todaytest 04/25/2008

• Fyreball User Login - Fyreball - Annotated

  tags: utr2

  • Fyreball is a fast, fun and better way to share the best stuff with your friends.
    See a video or picture that made you laugh 'till you snorted?
    Got a web game that you can't stop playing? Fyre it up.
    

    
    We're gonna stop with the jibber jabber now, because that's boring.
    Sign up and see what we're talking about!

todaytest 04/24/2008

• Ex-Googlers working on stealth social search | Tech news blog - CNET News.com - Annotated

  tags: utr2

  • Ex-Googlers working on stealth social search

    
    
    
    

    
    
    Posted by Stefanie Olsen
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    | Post a comment
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    

    
    

    Nathan Stoll, former product lead of Google News, has been quietly working on a new social search service he started with the help of two other Google refugees, CNET News.com has learned. The site, called Mechanical Zoo, is poised to launch in beta next month.

    
    
    

    The San Francisco company, which is about 9 months old, has an impressive team of tech veterans. It was co-founded by Stoll; Max Ventilla, a former business development manager at Google; and Damon Horowitz, a longtime computer scientist and former lead engineer of Perspecta, a search software company that sold to Excite@Home in the dot-com heyday. Fritz Schneider, who was an application-security engineer at Google for about five years, heading up the Google Firefox team, is also a part of the 12-person staff.

todaytest 04/22/2008

• U.S. Lags in Social Media Creation, per Survey - Annotated

  tags: utr2

  • NEW YORK A new global study of social media use reveals that
    the U.S. severely lags behind Asian and South American countries in
    participation rates.
    
     
    
    Consumers in the U.S. and Western Europe are more likely to be
    passive social-media participants -- sharing videos and reading
    blogs -- while those in emerging markets often create content
    through blogging, social networks and video and photo sharing
    sites.
    
    
    
    
    "By and large, in the U.S. we're a country of voyeurs," said David
    Cohen, U.S. director of digital communications at Universal McCann,
    which conducted the study. "We love to watch and consume content
    created by others, but there's a fairly small group that are doing
    that creation -- unlike China, which is a country of
    creators."

todaytest 04/20/2008

• TechCrunch UK » Blog Archive » Web Mission 08: UK startups to visit Silicon Valley - Annotated

  tags: utr2, startups

  • based on their business viability and the strength of the management team. And they looked for a mix of companies that showed the breadth of what the UK has to offer in this space. The aim is for the companies “to explore new opportunities for growth with key people in Silicon Valley.”

    
    

    So, without further ado, the confirmed companies for Web Mission 08 are:

    
    

    Groupspaces - Web-based tools for groups

    
    

    Tioti - A social network around TV

    
    

    Exabre (TheFilter) - Advanced music recommendation

    
    

    Coull - Interactive video platform

    
    

    Zogix - Employee services platform

    
    

    Byteplay (dotHomes) - Real estate search engine

    
    

    Trampoline Systems - Enterprise software harnessing social behaviour

    
    

    Hubdub - News prediction social network

    
    

    WAYN - travel and lifestyle social networking community

    
    

    TrustedPlaces - Venue recommendation network

    
    

    Slicethepie - Enabling bands to raise money directly from their fans

    
    

    Mydeo - Mainstream application for storing and sharing video

    
    

    Skimbit - Research and share decisions

    
    

    Huddle - Enterprise 2.0 collaboration

    
    

    Rummble - Mobile social networking and recommendation

    
    

    Zebtab - Desktop TV application

    
    

    Silobreaker - Contextual and graphic search results

    
    

    Kwiqq - Social Website builder

    
    

    edocr - Making business documents interactive

    
    

    ShortFuze - Online movie creation tools for social networks

• Coull - Annotated

  tags: no_tag

  • To read more about the Web Mission (including an agenda) go to: www.webmission08.com

    
    

    
    

    The 20 companies embarking on the Web Mission are: 

    
    

    
    

    Groupspaces - Web-based tools for groups

    
    

    Tioti - A social network around TV

    
    

    Exabre (TheFilter) - Advanced music recommendation

    
    

    Coull - Interactive video platform

    
    

    Zogix - Employee services platform

    
    

    Byteplay (dotHomes) - Real estate search engine

    
    

    Trampoline Systems - Enterprise software harnessing social behaviour

    
    

    Hubdub - News prediction social network

    
    

    WAYN - travel and lifestyle social networking community

    
    

    TrustedPlaces - Venue recommendation network

    
    

    Slicethepie - Enabling bands to raise money directly from their fans

    
    

    Mydeo - Mainstream application for storing and sharing video

    
    

    Skimbit - Research and share decisions

    
    

    Huddle - Enterprise 2.0 collaboration

    
    

    Rummble - Mobile social networking and recommendation

    
    

    Zebtab - Desktop TV application

    
    

    Silobreaker - Contextual and graphic search results

    
    

    Kwiqq - Social Website builder

    
    

    edocr - Making business documents interactive

    
    

    ShortFuze - Online movie creation tools for social networks

    
    

    
    

    Details on the 20 selected companies are listed in TechCruch.    

    
    

    Click here to see the article on Netimperative’s website.  

todaytest 04/19/2008

• With a nod to the Valley, CBS Interactive shuffles management | The Social - CNET News.com - Annotated

  tags: utr, la

  • CBS Interactive, the media giant's digital division, has announced the opening of a Silicon Valley office and an executive reshuffling to focus on growth, President Quincy Smith announced Thursday.

    
    
    

    The CBS Interactive satellite office in Menlo Park, Calif., has opened, with its eye on tech partnerships and acquisitions. The Valley branch will "allow the company to better facilitate existing partnerships in the area, and future ones as well," a release from CBS explained.

todaytest 04/18/2008

• eXelate Raises $4M for Delayed-Ad Exchange - Annotated

  tags: utr2, advertising

  • In another example that investments in Internet advertising startups are far from cooling, eXelate is announcing a $4M investment from Carmel Ventures.

    
    

    The Israeli company offers a marketplace called the “eXelate Targeting eXchange” which is focused on what they are calling “Delayed-Ads.”

    
    

    Here’s how it works: An ad network participating in eXelate’s exchange purchases from publishers the right to place Delayed-Ad cookies on users with vertical-specific interests (travel, automotive, etc.). When such users later visit publisher sites that fall under the realm of the ad network, they are shown targeted ads relevant to the interest-specific site they received their Delayed-Ad cookie on. Hence, “Delayed-Ad.”

• Attributor Launches Service to Track Copyright Infringement Across the Web - Annotated

  tags: utr2

  • Every media company on the planet knows that its articles, songs, photos, and videos are being copied and spread willy-nilly across the Web, but they don’t have a clue what to do about it. They are not even sure what to do about all of their stuff that is just on YouTube (should they let Google monitor itself or create some vague industry guidelines and hope that every site follows them?). A startup called Attributor in Redwood City, Calif. says it can monitor the Web for copied content no matter where it may be, help publishers and media companies track it all, and help them decide what to do about it.

    
    

    Attributor was founded in 2005 and has raised $10 million from Sigma Partners, Selby Ventures, Draper Richards, First Round Capital and Amicus. The enterprise version of its service launches today, although it has been testing it with Reuters and AP for about six months. The enterprise service will cost anywhere from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year (a more limited self-serve version for bloggers and smaller publishers could cost as little as $6 or $7 per month, and will launch in 2008). CEO Jim Brock gave me a demo of Attributor last week in the lobby of the Waldorf Astoria.

• Want To See How I Make A Screencast? « Demo Girl - Annotated

  companes should see this and make screen casts for our site

  tags: utr

  • Want To See How I Make A Screencast?

    
    

    14Jan08

    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    

    
    

    Not all screencasts are created equal.  What I mean by that is, there are lots of different tools one can use in order to create a screencast.  There are different types of software and applications such as Jing, Demo Builder, CamStudio, uTIPu, and what I use, Camtasia Studio.  There are also lots of different settings and effects you can use within those tools.  I decided to show you what steps I go through before, during, and after recording a screencast to end up with what you normally will see as an end product on DemoGirl.  This is not really a tutorial on how to use Camtasia Studio.  It’s more of a way for me to show you what settings I use when creating a screencast.  Hopefully it will be useful to those just getting started.

    
    

    At first, I wasn’t sure how I was going to record a screencast showing how I record a screencast.   Sound confusing?  Yeah, it did to me too.  Then I remembered that even though I long ago upgraded to Camtasia Studio Version 4, I still have Version 3.  So, I made the recording with version 3 but showed you all of the features I use in version 4.  Pretty nifty, huh?  Here’s my screencast tour of how I make screencasts for DemoGirl:

    
    

    Click Here To Watch The Screencast 7m49s

    
    

    Want this screencast on your site?  Click here to get the code for this and other DemoGirl screencasts

• Demo Girl - Annotated

  tags: no_tag

  • Want To See How I Make A Screencast?

    
    

    14Jan08

    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    

    
    

    Not all screencasts are created equal.  What I mean by that is, there are lots of different tools one can use in order to create a screencast.  There are different types of software and applications such as Jing, Demo Builder, CamStudio, uTIPu, and what I use, Camtasia Studio.  There are also lots of different settings and effects you can use within those tools.  I decided to show you what steps I go through before, during, and after recording a screencast to end up with what you normally will see as an end product on DemoGirl.  This is not really a tutorial on how to use Camtasia Studio.  It’s more of a way for me to show you what settings I use when creating a screencast.  Hopefully it will be useful to those just getting started.

    
    

    At first, I wasn’t sure how I was going to record a screencast showing how I record a screencast.   Sound confusing?  Yeah, it did to me too.  Then I remembered that even though I long ago upgraded to Camtasia Studio Version 4, I still have Version 3.  So, I made the recording with version 3 but showed you all of the features I use in version 4.  Pretty nifty, huh?  Here’s my screencast tour of how I make screencasts for DemoGirl:

    
    

    Click Here To Watch The Screencast 7m49s

    
    

    Want this screencast on your site?  Click here to get the code for this and other DemoGirl screencasts

todaytest 04/16/2008

• Entrepreneurial Series: Plain English Term Sheets - Mysteries Revealed - Annotated

  tags: blogpost

  • Location:
    WEBINAR
    
    
    Series:
    (none)
    
    
    Description:
    
    
    
    Entrepreneurial Series: Plain English Term Sheets - Mysteries Revealed
    
    
    
    Tuesday, April 22, 2008
    
    12:00-1:00pm Program
    
    
    WEBINAR
    
    
    
    The Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council's Entrepreneurial Cluster presents a special call-in talk show on term sheets. This plain-English discussion is designed for entrepreneurs and business people and features star lawyers Jeff Stoler of McCarter & English, LLP and Sarah Reed of Lowenstein Sandler PC (and former in-house counsel for Charles River Ventures). James Geshwiler of CommonAngels moderates.

• Boston startup events and resources - Annotated

  tags: boston, utr

  • 
    Boston startup events and resources
    
    

    
    
    

    
    

    Boston loves startups. The Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council is doing a great job setting up events. Watch the MTLC site for future dates. Here are just a few of the upcoming events this week and next.

    
    
    

     

todaytest 04/11/2008

• Ustream and more (Tech Confidential - VC Ratings) - Annotated

  Ustream.tv Inc. of Los Altos, Calif., disclosed an $11.1 million Series A round of funding

  tags: success

  • INTERNET

    
    

    USTREAM
    Online video broadcasting platform Ustream.tv Inc. of Los Altos, Calif., disclosed an $11.1 million Series A round of funding. Investors in the round were DCM and the Band of Angels, both of Menlo Park, Calif., and Labrador Ventures of Palo Alto, Calif. Other Ustream stakeholders include Western Technology Investment of San Jose, Calif., and Infinity Venture Partners Incubator Fund of Japan. Ustream enables individual users to create live broadcasts of events and claims to have gathered more than 2 million users and 250,000 broadcasters since the site was launched in March 2007.

todaytest 04/09/2008

• StartupCamp5AttendeeList - StartupCamp - Annotated

  tags: utr2

  • StartupCamp5AttendeeList

    
    

    
    

    From StartupCamp

    
    

    
    

    Jump to: navigation, search

    
    

    Who's Coming to Startup Camp San Francisco

todaytest 04/05/2008

How William Morris and other Hollywood agencies are getting into tech startups and investing » VentureBeat  Annotated

tags: la

All manner of Hollywood businesses are looking at how they can make themselves profitable online. The future isn’t clear for stalwarts like the larger music labels and movie studios. But there are other power players in the media who are making moves. In particular it’s worth looking at the role that Hollywood talent agencies are starting to play in connecting technology companies with the media and advertising industries.

All four of the largest talent agencies are looking at how to put themselves at the center of digital media. Perhaps the one most open about its efforts is the William Morris Agency, which recently partnered with Silicon Valley venture firms Accel Partners and Venrock, and telecommunications giant AT&T, to co-invest in promising media-related startups. WMA’s rival, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), has also been looking at raising a large digital media fund, together with Draper Richards Jurvetson — although it’s still little more than rumor.

Beyond investing in promising startups, WMA sees itself as a sort of “extended business development” arm of a technology startup, much like the role that it takes for the actors, directors, writers, musicians, professional athletes and other “talent” (celebrities) it represents. Take, for example, its role in helping Sunnyvale, Calif.-based mobile video company MyWaves.

William Morris and MyWaves’ growth

todaytest 04/04/2008

Xoopit Launches Private Beta of First Application for Webmail to Help People Discover, Organize and Share Rich Media in the Inbox; Also Announces $5 Million Series A led by Accel Partners and Foundation Capital  Annotated

tags: utr2

 Xoopit Launches Private Beta of First Application for Webmail to Help People Discover, Organize and Share Rich Media in the Inbox; Also Announces $5 Million Series A led by Accel Partners and Foundation Capital

    The inbox is the largest untapped social network in the world and has
remained relatively unchanged for two decades, until now



    SAN FRANCISCO, March 31 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Xoopit released the
first product to bring the power of the social web to email by combining
the benefits of social networks and media management within email
environments. Xoopit finds the pictures, videos, and files buried in
webmail's gigabytes of free storage, and allows users to share, comment,
and post them to their contacts on other social networks and blogs. The
product was released today in private beta with initial client support for
Google's Gmail and automatically imports shared media from the top photo
and video sharing networks such as YouTube, Flickr, Kodak, Shutterfly, and
Picasaweb.

todaytest 04/03/2008

iControl, Vlingo and more (Tech Confidential - VC Ratings)  Annotated

tags: success

Internet

Vlingo
Mobile voice search startup Vlingo Corporation has secured a $20 million Series B financing led by Yahoo! Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif. Also participating were existing investors Charles River Ventures of Waltham, Mass., and Sigma Partners of Boston. Cambridge, Mass.-based Vlingo plans to will use the capital for international expansion and product development. Yahoo! will take a seat on the company's board of directors. The Internet portal uses Vlingo's voice-powered interface to enable searches on mobile phones for its Yahoo! oneSearch product. --G.W.

todaytest 04/02/2008

Social gaming picks up momentum  Annotated

tags: utr2

Social Gaming Network, whose games include War Book, spun off from Freewebs earlier this year and started operating in Palo Alto this month.

"We're in the Pong stages of social gaming," said Shervin Pishevar, CEO of Social Gaming. "In terms of building new ideas, you should expect to see innovation for what it means to be a game and tap into the social graph, the people you enjoy playing games with."

Veeple uses Flash to make videos come alive with ad links » VentureBeat  Annotated

tags: no_tag

The Los Gatos, Calif. company can embed anything — including advertising web page links — into videos. It does so by putting an interactive overlay on top of a video in the Adobe Flash format. It thus makes the video come alive with links and other creative features. Users can thus imprint their own thoughts on a video in the parts where they want and then share it with their friends.

You can place a “VeeSpot” on any part of a video and make that spot interactive. You can turn it into a speech or a thought bubble with a sarcastic message. You can also record a voice message that plays when someone clicks on the VeeSpot. If you want, you can quickly share that video with family, friends, or everyone you know.

Omnisio also uses its Flash overlay to allow people to make comments on videos. (Our coverage). PLYmedia also allows movie viewers to embed comments in speech bubbles in movies.

With Veeple, you can also embed an ad link, such as an eBay logo, into a video. Users who click upon Madonna’s sunglasses in a video can thus link directly to a site where they can buy those glasses.

Scott Broomfield, CEO of Veeple, says that Veeple can distinguish itself from its rivals in a variety of ways. The company has its own object recognition technology that it can use to find and recognize objects within a video. Hence, if an advertiser puts a VeeSpot on an object in a video, that VeeSpot will appear whenever that object appears in the video.

“We consider these links within a video to be unintrusive to the viewer,” Broomfield said. “Since viewers aren’t putting up with 30-second commercials, we consider this to be the next logical step for video advertising.”

todaytest 04/01/2008

Online Chat, as Inspired by Real Chat - New York Times  Annotated

tags: no_tag

Vivaty, a start-up based in Menlo Park, Calif., is creating 3-D virtual chat rooms that people can add to the Web pages and social networking profiles on the sites where they spend most of their Internet time.

The company has been quietly working on its technology for three years and will begin a private test period on Facebook this week in advance of a wider introduction this summer. It is backed by the blue-chip venture capital firms Kleiner, Perkins Caufield & Byers and Mohr Davidow Ventures.

Vivaty turns a flat profile page into a three-dimensional live chat room. Users choose characters to represent themselves from a list of preternaturally handsome avatars — a requirement for any such service — and proceed to one of a dozen environments, like a gothic urban warehouse or seaside villa.

With videogame-like precision, they can then navigate that virtual space, which may feature their Facebook photos hanging from the walls and a YouTube video playing on a widescreen TV. Up to 15 others can choose avatars and enter the same room at the same time for text-based live socializing.