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Minnov8 Gang 263 – Now in 3D!?!

May 3, 2014 By Steve Borsch

We know it can be scary when the Minnov8 Gang is more lifelike. On this week’s show we try out the “3DHD” conference calling service Voxeet. Is it better? You decide and let us know what you think in the comments…and whether or not us being more lifelike will now make young children run screaming from the room when you’re listening to our show.

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.
Music: Jacks Jive by Casino66. Brought to us by Music Alley.

The Podcast
https://media.blubrry.com/minnov8/minnov8.com/site/wp-content/uploads/podcasts/20140503_M8_Gang_263.mp3

Podcast: Download (Duration: 57:13 — 33.4MB)

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Discussed During the Show

Minnesota’s Top Stories

  • StarTribune: Target hires new CIO, speeds tech enhancements
  • MSPBJ: Technology Executive Roundtable: Lessons from top Twin Cities tech leaders
  • MSPBJ: Tech darling Code42 nears deal to move HQ to Ackerberg’s new $55 million building in Uptown
  • TwinCities.com: Minneapolis Comic Con brings out fans’ inner geeks
  • TwinCities.com: Burnsville teen is Google Doodle finalist

Last Week’s Other Big Stories

  • Facebook Woos Mobile Developers, but Is It Too Late?
  • OS X 10.10 emphasis planned for WWDC, iOS 8 features pushed to iOS 8.1, new Apple TV still in the works
  • Unmasked: The world’s first clear look at Amazon’s smartphone
  • Microsoft’s $7.2BN+ Acquisition Of Nokia’s Devices Business Is Now Complete
  • Apple II Raspberry Pi Case by RetroConnector on Etsy
    • Complete Apple iie system WORKING with RAM card and Floppy controller

Steve’s Security Tip of the Week
There are intrusive and objectionable practices in the online advertising industry, and many advertisers simply refuse to meaningfully honor Do Not Track requests. Fortunately there are options to give you the power back:

  • New! Help EFF Test Privacy Badger, Our New Tool to Stop Creepy Online Tracking
    • Privacy Badger Install Page
  • Freedom Hacker post on other great tools: Don’t get tracked by the invisible web
  • Steve’s chosen VPN service for his Macs and iOS devices: Private Internet Access

Upcoming Events

  • INVESTyR’s Fundraising in the Digital Economy 1st Tue of each month 3:30-4:30pm
  • Midwest Mobile Summit – May 5th-6th, Fargo, ND
  • OmniChannel14: Recon on Today’s Retail Trends, May 5th-6th
  • MHTA Spring Conference-Stanley Hubbard to Keynote, May 6th
  • Social Media Breakfast #66, May 9th
  • Google in Education Minnesota Summit, May 10th
  • Twin Cities Business Emerging Growth Forum 2014, May 13th

Filed Under: Minnov8 Gang Podcast Tagged With: Android, Apple, Google, Microsoft, mobile

Minnov8 Gang 262 – It’s Hammertime!

April 26, 2014 By Steve Borsch

hammertime_mainAfter discovering that three young men under the age of 25 had no idea who M.C. Hammer was (or what ‘hammertime’ was all about) we laughed a bit. Thinking about that more it is interesting how context and the past shape our culture and thinking about many things, including technology. “The Hammerettes” hope to bring that sort of contemplative, deeper thinking to our podcast.

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.
Music: Wheel to Keep Rollin’ by The Raunchtones. Brought to us by Music Alley.

The Podcast
https://media.blubrry.com/minnov8/minnov8.com/site/wp-content/uploads/podcasts/20140426_M8_Gang_262.mp3

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:01:02 — 35.9MB)

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Discussed During the Show

Minnesota’s Top Stories

  • Twin Cities’ OMG Transit takes on Google Maps for public transit riders
  • St. Thomas professors create a new way to keep track of course work
    • Moodle
  • Logic PD Partners with SeeControl to Accelerate Delivery of IoT Solutions
    • Programmable Web
  • Two local Kickstarters pay off, one spectacularly
  • See the Nerdery’s nonprofit website makeover before-and-afters

Last Week’s Other Big Stories

  • How the FCC Plans to Save the Internet By Destroying It: An Explainer
    • Steve’s post here on M8: Net Neutrality Opposition Accelerates
    • FCC Denies Desertion of Net Neutrality
    • The FCC doesn’t want to destroy net neutrality, but it’s going to anyway
  • iOS 7.1 code indicates Apple working on Siri for Apple TV
  • Wait…what? North Dakota is #15 and Minnesota is #36?
    • What Are The Nerdiest States In America?
    • Take the nerd challenge below and see if maybe you are the reason we are losing!

Steve’s Security Tip of the Week

  • New Android app to protect against the Heartbleed bug
    • CM Security Heartbleed Scanner offers Heartbleed protection for Android users
    • Android apps vulnerable to Heartbleed have been downloaded 150 million times
  • Android accounted for 97% of all mobile malware in 2013
    • FreeSophos Mobile Security App for Android

Upcoming Events

  • INVESTyR’s Fundraising in the Digital Economy 1st Tue of each month 3:30-4:30pm
  • Technovation[MN] Appapalooza, April 27
  • Startup Weekend – Education, May 2nd
  • Invention Expo 2014, May 2-3
  • Midwest Mobile Summit – May 5-6, Fargo, ND
  • OmniChannel14: Recon on Today’s Retail Trends, May 5-6
  • MHTA Spring Conference-Stanley Hubbard to Keynote, May 6th
  • Social Media Breakfast #66, May 9
  • Google in Education Minnesota Summit, May 10

Take the Nerd Challenge and Win!

e-equals-mc2

  • I am SO sorry that is incorrect. Go here NOW and learn about Stanley Kirk Burrell, aka "M.C. Hammer"...you non-nerd...and then try again.

  • Seriously? You don't know who Einstein is? What kind of nerd ARE you anyway?  Go here NOW and learn about Albert Einstein. Then do yourself a favor, STOP watching Duck Dynasty!.

  • You are correct, your nerdship.

    M.C. Hammer and physicist Albert Einstein (Note: This photo is a Photoshop mockup to show that *if* MC knew physics and was a genius  *or* Einstein was a rapper, they might have met)

    M.C. Hammer and physicist Albert Einstein (Note: This is a Photoshop mockup to show
    that *if* MC knew physics and was a genius *or* Einstein was a rapper, they might have met)



 

Filed Under: Minnov8 Gang Podcast Tagged With: Android, Apple, Google, iPad, mobile

Technovation[MN]: Helping Young Women Discover Entrepreneurship

April 19, 2014 By Graeme Thickins

TechnovationMN-logoThere’s an awesome new organization in Minnesota that’s inspiring middle-school and high-school girls to explore technology or entrepreneurship as a career. And thanks to my membership in CoCo, I had the good fortune recently to meet the cofounder of the Minnesota chapter of this global organization, which is called Technovation. Her name is Shawn Stavseth.  The global organization is supported by technology leaders from MIT Media Lab, Google, Twitter, Dropbox, and Andreessen Horowitz.ShawnSavseth

Shawn recently left a career in marketing for Thomson Reuters and is now devoting some of her (extensive!) energy to this local chapter. At Thomson Reuters, she created and executed a mobile strategy, including adoption of native apps, mobile website, SMS, in-app ads, mobile payment, as well as gaming and ebooks, so this volunteer work is a natural for her. Follow Shawn here on Twitter and follow Technovation[MN] here.

Earlier this year, she and cofounder Matt Johnson began forming the Technovation[MN] chapter to bring the “Global Technovation Challenge” to Minnesota. This initiative is the largest and longest-running global technology competition exclusively for girls, to inspire their pursuit of STEM — GirlsWithSmartphonesscience, technology, engineering, and math. For the year 2014, Minnesota will have a total of 18 teams participating in this competition for young women.

Through an intensive three-month, 50-hour curriculum, teams of young women work together to imagine, design, and develop mobile apps, then pitch their startup businesses to investors. Some 1,374 young women from 19 countries have already completed Technovation’s curriculum, thanks to dedicated local volunteers worldwide.

A Focus on Local Community Problems
The 2014 program theme challenges young women to develop an app to solve a real problem in their community. And, because Technovation’s curriculum teaches both technology and entrepreneurship, the program is accessible for beginner computer science students, yet still challenging for advanced students. In 2014, the program will award $20,000 in funding to the winning teams to use for further app development. No prior programming experience is necessary for students, or for teachers. The program is free to all participants.

At the culmination of the Technovation Challenge, Technovation[MN] hosts the “Appapalooza,” where it celebrates and congratulates all Minnesota Technovation Challenge teams AppapaloozaPhoto-wideon completing the 12-week curriculum, and then submits their work to headquarters. This year’s Appapalooza event will be on April 27 at TIES Education Center in Falcon Heights.

This fall, Technovation[MN] will again be hosting “App Days” to enable teen girls to build mobile apps, and to inspire them to participate in the Technovation Challenge. Since the launch of Technovation[MN], it has hosted three such App Days, during which it’s trained more than 100 teen girls and mentors from all over the Twin Cities area.

More Sponsors, Mentors, and Volunteers Needed!
If you’d like to explore how you could participate as an individual or company — whether at the upcoming event or in general — there are still opportunities for sponsorship
 and/or for participating as a mentor or volunteer.

Can’t participate in person? Then please donate here to this very worthwhile community cause!

For the full story on this month’s event, here’s the press release:

Technovation[MN] Appapalooza:
“Tapping into an Aptitude for Apps”
Event For Young Women April 27

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., April 7, 2014 – Minnesotans are invited to celebrate young women in technology by attending the Technovation[MN] Appapalooza event on Sunday, April 27, 2014 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at TIES Training Center, 1667 Snelling Ave. N. in Falcon Heights, MN.  This event features young women pitching their mobile app idea as part of the Technovation Challenge, a global technology entrepreneurship program.

Technovation[MN], which is launching the Technovation Challenge in Minnesota, inspires girls in middle and high school to dream up, design, code and pitch mobile phone apps that help their communities. The Technovation Challenge program is designed to attract and encourage the next generation of women technology entrepreneurs.

Twelve teams of girls, ages 10 to 19, from Twin Cities area middle schools and high schools have spent the last three months building their mobile app to compete in the international app building challenge. Each team builds an app that solves a community problem.  Teams can choose to build an app for a non-profit or address a teen or womens’ issue.

The Challenge culminates with the April 27 Appapalooza event where participants will “pitch” their apps and unveil their work. Ten teams from the United States and other countries will then be selected to fly to Silicon Valley, CA to present their app ideas to real venture capitalists; the winning team will be awarded $10,000 to help commercialize their app.

“We’re working to close the gender gap in computer science by teaching girls how to code and how to be successful entrepreneurs,” explained Shawn Stavseth, Co-Founder of Technovation[MN]. “Designing mobile apps is real and tangible for these girls because their phones are something they use every day. We want girls to understand the powerful role that technology can play in solving world problems.”

The April 27 Appapalooza is free and open to the public. Donations are welcome. Register to attend the event by visiting http://technovationmn.org.

Filed Under: News & Events Tagged With: entrepreneurship, mobile

Minnov8 Gang 258 – What Was *Your* First Tweet?

March 22, 2014 By Steve Borsch

Twitter came out with a new search service this week and it enables you to view your first tweet…or the first tweet of anyone else’s Twitter handle you’d like to input. Fun stuff but when Twitter was first launched really took off in early 2007, the four of us had the same initial reaction as old Ed in the photo above: What the heck is this Twitter thing?

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.
Music: Devil On My Shoulder by Herbie D and The Dangermen. Brought to us by Music Alley.

The Podcast
https://media.blubrry.com/minnov8/minnov8.com/site/wp-content/uploads/podcasts/20140322_M8_Gang_258.mp3

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:01:03 — 35.5MB)

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Discussed During the Show

Minnesota’s Top Stories

  • Mobile March recap
  • Minneapolis’ FirstTech, Apple retailing pioneer, is closing 
  • Minnesota software company moving to Austin 
  • NFC takes another blow as 7-Eleven, Best Buy shut it down
  • Chromebooks are beginning to give the Windows world serious competition
  • Minneapolis to regulate ride-share companies

Other Top Stories

  • Graeme covers the Gigaom Structure Data Conference. Of note:
    • The incredible personal story of Ramona Pierson and how it informed her data startup, Declara
    • Sean Gourley, CTO, Quid: “How humans and machines can team up to solve big problems”
    • Dennis Crowley on Foursquare’s first two years collecting data, next two years making data usable – and now what?
    • Mentions of SpaceCurve & D-Wave Systems (Wikipedia on D-Wave)… and an opposing view of D-Wave’s quantum computing
  • Netflix
    • Netflix CEO Reed Hastings: Internet Tolls And The Case For Strong Net Neutrality
    • Netflix & Level 3 Only Telling Half The Story, Won’t Detail What Changes They Want To Net Neutrality
    • AT&T Criticizes Netflix’s ‘Arrogant’ Network Traffic Proposal
  • Inside the NSA’s Secret Efforts to Hunt and Hack System Administrators
    • Google encrypts Gmail between data centers to keep the NSA out of your inbox
  • Before He Died, Steve Jobs Told Top Executives Apple Would Not Be Making A TV

Steve’s Security Tip of the Week

  • Overall attacks on mobile devices are accelerating, but 98.05% of all mobile malware targets Android. The tip? Only download apps from an official app store and keep Android updated!
    • SecureList: Mobile Malware Evolution
    • Mobile Malware, High-Risk Apps Hit 1M Mark
    • Sophos Security Threat Report 2014 (PDF)
      • Sophos Security Trends for 2014
    • Noted: Brian Krebs, who runs Krebs on Security and broke the Target data breach story, posted that Sony Pictures Plans Movie About Yours Truly

Upcoming Events

  • INVESTyR’s Fundraising in the Digital Economy 1st Tue of each month 3:30-4:30pm
  • SMBMSP #64, Social Media Case Studies, March 28th
  • EduTech 2014 Showcase & Forum Noon-7pm Wednesday, April 2nd
  • Minnebar, Saturday, April 12th. Details to come…
  • Overnight Website Challenge, April 12th-13th
  • MinneWebCon, April 14 & 15, U of MN
  • SMBMSP #65 – 8 Golden Rules for Sure-Fire Success with Facebook Ads, April 14th
  • Educelerate Twin Cities: EdTech Founder’s Stories, April 16th
  • Startup Weekend – Education, May 2nd
  • MHTA Spring Conference-Stanley Hubbard to Keynote, May 6th

 

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Phil’s longest phone ever and the Gang’s first tweets in 2007 (click either for a larger view):

phil--longest-phonegangs-first-tweets

Filed Under: Minnov8 Gang Podcast Tagged With: Android, Apple, Best Buy, Google, mobile

Minnov8 Gang 255 – In *Bitcoins* We Trust?

March 1, 2014 By Steve Borsch

in-what-we-trust_mainWe have much to discuss this week but probably the biggest story is the meltdown of Mt. Gox, the Bitcoin exchange, and its loss of nearly half a billion dollars in Bitcoins. So should you invest or mine Bitcoins? Would you put your 401k in to one? Would it be safer to shop with Bitcoins than using a credit card at Target?

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott and Graeme Thickins (Phil Wilson is off this week)
Music: Keep Your Motor Running by Dave Hole. Brought to us by Music Alley

The Podcast
https://media.blubrry.com/minnov8/minnov8.com/site/wp-content/uploads/podcasts/20140229_M8_Gang_255.mp3

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:03:31 — 36.9MB)

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Discussed During the Show

Minnesota’s Top Stories

  • Target
    • Data Breach Hurts Profit at Target 
    • Target’s split personality: profits plunge, but stocks soar
  • Best Buy
    • Better profit at Best Buy in holiday quarter cheers investors
    • As goes Best Buy, so goes the U.S. economy
    • Best Buy’s Sales Drop on Weak Consumer Electronics Market
    • Best Buy laying off about 2,000 managers across the country
  • Google and MN
    • Google taps U of M for 3-D-sensing smartphone
    • Google makes 3D phone, taps the U of M for research

Other Top Stories

  • Internet TV
    • Netflix and Comcast Solve Their Web Traffic Problem With a Long-Term Deal
    • Inside The Netflix/Comcast Deal and What The Media Is Getting Very Wrong
    • Apple TV $25 gift card offer reported as rumors of new device swirl
    • Apple TV is Apple’s fastest-growing product
    • Conan O’Brien’s Serious Jibber Jabber
    • TiVo’s co-founders start selling $49 Qplay TV streamer
    • LumaTV (Note: This app does A LOT more than we discussed on the show so check it out!)
  • Bitcoin
    • Mt Gox: The brief reign of bitcoin’s top exchange
    • Tokyo bitcoin exchange files for bankruptcy
  • The Gear Fit is what wearables should look like
  • Apple software to drive smart Ferrari
  • Microsoft experimenting with free version of Windows 8.1
  • Google’s Project Ara could go on sale next year for $50

Other Links to Topics Discussed During the Show

  • SanDisk Ultra 128 GB microSDXC UHS-I Card
    • The MiniDrive (microSD adaptor for MacBook Air/Pro/Retina)
  • Graeme’s Flipboard magazine “Big Data in the Wild”
    • Twitter feed for that Big Data magazine

Upcoming Events

  • INVESTyR’s Fundraising in the Digital Economy 1st Tue of each month 3:30-4:30pm
  • Minneanalytics “Minnesota Analytics, Product Innovation & Data Visualization,” March 19th
  • Mobile March – March 20th – Tickets on sale now!
  • SMBMSP #64, Social Media Case Studies, March 28th
  • Minnebar, Saturday, April 12th. Details to come…
  • Overnight Website Challenge, April 12th-13th
  • MinneWebCon, April 14 & 15, U of MN

Filed Under: Minnov8 Gang Podcast Tagged With: Android, Best Buy, Google, Microsoft, Minnebar, mobile, University of Minnesota

MMTC Keynoters Announced

February 11, 2014 By Steve Borsch

MobileMarchTC-logoMinnesota’s oldest and best attended mobile event, Mobile March Twin Cities (MMTC), just announced their full lineup of keynote speakers for this year’s event.

New this year is a Connected Device track which will cover the acceleration in Internet of Things and the software and hardware driving it forward. This is in addition to the business and technical tracks which are packed with presentations and learning opportunities.

The full press release is below…

spacer

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 10, 2014

CONTACT:

Phil Wilson
612-743-7860
phil@remaincomm.com

Mobile March 2014 Keynote Speakers Announced

Speakers from Microsoft and Spark Highlight Mobile and Connected Devices

Minneapolis, MN – Mobile March organizers today announced the keynote speakers for the 5th Annual Mobile March, Minnesota’s longest running mobile conference. Jacquelyn Crowhurst, Sr. Director, Central Region Developer & Platform Evangelism at Microsoft will kick off the multi-track conference and Zach Supalla, CEO of Spark, a locally based company providing tools for connected hardware, will anchor the afternoon sessions. Mobile March includes the now familiar Business, Development and Design tracks as well as the new sessions highlighting connected devices. Tickets are now on sale for the March 20th, 2014 event at the Earle Brown Heritage Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park.

Jacquelyn Crowhurst’s keynote will leverage her evangelism background to share insight on taking mobility from a cost of doing business to differentiating your business.  She will touch on topics such as the role cloud plays in mobile, how monetization and mobile ROI is evolving, and the future of mobility. Zach Supalla of Spark, a local startup providing tools to connect devices to the Internet via Wi-Fi, will address the conference following lunch. His presentation will highlight the natural evolution of mobile as a point of control for the growing Internet of Things.

Mobile March organizer Phil Wilson noted, “Both Jacquelyn and Zach bring a wealth of knowledge and unique experiences to Mobile March. Though we are a mobile-centric conference, we look forward to addressing both mobile and connected devices; topics that the mobile community think are most important.” Co-organizer, Justin Grammens, added, “With the advent of low cost sensors, hardware and open source software, it’s becoming increasingly easy to build solutions based on the physical world. As mobile enthusiasts, we view this as the next phase in computing.”

Other highlights of the 2014 agenda include Business-centric sessions on the topics of mobile marketing via video, mobile search and more. The Mobile Development and Design tracks include sessions on developing in Xamarin, and node.js, wireframes, human-centered design and more. Topics in the new Connected Device track will include Google Glass, and other wearable technology, Arduino and more. A complete agenda will be released within a week.

Registration is now open for Mobile March, Thursday March 20th, 2014 at the Earle Brown Heritage Center via the Mobile March website at www.mobilemarchtc.com or directly through http://mobilemarch2014.eventbrite.com/ The cost of registration is just $115 and includes all meals. Student discounts are available as well.

About Mobile March
Founded in 2010, Mobile March is an event dedicated to exploring the latest in mobile technology and trends. According to founders Justin Grammens, Phil Wilson and Linda Cummings, the name Mobile March not only denotes the month in which it takes place, it also emphasizes the ongoing advancement and growth of mobile technology and the related lifestyle.

By offering content that appeals to mobile developers, business people, and users we hope to facilitate a greater understanding between the constituencies that make mobile happen.  Whether you make money with mobile or just use it to stay connected, we invite you to join us for Mobile March.

Event sponsors include: Hyper IQ, Livefront, Microsoft and ITR Mobility

Filed Under: Internet of Things - #IoT Tagged With: mobile

Minnov8 Gang 250 – Surf’s Up!

January 25, 2014 By Steve Borsch

This past week has seen giant ocean swells in Hawaii and high surf on the California coast, specifically in the area known as Mavericks, just in time for the big surfing contest.

Yes, Graeme surfs so the Gang discussing it is sort of relevant. More to the point, however, is the likelihood that most Minnesotans would prefer to be hanging out near a warm ocean about now, right?

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.
Music: When I Look Up At the Sky Artist: Kara Square and Piero Peluche. Brought to us by Music Alley.
Photo credit: Flickr user Ultraview Admin under this Creative Commons license.

The Podcast
https://media.blubrry.com/minnov8/minnov8.com/site/wp-content/uploads/podcasts/20140125_M8_Gang_250.mp3

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:08:43 — 40.0MB)

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Discussed During the Show

Minnesota Stories

  • Best Buy sheds cloud computing unit to refocus on retail business
  • Minnesota adds 9,500 jobs in December; unemployment rate stays at 4.6%
  • Software startup OptiMine raises $4.15 million
  • Venture funding rises in state

Other Stories

  • Happy Birthday Macintosh (born January 24, 1984)
    • 30 years of Macintosh: The little PC that made a big impact
      • Steve Borsch was there
    • Video: Steve Jobs introducing Apple Macintosh
    • Macintosh 128K Teardown
    • Apple: 30 Years of Mac
    • Your First Mac:
      • Tim: Macintosh SE, 1987
      • Steve: Mac Plus and later a nearly $6,000 Mac IIci
      • Graeme: original Powerbook; later, a used SE-30 w/Mac carrying bag
      • Phil: MacBook Pro (used an Apple IIe at work in ’86)
  • Tivo Lays Off Most of Its Design Team as It Transitions to the Cloud 
  • Gmail And Google+ Go Down Across The World
    • You Chose the Worst Time to Host a Reddit AMA, Google
  • Apple Said to Be Exploring Expansion of Mobile Payments
  • Real or Fake? Revolutionary Scuba Mask Could Create Breathable Oxygen Underwater On Its Own

Steve’s Security Tip of the Week: Chrome users: Stop people from eavesdropping on you!

  • Tal Ater warned of this Chrome exploit
    • How to Stop Web Sites from Potentially Listening to Your Microphone by Alan Henry

Upcoming Events

  • INVESTyR’s Fundraising in the Digital Economy 1st Tue of each month 3:30-4:30pm
  • ProductCamp Happy Hour January 28th, 6:30pm
  • Magnet 360 Influencer Series: Mobilizing the Customer Experience January 30, 3:30-5:30pm
  • Beta.MN inaugural startup event, Thursday, January 30th, 6:00 pm
  • SMBMSP #62 – Search and Social: Inside Google’s New “Hummingbird” Algorithm, January 31st 8:00 – 10:00am
  • Border to Border Broadband February 4th – 5th, RiverCentre St. Paul
    • Blandin on Broadband blog (a must-read for MN’ers about internet)
    • Blandin Foundation ‘Broadband Communities Program’ 
  • Foundry Group’s Seth Levine on Startup Communities February 5th
  • An Update on Mobile Marketing in MN February 6th, 8-9:30 am
  • Minneapolis Public Schools STEM Expo – Tuesday, Feb 12th
  • CoCo Google Happy Hour and Pitch Event February 21st
  • Capitol Code: An Open Data Jam • February 22nd
  • She’s Geeky-Minneapolis – February 22-23, Central Library
  • Mobile March – March 20th – Tickets on sale now!

 

Filed Under: Minnov8 Gang Podcast Tagged With: Apple, Best Buy, Google, MIMA, mobile, SMBMSP

Minnov8 Gang 245 – Let’s Pay With…Dimes!

December 21, 2013 By Steve Borsch

Blazing-Saddles-posterThe biggest story this week was the Target holiday cyber breach hits 40 million payment cards. We jokingly said we should—like in the movie Blazing Saddles where Slim Picken’s character encounters a toll booth in the middle of the desert and, rather than go around it, exclaims to his posse that “Somebody’s got to go back and get a sh*tload of dimes!” (at youtube)—start paying our checkout amount at Target with bags of dimes.

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.
Music: Ruth’s Boogie  Artist: Jake Lear. Brought to us by Music Alley.

The Podcast
https://media.blubrry.com/minnov8/minnov8.com/site/wp-content/uploads/podcasts/20131220_M8_Gang_245.mp3

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:02:29 — 36.3MB)

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Discussed During the Show

Minnesota Stories

  • Target Breach
    • Dec 13th story broken by Brian Krebs: Target Investigating Data Breach 
    • Advice for leery Target customers from creditcards.com
    • Target security breach: Questions and answers
    • Target CEO offers credit monitoring, discount and four-part video apology for data breach
    • One estimate: Cost of Target data breach could hit $680 million
    • Stolen Target Credit Cards Are Selling For $20 – $100 Each
    • Target’s Biggest PR Mistake With Credit Card Security Breach
    • Check your Credit
  • Apple’s Mac Pro Debuts
    • Twin Cities creative professionals look forward to new Mac Pro, with reservations
    • Up close and personal with the new Mac Pro (hands-on) 
  • Best Buy: 2013’s top retail stories: Best Buy bounces back
  • QFOLabs: Toy copter that bombed on Kickstarter now on Brookstone

Other Stories

  • Twitter Turns Ugly Over PR Person’s Idiotic Tweet
    • How a racist tweet caused an internet meltdown and got a PR woman fired
  • Walt Mossberg: The Exit Interview
    • Bill Gates and Steve Jobs at D5 (Full Session)
  • Google
    • The Day Google Had to ‘Start Over’ on Android
    • After recall, Google releases updated HP Chromebook 11 with newly-designed power adapter

Steve’s Security Tip of the Week

  • Use Extreme Caution With Your Debit Card (this is a detailed post here on Minnov8)

Upcoming Events

  • INVESTyR’s Fundraising in the Digital Economy 1st Tue of each month 3:30-4:30pm
  • MHTA Event at Mpls Institute of Arts – Jan 9, 2014
  • Minneapolis Public Schools STEM Expo – Tuesday, Feb 12, 2014
  • Mobile March March 20, 2014 – Tickets on sale now!

 

Filed Under: Minnov8 Gang Podcast Tagged With: Android, Apple, Best Buy, Google, mobile

Minnov8 Gang 243 – Stars Wars? Never Heard of It

December 8, 2013 By Steve Borsch

starwars_main

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott and Phil Wilson (Graeme Thickins is off)
Music: Hill Billy Idol  Artist: Texarillo. Brought to us by Music Alley.

The Podcast
http://media.blubrry.com/minnov8/minnov8.com/site/wp-content/uploads/podcasts/20131208_M8_Gang_243.mp3

Podcast (m8-audio): Download (Duration: 55:23 — 44.9MB)

Subscribe: RSS

https://media.blubrry.com/minnov8/minnov8.com/site/wp-content/uploads/podcasts/20131208_M8_Gang_243.mp3

Podcast: Download (Duration: 55:23 — 32.6MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

Discussed During the Show

Minnesota Stories

  • New Site, App, & Experience from @SmartThings
    • TechCrunch: SmartThings Rolls Out A New iPhone App To Simplify Adding Your Home To The Internet Of Things
    • YourTechWeblog: SmartThings still nerdy-cool, but with less-confusing app
    • Minnov8: SmartThings’ New Clean & Slick App
    • Good ol’ X10
  • Target & Pinterest
    • Target harnesses Pinterest to give holiday shoppers a hand
    • Target’s ‘Awesome Shop’ spotlights Pinterest hits
    • Target Awesome Shop
  • Julio Ojeda-Zapata on WCCO Sunday morning show with holiday gift ideas
    • Tablets turning the tables on traditional computers

Other Stories

  • Mobile Commerce on Black Friday/Cyber Monday
    • U.S. Mobile Commerce Reached New Heights on Black Friday and Cyber Monday 
    • Black Friday shopping by the numbers: Mobile-optimized sites win
    • Black Friday sales up 7%, mobile up 36% — and iPhone driving 450% more sales than Android
  • Amazon unveils futuristic plan: Delivery by drone
  • Apple
    • Apple’s iBeacon location-aware shopping goes live today
    • Now in Apple Stores: iBeacon Location-Tracking Technology
    • Apple Buys Topsy For Price Reportedly North Of $200M, Could Use Social Signals To Bolster Siri, App Store Relevance
    • Apple’s ‘smart dock’ would give Siri a permanent place in the home
    • iPad Air Wins Black Friday-Cyber Monday: New Devices Increase by 51%
  • iOS and Android Adoption
    • Apple Puts iOS 7 Adoption At 74% Based On App Store Usage Numbers
    • iOS 7 rockets above 50% adoption in one week, leaves Android, Windows, and OS X in its wake
    • iOS 7 Adoption Rate Wallops Android 4.4 KitKat
    • Android developer site data about OS version adoption
  • Snowden and Greenwald: The Men Who Leaked the Secrets
  • Ron Burgundy Anchors Bismarck ND Newcast
  • Who was Stuart Smalley?

Steve’s Security Tip of the Week:
Here’s A Great Idea For Creating Passwords That Are Easy To Remember But Hard To Hack

Upcoming Events

  • INVESTyR’s Fundraising in the Digital Economy 1st Tue of each month 3:30-4:30pm
  • TIES 2013 Education Technology Conference, December 14-17
  • Mobile March March 20, 2014 – Tickets on sale now!

Filed Under: Minnov8 Gang Podcast Tagged With: #IoT, Android, Apple, iPad, mobile

AdWords Is Too Complex – Adagogo is a Better Solution

October 21, 2013 By Graeme Thickins

Adagogo-logoWhat if you could post an ad in three minutes and geo-target it to mobile users in a given radius around you — or across an entire network of 45 to 50 million of them — then start seeing results minutes after that? Well, you can — I know, I did it, with a new self-serve ad service called Adagogo, soft-launched in recent days by mobile app platform company DoApp Inc. (www.doapps.com), based right here in Minnesota (Rochester and Minneapolis).

DoApp founder Joe Sriver began working at Google in early 2001 JoeSriver-headshotand knows a thing or two about online advertising. “After joining Google, I found out that I’d been about the 20th advertiser to sign up for Adwords. Also, I learned that Adwords was the reason my hire date was pushed a few months, as they were so heads-down developing it.”  As Google’s first UI designer, he soon became steeped in AdWords himself. “It’s a great product, and I’m proud to have been part of its history,” he said. However, it’s become complex, really complex. It’s gotten so new users either need to spend days trying to understand all the options it now offers, or hire a professional to manage their ad campaigns.” He doesn’t think that’s right.

Screenshot-1“What’s been missing in all this,” says Sriver, “is an easy method to just get your web site, business, blog, or app in front a lot of people quickly.” (Hello, startups!)

“I think we’ve developed the simplest way to quickly place your ad Screenshot-3within thousands of local and national apps, on all the major mobile app platforms,” said Sriver, “Our network of users today is substantial, between 45 and 50 million people, and it will continue to grow rapidly.”

Because you can target locally or advertise across the entire network, DoApp says Adagogo is “great for everything from getting traffic to local garage sales Screenshot-2to building national brand awareness.” How’s that for a bold addressable market?

Sriver recounted how he experimented with a lot of new ideas since he launched DoApp in early 2008. The company’s main app platform business (both Mobile Local News and Real Estate) continues to grow rapidly. (See my previous coverage of the company here, here, here, and here.) But, of all the new side-project ideas he’s played with over the years, Joe says Adagogo is the one he realized had the most potential to get traction.

How to Post an Ad with Adagogo:

> Choose geographically where you want your ad displayed
> Enter your ad copy and add a picture
> Select the amount of ad impressions you want to display
> Add a web site URL, phone number, and/or location
> Enter your credit card info
> DONE!

I Did My Own Self-Serve Ad Test
I set up an ad on Adagogo the other day just to experiment with it myself. And I must say, it was quite easy. Nice, intuitive UI — really simple and clean. Graeme_ad_BigDataMy ad is the shown here with the headline, “Learn About Big Data.” The goal was to drive traffic to a Flipboard magazine — which I had launched a while back on a lark — just to see how many people I could get to subscribe with a mobile ad. Joe told me that 1000 ad impressions, the option I chose (price: $25) would go quickly on the DoApp network — in about 2-3 minutes. He was right. I watched as my subscriber count went up 20%+ almost before my eyes. Once my ad impressions were used up, my click-through rate was 1.2%. Not bad, as the ad was just promoting a web site — to get people to subscribe to a free mag — not some giveaway, coupon offer, or contest.

Adagogo-ad-RedOval-225wSo, across what geography do users see the ads? “Many of our apps are local or regional news apps,” says Sriver, “but we do have a number of national and international news apps as well. You can either choose to advertise locally within a 5, 10, or 50-mile radius around a location specified by you. Or you can have your ad displayed ‘Everywhere,’ which means wherever our apps are used around the world.”  One of DoApp’s widely distributed news apps, with a worldwide footprint, is called Headlines.

“Across iOS, Android, Windows Mobile, and mobile web, we currently have more than 1500 apps,” says Sriver. Adagogo-ad-action“That number will be going up significantly, as all our real estate apps will soon have access to the Adagogo network. So our total number of available apps where Adagogo ads appear will grow a ton – stay tuned!”

Seriously, I can see Adagogo used for garage sales, fundraisers, local mom & pop stores, online businesses — even big brick-and-mortar retailers and, heck, ecommerce giants, for that matter.  A Best Buy, for example, could advertise individual store deals using local-radius targeting, but could also do general brand advertising across the entire 50-million user base – say, to hype a Super Bowl commercial, or a contest or sweepstakes. No special expertise required — really anyone can use the simple Adagogo interface.

“From our start, DoApp’s mission has been to help in the growth and success of communities and local businesses through new technology,” says Sriver. “Adagogo builds on that mission.”

A Special Offer This Month
In announcing the Adagogo soft-launch, Joe offered up a special promotion for Minnov8 readers.  With any ad package you purchase, the company will double your number of impressions. For example, buy the 1000 ad impressions package, get an addition 1000 for free (2000 total). Buy 5000, get a total of 10,000. This “buy one get one deal” is available only until October 31, 2013, and is for ads that are specified to run “everywhere,” as opposed to a specific location. Just place your ad before midnight Central time on October 31 and you’ll automatically get double ad impressions.

—————-

Postscript: See DoApp at MobCon
Wade Beavers, CEO of DoApp, will be speaking at a mobile technology conference coming up in Minneapolis, Nov 7-8: MobCon. (Online registration still open.)  His session and description: “It’s all about your latitude and longitude. How location is changing mobile.”
“Location and mobile are a perfect match. Learn more about how device latitude and longitude are changing the mobile game for advertising, social, commerce, personal data, and content distribution. A recent study showed that 43% of users were willing to provide their location to companies compared to less than 11% willing to share their browsing history. Has location information become the new cookie? You will learn: Location Data Trends, Effective Location App Offerings, Location Data Use, Consumer Behaviors, and Location Best Practices.”

Minnov8 will be reporting from the MobCon event, so look for us there!

—————–

Disclosure: DoApp is one of the companies in my client equity portfolio. I helped launch the firm in 2008, serving as its VP Marketing.

Filed Under: MN Entrepreneurs Tagged With: Android, iOS, mobile

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