Archives for September 2008

Minnov8 Gang Podcast – Episode 8

September 27, 2008 By Steve Borsch

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Graeme Thickins, Garrick Van Buren, Phil Wilson

Scattered geographically once again, the Gang comes together for another show where we chat about:

+ Our potential economic meltdown and what it means for internet and web startups and companies

+ What’s up with Best Buy? We chat about how this behemoth retailer has now suddenly burst onto the scene with a whole range of internet-centric initiatives (see Minnov8 posts here and here)

+ Tim O’Reilly’s Web 2.0 Expo keynote where he denigrates developers seemingly focused on trivial applications like throwing sheep

+ The “Unsummit” going on as an alternative for those unable to get in to the MIMA Summit (it’s sold out).

The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 33:26 — 19.4MB)

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Visi: A Minnesota Provider Growing to Meet Demand

September 25, 2008 By Steve Borsch

Visi, a company many of us are familiar with since their founding in 1994, is Minnesota’s largest locally-owned managed hosting and connectivity provider (11,000 business and residential customers which includes thousands of DSL customers). What most don’t know is that they’re expanding right here in Eden Prairie, with a Tier III data center, in order to meet growing demand.

A Tier III data center has 99.982% uptime, backup power, and other infrastructure that ensure mission-critical serving continues with only minor downtime (To learn more about data center tiers, view this article or this PDF from Minnesota telecom company, ADC).

As the awareness and creation of composite applications (i.e., mashups), Software as a Service (SaaS), web applications, mobile smartphone delivery and other internet-connected accelerates here in Minnesota and anywhere else an internet connection is found, it’s a business imperative to have access to world-class infrastructure as well as the service and support necessary to meet our hosting needs.

Beyond that imperative lies something that few understand, let alone have created strategies to meet and exceed expectations: performance and user experience.

When more and more of us either use or deliver applications that have connections to multiple served applications (e.g., your website also serves a forum, wiki, blog, and applications), performance is always critical. But in a Web 2.0 day when data resides in multiple locations; web applications have functionality delivered by multiple providers in different geographies; and people’s expectations are for immediate access to the cloud with snappy performance; a provider that understands the entire chain from you to the cloud and back is a choice to consider relying on.

Fortunately we have a key provider right here in Minnesota that “gets it” and they’re growing and expanding to meet demand, performance expectations and the increasing online emphasis by Minnesotans.

… [Read More…]

Mashup Best Buy

September 23, 2008 By Steve Borsch

Best Buy has released Remix at the Web 2.0 Expo in New York City, allowing anyone to create a mashup with Best Buy online catalog content. An application programming interface (API) — documented though light on code or examples — allows queries into Best Buy’s online catalog and results to be returned from those queries.

As they say on their site, “Remix is an API that gives you access to BestBuy.com’s product catalog data. What you do with it is up to you.”

Really? I’d assume that some sort of terms of service would be forthcoming.

Joshua Michele Ross over at O’Reilly Radar (O’Reilly is the brain trust behind the Expo), has this excellent post about the import of Best Buy doing this:

“Best Buy is thinking much more strategically about the value of the Internet by allowing anyone to reinvent their entire online store. With “access to all the data that feeds Bestbuy.com” imagine the potential of creating your own, curated site on top of Best Buy’s catalog and supply chain. Imagine top Blue Shirts running their own online stores with select merchandise that they stand behind or imagine a thousand home-theater geeks and “go-to-guys” (and girls) extending their expertise and word-of-mouth via their own online stores.”

I’ll throw in one more: imagine you run a price comparison site that allows an online shopper to instantly compare pricing to another (though this can be done with screen scraping, but this API makes it much easier).

I must say that with BlueShirtNation, their prediction markets, what we experienced over at the Social Media Breakfast (specifically with this video), I grow more impressed by the week with the calculated risk, openness and forward-thinking this retailer is pursuing. Kudos Best Buy.

Moodle Makes Its Mark

September 22, 2008 By Steve Borsch

Today’s accelerating adoption of open source software (OSS), and the shift from desktop to web applications increasingly built on top of OSS, is being embraced by individuals, the non-profit sector, small, midsize, and even enterprise businesses.

As more of us get connected via the internet and through web applications, seek ways to make our collaboration more powerful, shift our old serial and linear processes to ones that are parallel and associative, OSS is a key building block of internet and web technologies and applications. OSS is also gaining momentum globally and affecting all industries and institutions, even educational ones.

That said, educational institutions often lag the private sector in adopting new technologies until proven, especially the Kindergarten through senior high school (K-12) levels. K-12 is often seen as risk-averse and needing clarity about the efficacy and pedagogy of using any particular technology. It must be proven and the benefits to learning and student achievement crystal clear before any technology is implemented, especially OSS.

On the flip side, higher education is a hotbed of OSS use and many projects have origins in colleges and universities. One could argue that our public institutions taking risks, researching new possibilities, and pushing against the membrane of the future is at least as important as their educational mission and has contributed code and thought leadership in OSS.

Though I’ve been aware of the OSS learning management system called “Moodle” (Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment) for some time, I was both delighted at what I discovered at the U of MN and surprised (stunned might be the better word) by its adoption within Eden Prairie schools where my son attends high school.

There are lessons in this story for all of us about how two very different educational organizations recognized that collaboration, human connection, and the move to parallel and associative learning is at the core of education going forward, and took calculated risk with the OSS Moodle to meet new needs.

… [Read More…]

Minnov8 Gang Podcast – Episode 7

September 20, 2008 By Steve Borsch

We were absolutely delighted this week to have three very special guests who joined the Gang for a discussion about ‘net and web innovation in Minnesota:

– Katharine Grayson: Staff Writer for the Twin Cities Business Journal. Katharine covers the internet and web technology beat for the paper, but she’s also expanded into other technologies (e.g., MSP solar array funding, biotech) giving her unique perspectives.

– Julio Ojeda-Zapata: Reporter for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, blogger, and author (his new book, “Twitter Means Business: How Microblogging Can Help or Hurt Your Company” will be on bookshelves soon). Julio can be reached at jojeda@pioneerpress.com. Get more of his perspective on personal tech at twincities.com/techtestdrive and yourtechweblog.com. You can also follow him at twitter.com/jojeda.

– Jon Gordon: Future Tense, a show which you’ve undoubtedly heard broadcast during Minnesota Public Radio’s Morning Edition program. The show is both produced and hosted by Jon Gordon, a Minnesota Public Radio reporter based in Silicon Valley. Follow Jon at twitter.com/jongordon.

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins, Phil Wilson

The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:04:41 — 37.6MB)

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Show Notes:

+ Julio’s post on Minnesota Public Radio’s new, free iPhone app (get it here) done by Codemorphic

+ Discussion on broadband where Minnesota’s Ultra High Speed Broadband task force came up (latest minutes are here in this PDF) and Jon mentioned a show he’d done (here) and his interview with a cybersecurity firm called Packet Clearing House.

+ As you listen, you may notice at times the audio is a bit “hot” and I apologize for that — there’s a bit more distortion than normal and I couldn’t minimize it enough in post-production. We tried a new, high quality ‘bridge’ recording platform (HiDefConferencing) — instead of using a single Gang-member hosted Skype conference call — and while it allowed our guests to easily call in with a combination of Skype, landlines or mobile phones, it was more challenging to control levels. I’ll have it figured out by next time.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:04:41 — 37.6MB)

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MN’s Own CodeWeavers Releases ‘CrossOver’ Version of Chrome Browser for Mac and Linux

September 16, 2008 By Graeme Thickins

Talk about a brilliant move to get some attention. St. Paul-MN based CodeWeavers has extended the Google Chromium browser launch beyond Windows by announcing the release of “CrossOver Chromium” for Mac and Linux, available immediately as a free download. Here’s the press release. (Note: To date, Google has only made the new browser available in a Windows beta version, which was announced on September 2, 2008.)

CodeWeavers says it is offering its version as a proof-of-concept “so Mac and Linux users can try firsthand the power and flexibility of the new Chromium open source browser.” CrossOver Chromium also showcases the power of Wine, which allows CodeWeavers to rapidly migrate technology from Windows to alternate platforms. (Here’s more about The Wine Project.)

“We did this to prove a point,” said Jeremy White, CodeWeavers CEO, in the press release. “The message is very simply this: if you are a Windows software vendor, and you want to get your product into new markets, you should pay attention to Wine. Wine is a very powerful tool for bringing your product to new audiences in the Mac and Linux spaces. And in many cases Wine is faster and more economical than doing a native port.”

You have to love White’s latest blog post, Fire Drills and Proving a Point, which tells the story of how they pulled off their Chrome version. An excerpt: “So in a CodeWeavers management meeting one day, we were looking for a way to show off Wine’s new maturity, particularly for porting applications. What we needed was a freely redistributable application; one that didn’t exist on Mac or Linux, but one that was readily understandable….And then a little bird flew in the Window and chirped ‘Chromium’, and we knew we had it.”

CodeWeavers is no upstart. Founded in 1996, it brings expanded market opportunities for Windows software developers by making it easier, faster, and more painless to port Windows software to Linux. The firm is recognized as a leader in open-source Windows porting technology, and maintains development offices in Minnesota, the UK, and elsewhere around the world.

This announcement is just another example of the creativity and expertise in Minnesota’s developer community. Congratulations to CodeWeavers! I can hardy wait to hear how hard their site will get hit today with Mac and Linux users all trying to download the browser at the same time. Glad I got in early and got mine! It will also be interesting to watch for Google’s reaction. I gathered that a Mac version was still quite a ways off, and here CodeWeavers does it in a week… 🙂

Best Buy Acquires Napster

September 15, 2008 By Steve Borsch

Best Buy has entered into a definitive merger agreement to commence a tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of the troubled Napster for $121 million, or $2.65 per share.

According to the joint press release, “The proposed acquisition includes Napster’s approximately 700,000 digital entertainment subscribers, its Web-based customer service platform, and innovative mobile capabilities. In conjunction with the definitive merger agreement, Napster CEO Chris Gorog and key members of senior management of Napster have entered into employment agreements, effective at closing, pursuant to which they have agreed to continue as the Napster leadership post-acquisition.”

With Best Buy’s acquisition last year of Speakeasy, minority investment in, and partnership with, video sharing company Mydeo, along with the $2.1 billion stake in European mobile retail juggernaut Carphone Warehouse, the company is clearly and strategically positioning themselves to be a leader in digital distribution.

The press release is after the jump and the Napster SEC filing is here.

… [Read More…]

3M Unveils Handheld Projector

September 14, 2008 By Steve Borsch

$3M\'s new handheld projector$ Imagine you are expecting to present to an investor, a customer or a single client, and several people show up? You could have everyone crowd around your laptop and hope to see what you’re presenting, or instead you could pull this tiny 3M projector out of your briefcase or backpack and ensure everyone could see and make a much bigger impact.

I carry a small Panasonic Lumix camera with video capture capability with me at all times. Also in my briefcase is my M-Audio Microtrack recorder and I’ve frequently pulled it out for instant interviewing. Too often I’ve been in situations where a projector like this would’ve come in extremely handy and I’d definitely have one with me if something this small was available.

Popular Science (PopSci), having a pre-release version of this projector, agreed to wait until launch in the US, but 3M’s German subsidiary apparently beat their US counterparts to launch. PopSci does have the ‘official’ 3M press photograph on their site (the one above), and I’d encourage you to read their informative post here.

More intriguing to me, however, is that this projector appears to work in fairly bright ambient light. If you’d like to see a couple of videos of a pre-release prototype from January of this year (and it’s pretty tough to get a true feel for the quality with YouTube videos shot with a camcorder!), take a peek at this PopSci article.

At the stated price-point of $359, I predict this little gadget is going to sell like crazy.

Minnov8 Gang Podcast – Episode 6

September 13, 2008 By Steve Borsch

We covered a lot of ground this week even though there were only three of us who could make the call.

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Graeme Thickins, Phil Wilson

The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 50:53 — 29.4MB)

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Mentioned in this weeks show are:

+ Why Broadband Matters: A MN Senate Full Committee Meeting on September 16th at 10am. “The Committee will receive testimony regarding the consumer benefits of broadband service in areas such as education, job opportunities, telemedicine, and access to government resources.” If you have an opinion or care about broadband in Minnesota, you should be there and/or testify.

+ Apple and the controversy over the rejection of an iPhone application from the app store called “Podcaster” (You can see a video of Podcaster, and/or order the application, here).

+ Graeme’s recap of Techcrunch 50 and Demo 2008. In particular, he brings up Best Buy’s Giftag launch (If you’d like to watch a video of the Best Buy Giftag launch at Demo, click “Continue Reading” below) as well as Grokit.

+ The Minnesota Cup showcased the winners and finalists last Thursday evening.

+ A mention of open source Moodle and the launch of Flowgram.

+ Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal article here

+ More info is here on the Demo site

+ Read/Write Web’s coverage here

+ CNet’s article here.