austinpreneur

Channel Intelligence patents the Wish List

On Dec 28, 2001, Channel Intelligence filed a patent covering the "invention provides a method for configuring a database system to store information regarding a plurality of items." Translation? They patented the idea of storing a list of items in a database on the Internet. Huh?

Apparently, they have now decided to sue some ecommerce sites for having "wish lists" on their site. So they invented the wish list?

Forgetting for a second that Amazon was doing it long before everyone, those of us at Trilogy during the dotcom bubble will remember that IveBeenGood.com was offering wish list functionality in October 1999, more than 2 years before the Channel Intelligence patent was filed.

You can see the actual patent here. It's pretty ridiculous.

2 free VIP tickets to Steve Almaraz Boxing Match at Austin Music Hall on Saturday, July 26

ONE NIGHT, ONE TITLE - STEVE ALMARAZ

Saturday, July 26
Doors/Bar @ 7 pm | Event @ 7:30 pm
Austin Music Hall

Tower Club VIP Tickets include:

• Free Valet Parking
  
• Reserved seating in Tower Club VIP section
  
• Drink service in your seats
  
• Tower Club VIP Bar
  
• Tower Club VIP Bathrooms
  
• Tower Club VIP Balcony
  

Note that these seats have VIP service but are located up high above the ring, not ringside.

2 tickets available.
Email tickets2008@austinpreneur.com if you'd like themSorry the tickets have been claimed. Have fun Jim!

FundingSleuth.com sends email alerts when companies raise money

First Round Capital released a cool new tool for entrepreneurs and investors called FundingSleuth.com. It lets you enter in companies to watch and automatically sends an email alert if that company files a sale of securities with the SEC.

If you work for a funded company, you should sign up and watch your employer. If you are an entrepreneur, you should watch your own company so that you know when your fundraising becomes public information. If you're an investor, you should watch your portfolio so that you know about other fundraising. If you're just really interested in a particular startup, you might want to monitor their fundraising.

Thanks for this cool, free tool!

Great introductory video about Twitter

A few weeks ago I came across this entertaining, three minute introduction to Twitter, created by Common Craft. It does a great job explaining the benefits of Twitter and also uses this funky, low-tech production technique with a video camera and paper cutouts that is innovative and fun to watch.

If you have heard about Twitter but haven't started tweeting yet, I highly recommend you take a look!

Unfortunately, they aren't taking on any custom projects right now. If you know of anyone who is capable of producing a video like that please let me know because I want to make an introductory video for OtherInbox.

Noise canceling cell phone

Did you ever notice that people on cell phones talk really loud but people on landlines often whisper into the phone? I've heard that the reason is because you can actually hear your own voice in the speaker on a landline but you can't on a cell phone, and without that feedback we make our voices louder. Another theory I've heard is that when people can't hear the other party well, they instinctively talk louder.

Regardless of why it happens, it definitely happens. And if you're not the one on the phone, its really annoying. I was riding a train in Boston a few months ago and even though I was sitting at one end of the train car I could hear a woman gabbing away on her cell phone at the other end of the train car and it was so annoying that I moved to a different train car. And these are big train cars! Can you imagine how bad its going to be when you can use a cell phone on a plane?

One approach is to try and get people to talk without making any sound but I think that's unlikely to catch on (I saw this demo of a band you where on your neck that senses the impulses of speech without you actually having to make noise - can't find the link to it right now).

What we need is some sort of noise canceling cell phone that would pick up your voice for transmission but would cancel it out from spreading to those around you. That cell phone would sell faster than iPhones... 3G is great but imagine the privacy of being able to talk without everyone around you listening? This would be viral in that you have an incentive to get everyone else to use it (so they don't bother you!).

Will somebody please invent this? Bose maybe?

Come learn Ruby on Rails on August 2nd

If you've been hearing about Ruby on Rails and wondering what all the fuss is about, come spend a Saturday learning Ruby on Rails with a group of experienced Rails developers as your guide. The program will outline the major pieces of Rails and dellve into the practial aspects of building web applications with the framework. Hands-on work on your own laptop will be encouraged during the work session.

Major topics will include:

• Some Ruby Basics
  
• Broad Rails Overview
  
• Building a Rails Application From the Ground Up
  
• Active Record Models and Database Migrations
  
• Views, Controllers, and Helpers: A Guided Tour
  
• Application Deployment with Capistrano 2
  
• App Lab

We'll be hosting the event on August 2nd from 10am to 5pm at the Datran Media and OtherInbox offices. Space is limited so reserve your spot today!

Austin on Rails meeting Tuesday July 22nd

On Tuesday, July 22nd we'll be hosting the Austin On Rails monthly meeting at the Datran Media and OtherInbox offices (fourth Tuesday of every month, 8th floor of the Omni Hotel at 7th and Brazos downtown). The meeting runs from 7pm - 9pm and then everyone heads to a bar for drinks after. Datran Media provides free drinks and pizza!

Topics for this month include...

Lightning Talks!
For our first segment this month, we are going to open up the floor for lightning talks, so please start thinking about what you would like to share now. We'll allow for 5 minutes or so per speaker, but no more than 10, and we'll fit in as many as we can. Good ideas for a talk might be a tool or technique you've learned recently, a new Rails project you've developed, a brief tutorial on a process or library you've found helpful. Etc! Should be fun.

Merb: The "Came for Rails, Stayed for Ruby" Framework
Merb is the pocket rocket framework that's creating buzz in the Rails community. Merb is fast. Merb is modular. Merb is efficient. And Merb might be the best choice for your next project. And it might not.

This presentation will provide an overview of the philosophy behind Merb, the 0.9 rewrite, where Merb is headed, and how it can compliment Rails. We will quickly dive into checking out Merb's internals, a few Merb plugins, and how you can get involved in the Merb project. Merb is a great example of a ruby project done right, and we'll highlight a few features that Merb knocks out of the park while helping your determine if merb is right for you.

Brian & Ben are partners in software consultancy specializing in Django, Rails, and Merb development. The team has closely followed the progress of both Merb and DataMapper since their respective 0.9 rewrites, contributing to the projects whenever possible. Since April 2008, they have been using Merb + DataMapper on new client applications.

Also, OtherInbox is hiring Ruby on Rails developers, so if you're interested in learning more please come to the meeting and find me!

Venture-backed IPO recession?

This BusinessWeek video clip points out that there were only 5 venture-backed IPO's in the first quarter of 2008 and ZERO venture-backed IPO's in the second quarter. The VC's blame Sarbanes-Oxley, picky entrepreneurs and globalization as the cause and suggest that we make a concerted effort to save venture capital by raising awareness and easing some expensive accounting requirements.

Hat tip to Barry Thornton

Posting from TypePad iPhone app

I'm testing out the new TypePad iPhone application. This is a picture of the cookies I baked last night, taken and uploaded with my iPhone.

I'll be at the Barton Creek Apple store tomorrow at 7am if anyone wants to join me!

(I had to come back after posting this and reformat it from my computer to make the image smaller and remove some whitespace)

2 free VIP tickets to Dethklok at Austin Music Hall on Sunday, July 6

DETHKLOK W/ CHIMAIRA AND SOILENT GREEN

Sunday, July 6
Doors/Bar @ 7 pm | Show @ 7:30 pm
Austin Music Hall

Tower Club VIP Tickets include:

• Free Valet Parking
  
• Reserved seating in Tower Club VIP section
  
• Drink service in your seats
  
• Tower Club VIP Bar
  
• Tower Club VIP Bathrooms
  
• Tower Club VIP Balcony
  

2 tickets available.
Email tickets2008@austinpreneur.com if you'd like them
The tickets have been claimed. Maybe next time!

Necessity is the mother of Invention (and winning Chinese battles)

I'm reading Predictably Irrational, by Dan Ariely, and came across a story that reminded me of bootstrapping a company.

In 210 BC, a Chinese commander named Xiang Yu led his troops across the Yangtze River to attack the army of the Qin (Ch'in) dynasty. Pausing on the banks of the river for the night, his troops awakened in the morning to find, to their horror, that their ships were burning. They hurried to their feet to fight off the attackers, but soon discovered that it was Xiang Yu himself who had set their ships on fire, and that he had also ordered all the cooking pots crushed.

With their ships gone, the soldiers had no route of retreat. Winning was the only option. And win they did. 9 battles in a row before defeating the Qin forces.

This is similar to when a bootstrapper enters the Valley of Death and commits to their venture, but before they are making money and cash flow positive. They are forced to figure out how to make it work with what they've got. The timeline is not completely in their control.

We're always tempted to leave ourselves an escape route or path of retreat. And usually that's a good idea. But sometimes there aren't enough resources to mount the attack and cover the retreat. In order to be successful sometimes you have to commit the resources to what you believe in because the retreat option isn't acceptable. Sometimes once you head down a path there is just no turning back, so you might as well commit all of your resources to getting to the end.

When I was CEO of SKYLIST, this happened twice. We were growing and needed to shift focus based on customer demand and a rapidly changing market. Both of those times it was focused on eliminating unprofitable customers and focusing sales on specific types of opportunities. Each resulted in a temporary drop in revenue but strengthened the long term sustainability and profitability of the company.

When Datran Media bought SKYLIST, we went through the same exercise again. Each time the SKYLIST business came out stronger than before and had replaced the revenue with better customers within a year.

Each time it was the right thing to do and left us stronger than before, but each time we went into it kicking and screaming. Change is hard. When something works, we often get the urge to just do that over and over - well past the point where it stops working. It felt bad to move away from lines of business we had traditionally dominated.

But it was turning point for the company. Had we not burned the ships behind us, I'm not sure we would have survived and succeeded.

Citibank loves me, Southwest Vision does too

Some companies just make you feel loved and appreciated. They are getting harder and harder to find but they do still exist. I hope I can make OtherInbox a company makes its customers feel loved!

There is this local eyeglasses store called Southwest Vision on Bee Cave Road in Austin that has impressed me more than once with their customer service and commitment to standing behind their product. First off, everyone that works there is as nice as can be. But they also take care of their customers. I had a scratch on a lens and brought it to them the day after my warranty had expired and they replaced it anyway. Months later I somehow warped one of my lenses and it was popping out and they replaced it for free well after the warranty had expired.

Citibank also came through for me recently. My first credit card was set up in 1994 with Citibank and the account is still active. Back then they were putting your photo on your credit card and every year or two the send me a new card with the same photo from when I was 16 years old. As long as they keep doing that, there is no chance that I'm getting rid of this credit card! I haven't been using it much at all and a few months ago stopped charging to it entirely. But I didn't realize that my dry cleaner had that card and was charging to it every month. A few months later, I had $160 in charges and $130 in late fees! I called Citibank and explained what happened - they transferred me to a manager who promptly waived not only the late fees but also all of the finance charges! They definitely made me feel like a valued customer and specifically told me how they appreciated that I had been a customer for more than 10 years.

And they say all corporations are evil!

Austin On Rails meeting Tuesday June 24th

On Tuesday, June 24th we'll be hosting the Austin On Rails monthly meeting at the Datran Media and OtherInbox offices (fourth Tuesday of every month, 8th floor of the Omni Hotel at 7th and Brazos downtown). The meeting runs from 7pm - 9pm and then everyone heads to a bar for drinks after. Datran Media provides free drinks and pizza!

Topics for this month include...

Client-Side Performance Measurement & Optimization
by Eric Falcao
Performance optimization tends to focus on topics like database tuning or server-side caching with the goal of getting response times as low as possible. A recent trend in client side optimization has been found to provide huge performance improvements to the user's experience.

In this talk, we will explore how to best measure the client-side download time and look at how to implement best practices (from O'Reilly's High Performance Web Sites) using a mongrel/rails/nginx stack.

Eric Falcao is a software developer at FiveRuns who has a passion for Internet startups and the business of software. Formerly of the .NET world, Eric is glad to be a part of the Ruby and Rails community and an advocate for the great startup climate in Austin. He blogs at http://austinentrepreneur.wordpress.com.

What's Coming in Rails 2.1?
by Steven Smith
Rails 2.1 was announced at this year's Rails Conference and had 1,400 contributors which resulted in 1,600+ patches. A lot has been done since the release of 2.0, which occurred approximately six months ago. This session will cover the major new features of Rails 2.1 including UTC-based migrations, better timezone support, and better caching.

Steven Smith is the Vice President of Engineering and co-founder at OtherInbox. He also founded FiveRuns, a venture-backed start up with the goal of bringing a simpler, smarter solution to the Ruby on Rails monitoring and management marketplace. Prior to FiveRuns, Steven was the CTO of Tonic Software and SVP of R&D at Neon Systems. He was also Founder and CEO of Relational Development, Inc., a software company specializing in System Management solutions from 1991 to 1998.

Also, OtherInbox is hiring Ruby on Rails developers, so if you're interested in learning more please come to the meeting and find me!

I need an iPhone application that times how much I use each other app

A recent New York Times article about a dispute over whether checking your email on a blackberry should be counted towards overtime pay made me think about the benefits of tracking usage of specific apps on your iPhone or Blackberry.

I wish it would send me a daily or weekly email report showing how much time I spent talking on the phone, checking my email, text messaging and browsing the mobile web. For simplicity it could just break it down by application. Ideally I could drill down on a particular day and see my usage pattern of certain applications over the day. Or maybe it would just give me an iCal feed I could subscribe to that showed my activity.

If they went the iCal feed route, you could then pipe that into your contact management software to log phone calls and text messaging or into your time tracking software for logging hours spent doing email at the pool.

Support your local PBS station!

Nice WSJ hits for Chirp and Minggl

Congratulations to Eve Philips at Chirp (Trilogy University 99) and Dewey Gaedcke from Minggl (Austin-based startup) for getting mentioned in a recent Wall Street Journal article about social aggregators. Christopher Lawton interviewed me for this article as well but none of my comments made it in.

Learn about private-label social networks at the Social Media Club meeting this Thursday

On Thursday June 19 we're hosting the Austin Social Media Club meeting at the Datran Media and OtherInbox offices (third Thursday of every month, 8th floor of the Omni Hotel at 7th and Brazos downtown).

Sam Eder from Small World Labs will be talking about private-label social networks:

You’ve all heard of FaceBook and MySpace, but do you realize that there are social networks springing up all around you? Sam Eder from Small World Labs will be presenting the landscape of private-label social networks and case studies of how companies have created their own social networks to increase customer retention and attract new customers.

I'm looking to hire a product manager in the social media space for Datran Media as well as Facebook app developers for Datran Media and OtherInbox. If you know of anyone who might be a good fit, please encourage them to attend and introduce themselves to me.

We need Twitter and IRC integration for PowerPoint

A recent story on CNN talks about the real-time backchatter that is often happening at conferences and presentations. While the panelists are up on stage talking, the audience is having their own conversation on Twitter, Meebo and in chat rooms. I was in the crowd at Mark Zuckerberg's notorious SXSW interview this year which was probably one of the highest profile examples so far.

I was impressed to read how Jeremiah Owyang from Forrester was able to use this to his advantage and change the course of his presentation mid-stream based on feedback over Twitter. Smart presenters are going to pay attention and smart entrepreneurs will find ways to turn this into an advantage.

At some of the geekiest conferences that I attend, they have put up an IRC chat window on a projector so that participants inside the room and outside the room could interact.

We're now starting to see a new generation of web 2.0 presentation software from companies like SlideRocket and Google - where the slides can incorporate real-time data from the web, video, flash and other interactive components. But this is all focused outward on what the viewers see.

PowerPoint or Keynote show a presenter view if you have 2 monitors in use that includes the current slide, next slide, time elapsed, time remaining, current time and your slide notes. A great opportunity for this new generation is to provide a real-time presenter view that brings in this other real-time information. So in addition to the slide notes and timers, there would a twitter feed, Meebo client and IRC client so that each presenter can monitor the online audience in addition to the one sitting in front of them.

Why stand when you can walk?

I've been working at a standing desk for close to 10 years. When I talk on the phone I'm constantly pacing. At my house I end up walking in circles around the island in my kitchen. At work, I stand on a balance board to keep my body occupied. In a strange way, it seems to help me focus.

I've thought about trying to turn a treadmill or exercise bike into a workstation but never got the energy to make it happen. After seeing this treadmill desk, I may have to finally give it a try!

Hat tip: Mike Subelsky

Don't touch my iced tea!

I know they are trying to provide good customer service, but I really wish that waiters would stop refilling my iced tea when its half full.

Normally, I put a single sugar into my iced tea. But then I drink some and the waiter comes along to refill it and suddenly its not sweet enough. So now I need to put in more sugar, but not a whole packet because that would be too sweet and so now I'm trying to pour out only half the sugar pack and I end up leaving a half-empty sugar pack on the table which spills on the table and ends up on my pants.

I wish they would wait until my drink was almost empty before refilling it!