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Get Funding For Your Startup In Bangalore

SLP Bangalore (www.startupleadership.com) is offering 3 startups the opportunity to participate in the SLP Venture Capital Competition (VCC)- an intense yet fun experience where you present your startup pitch to entrepreneurs and senior Venture Capitalists and get valuable feedback.

VCC engages three different groups — entrepreneurs (you), SLP Fellows, and Venture Capitalists. During the first half of the day, the 3 startup teams will present their pitches to team of SLP Fellows. In the second half, startups and SLP Fellows will present these investment terms to investment committees (constituted of real VCs).

SLP would value the involvement of your startup in their competition. You will get exposed to local VCs, get a chance to practice pitching to real VCs, and hopefully pick up new ideas, due diligence questions and feedback for your own fundraising process. Note that you have to be willing to spend a day with them on the 10th of March, 2012.

Please note that they are looking for early stage startups that are already doing business (not “ideation” stage), and have some kind of market validation behind them. To take part in this excellent opportunity please fill the form here. Based on the information provided as asked in the form, only 3 startups would be selected for the VC competition.

Preparation: Investor quality pitch (template will be provided)

Date: 10th March 2012

Time: 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Location: Near M G Road (more details later)

Contact Persons:

Soumya Das (soumyad@gmail.com)

Amit Sharma (amitdce@gmail.com)

Shivoo Koteshwar (shivoo.koteshwar@gmail.com)

If you are not from Bangalore, but have an idea which you believe in, then head here to get some funding / feedback.

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Apple Backs Down On In-App Subscription Policies – Hikes Prices

There are many that claim that the multimedia giant Apple has gotten somewhat greedy lately and a few new updates to their policies may have affirmed those accusations.

Early this year, Apple put up new policies that would be enforced June 30th of this year (that’s another two weeks from now). These new policies made more than a few jaws drop at their audacity. Section 11.13 of the policy states:

Apps can read or play approved content (magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, video) that is sold outside of the app, for which Apple will not receive any portion of the revenues, provided that the same content is also offered in the app using IAP at the same price or less than it is offered outside the app. This applies to both purchased content and subscriptions.

This was placed on top of a 30% cut for Apple on In-App Subscription payments. Many publishers were astounded at these new policies that they would have to abide by if they wanted to have their products and subscriptions bought within the App store.

Many people believed that the market and the customers would decide if Apples new regulations would work. If publishers sought other means of advertising then Apple users would begin to notice a change and would be frustrated. This in turn would affect Apple and the company would be forced to change. Unfortunately for most publishers, this 30% cut for Apple would dig deeply into their revenue and the restrictions on In-App Subscriptions could quite possibly force a lot of publishers to look elsewhere.

Quick to seize an opportunity to take advantage of the rift that Apple had created between themselves and the publishers, Google set out new policies of its own on February 16th. Google’s new One Pass was a service that Google stated let publishers set their own prices and terms, and Google only took 10% of the revenue as opposed to Apple’s 30%.

After a few months consideration and with the deadline for the new policies to be enforced drawing nearer, Apple quietly released an updated version of their policy, Section 11.14. This new section is significantly different and while it doesn’t change the astronomically high 30% to Apple, it does address the In-App subscriptions:

Apps can read or play approved content (specifically magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, and video) that is subscribed to or purchased outside of the app, as long as there is no button or external link in the app to purchase the approved content. Apple will not receive any portion of the revenues for approved content that is subscribed to or purchased outside of the app.

So what’s going to happen? Will publishers agree to Apple’s ridiculous rates and restrictions or will they seek new outlets for their advertising? These high rates will ultimately turn some publishers away, but there will be those whose eyes are on the sheer number of Apple users and will try to justify the cut they are paying to Apple because of it. If Google and other competitors can keep the pressure up though, hopefully Apple will change their ways sometime in the future.

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Now Talk More on Your Mobile without Any Tension of Battery Loss

Now Talk More on Your Mobile without Any Tension of Battery Loss

Few years back, it was really beyond anyone’s imagination but now the computer technology and science has improved in such a way that everything has become possible under this sky. The real concept is that a big research by Korean researchers has been done to make it possible to extend and regenerate the life of mobile phone battery through sound waves into electricity that can be used to recharge the mobile phone just by talking more on phones.

The truth behind the process is that the Korean Researchers have transformed sound waves into power with the help of morphological features of the nanoscale just by placing a bunch of nanowires between two electrodes which is a nanotechnology based on material-science. They have claimed that it is possible to create 50mV from sound waves of 1000b level. The level of this is higher than normal sound conversation that can reach up to 70b with the audio power sources generated through this besides other levels of sounds that could make it achievable in real life.\

This is really a boon for those people who are used to travel because of their business requirements and do not get any power point to recharge their phone battery while travelling and because of this, miss many important business talks due to lack of power point and sometime due to power shortage.

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Ocster Backup Pro 6 – An Excellent Backup Solution

Ocster Backup Pro 6 – An Excellent Backup Solution

Most of us face a problem with our PC backup when our system crashes all of a sudden. We normally need to format the C drive which means some of the important data such as achieves from Outlook and Yahoo messenger, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer bookmarks etc would be permanently lost. Here is a perfect solution to all your backup related issues during crashes.

Ocster Backup Pro 6 (OBP 6) is a comprehensive, fully automatic backup solution that helps you save your important data during crashes. You no more need to be worried about losing data in case of a system crash. OBP 6 offers an amazing backup speed with interesting features such as one to one file copy which allows you mirror files to any other media without the need to pack them in achieves.

It allows you to take a backup of your browser bookmarks and Windows contacts (in case of Windows Vista and Windows 7). OBP 6 comes with ability of backing up your emails and calendar entries from Mozilla Thunderbird and MS Outlook. It possesses a special feature known as “Automatic Pausing” using which the backup process can be automatically paused whenever you need the PC’s full power.

OBP 6 is capable of storing and backing up data onto a network drive, an external HD or on Ocster Secure Storage which is specially secured.  You can use Ocster Backup Pro quite easily even if you do not posses any technical knowledge. You can schedule automatic backups by simply selecting when and what you need to backup and the software will do its job perfectly.

Key Features of OBP 6:

  • Ability to create fully automatic backup of your data.
  • Simple to use.
  • Excellent backup speed.
  • Includes a selection of backup formats – One to One File Copy (Simple and quick mirroring of various files to any other media).
  • Backup your Bookmarks in Internet Explorer.
  • Backup your settings, add-ons and bookmarks in Mozilla Firefox.
  • Backup your emails, settings, calendar and add-ons in Mozilla Thunderbird.
  • Backup your Windows contacts into Windows Contacts folder.
  • Extended filtering capabilities offer more choice.
  • Versioning – Allows easy access to various old versions of important files.
  • Outlook/Thunderbird Support – Helps you backup calendars and emails of Microsoft Outlook/Thunderbird with a click of a button.
  • Backup Reports – It generates detailed reports each time it updates a backup. You may configure the report contents.
  • Compression – It wisely compresses the backups so as to save disk space. You can choose between the various compression types such as fast, moderate and slow. All the types offer excellent compression.
  • Stop & Resume – It allows you to stop and resume the backup process as and when required, for e.g. when you need to shutdown the PC.
  • Email Backup Reports – It is capable of sending the backup reports automatically to your email address so that you remain up-to-date on backup status even if you are out for a business trip.
  • Network support – You can also backup the files/ folders present on your network drives. If you wish you can save the backup on the network drives itself.
  • Encryption – It has ability to encrypt and protect all backups with a secured password. You may configure the encryption algorithm if you wish.
  • Scheduled Backups – You may either take the backups manually or schedule them to start at a preferred time.
  • Automatic Pausing – It takes backups from the background and has ability to automatically pause it in order to prevent it from slowing down the execution of other applications. It monitors different system characteristics including I/O usage, CPU usage, full screen applications and many more
  • Storage Types – You may easily store backups on USB sticks, external hard disks, network drives or Ocster Secure Storage.
  • Offers Ocster Secure Storage support
  • Stores backups in specialized data centers.
  • Safer storage option as compared to USB sticks or hard disks.
  • Offers protection to backups against water damage, fire, lightning, hurricanes, theft etc.
  • Keeps multiple backup copies at different locations.
  • Transmits data to data centers using a secured internet channel.
  • Charges a small fee for subscription.
  • Open File Support – You may also backup the file/folders that are open or the ones that you are presently using.
  • Incremental backup – Once the initial back up is taken, it only save the changes that occur in the previously stored state which helps in saving disk space.
  • Symbolic Link and Hard Link support – It allows you to backup symbolic links and hard links which can be correctly restored.
  • Compression Algorithms – It supports compression types such as LZMA Quick, ZLib, LZMA Best and LZMA Normal.
  • Special Files – It has ability to backup sparse, encrypted and compressed files.
  • Encryption Algorithms – It encrypts the backup using algorithms such as AES 128 Bit, AES 256 Bit, Cast-128 and BlowFish.
  • Small File Optimization – It has ability of achieving high compression even in case of small files by using its compression feature smartly.

System Requirements for OBP 6:

OBP 6 works with 32-bit as well as 64-bit versions of various Windows Operating systems such as Windows 7, Vista, XP, Server 2003 and Server 2008. It requires a minimum RAM of 512 MB and free hard disk space of 125 MB.

Ocster Backup Business 6 (OBB 6) is another version which is specially designed for small companies. It possesses all the advance features present in OBP 6. It offers an extra remote monitoring feature to allow various backup plans for multiple computers which can be handled and monitored from one single PC. This ensures a safe and secure backup of all the PCs in an office.

The system requirements for OBB 6 are same as OBP 6. OBP 6 is available for purchase for 39.90 USD and its Business edition is priced at 49.90 USD. However, both the software applications offer a free 30 day trial.

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Download Partition Wizard Home Or Business Edition At Free Of Cost

Download Partition Wizard Home Or Business Edition At Free Of Cost

The Windows Vista, Windows server and Windows 7 already have inbuilt partition Manager (Disk Management) incorporated with useful features and functions. However, some of the users would like to try third party partition tools in order to avail more services and advanced features. Disk management is not the task that you have to perform frequently. Therefore, you have to be vigilant while choosing the third party partition tools. Partition wizard Home and Business edition is completely free partition manager that supports Windows operating system such as Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

Partition Wizard allows users to execute difficult partition operations such as copying partition, resizing the partition, format partition, partition recovery, hide partition, explore partition, etc.

Compelling Features of Partition Wizard Home and Business Edition:

  • Compatible with Windows 2000/XP/Vista/windows 7 operating system (32 bit & 64 bit)
  • There is Extend System Partition in order to improve computer performance.
  • Support RAID
  • Best Disk Management tool to manage disk operations in order to improve performance.
  • Users can easily create, edit, and delete partitions.
  • Disk copy feature to protect and transfer data.
  • Easy way to convert FAT format to NTFS format.
  • Copy Disk wizard feature allows users to copy one partition to another one without reinstalling Windows.
  • Partition copy feature allows users to copy complete hard disk to another hard disk.
  • Explore NTFS/FAT partition
  • Disk Map Feature allows users to view the changes on disk in categorically manner.
  • Hide/Unhide partition, change the properties of partition, and set active partition.

There are two version of Partition Wizard, Home and Business edition that supports server operating system such as windows server 2000, 2003, 2008 in 32 and 64 bit. However, users have to avail the services of these two siblings of partition wizard. The name of these two siblings of partition wizards are – Partition Wizard Server Edition which costs $119 and Partition Wizard Enterprise Edition which costs $299.  The partition wizard home edition is available to download free from here.

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Snapdat – An Easy Way To Access And Store Business Cards

Snapdat – An Easy Way To Access And Store Business Cards

The field of business and networking require you to make and manage contacts. Name or Business cards is the most used way to exchange and store numbers of important people in these fields. However, storing and accessing these cards can be extremely space consuming and tedious. With the invention and emergence of mobile phones, this method has been gradually substituted.

There are a number of web services available that help you manage contacts and handle information related to business associates. Considering the growing trend of using smart phones, Apple is planning to build an in-built feature for its iPhone that will allow exchange and storage of business cards. The development of this application is in the pipeline so iPhone users can have the feel of this kind of an application online.

SnapDat is a free application for mobiles that handles business cards. This application can be downloaded from the App Store and that too for absolutely free. This application also allows users to exchange business information, contact data and other information as graphically rich and customizable business cards known as SnapCards.

This free application from Apple comes preloaded with forty templates. Users can customize and design their own SnapCards. These SnapCards also help you make groups and thereby helping you manage your cards easily.

Users having SnapDat installed to their iPhone can easily exchange SnapCards and the received cards will be automatically integrated to the phones address book. The e-card or the electronic card helps you add contacts for emails, messages and calls with just a single touch. You can also use it to visit your recipients networking accounts and other media like videos and pictures.

If the receiver is not a SnapDat user, then you can send them their SnapCards by email. The SnapCard is attached as standard vCards in the emails.

The concept and idea of business or name cards exists for a long time, but its enhancement by technology has been influential and successful. Applications like SnapDat can go a big way and can be easily termed as the next big thing in the field of networking.

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Sneaky Microsoft … Love their marketing strategies

Microsoft may tout Windows as your helpful computing companion and may claim that they always keep your interests in mind, and give it more prominence than their interests. I don’t think that’s true :). Anyone who’s in business knows its a political way of putting things across to customers.

Windows always keeps Microsoft’s personal beneficial interests in mind, always!. You’ll find this out when you call their customer support for help to make windows work fine when somethings gone wrong.

First two questions you ask are free, but the subsequent ones are charged 🙂 .. now it’s not really difficult for them to push it beyond two questions, isn’t it :P.

Using Windows, Microsoft plugs in a lot of its services for which it charges, what seems to be insignificant amount ranging from $5 – $25 oddish. But as they say, the money is in the bottom of the pyramid, imagine a a million of such users going for $5 service each month. It becomes a million $$, passive revenue source in itself :).

Windows sometimes leads you to it’s own website or partners website where you can purchase additional Microsoft items dirt cheap. Simple things like ordering Photo prints will take you to a site where you can get prints of photos on your system, and those long list of printers would have partnered with Microsoft.

In simple words, don’t think Microsoft is set all out to help you. Remember they are in business and they will do business, no matter what we think about ’em, Good or Bad, really doesn’t matter :).

Btw, I don’t hate Microsoft, I love ’em and their strategies, no matter what one has to say, we all have a thing or two to learn from them :).

I learn more than two each day 😀

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My Monitor Doesn’t Work Or Turn On / PC Does Not Boot – How Can I Solve This Issue ?

You come home and switch on your system, and the system decides to shock you! This post is part of a series what I call ‘Boot-up Troubleshooter’, with the aid of which, you’ll find solution to the most common boot up problems.

You may face one of the two basic problems while booting up your system :

1> The PC appears dead, ie. the monitor is blank, nothing shows up in your monitor,

2> The PC refuses to boot up completely, i.e. it starts the boot up process, but stops half way through before completion

If you are facing any of the problems, read further. Lets take it case by case, to start with

PC appears dead / monitor is blank / nothing shows up in the monitor when computer is swiched on

May be it sounds silly, but the first thing you need to check is whether all the power cables are connected properly. At times, everything will be right and a loose connection in the network of wires can be creating problem. Check if there is power available to your PC. This should be the first check, not only in case of your computers, but any other electronic or electrical appliances.

There are LED’s and something called a ‘power supply fan’. Check if the LEDs are working and the power supply fan is blowing. When you switch on your PC, the lights on the keyboard should light up, check if you can see that working fine. If they are working fine, then the power supply is pretty much fine.

If your answer was a no, then check one of the following:

> Is there power at the wall socket? The easiest way to check this is to plugin another electronic appliance and see if that works fine.

> Are you using any surge suppressor or any other similar device? If you are using anything like that, try removing them and see if the PC works fine after that.

> Check PC’s power cable and also most modern PC’s have an on/off switch at the rare of the CPU case. Make sure it’s ON.

If none of the above is causing a problem, then you need to get a technician and check if the PC’s power unit is defective and may need a replacement for it. The other possibilities are that you may be facing any  one of the three potential problem, that is either the monitor, graphics system or the motherboard is faulty, which needs replacement or repair.

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How To Easily Search Domain Names That Are Not Registered

If you are a webmaster who registers a lot of domains at a time, it is, a tedious process to search to find domains that suit your choice. You loose a lot of time looking around for a perfect or ‘near-perfect’ domain name, searching back and forth.

With domize, your productivity increases as it is one of the best sites I’ve come across that helps you search an ideal name to reflect your product or business.

How to easily search domain names that are not registered

The website quickly browses through a huge list of domains that are registered and unregistered and lists them for you in a very short time, few milliseconds depending on your Internet connection speed. The registered domain TLDs are shown in red and the unregistered ones are shown in light bluish color.

The search is based on the letters you enter for your preferred domain name. As and when you type the first few letters of your preferred domain name, it starts pulling out the result for you, and it is done very rapidly.

The only draw back which is evident is, it supports only few limited TLD, they are : com, net, org, info, biz, us.

Further improvement can be made, by adding the other famous TLDs and they can possibly try and introduce ‘-‘ as users would in real world. A little difficult to input the hypens for all the domains, may be intelli-hypen’s can be implemented 😉

[ Visit domize ]

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What Is Over Head Cabling

As opposed to a raised floor cabling deployment an overhead deploymet has all the cabling such as power network and so on running above a false overhanging ceiling and are terminated through the ceiling and rack vents to the Rack patch panels.

One of the key benefit of false ceiling based cabling is that it is less expensive that a raised flooring. Even sometimes if the cooling system is not going to share the same false ceiling then a false ceiling can be completely avoided and only simple raceways can be mounted on the true ceiling and cables can pass through that. It would obviously cut down your cost significantly but the aesthetic look of the room will go for a toss. Plus, as the wires are open in this case, they are more prone to accidental damage.

Also, here gravity plays a major role in disturbing the deployment. Due to the weight of the wire itself, they can come out from the patch panel and get disconnected. So, here try avoiding any kind of suspended cabling and try to use the cables which get properly locked after connecting.

But one more major issue with overhead wiring is that in such case if you are going to couple the same space ( between the false and true ceiling ) for both cabling and circulating chilled air, it become somewhat difficult, because by virtue, hot air is supposed to rise up and cold air is supposed to settle down, and hence pushing cold air from top instead of using the top for venting out the hot air from the top is not the ideal situation.

And if you even don’t couple both cabling and cooling to the suspended ceiling then also it posses a challenge because you can’t have exhaust vents on the top because first the cable will get bad due to the constant flow of hot air through it and second they will create obstacles for the hot air to go out efficiently making it difficult. But for a small datacenter with lesser number of servers and racks, keeping the cost factor in mind suspended ceiling is a better choice