Kickstarter (Photo credit: Scott Beale)

Technology Startup Funding Sources

Any startup business or company, from fine arts to music to technology, will require some major funding to launch. In this situation, there are ultimately four methods for attaining the necessary capital.

Startup Funding Methods

-Bootstrapping: similar to the term "penny pinching" in which personal capital is used
-Series A financing: essentially a loan; available once company has slightly proven itself
-Love Money: funds obtained from friends and family
-Seed (also known as angel) financing: venture capital

Microsoft TechNet (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Microsoft Shuts Down TechNet

One of the staples of the past fifteen years for both information technology workers and computer enthusiasts has been Microsoft's TechNet, a website and monthly subscription that that allowed for information, discussion, and updates in the IT community.  Yet all good things must come to an end and Microsoft announced it would shut down the TechNet community in the near future, with no new subscriptions after August 31st and a complete shut-down of all services by October of 2014. 

The second logo for AOL, used from 2006–2009 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

AOL Reader - A Replacement For Google's RSS Reader?

It is difficult to understand why Google would end its RSS reader service, especially as dozens of copycat services have appeared to feast upon its cast-off users. AOL, perhaps better known for its virtually defunct ISP than its adoption of modern conveniences, has jumped into the fray with the AOL Reader. The product incorporates many of Google's features into a speedy pattern, making it a relatively useful alternative for those who feel lost in the new market.

Image via CrunchBase

Steve Jobs Paperback Bio Pre-Sales Exceed All Expectation

The world awaits this great paperback that is due to be released in September and the Steve Jobs paperback bio certainly ranks number one of many wish lists. This man was one of the most inspirational people that ever walked this earth and his words of wisdom were a breath of fresh air. Steve's life may have been cruelly cut short but he has left an incredible legacy in his wake. It is no wonder that the Steve Jobs paperback pre-orders have already exceeded all expectation. The photograph on front cover of the Steve Jobs paperback is bewitching -- a portrait of Jobs as a handsome, virile and innovative young man.

Image via CrunchBase

10 Billion Dollars Paid To Apple App Store Developers

According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, Apple has paid app store developers $10 billion since 2008 -- more than three times that of all the other platforms combined! Apps have been downloaded over 50 billions times, and the numbers are rising every day.

In fact, half of that $10 billion has actually been paid out within the last year -- showing the astronomical growth of the industry. Not only within the Apple App Store, app developers are seeing a boom in their field like never before.

English: Firefox 3 mac os x (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Foxconn Developing A Minimum Of 5 Firefox OS Devices

The nascent Mozilla Firefox OS, which hopes to become the third most popular operating system in mobile devices, has added an important ally to its roster. Foxconn, the frontrunner in contract electronics manufacturing has announced that it will be developing at least 5 devices running on the FireFoX OS.  Young Liu, Foxconn's general manager has indicated that the company may develop smartphones, laptops, televisions and tablets for Firefox. Meanwhile, Li Gong, Mozilla's senior-VC for mobile devices has expressed the hope that the partnership with Foxconn will help the company in attracting other manufacturers for its new OS.

English: The logo of the blogging software WordPress. Deutsch: WordPress Logo 中文: WordPress Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Happy Blogging Birthday To Wordpress!

Wordpress has now been around for a full and fabulous decade.  Bloggers from all over the world should send a gift, or, at the very least, post a happy birthday message on one of the over 66 million Wordpress sites that exist around the world.  According to company's own stats, over four billion pages are viewed each month.  The power of Wordpress cannot be overstated.

Brute Force (1947 film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Wordpress Users Under Attack

Recently, Wordpress, an extremely popular blogging site, has undergone a major spike in brute force attacks that threaten to either penetrate the site or bring it down. At the very least, these brute force attacks have caused access issues for Wordpress users.

Brute force attacks are a simple but effective hacker onslaught against weak user names and passwords. Accounts most vulnerable to these last attacks were the ones using "admin" as a user name and those with the simplest passwords, such as "12345."  The brute force attack employs software that floods the login with various combinations until it hits on a correct one. 

Screenshot of Android 4 on Galaxy Nexus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What To Expect At Google I/O

This year Google I/O plans to outdo last year's presentation, but the bar is set pretty high.  After revealing the Nexus 7 tablet last year this year Google plans to not outdo itself in presentation but to be relaxed.  A common rumor is Google Glass, Chrome, Wallet, Music and Google Maps are getting updates.

dropbox (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dropbox Holding Its First Developer Conference

Recently, Dropbox announced its first conference for developers, referred to as DBX. The conference will be held at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco, California, on July 9. Space is limited, though, and developers need to request an invitation from the company. For now, tickets are going to cost attendees $350.00 apiece. These tickets should be in high demand, so the available spaces are going to disappear quickly.