Have you ever dreamed about turning on your Windows-based computer and having it instantly ready to work? A Silicon Valley start-up, Device VM, has developed software called Splashtop that, when prompted, will circumvent Windows and allow you to start watching a DVD in as little as five seconds. The Linux-based Splashtop is already available on Asus computers.
Read the full story on MIT Technology Review: "Instant bootup ".
One way to get Windows to load faster is by using the System Configuration utility (aka Msconfig) to disable programs that start unnecessarily when you boot the operating system. To view this list in XP, click Start>Run, type msconfig, press Enter, and click the Startup tab. In Vista, open your Startup list by pressing the Windows key, typing msconfig, pressing Enter, and clicking the Startup tab.
Be careful not to disable a program that your system needs to start properly. Paul Collins' Startup Applications List can help you determine whether a program is required, or if it can (… Read more
Argh, they make it look so easy. I was just sitting around and I made half a million dollars, they say. Oops, how did that happen, they say. Just a random idea, I had no idea it'd be popular, they say.
Hear from three insanely successful Web entrepreneurs on how they got their start.
Read more on SiliconValley.com (registration required): "Three who had the right idea at the right time"
Before I was a big-shot executive, the end of a year meant rest and relaxation. Now it's crunching fourth-quarter numbers and budgeting for 2008.
A friend in Japan read my fortune and told me that 2007 was my year of "turbulence," that 2008 is my year of "reunion," and that 2009 is my year of "wealth." Supposedly, 2010 will be "peace and stabilized," but at the rate I am going I can only hope to make it that far.
One full calendar year later, I am still happy that my company (MuleSource) gives software consumers a choice about the technology they use and ultimately, we, like the rest of the open-source vendors, bet on the fact that adoption eventually equals dollars. Having been a software consumer that felt burdened by proprietary products for most of my career, I retain a strong desire to flip the software industry on its head.
There is an inevitable flow of events in which software companies will either get on the path or be left behind. If you start a software company today that is not SaaS or open source you are betting that the market will somehow revert to 1999. And I think we all remember what happened in 2001 here in the valley.
Two years after founding this company I believe more than ever that open source is a question of when, not if.… Read more
If it's done nothing else, the Internet has turned countless piles of straw into gold.
The latest Rumpelstiltskin-eque ideas include a site that will use your DNA to tell you which diseases and other health risks you face, a GPS device that gathers info from you such as traffic problems and beams the data to other users, a social-networking site for businesspeople and other professionals, and a site that lets you find out what the Internet reveals about you.
These start-ups and six others are the ones that Wired expects to break into the Internet's spotlight next year. … Read more
Today's WSJ (login required) has a great article about Voltage Security and the less glorious side of founding and running a startup--the fact that you have to keep slogging away regardless of what's going on around you.
Every industry has its superstars and its sloggers, of course. But the tech industry of the late 1990s and earlier this decade has seen an unusual number of two-year cycles end with a lucrative sale or initial public offering. When that doesn't happen, the process can get so grueling and protracted that some VCs say they have to get creative … Read moreRight now, a small team with no money can start a real online business. If the founders are very lucky, they generate revenue and begin to grow. If they are exceptionally fortunate, they get sold to Google for $1.65 billion. But most of the start-ups we cover on Webware.com will languish for a while in obscurity and eventually die. The problems they are solving are not big enough.
This is one of the reasons that venture capitalists are having a hard time. Many are are sitting on funds of hundreds of millions of dollars, looking for places to … Read more
Reading about the demise of Edgeio over on Techcrunch made me think a bit about being an entrepreneur and wonder what's happened to the valley. Having been through the tech downturn here in SF and watching two companies I worked for go public only to flame out I should be last person who felt the desire to start a company. But, what's the point of living in the bay area if you can't seize the opportunity for technology greatness?
There seem to be less startups lately and I'm starting to wonder if would-be founders are taking … Read more
No two jobs are alike, but one thing millions of us have in common is the daily wait for Windows to get going. Why can't our PCs start as quickly as our radios, TVs, and other electronic devices?
Well, the instant-on PC isn't likely to arrive anytime soon, but you can get your workday rolling without having to stare down that annoying Windows logo. The simplest solution is to set Windows' Power Options to send your system into XP's standby or Vista's sleep mode after it has been idle for a while. Then you can simply … Read more
Mark Wolfram, General Manager of Venture Integration (!?) for Microsoft, told a group of VCs that no startup is too small for it to consider acquiring, apparently displaying its desire to keep up with Google's and Yahoo's appetites for startup veal. As CNET's own Beyond Binary reports, though, depending on how you read his comment, Wolfram's idea of a fair price may not endear him to too many startups.
"At end of day we are buying a company for (its) people and IP."...
Asked what is the smallest acquisition he'd consider, Wolfram insisted that there is no minimum revenue, provided its two prior conditions are met. Some of Microsoft's acquisitions have been companies with just a few people and no revenue. The company has also spent as much as $6 billion, with its recent acquisition of Aquantive, though $50 million and 50 to 100 employees tends to be the company's sweet spot, Wolfram said.
I read that to mean $50 million in revenue. But if it means what Valleywag interpreted it to mean - 50 to 100 people and a valuation of $50 million, it's no wonder the best startups don't necessarily fall into Microsoft's lap. If I have 100 people in my company I'd darn well better be doing more in revenue than would justify a paltry $50 million valuation.… Read more
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CNET's Galaxy S4 giveaway spectacular!
CNET's publishing another supercharged e-book. "Mastering the Galaxy S4" is almost here, so we're celebrating with a huge S4-related giveaway.
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