Top Startup

Another shameless attempt at self-promotion

The site I’ve been working on, PrayAbout.com just got written up in the Boston Globe:

Internet start-up PrayAbout.com marries the ultimate in user-generated content — people’s deepest prayers — with the collective empathy of the crowd, in a variation on the social dynamics that have become common on secular sites.

“I was tired of seeing a video of a grandmother falling down or someone recommending a news story — this is trying to add some real value to peoples’ lives,” said Rodger Desai, who helped develop PrayAbout.

Read the whole Boston.com article ->

Popularity: 11% [?]

Video: Business Time

It’s the weekend, and that means it’s Business Time. Enjoy!

Popularity: 7% [?]

Fat friends make you fatter

At least that’s what a segment I saw on the today show said:

…if someone’s friend becomes obese, that person’s chances of becoming obese increase by more than half.

Siblings and spouses also have an influence, although a reduced one — people whose siblings became obese were themselves 40 percent more likely to grow obese, while people whose spouses became obese were 37 percent more likely to.

To me it makes sense. We mirror ourselves on what we see in our friends. Let’s take that a little further:

• Lazy friends make you lazier?
• Rich friends make you richer?
• Smart friends make you smarter?

So, here’s my recommendation: Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 18% [?]

Hey business person, is that wool over your eyes?

Business people are the scorn of developers. “What does she do? Without us developers, this project would be dead”. Are you going to sit there and be ignorant to the mysteries of development? Or are you going to learn something about it? Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 16% [?]

East Coast, West Coast – what’s the difference?

Apparently for start ups, a lot! Scott Kirsner has written a cheeky article in the Boston Globe “Will Boston ever catch up?“. In it he criticizes Massachusetts for focusing too much on corporate technology and not enough on consumer technology. How does a Boston startup get Boston VC funds? Move to California! Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 9% [?]

Click fraud rampant on Looksmart ?

Looksmart is a smaller PPC (pay per click) advertising platform. Google is the gorilla in the room and offers great tools to track the conversions of other systems. Unfortunately, I cant give you specific numbers. I can tell you that Google, Yahoo and Microsoft are all within 1 – 2 percentage points of each other. Looksmart is around 10% lower than the others on conversions. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 15% [?]

Pownce lead developer Leah Culver looks like Veronica Mars

Check out the picture below. Kevin Rose’s lead developer for Pownce, Leah Culver is Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) minus detective skills and plus computer skills. What skills would you use to win her? Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 100% [?]

37 Signals doesn’t understand Web 2.0

They may have helped define it, but they don’t get it!

I was reading a review by Robby on Rails about Highrise. One of the responders, Will had this to say about 37 Signals:

It doesn’t make sense to me. On the web (2.0) the mantra is integration, and yet here we have a single company releases compartmentalized applications that are an ideal extension of one another.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 21% [?]

Late Night Shots – smutty social networking

Washington (D.C. that is) has a social network for the young elite. Unfortunately, their debaucheries have been exposed in a scathing article by Angela Valdez, a reporter for the Washington City Paper.

Some highlights:

Then the bearded one in the middle busts out with this: “Do you like anal sex?” I squint. I’m confused. “Do you do anal?” he repeats, head bobbing with excitement. The litany continues. Do I want to take it in the ass? Have I ever taken it in the ass? My silence is taken as an affirmative and he announces that this interview will go no further unless he receives a hand job.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 12% [?]

Skype – Software for business people in startups

Unless you’re living under a rock, you know Skype. Skype lets you call other people free using your computer. Im going to show you some ways to use Skype in your startup to maximize your effectiveness. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 18% [?]