The Military and Innovation Hubs

A few months back I saw a really interesting video about the Military and its impact on the creation and development of Silicon Valley.  It was a really interesting look at the history and how the government and military played a role in the rich innovation that took place there and still does to this day.

The just the other day I came across this post kind of talking about the same thing.

At the end of an interesting post about the changes in the American economy during the latter half of the 20th century, Dane Stangler has an interesting aside about the role of the military in the early development of Silicon Valley. He notes that the Silicon Valley started out as a hub for defense contractors and only later became a center for the private semiconductor industry and (still later) for the software and Internet industries.

He also notes that the author of the other piece states that if a town is looking to build a center for innovation, they should look to the Military or the defense industry.  I was happy to see that Timothy Lee did not agree stating that

the military just isn’t as important to the semiconductor and communications industries as it was a few decades ago. The military still spends a ton of money on high-tech toys, but private firms also spend billions of dollars on R&D, and their spending is more squarely focused on consumer and business markets. Smart technologists don’t have to chase military contracts, they can raise capital and go straight for the consumer market.

I enjoyed this as I often like to ponder what it takes to make cities hit that threshold like Silicon Valley has where they are considered “technology hubs”.  There are many theories on this, like local Universities that feed the ecosystem and so on, but I also do not feel that the military is at the forefront of innovation anymore.  I think the last thing the military has supplied the industry really was GPS, but since then I think the industry has been more of the provider of the innovation back into the military.  Of course I could be totally wrong, usually am … but  as I stated in a post I previously wrote, at least in the DC area, I would say that the government has actually be the stifler of innovation, not the driver.

Sure there are tons of defense contractors in our area here, and being one of them, what I see is our adoption of technology from the outside, not the other way around.  The big buzzwords are grid computing, cloud computing initiatives, and so on.  But these technologies are being brought in, not exported back out.

mpowerplayer Scores $2.5M Series A Round

Last month I had the pleasure of being invited to the Demo Day for the startups that participated in Launcbox Digital’s Startup Program.  One of the companies that presented was mpowerplayer, an great mobile gaming playing and purchasing platform.  mpowerplayer is a Reston, VA based startup and according to the About page

Mpowerplayer helps consumers discover the world of mobile gaming using the power of the web. Users can quickly browse a vast library of mobile games and applications, demo-ing any or all of them with a single click.

With our desktop-based app store and a built-in content catalog, Mpowerplayer has made it easier to introduce new consumers to mobile gaming.

I am not a huge mobile gamer, but I recognized the need for this type of thing.  One of the coolest features I saw was the ability to actually play the game on an emulated phone platform right in your browser before you take the step and purchase it to download to your phone.  I am sure many of us have bought a game and then it turned out not to be what we thought it was.  Well no more with mpowerplayer.  Check out this overview video of their service.
Mpowerplayer Mobile Arcade from Mpowerplayer on Vimeo.

I was very happy to get a note today pointing me to their pres release announcing they had secured a $2.5 million Series A round of funding.

The round includes investments from New Atlantic Ventures, the Center for Innovative Technology GAP Fund, and LaunchBox Digital.

The funding comes at a time of heightened interest in the mobile game industry, following Apple’s successful launch of its App Store for iPhone, and with Apple’s rivals seeking to follow suit.

“70 percent of online consumers play games in their web browser, but less than 5 percent play games on their mobile phone,” said Michael Powers, CEO of Mpowerplayer. “Every one of these people carries a game console in their pocket, but they need to discover what they can do with it.”

Mpowerplayer will use the capital infusion to accelerate adoption of its widget-based mobile game catalog on the leading social networks and game-oriented community web sites.  “Casual web gamers are a hugely under-served market for mobile content and we are uniquely positioned to bridge that gap,” added Powers.

Congrats to the team and here’s hoping for a bright future.

Docstoc Intros Some Great New Features

Regular readers of the blog here know we are big fans of Docstoc.  We wrote a review of it a while back on how it is a great resource for thouse looking for almost any type of professional document template you can imagine.  As I stated in that previous post, you can find anything from NDA’s to proposal templates and so on.

I was totally excited to see a couple of new features they realeased the other day when I came across a Techcrunch post on the new services.  Basically theya re offering two new features that should be sure to make you head over and take a look, MyDocs and Sync.  MyDocs is a great way to keep your documents safe online.  They don’t offer online editing, but that shouldnt make you shy away.  What it does offer you is a great place to keep those documents safe and in one place with a lot of features for you to utilize.

Docstoc MyDocs is the fastest and friendliest way to store, preview and manage your documents – there’s virtually no load time to preview your documents because MyDocs is tailored specifically for documents. With several different options for viewing your documents, it’s never been easier to organize and view your documents. Since all your documents are stored online with MyDocs, you can access them from anywhere with an Internet connection.

Here is a quick video overview of MyDocs

The other service that I am really more excited about is Sync.  This is a really cool feature that

automatically syncs documents from your computer to Docstoc MyDocs. Effortlessly upload your documents and keep them private for easy access anytime, anywhere. Or publish any document or folder of documents publicly on Docstoc by putting it in your “Docstoc Public Documents” folder from your desktop.

Here is why I like this.  I am a huge Google Docs user but like many I do have a twinge of fear that all my data is up in the cloud … Don’t get me wrong, I love the ability to access and edit my documents from anywhere but I still like the security of having a copy of my own.  That has always been the onw drawback I have found with Google Docs.  They really offer no ability to work outside their framework and better yet offer me no ability to bulk download all my documents so I can have a copy.  I can do it one by one, but come on who has time for that ….  With the Docstoc sync application, I can have ownership of those documents and work on the locally always knowing that the changes are being backed up to MyDcocs space on Docstoc. Here is another video of overview of the Sync feature

I am totally gonna head over and give these a go.  I think this takes Docstoc to the next level and if they can get online editing that would sync the documents both ways along with their embeddding features I think they will give Google a serious run for their money in this space.

Check it out and let us know what you think.

ZipityZap, A New Slant on Internet Television

As many of you know, I am always on the look out for those local companies who are out to make it big and try to do what I can to help showcase what they are doing.

So I was very happy the other day when I got an email from Gerald Zuckerwar, the developer of ZipityZap, a new Internet Television Portal based in Ellicot City, Maryland.  I went over and took a look at what they have going on.  As many of you know, the number of people getting their television fix over the interenet is growing rapidly with the advent of YouTube and sites like Hulu.  And those are just naming a couple of many.  The major news outlets now have streaming content as do the networks and all sorts of things in between.

So what ZipityZap is aiming to do is be that portal to all the content out there and to make it easy for you to get there.  According to their initial press release

Zipityzap.com, a free web-based internet television service, today announced its public launch. It organizes over 100 internet television channels into 17 logical categories with an easy-to-use interface. It also works with a wireless remote control.

“As more and more programming content becomes available on the internet we identified a need to bring it all together into one central location. In addition, Zipityzap makes watching internet television more like watching real television because for $50 you can get a wireless remote control and channel-zap from the comfort of your couch” says Gerald Zuckerwar, the developer.

Here is a video they offer as a primer to the service.

From the home page, the viewer has several catagories to choose from, anything from Education to Network Television to Movies and everything in between.  By selecting one of these catagories, you are taken to a list of content that you can view.  Those links take you right to the content.  This in browser viewing can be extended to your television with a few cables.  ZipityZap has even announced a partnership with

SVideo.com to supply consumers with affordable cables for internet-connected personal computer-to-television connectivity.

And if you use a WIndows PC they even have a remote control solution that allows you to control your viewing without laying a finger on the keyboard.

Simply plug in the Firefly remote and configure the software and you can sit back and relax.

Head over and check it out and let us know what you all think.

Is Comcast Starting to “Get It”

As we look around the cuurent landscape and see it littered with “old’ media companies who just haven’t seemed to grasp the revolution that is taking place around them, there are a few that have begun to stand out.  One being Comcast.  I never ever thought I would make that statement, even in light of the recent announcement of bandwidth caps (Come on people .. who the hell NEEDS more than 250 GB a month …), but I will say that I have enjoyed watching them come onto the social media scene and even more thier ability to use these new social medai tools to provide the customer a better experience.

Many of us Twitter users have become quite familiar with @comcastcares there as a place where Comcast is reaching out to people with issues or questions, and importatnly allowing people to reach out to them minus a lot of the BS.  Frank Eliason started this and his superiors saw the value it brought and he has continued to build out the social media team there at Comcast.  Have an issue, twitter or email them and you will be taken care of.  It is exactly the thing social media is meant to do, cut out the middleman and allow the comsumer a direct line of communication to a receptive audience.  It has been interesting to see the “tide” kind of turn recently.  Whereas people used to bash Comcast as a modern day beaurcratic nightmare, that seems to have shifted.

So I am moving into a new place and decided I was going to go back to cable as DSL has not cut it for me.  In the past I was so used to the long labourious phone calls to the sales department to get my new account and set up and installation time … I was dreading it.  I went online to at least check out the pricing for the bundles and as I was looking I noticed I could add the itme to a Cart … Hmm.  I added it and proceeded to the checkout.  I was pretty surprised, a rather seamless experience.  My next choice was a place to pick a couple of installations times that would be good for me, and that was it.  In the end a Live Chat window came up for an analyst to verify my order.  While chatting he told me he found a better price for me !  I took it and that was that, transaction complete, installation sceduled, and I didnt have to wait on hold or any of that annoying  BS.

All in all a great customer experience that I appluad Comcast for.  How about you all?  Any expericences with Comcast or anyone else you thought was a great example of using new tools to make a better customer experience ?

DC Government Looks to Social Media

I saw a really interesting post this morning about a local DC Government agency that is reaching out and starting to use social media to reach its audience.

The DC Department of Community and Regulatory Affairs has started a blog called thisshouldbeillegal.com to address Collegiate Off Campus Housing Safety while students attend school in the District.  The site is looking to

provide a central location where you can request free services that can make your life safer if you live off-campus. We also want to make the information available where you are. We have created a Facebook group so you can get immediate online and mobile updates. We’re also on Twitter so you can ask questions and post links from wherever you are.

It is a great service they are providing to the off campus student population and what is even better is their desire to reach them where they are at.  I have been talking to some people in the DC Office of Technology recently and I was shocked to see and hear at some of the initiatives they are working on.  (Stay tuned for a post on this).  So Iw as not terribly surprised to see this iniative take off.

It does not seem like we should be surprised.  To reach college students go where they are, right?  But that is not always so obvious in some circles, especially government ones.

The post on Shannon Paul’s blog included a great interview with Mike Rupert, communications director for the DCRA.  I wanted to highlight a few points he made

Q: What is the goal of the D.C. Department of Consumer & Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) social media outreach with ThisShouldBeIllegal.com?

Mike Rupert: The goal of ThisShouldBeIllegal.com is to ensure all off-campus housing in the District of Columbia is licensed and has received a recent city safety inspection.

Q: How did the idea evolve to use social media to raise awareness about off-campus living conditions in D.C.?

Mike Rupert: My boss, DCRA Director, Linda Argo was quick to recognize, and become enthusiastic about, the potential of social media to reach students directly. One of the great things about socialmedia is that a true conversation can happen on many levels.

You should really head over and see the full text of the interview, I enjoyed the insight. Hopefully this idea can spill over into some of the other departments to use to reach out to the city residents.

600Block: Lets Show Our Support

Some of you may remember the review we did on the Baltimore start up, 600Block.  It is a great local resource for the local Baltimore area.  Now they are in a competition in City Paper’s Best Baltimore-Related Website.  So I got a note from the 600Block team looking for our support and I am happy to give it.

So lets everyone head over to vote

Vote for 600block as Best Baltimore-Related Website

600Block is a local review and discovery site for the Baltimore area only in its current state.  There is a social aspect to it, as you can add friends to see what they have discovered and reviewed in their area.  In addition there are some really cool features, like Daily Specials.  This is a listing of specials places are offering that you can take advantage of.  It may be $1 drafts or a special on steaks.   Check out the video here with an overview of the site and all the features.

Why Won’t Apple Let Me Turn Location Services Off ?

As a recent iPhone 3g owner I have been careful to cut off some services that I don’t need all the time in order to conserve the crappy battery life.  One of those services is the Location Services.  For one, I do not necessarily need this on all the time, and two, I am a little leary of my location being “known” all the time.

So I went into the system preferences of the phone and cut the Location Services off.  Here is a screenshot of this option.

What kept confusing me though, was why the services kept cutting back on …

I started to do some investigation and noticed that even though I would turn the service off, if the phone was powered off and on the services come back on by default.  To me this is a pretty seriouos issue.  If I want to cut this service off, there is a reason for it and I do not want them to decide that it is only a temporary things and cut it back on…

Has anyone else noticed this ?  What are your thoughts ?

Lets Save Pandora !

I am sure many of you know about the online music site Pandora.  It is a awesome musins site that examines he music you listen to and figures out other music you may like.  In any case, according to this Washington Post article, the company may be on the verge of stopping the music.

Last year, an obscure federal panel ordered a doubling of the per-song performance royalty that Web radio stations pay to performers and record companies.

Traditional radio, by contrast, pays no such fee. Satellite radio pays a fee but at a less onerous rate, at least by some measures.

As for Pandora, its royalty fees this year will amount to 70 percent of its projected revenue of $25 million, Westergren said, a level that could doom it and other Web radio outfits.

So to try to battle this the people over at Clearspring have developed a widget for people to put on their blogs to spread the word.

Head over and grab one to fit you blog/web site and help spread the word!

trooQ, The New Internet Marketplace

Clearly with the rise of sites like Ebay we have seen the immense popularity for online marketplaces and the ability to buy and sell goods online.   But along with that has come a list of issues ranging from security to just plain fraud.  How many stories have we heard, or been witness to, where someone was scammed out of money or merchandise on Ebay ?  Let me answer that for you, A LOT.  Services like Ebay are impersonal and create a chasm between buyer and seller leading to distrust of the community and the system.

Enter Trooq.

trooQ is the social marketplace. We give you a place to find what you are looking for, by giving you the ability to leverage your existing social networks to create networks of trusted people to buy and sell with. Not only do we provide you with the level of trust that helps make the purchasing process easier, trooQ is reliable, cost-effective and fun. And, who doesn’t like a little fun!

trooQ is the brainchild of one our very own local DC tech crowd Will Kern, Director of Product Management at Mixx, and Bill Kocik, Principle Software Engineer at Mixx as well.  I was really excited when I learned of their new effort and have been patiently waiting to get in and try it out.  I cant help but tell you the more and more I poked around, the more I began to realize what a huge impact this could have.  As I stated above, buying goods on a number of other online marketplaces is just plain scary.  You have no idea who you are doing business with.  trooQ aims to change all that with the ability for you to create a more social network of trusted people with whom you can buy and sell goods with and trust that you will get what you pay for and also get for what you sell.  It takes that impersonal issue out of the way and allows you to just worry about what you want to buy or sell.

The sales concept is unique as well.  It is kind of like a quasi auction you see on Ebay, but better.  When the seller places an item for sale, they list things like description, condition, tags, shipping costs, and a price.  Buyers that are interested can then Make and Offer.  Posting and item for sale could not be easier, with a simple one page view and viola, item for sale !  Of course there is a means to message the sellers to ask any questions about the item as well as simply place it on a watch list.

Another really cool idea that I love is the use of communities.  What a great concept to be able to not only build a broad network of friends to buy and sell good with but make it even more granular by using communities.  There are a few set up on the site now, one being a Mountain Bikers Community.  Now insode of your broad social marketplace you have these other niches that are a great resource to be able to buy and sell to like minded and trustworthy members. Brilliant !  Have a old bike you are looking to sell ?  It very well will get lost in the wash on other sites.  But in the trooq community, you have an immediate and willing audience.

And finally they have a really cool widget for you to spread the word about your inventory you need to sell.

OK, in English now. To put it simply, the trooQ widget is a little snippet of code that you can copy and paste onto your blog / website / group that gives your viewers the ability to search your inventory on trooQ. But wait, it gets better, not only does it give people the ability to search your inventory, but also all the listings of your friends, as well as all of trooQ.

Overall I think there is huge potential for trooQ to fill a void that honestly I hadn’t thought that much about until I began playing wth the site.  So many times we all just consider the incumbent and stray very little, but then an innovative idea comes long and knowks the big kid on the block right off his bike.  trooQ is that idea and I think they can and will make an impact in the space.  Head over, sign up and report back to let us know what you think !

Good luck Will and Bill …. thats a funny one to say huh .

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