Tag: STARTUP

One of our biggest complaints with Windows Vista is that it takes far longer to boot up and shut down than Windows XP installed on an identical system. When Microsoft first announced the feature set for Vista, one of the things they claimed was that you would actually have shorter startup times, but we later discovered that what they meant was that there would be power saving features that would ...

Think you have a hot startup idea? Write it down and you could net a little funding. Bang Ventures from New York is offering $15,000 U.S. for startup CEOs to get their ideas off the ground. "You Be The VC" Candidates start by submitting applications outlining their plans for a new internet startup. These will be judged by handpicked professionals in the startup field to guarantee unbiased results ...

Some internet startups take months or years of planning. Others can be put together in just a matter of days with a good idea and a little pluck. In July a group of 70 people got together in Boulder, Colorado to vote on ideas that had been proposed. Over the course of a single weekend, they chose an idea and created Vosnap, an online polling tool. This weekend, 120+ people have signed up for a ...

How many times have you been befuddled with a product, only to result to the dreaded 1-800 number in the manual to resolve your issue? Hours later only to find no resolution in sight. Enter Fixya, a startup that has taken on the challenge of supplying online technical support, user guides and repairs by letting users help each other. In a few simple steps users get the help they need with their ...

There have been lots of rumors and buzz circulating the past few weeks on whether or not Google was pursuing Adscape, a startup -- only officially launched in February 2006 with $3.2 million in funding -- that specializes in in-game advertising. After a brief quiet period, details are starting to emerge about an agreement to acquire Adscape Media for $23 million. Could this be the next big thing ...

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has been around for a while mostly trying to make the life of a small business owner easier, and boy we need it. Running a small business is hard, and for many business owners, getting started, or better yet, keeping the thing going is especially tough. The SBA wants to help by offering a bunch of free podcasts to help you get or keep going with your ...

These days it seems like anyone with an idea and some time can crank out a Web 2.0 startup, be it a service, community, one-trick-pony or ambiguously named whichamadinger. It also seems like many of these startups could use some guidance to help them find their way. With goofy names, varying user experiences and questionable goals running amok, we figured it was time to lay down some ground rules. ...

Obvious Corp? Curious name for a company, but this is Web 2.0, right?--At least it's not Obviousr. Obvious Corp is a brand new company founded by Blogger creator Evan Williams and his Odeo co-founder Biz Stone. As its opening move, Obvious Corp has acquired Odeo, Inc.'s assets including Odeo and Twitter. Williams explains the move in his blog, saying, "I believe there is a lot of value in what ...

Awhile back I reported that Microsoft was considering making it impossible to disable the Windows Vista startup sound, short of physically turning off your speakers. I'm still getting comments on that post. Happily, Microsoft has reversed its position. In a post to the Windows Vista Team Blog product manager Nick White writes, "We heard you loud and clear when it came to discussing our plans to ...

According to BusinessWeek, Skype co-founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom are preparing to launch The Venice Project, a new start-up that "combines the best things about television with the social power of the internet." Venice--which is just a codename--has been in very limited testing since the summer, but the beta program will expand significantly in November, and Friis says it will be ...

We all know that if you're looking to speed up the amount of time it takes your computer to boot, the best thing to do is cut down on how many processes start when Windows starts. This is, of course, the obvious advice; if you're starting less things, it takes less time. But what about us chronic downloaders, who can't stand to turn off our favorite utilities? There is an option. It won't make ...

You may have heard of Hijack This circulating the net, and no it isn't the song where Madonna is screaming expletives at listeners for "illegally" downloading her latest single. Hijack This is a browser-hijacker-killing app that is Windows MSCONFIG on steroids, with lots of espresso and a case of Mountain Dew. Hijack This will x-nay any listing in the group of registry keys that run when your ...

I can't believe I forgot to follow up with this one: Remember WeblogWire, the experiment by entrepreneurs Jason Baptiste and Brian Breslin to get a profitable startup running from scratch in one week and on $500? Well, they didn't quite make their deadline, but they did do it for under half a grand. Yesterday WeblogWire made a "soft launch," with its official launch today, about a week behind ...

Sysinfo.org has a great database of programs that might start running when you boot your computer, and each is tagged according to the following scheme: Y - Normally leave to run at start-up N - Not required - typically infrequently used tasks that can be started manually if necessary U - User's choice - depends whether a user deems it necessary X - Definitely not required - typically ...

Is it possible to build a profitable web startup in seven days on a budget of $500? Jason L. Baptiste and Brian Breslin think so. On Saturday Breslin, CEO of Viral Ventures (which owns uGather.com) and Baptiste, CEO of Miami web design firm Infinimedia, set out to build WeblogWire from scratch in a week, and in true Web 2.0 style they're blogging as they go. WeblogWire will be "a system that would ...