids and tutoring. Those sites included HigherScoreInsight.com (SAT Prep), LessonsCentral.com (matching online teachers with students for music, dance etc.), NalandaU.com (online classes).

A news site just launched in April is aimed at high performing teenage students.

LiftMinds.com transcends the genre and offers a first of kind academic networking site offers:
• Collaborative Lessons fostering Student/Teacher Participation
• Self Learning and Tutorials
• Q&A based Homework Help
• Academic Social Networking and User Participation

Its approach is a little different from other networks that play an educational role, as these tend to focus solely on aspects such as homework help. In the case of LiftMinds, the emphasis is placed on encouraging these teenagers who show great aptitudes (even outright brilliance) to pursue academic goals.
Read more

By: Co-Editor, RB:

When I was a child, I went on a family vacation twice a year. We traveled every spring and summer, at least until my dad lost his job when I was 14. However, many of my friends were left home with grandparents or (in the case of my rich friends) nannies. Taking children on vacation is a relatively new phenomenon. Times have changed; family travel is maybe the most important and fastest growing segment of travel today.

Renowned Silicon Valley entrepreneur, Katrina Garnett recently launched MyLittleSwans.com. The goal of the site is to save substantial time and eliminate layers of fees for discerning global travelers and families.

Designed for all types of users, the site caters to those who like to do a lot of research and seek out a lot of advice, as well as to those who prefer a more turn-key experience – and because MyLittleSwans eliminates third party costs, users not only save time, but can also save a substantial amount of money.

Garnett founded My Little Swans in October 2007 and has invested more than $2,250,000 of her own personal capital in the creation of this business. 2008 was focused on building the site and writing and uploading content, 2009 was focused on offering limited memberships to gain live user feedback. With strong roots in Silicon Valley, Garnett was well aware that the software is a key component, making MyLittleSwans not only extraordinarily efficient, but also able to support “the next big thing” – that is, whatever comes after Facebook and Twitter – via what they deem “superlative content management systems.”
Read more

By: Co-Editor, RB:

Some people may think that radio is dead. Broadcast radio has seen sharp declines in listener base and more importantly ad revenue. However, the rise of satellite radio and podcasts still indicates that receiving media via spoken word or music is still important to a great many people.

ListenerDrivenRadio.com or LDR is a new model for radio built on crowd-sourcing, that allows listeners to go online, or to their iPhone, and offer their input into what plays next on the radio station. LDR is constantly absorbing listener input, song votes, and comments on music, and automatically adapting radio programming in real-time. The audience can control the station’s on-air product … within the parameters that the Program Director creates.

With LDR, constant research is generated from active listener interaction. Listeners log-on, click-to-pick their favorite songs, and then sit back and enjoy hearing what they … and other listeners … selected to play on the air.

The Program Director selects the universe from which the listeners click-to-pick. That way stations will still be “SAFE” while allowing the audience to program the music that they play.
Read more

By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:

Professionals and students alike can now leave the laptop behind and share files securely thanks to Sayabit.com. The service is a free links-based file storage web service, which shortens and redirects long URLs while providing web and click analytics.

Launching in beta in October of 2009, Sayabit.com also allows users to upload and share images, documents and videos securely for real-time conversion into trackable URLs.

Small businesses and individuals now have an affordable solution for secure virtual storage and it is in the “cloud”. Sayabit.com, pronounced “Say A Bit” also acts as a new and free virtual filing cabinet and personal organizer that gives users a new mode to manage and access files anytime, anywhere, whether it is a PC or mobile device.

Serial entrepreneur Ken Huang, also the co-founder of Webnotes Inc., is on a mission to offer solutions that enhance life beyond the screen and bring people back together in the real world.

Sayabit.com is powered by SayagleTM, a Cambridge, Massachusetts start-up, which is planning its beta launch of a first of kind location-based social networking marketplace later on in the first quarter of this year. Sayabit.com is a stand-alone product that integrates seamlessly with Sayagle to enhance its mission of giving people access to important information beyond the screen.
Read more

By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:

Small business owners, I have another valuable resource that you might want to check out.

Winmark Business Solutions is an online small business resource center that provides entrepreneurs and small business owners with a wealth of free business management tools and small business information. They recently announced the launch of its newly redesigned site, which is enhanced with the latest social networking functionalities to provide users with an interactive and personalized experience.

Founded in 2004, Winmark Business Solutions is a division of Winmark Corporation. Winmark Corporation is a franchiser of over 850 value oriented stores including Play It Again Sports ® , Once Upon A Child ®  Plato’s Closet ®  Music Go Round ® and Wirth Business Credit ®.

Winmark Business Solutions currently works with more than 800 small businesses in North America and have become experts in helping businesses succeed. With over 6,000 pages of comprehensive, detailed and accurate business information, Winmark Business Solutions is a wonderful free online resource for small businesses. WBS online provides a resource of tools for success, articles from leading industry publications and selected vendor partnerships to save time and money.
Read more

By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:

What if Google Maps were more than just a place to get directions and local information filtered by Google. What if you could go to the house you grew up in on a map, post a note in your old neighborhood and find your childhood friends?

That’s the idea behind ZoomAtlas – a map that aims to be friendlier, social, and more informative than any other map service out there. The wiki-mapping site that launched on Monday, November 16, 2009, has built a detailed, photo-realistic map of the United States, blending satellite imagery with user-edited details, lending a realistic description to specific neighborhoods or areas.

The free site combines the technology of interactive maps with the social networking of Facebook for users to post notes, stories and insights to reconnect its users with friends, family and places from their past.

Site-customization tools users can update map details including roads, railroads, waterways, sidewalks and property lines to miniscule landscaping details like grass, flowers and bricks on residences, restaurants, schools, parks, workplaces and more. Beyond updating location-specific aesthetics and details from the past, the map enables users to post information and notes for family and friends at important locations in their collective lives.
Read more

By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:

One of the benefits of a globally connected world is that outsourcing projects to all corners of the world is now possible. Many sites offer to manage and match freelancers with businesses. Examples include net4mapower.com and freelancerstore.com. Among the best operating in this space is LimeExchange.com.

LimeExchange.com, the first socially networked online services marketplace, launched in the United States in July of 2008. It gives entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in the U.S. and around the world a place to go shopping for project outsourcing.

Entrepreneurs and SMBs find themselves facing the same are challenges as large companies in that there is a skills shortage (especially on the tech level) in the United States that hampers company’s growth and ability to complete projects. LimeExchange.com aims to provide project outsourcing to help companies adjust their go-to-market and delivery plans to meet their business needs in an environment of constrained resources.

LimeExchange attempts to break the mold of first-generation online services marketplaces, going beyond mere matching of buyers and sellers or providing simple “feedback” rating systems. Instead, LimeExchange delivers practical service provider evaluation, integrated delivery management, focused knowledge networking, and contemporary social networking tools, which SMB’s and entrepreneurs need in order to establish and sustain profitable business relationships.

After its launch in India met with success, LimeExchange opened the marketplace to the rest of the world. LimeExchange has registered more than 50,000 users since launching globally.
Read more

By: The Editor

It seems like this next start-up looks to take social networking to the next level. 6rounds.com is in private beta for the moment and is scheduled to launch in October 2009. However, you can still visit the 6rounds.com website, look around and they have a few videos that really explain what 6rounds.com truly aims to be.

6rounds is a live web-based meeting point, combining web-cams, social activities, and interactive zones to offer its users an exciting variety of experiences that they share together live and in real-time. In a personalized live environment, users conduct a video conference in which they interact on a co-browsing experience allowing them to get to know each other and socialize together with broad range of opportunities: from watching videos, playing real-time games, listening to music, “co-facebooking” or “youtubing”, to shopping together and beyond. The possibilities are endless as independent developers can also contribute activities using the platform’s API and users can personalize their video arena, by choosing favorite activities, games and gifts to share with friends.

The 6rounds platform can easily be integrated into any 3rd party website or service – starting from a Facebook application or an open-social app on MySpace, continuing with a plug-in for WordPress or an embeddable widget on users personal pages, and ending with various extensions to IM, ICQ, Skype and Firefox. By creating these extensions, 6rounds aims to be a cross-network platform, which will allow users from all over the web to interact live and in real-time, no matter what their favorite social network or service are.
Read more

By: The Editor

Social Networks, we love them and at times cannot stand them. We are drawn into them and find that the minutes and hours when spend on these sites seem to pass us by at the speed of light.

Well, if we are going to be on these social sites such as Twitter, Facebook or Myspace, then we might was well be rewarded for it, right??

Based in Valencia, California, Vyoom is a new Social Network with dual real-time platforms. Vyoom is a Social Network platform with many innovative social features such as a private & public stream, social channels, hotspots, friend locator and something called the RPilot.

Vyoom also has an e-commerce platform that carries actual products and a digital store. Vyoom has created their platforms to become seamless so the user experience is as if it was one platform.

Vyoom is focused on delivering real-time social communication and e-commerce to attract partnerships with brands and allowing users to make purchases at a discount and receive reward points.
Read more