Archives for 2006

post

But I’ve Already Booked 4.0

Lots of noise about Web 3.0:

The NYT, Between the lines, Valleywag, Screenwerk, Scripting NewsCenter for Citizen Media, larry borsato, A VC, Mark Evans, deal architect, Rough type, Ross Mayfield and just about the entire Blogosphere…

But I’ve already “claimed” Web 4.0 smile_tongue

 

post

SMS Lingo Allowed at School Exams

Secondary school students will be able to use text speak in written examinations this year, legitimizing a language loved by teenagers.

In New Zealand, that is.  Here’s a reader comment:

“u mst b joking. or r u smoking sumthg? lol. so what if kidz pruv they no sbjct mtr? f u cant communic8 yr noldg, it’s prty much wrthlss. nz alrdy has svr prbs w stndrd nglsh speling, punc. and grmmr. dont make wrs!!! “

I think I undestand (?)what the commenter says, and I wholeheartedly agree. Or, to quote another reader comment:

“Wot a ld o rubish! Our edukshun sys is bad ’nuff alrdy. Mre dum kids who cant spel.”

Update (11/12):  the AP version of the story got Slashdotted and it’s on Techmeme today.

post

Drug Attack on the Euro

I know drugs kill .. bankrupt.. but apparently they also eat money, quite literally:

BERLIN, Nov 11 (Reuters) – A mystery substance that caused some euro banknotes in Germany to fall to pieces may be linked to the party drug crystal speed, Der Spiegel magazine reported on Saturday, quoting regional police. Users of crystal speed inhale it through the nose using rolled-up banknotes and chemists think impurities such as sulphates, mingled with sweat, could have created an acid that ate away at the notes, the magazine quoted police as saying.

Around 1,500 banknotes worth between 5 euros and 100 euros ($6.44-$129) crumbled shortly after being withdrawn from cash machines, the Bundesbank said earlier this month.”

post

Rumsfeld’s Resignation is a Good Start

Rummy’s resignation is definitely good news,  but there are still others who don’t belong in DC .. but we have to wait a bit longer for this one to disappear smile_omg

  

post

Art of the Start / Launch Silicon Valley with Guy Kawasaki – Last Minute Discount

This is a reprint of a previous post, because with 250 registrations I can now offer the few remaining tickets at a huge discount ($49 vs $199) at this special link.

Mark November 8th, Wednesday on

your calendar for a full-day entrepreneurial

super-event (actually two) at the Microsoft Conference

Center in Mountain View.

At 8am SVASE

will present The Art of the

Start, a conference all about helping

entrepreneurs succeed, offering time-tested, battle-hardened business

strategies and the opportunity to meet experienced entrepreneurs and

investors.

The drought of the past few years is over

and venture capital is flowing again. But starting a high tech business

is no less challenging and demanding than it’s ever been, even in an

environment of venture capital overhang.

Pure

talent and winning ideas are never enough. Whether you’re an

entrepreneur in a garage, dorm room, lab or inside a big company, there

are fundamental business insights and skills you need

to succeed.

  Start-up authority and

popular business author Guy

Kawasaki and experts from Garage, along with Silicon Valley

leaders and mavericks, venture capitalists, and successful start-up

CEOs explore the art of starting up.

The conference

includes breakfast and lunch, including a Fireside Chat with

Guy Kawasaki and

Mike Arrington of  TechCrunch.  

Check out the agenda

here, then rush to register

Rush, as Early Bird registration ends tomorrow, November 3rd. (Yes, I

know, posting this late, sorry…)

 

The conference ends

at 3:30, and an hour later a related event, Launch: Silicon

Valley starts at the same venue.

Launch: Silicon Valley is an

opportunity for the next generation of emerging technology companies

will to tell their stories to the world – literally, as the event will

be videotaped and broadcast later.   Over 150 startup

submissions from all over the country, several European countries and

as far as New Zealand have been reviewed by an Advisory Board of

investors and executives. The 30 most interesting companies have been

invited to participate in the “Launch: Silicon Valley”

showcase, and 15 of these companies have

also been invited to deliver product

presentation to an audience of Silicon

Valley’s leading movers and shakers.

Product presentations will take place in three

categories, 5 companies each:

  • Information Technology, Communications & related

    technologies

  • Life Science, Material Science,

    CleanTech

  • Consumer &

    Other

Please check out the complete

agenda, and again, rush to register,

as Early Bird pricing ends tomorrow, November 3rd for this

event, too.  The Registration site allows you to book both

events together, or any of them selectively.

Now,

for the surprise: Silicon Valley Auto

Group will be displaying Aston Martin, Bentley, and

Lamborghini cars at both events, and I’m hearing they’ll schedule

test-drives.  I’m sure half the participants – the cream of

the Valley VC community – can actually afford these cars… as for the

other half, the Entrepreneurs, how is this for an incentive? 

smile_wink

post

24SevenOffice is More than Just Office – Watch Demo

24SevenOffice is an innovative software company offering SaaS for the SMB / SME market that should really be called 24SevenBusiness smile_wink

Their system is modular but integrated with a breath of functionality I simply haven’t seen elsewhere: Accounting, CRM (Contacts, Lead Mgt, SFA), ERP (Supply Chain, Orders, Products, Inventory), Communication, Group Scheduling, HR, Project Management, Publishing, Intranet. Essentially a NetSuite+Communication and Collaboration.

They are innovators in many ways … had an AJAX system long before it was called AJAX and recently they created a “World’s First” by teaming up with a bank that becomes the SaaS provider offering its customers single sign-on Web solutions for banking and all other business software needs.

The system is really comprehensive so it may not be that easy to figure out all features, therefore they released a cool flash demo that walks through the major business processes. (hat tip: Espen Antonsen)

What I really like about 24SevenOffice is that they are proof to my favorite theme, i.e. that small businesses can now have “enterprise” system functionality. My only complaint is that so far they onu cover several European countries; I wish they were faster entering the US market. smile_tongue But I’m hearing that may not be too far now …

Update (11/12): check out Dennis Howlett’s post on Interprise Suite, another integrated system for the SMB market.

post

Yahoo Getting Stale

I’m lazy. This must be an only reason my browser’s homepage is still my.yahoo.com, set 10 or so years ago, instead of Netvibes or some other hot site.  I rarely read stuff here, relying on social filtering – i.e. if something is of interest to me, it will likely show up in my feed reader, through a trusted individual’s blog.

Today I semi-automatically clicked on a news item and had that deja vu feeling… no wonder:

 

“Full coverage” (whatever the source) updated 4 days ago,  Reuters updated 4 days ago.  Not displayed, but AP Europe updated 3 days ago, San Jose Merc 3 days ago, Contra Costa times 3 days ago ..etc.

Is My Yahoo dead?

Update (116): Read about Start Pages / Widgets on the Read/Write Web. 

post

Web 2.x Conferences at Your Price

The Big Week is coming… and you get to pick how much you’re willing to pay for being “there”.   If you got invited and coughed up $3,500, you can be at the Web 2.0 Conference which is actually no longer a conference but a Summit.  If you didn’t make it there, don’t worry, thanks to Chris Pirillo, here’s the summary:

 Truthiness

 

Of course if you want to get ahead of the crowd, you can upgrade… all the way to  Web 2.2

The 2.2 upgrade is considerably less expensive, registration is only $32.95.  Of course it’s all so relative, the original Web 2.1 which I had a chance to sponsor was a mere $2.80 – yes, that’s not a mistake, $2.80.   Now, if we do a little trendspotting, we can figure out what one of the talk topics will be about: at Web 2.3 and Beyond, What’s Really Next? they will have to decide whether to increase next year’s price to $329.50. smile_speedy

(OK, just kidding, $32.95 is still affordable)

Happy (Un)Conferencing next week.  Oh, and if you’re not attending any of these events, meet Guy Kawasaki, dozens of VC’s and 30 or so startups here. (The Lamborghini is not included in registrationsmile_wink)

 

 

post

Mega-Event: Art of the Start / Launch Silicon Valley with Guy Kawasaki by Garage / SVASE (and the Lamborghini is a Surprise…)

(Updated)
Mark November 8th, Wednesday on your calendar for a full-day entrepreneurial super-event (actually two) at the Microsoft Conference Center in Mountain View.

At 8am SVASE will present The Art of the Start, a conference all about helping entrepreneurs succeed, offering time-tested, battle-hardened business strategies and the opportunity to meet experienced entrepreneurs and investors.

The drought of the past few years is over and venture capital is flowing again. But starting a high tech business is no less challenging and demanding than it’s ever been, even in an environment of venture capital overhang.

Pure talent and winning ideas are never enough. Whether you’re an entrepreneur in a garage, dorm room, lab or inside a big company, there are fundamental business insights and skills you need to succeed.

Start-up authority and popular business author Guy Kawasaki and experts from Garage, along with Silicon Valley leaders and mavericks, venture capitalists, and successful start-up CEOs explore the art of starting up.

The conference includes breakfast and lunch, including a Fireside Chat with Guy Kawasaki and Mike Arrington of TechCrunch. Check out the agenda here, then rush to register. Rush, as Early Bird registration ends tomorrow, November 3rd. (Yes, I know, posting this late, sorry…)

The conference ends at 3:30, and an hour later a related event, Launch: Silicon Valley starts at the same venue.

Launch: Silicon Valley is an opportunity for the next generation of emerging technology companies will to tell their stories to the world – literally, as the event will be videotaped and broadcast later. Over 150 startup submissions from all over the country, several European countries and as far as New Zealand have been reviewed by an Advisory Board of investors and executives. The 30 most interesting companies have been invited to participate in the “Launch: Silicon Valley” showcase, and 15 of these companies have also been invited to deliver product presentation to an audience of Silicon Valley’s leading movers and shakers.

Product presentations will take place in three categories, 5 companies each:

  • Information Technology, Communications & related technologies
  • Life Science, Material Science, CleanTech
  • Consumer & Other

Please check out the complete agenda, and again, rush to register, as Early Bird pricing ends tomorrow, November 3rd for this event, too. The Registration site allows you to book both events together, or any of them selectively.

Now, for the surprise: Silicon Valley Auto Group will be displaying Aston Martin, Bentley, and Lamborghini cars at both events, and I’m hearing they’ll schedule test-drives. I’m sure half the participants – the cream of the Valley VC community – can actually afford these cars… as for the other half, the Entrepreneurs, how is this for an incentive? smile_wink

Update (11/4): I can now give away a few hugely discounted tickets ( $49 vs. $199).

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

post

After SaaS Here Comes SbP: (Microsoft) Software By Parachute

Microsoft invented (?) a new software delivery model: Software by Parachute.   Apparently they blanketed the town of Willow Springs, IL with aerial droppings of the new Accounting software.  If the embedded player does not work, watch the videos here and here. (hat tip: Julius Danilevsky)

 

 

Note: I have no way to verify if this is a hoax or real, but I suppose we’ll know within hours.