For a brand, nirvana is when your good name is so widely endorsed that it enters the language. “Pass the Kleenex.” “Google it.”
Category: Tools and Information
Apple iPad 3G’s Opening Weekend: Video Restrictions, Jailbreaking, and Shortages | Fast Company
The 3G is the same in all respects, except it’s $130 more expensive for each model, and it packs a 3G antenna so you can use AT&T’s fast-when-it-works-but-usually-it-doesn’t 3G network on the go.
SBA Announces Grant Funding Available for States to Support R&D, Small Business Innovation
WASHINGTON –The U.S. Small Business Administration is accepting grant funding requests from the governors of U.S. states and territories to support programs for innovative, technology-driven small businesses under SBA’s Federal and State Technology (FAST) partnership program through May 10, 2010.
FAST provides $2 million in funding (up to $100,000 per applicant) for outreach and technical assistance to science and technology-driven small businesses. The program places particular emphasis on helping socially and economically disadvantaged firms compete in the SBA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. Eligible applicants for FAST grants include state and local economic development agencies, Small Business Development Centers, and colleges and universities. Each state, through its governor, may submit one proposal.
“The FAST program is an important catalyst for helping America’s cutting-edge entrepreneurs continue to drive innovation and create good jobs,” said Karen G. Mills, SBA Administrator. “The partnerships developed through these programs will play a critical role in helping high-growth potential small firms lay a stronger foundation for economic prosperity.”
FAST funding applicants are encouraged to show how they will help support areas such as:
- small business research and development assistance,
- technology transfer from universities to small businesses,
- technological diffusion of innovation benefiting small businesses,
- proposal development and mentoring for small businesses applying for SBIR grants; and,
- commercialization of technology developed through SBIR grants.
Companies supported by the SBIR and STTR programs often generate some of the most important breakthroughs each year in the U.S. For example, about 25 percent of R&D Magazine’s Top 100 Innovations come from SBIR-funded small businesses.
More details about FAST grants can be found here: http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_homepage/sba_fast_program_annc.pdf
Proposals will be evaluated by a committee consisting of small business owners, state level representatives, federal SBIR program managers and representatives of the business and academic communities. The SBA, the Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation will jointly review the recommendations from the evaluation panel and make awards based on proposal merit. Varying levels of matching funds are required from each participating state and territory.
The SBIR program—administered by the SBA—requires 11 federal agencies with more than $100 million in R&D spending to set aside 2.5 percent of those funds for competitively-awarded SBIR grants. In Fiscal Year 2007, these agencies provided about 5,500 SBIR federal grants and contracts for small businesses, a $2 billion investment.
STTR requires federal agencies with over $1 billion in extramural R&D funding to set aside 0.3 percent. STTR totaled about 870 awards for $218 million in Fiscal Year 2007.
For more information about the SBIR and STTR programs, visit SBA’s Web site at: www.sba.gov/sbir.
Colours In Cultures | informationisbeautiful.net
How Apple Lost the Next iPhone | Gizmodo
“I underestimated how good German beer is,” he typed into the next-generation iPhone he was testing on the field, cleverly disguised as an iPhone 3GS. It was his last Facebook update from the secret iPhone. It was the last time he ever saw the iPhone, right before he abandoned it on bar stool, leaving to go home.
WePay, a legit threat to PayPal | usfst.com
Those of us who have been part of a group and needed to collect money from people know how awkward it can be, and this is where newly launched WePay comes in.
37Signals’ 13 Simple Rules for Success in Business | Slideshows
Convert your Honda Accord to run on trash
We may not yet have a flux capacitor for time travel, but we do already have the equivalent of “Mr. Fusion”, which if cleverly applied, will enable you to run your car on everyday “trash”– today. This “magical” device is called a gasifier.
A Million Great Marketing Ideas – Here’s One! | Barry Davis
As a small business owner, I’ll bet that you sometimes begin to wonder…how am I ever going to get my marketing message out? With all the choices out there, such as newspapers, magazines, radio & television…how do I make the “right” decision? All these choices can cost you an “arm and a leg” and just exactly what do you get in return? A full page ad in a local magazine will set you back $10,000.00. Not bad if you have the money. But once the reader turns the page, you’re not in his/her mind anymore…how many new customers will you have to get in order to re-coup your $10,000.00 investment.. I’ll bet a lot.
People will tell you if you advertise on the radio, your commercial must be consistent and it must play at all hours of the day and night. Just exactly how much will that run you? Probably a lot more then you’re spending on marketing & advertising right now. It’s all so expensive. What’s a small business owner to do?
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Bill Watterson, creator of beloved ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ comic strip looks back with no regrets | cleveland.com
Ah, the life of a newspaper cartoonist — how I miss the groupies, drugs and trashed hotel rooms!
The Cleveland Plain Dealer snagged an interview the acclaimed cartoonist on the announcement of the U.S. Postal Services release of a ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ stamp.
I miss ‘Calvin and Hobbes’.
Dispatches From The Front 