Archives for August 2009

Minnov8 Gang Podcast 49: MN State Fair & Snowy Leopard

August 29, 2009 By Steve Borsch

yeehaw Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins, Phil Wilson and Julio Ojeda Zapata.
Music: Rustie Blue from Music Alley, purveyor of podsafe tunes.

The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:04:30 — 37.5MB)

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Discussed during the show notes:

Social Media Breakfast-Minneapolis St. Paul (SMBMSP) and these items: Julio’s image gallery and his use of PicPosterous; Graeme’s video; Hart Van Denburg’s article in City Pages
Apple’s Snow Leopard: Steve’s experience post; getting ready for the upgrade using Onyx; The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg review; the fabulous screencast creation tool that both Phil and Steve use called Screenflow
Screensharing: Adobe Reader 9; Mikogo; Dim-Dim; Skype screensharing
Other: HTML 5 article; Forrester analysts start own firm; Microsoft’s Office.com; Free Agent Nation by Dan Pink; Rainmaker’s Conference; MIMA Summit; Steve’s blog for Scholastic, the K-12 publisher.

Why is Mike O’Connor cranky?

August 27, 2009 By Steve Borsch

mike Even though he looks like a pleasant enough fellow in the photo, Mike O’Connor can get pretty cranky. As the representative for urban dwellers on the Minnesota Ultra High Speed Task Force, he’s upset that the Task Force he’s on was seemingly blindsided by a gubernatorial signoff of Connected Nation as the firm who is mapping the penetration and speed of Broadband in MN. Due to that sign off, Connected Nation is now the provider who will gather all the broadband data and craft the proposal to obtain Federal stimulus money for broadband buildouts in our State.

As I’ve stayed abreast of Mike’s “Urban Users” blog (which he’s using to keep those of us in the metro area informed of what’s transpiring with the Task Force), I’ve come to realize he’s one of the only people in a position of influence over Minnesota’s broadband future who actually “gets it” when it comes to how vitally important the upcoming Task Force decisions are to the future of our State, our country, and for you and me.

In his post, Mike started off with this:

Click HERE to read the letter from the commissioners of DEED and Commerce to the Governor that recommends Connected Nations as the outfit to develop Minnesota’s application for the Federal “State Broadband Data and Development Grant Program” funds that are out there under the stimulus program. The Governor signed off and CN is off to the races.

Wait a minute. Connected Nation Inc., is backed by big telecommunications companies like Comcast Corp., Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. Either the fox is guarding the chicken coop or it just reeks because the coop is locked up tight.

Why would the Governor signoff on this when it’s the Task Force’ mandate — a Task Force he appointed people to after the Legislature demands — to drive the broadband recommendation to the Legislature? Could it be a way to gather and massage the data so Minnesota can turn down any Federal broadband stimulus money?

… [Read More…]

Minnov8 Gang Podcast 48: Pushbuttons & Voice

August 22, 2009 By Steve Borsch

pushbutton This Week’s Show Hosts: Steve Borsch, Phil Wilson and Julio Ojeda Zapata (Tim Elliott and Graeme Thickins are off today). Music by Chuck Willis from Music Alley, purveyor of podsafe tunes.

The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 53:14 — 30.9MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

Discussed during the show notes:

+ Topics:

– The Pushbutton Web ( http://dashes.com/anil/2009/07/the-pushbutton-web-realtime-becomes-real.html ). Is this just a way for people to throw stuff up against the wall and see what sticks, or a fundamentally new way of inputting content that will be useful?

The “PBWeb” is really all about the shift in tools (like what I talked about at my SMBMSP preso at Deluxe) and how we can use them to deliver our content in a “publish once, distribute everywhere” model. Posterous.com, PixelPipe.com and plugins for WordPress like tWPter (http://www.bochgoch.com/page/plugin/wp_twptter/) and then the announcement by Typepad that they’re enabling microblogging (http://everything.typepad.com/blog/2009/08/the-best-of-both-worlds-microblogging-on-typepad.html) means that everyone is recognizing the need for us to publish short bursts in a microblogging way

(My SMBMSP talk)

– Themes are appearing like the Prologue Theme, P2. Prologue is a WordPress theme that turns your WordPress blog into a Twitter-like tool for organizing groups or whatever: http://p2demo.wordpress.com/

– Upcoming Microsoft retail stores. Is this smart, or is the company not capable of original ideas?: http://microsoftjobsblog.com/blog/microsoft-retail-stores-we-re-hiring/

photos: http://gizmodo.com/5322328/leak-inside-the-microsoft-store-with-wall+sized-screens-and-the-answers-bar/gallery/

– Twitter location-based tweeting. A good thing or a bad thing? http://blog.twitter.com/2009/08/location-location-location.html

– WHAT IS WITH THE SUDDEN UPTICK IN TWITTER, SKYPE AND EMAIL PORN JUST THIS WEEK!?! Not only have I been getting inundated with stuff, so have many others whom I follow.

– MIMA Summit; Pranah; SMBMSP next week at the State Fair

Google Insight & Google Trends & Alerts

+ The Pushbutton Web, a concept article by Anil Dash about a “publish once, distribute everywhere” model:

Steve Borsch talked about this at his SMBMSP #16 preso at Deluxe)
Services: Posterous, PixelPipe
WordPress plugins & themes like tWPter — along with hemes appearing like P2 that turns your WordPress blog into a Twitter-like tool
Announcement by Typepad that they’re enabling microblogging
PubSubHubBub at Google
Google Insights, Trends & Alerts

+ Upcoming Microsoft retail stores and that they’re hiring for them. Also, the Gizmodo ‘leak’ of a presentation/plan done for Microsoft on the store concept

+ Google Voice, Apple & AT&T controversy with the Federal Communications Commission asking for clarification on Apple disallowing Google Voice in the iPhone App Store. Apple’s, Google’s and AT&T’s respective responses.

+ MIMA Summit; and the Social Media Breakfast (SMBMSP) next week at the State Fair.

Pranah: Data Storage for SMB Wins Sprout Award

August 20, 2009 By Steve Borsch

pranah Chances are that the computer you’re reading this post on contains a minimum of a 160GB hard drive. Like mine, it might be connected to a multi-TB backup device which, in turn, is connected to the cloud for online backup. Add to that all of the other computers and servers in our office and you can see that even a small firm like ours finds our needs for digital data storage is constantly outpacing whatever size drives or backup scheme we put in place for our network storage.

Pranah Storage Technologies, a company based in suburban Saint Paul, designs and manufactures data storage systems that “…bring simplicity and high efficiency to data-intensive environments in small to midsized businesses (SMBs)” and is a local company that should be on your radar.

Computer Reseller News (CRN), a trade rag I used to read faithfully when I was dealing with the reseller channel, has an offering called the “Everything Channel,” a sort of one-stop-shop online for I.T. value added resellers, system integrators and computer consulting groups. Because their readers look to them as seekers of the new and thought leaders when it comes to what they need strategically for their businesses and clients, the Everything Channel folks are always on the hunt for innovative and disruptive technologies.

Enter the Sprout Awards, a competition enabling them to discover all startups that fit within the innovative and disruptive category. … [Read More…]

MinneDemo Joins MIMA Summit For Tech Track

August 19, 2009 By Phil Wilson

mima_logo_4c The folks at MIMA have struck a deal with our friends at MinneBar/MinneDemo to present a Technical Track at the upcoming MIMA Summit (Of which Minnov8 is a media partner.) The track will run in conjunction with an already full slate of speakers and presentations scheduled for Monday, October 5 at the Hilton in downtown Minneapolis. Fundamentals, Strategy, Tactical, Trend and the MinneDemo Technical tracks will allow attendees to tailor their experience at the Summit.

According to notices from both MIMA and MinneDemo the track will consist of “a curated slate of entrepreneurs who will showcase their internet and web innovations and demo real working software.” The ‘Best of’ slate from past MinneDemo presentations will be featured in groups of three with Q&A time allowed throughout the day.

While one might ask, taken as a whole, what do demos such as these have to do with MIMA’s interactive marketing focus, the ability to showcase our local innovators and startup community is always welcome. MIMA President Matt Wilson, echos that sentiment. “I think a lot of our members are going to be incredibly impressed by the technology talent here in town and hopefully this added exposure will mean more development work stays here.”

Of note is the mention in the MinneDemo communication of a fall MinneDemo event to be held in November. It’s the first mention of the follow-up to May’s MinneDemo at Intermedia Arts. We’re also still awaiting news of a MinneBar. We’ll let you know as soon we hear more…

FCC Launches Blogband

August 19, 2009 By Steve Borsch

broadbandgov At Minnov8, we recognize that the most fundamentally important driver and catalyst of internet and web innovation is broadband. With big pipes and significant carrying capacity, entrepreneurs and innovators like you find ways to capitalize on it and people use the internet more when they enjoy high speed and ubiquitous access. With that innovation comes breakthroughs that we’re eager to cover on this blog.

The National Broadband Plan is one of the most important initiatives that the FCC has ever undertaken. To foster public dialogue about the National Broadband Plan, we’re tapping the power of the Internet to launch a new FCC blog, called Blogband. What better time to start blogging than now? With just 183 days before our deadline to send the National Broadband Plan to Congress, we need as many people involved as possible.

Like our unprecedented two-dozen public workshops and the upcoming fall public hearings, Blogband is part of the FCC’s commitment to an open and participatory process. Blogband will keep people up-to-date about the work the FCC is doing and the progress we’re making. But we want it to be a two-way conversation. The feedback, ideas, and discussions generated on this blog will be critical in developing the best possible National Broadband Plan.

As this blog demonstrates, the Internet is changing and expanding the way Americans communicate, providing them with unparalleled access to information. Our goal is to create a National Broadband Plan that charts a path toward bringing the benefits of robust broadband to all Americans. So visit Blogband often to keep up with the latest news and – more importantly – get involved.

Though they’re unlikely to win any branding awards for the snappy name “Blogband” (sounds like bunch of high schoolers who launched their garage band to sing about blogging), the FCC has launched that blog in order to foster public dialogue about the National Broadband Plan (PDF), an initiative with just over 180 days before the FCC’s deadline to send that plan to Congress.

“Like our unprecedented two-dozen public workshops and the upcoming fall public hearings, Blogband is part of the FCC’s commitment to an open and participatory process. Blogband will keep people up-to-date about the work the FCC is doing and the progress we’re making. But we want it to be a two-way conversation. The feedback, ideas, and discussions generated on this blog will be critical in developing the best possible National Broadband Plan.”

So if you care about broadband (and issues like net neutrality), then snagging this RSS feed and putting it in your news reader or just following the blog would be a good idea.

Minnov8 Gang Liveblogging: ‘BlogWell by Gaspedal at General Mills’

August 12, 2009 By Steve Borsch

BW-top UPDATE: The event is now over and we’ve archived all of our posts, images and videos on our BlogWell page here.

The Minnov8 Gang (Tim, Graeme, Phil and Steve) will be liveblogging the BlogWell event being held at General Mills tomorrow.

We’ve setup a separate page that self-updates with our entries and is located here. It’s currently password protected (we’re still experimenting with some of the liveblog engine’s features) but won’t be tomorrow morning before the event.

Stop by and watch the event unfold in near real-time as the Gang gives you a high level overview of the event.