North Korea, the clandestine and isolated regime located in between China and South Korea, has one thing in common with timeRAZOR: Neither of us give in when it comes to a product launch!

Of course, North Korea launched a long-range missile to try and put a satellite into orbit (so they say), whereas timeRAZOR launched a “Never Miss Out” application designed to cure people’s FOMO, satisfy the craving behind YOLO, and make everyone as famous as J-LO. Well… Maybe not the last part…

So, even though we are both incredibly focused, driven, and don’t take “NO” for an answer when our leadership teams want to do something, here are the top 5 ways timeRAZOR is NOT like a North Korean missile launch.

5. Our product did not break apart and plunge into the ocean a few minutes after launch.

4. timeRAZOR has established powerful business partnerships with companies like L’Oreal, Marriott, and more to fill its app with deals and unique offers. In fact, we want to expand our relationships with major brands (click here for brand info). North Korean missile launches? Not so much.

3. timeRAZOR has the largest national database of events and nightlife activities in the country, so you can always find something to do. North Korean missile launches come only once every few years, and its pretty much an invitation only event.

2. North Korean missile launches do not come with real-time traffic alerts that tell you when you need to leave so you won’t be late and miss out.

And the number 1 way timeRAZOR is NOT like a North Korean Missile Launch…

1. timeRAZOR sends you interesting events, restaurants and deals for you to choose from and explore based on your location, where you work and where you live. And let’s face it… Nobody in the world wants North Korea to send them a missile.

Download timeRAZOR for (the iPhone) and (Android) phones today. It’s free!

Dear Yahoo!,
I have decided to terminate my account with you.

I’d like to tell you it’s not you – it’s me… And that it’s nothing personal… But… It IS you and it IS personal.

You don’t meet my needs, and have not for a long time. You are a sub-par technological redundancy in my life.

Good luck. I hope you find a way to make someone else happy, and provide services and technology that enhance their productivity.

Sincerely,
Michael Hackmer

I received an email from Darcy Kohn at Ripple Communications informing me that the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA), ODNI and government agencies in the intelligence community, are seeking presentations highlighting the latest research and technology that can best benefit agencies involved in national security.

Presentations are conducted before a panel of “75 government scientists and technologists, selected by the ODNI.”

The event, known as the “Innovators’ Showcase,” will take place on April 26th, but abstracts are due Monday, March 19th. Per Darcy, “the Showcase offers industry leaders to gather and share classified projects and technologies with their peers and government agencies and the tangible benefits for national defense and homeland security efforts.”

For more information, visit INSA’s website at: www.insaonline.org.

timeRAZOR, a new concept being developed by Blue Canopy and mysbx / GovWin founder Jeff White (@Jeff_White1347) and SEO / online marketing expert Victoria Clark (@NotVicki), is building towards a launch. While I am under a total information lock-down, an early glimpse of what is in the works is extremely exciting.

One way to get an early scoop of what timeRAZOR is all about (apart from reading news updates in this space) is to sign up at: http://timerazor.com/s37jv.

You also can stay informed about the company through their daily tweets @time_Razor.

Are we still amazed that there are advertisers on the radio?

That was a discussion question posted online by a smart, tech-savvy entrepreneur and media expert. And it got me thinking: are we surprised about any place a person or company advertises these days?

So many people used to question the value of advertising online, because it was either overvalued, overpriced or the ROI was non-existent. Now, the traditional forms of media, like radio, are having their value questioned. Interestingly, it is because radio is somewhat cost-effective, undervalued and the ROI is thought to be difficult to determine.

The truth of the matter is, while traditional media still outstrips digital in terms of reach, we cannot even think of advertising in terms of technology or form of media. We actually have to think of media in a more singular tone and realize that by NOT using all techniques together whenever possible we are really limiting the effectiveness of our own efforts.

Today’s technology enhances the effectiveness of all media. And in the years ahead, the expansion of mobile networks and satellite will take what we think of radio today and shatter it completely. Just imagine if you are a small, cable-casted and/or Internet streaming station? And we go from 4G to the next generation in wireless? People will be able to get Internet feeds in their cars. This potential alone connects to advertising in ways that are not realized, but soon will be.

In 5 years, voice recognition, Internet streaming via subscription and the like will enable even the smallest station or lone individual to reach an unlimited audience, deliver targeted marketing message via SMS and wireless (to a car or mobile device – though, cars themselves might be considered the ultimate mobile devices soon), and then track user activity to gauge the effectiveness of such a marketing campaign.

All this brings me back to the original questions.

1) Are we still amazed that there advertisers on the radio?

2) Are we surprised about any place a person or company advertises these days?

I think the answer is clear: We should not be amazed. Unless, of course, we are talking about newspaper!

This post originally appears in the govWin.com blog section at: http://govwin.com/node/73572

The 2010 Gov 2.0 Summit in Washington, DC, brought together a high-caliber collection of thought leaders from the federal government, tech industry, SIs, the business community and others.

The conference’s overarching theme was that it is not enough for the government to simply unleash stagnant or trapped data to the masses, but rather harnessing the power of technology to improve and transform what government already does.

Here is a breakdown of some of the key points that were delivered at Gov 2.0:

@Carl Malamud, Founder and President of Public.Resource.Org, identified several examples of IT waste, including instances in which data was actually being transported by car instead of shared electronically.   Malamud sees  a need for bulk data standards and a serious “national scanning initiative” to digitize data. Malamud had perhaps the line of the conference when he said, “If we can put a man on the moon, surely we can launch the @LibraryCongress into cyberspace.”

@Ellen Miller of the Sunlight Foundation talked about how Gov 2.0 is not just about unlocking data. Otherwise, the government spends time and resources releasing census information on wild horses instead of mining safety reports. The key is for government to focus on releasing data that improves its ability to be critically assessed and improve efficiency. Lastly, Miller stressed the need for citizens to be engaged to help make #gov20 a reality.

Living up to the ideal of transforming government, Todd Park, CTO of Health and Human Service (HHS), discussed his department’s efforts to open data, including its support for
Health2Challenge and HHS’ implementation of the “blue button initiative” which will allow VA and Medicare recipients to download health data from medical providers and hospitals.

Todd Park, CTO, HHS, talks with Tim O’Reilly about how he was persuaded to work in government.

@TimOReilly moderated a session between Aneesh Chopra, Federal Chief Technology Officer of the United States and Vivek Kundra, Chief Information Officer of the United States. Chopra talked about how the government has an infrastructure challenge to satisfy the growth of mobile technology, and the need to double spectrum as part of the solution. Kundra talked about cloud computing and the need to “speed up the democratization of data.” Both proudly unveiled the launch of challenge.gov, an open contest forum for citizens to develop solutions to various government challenges.

BrightScope’s @mikealfred presented one of the most compelling cases on how a persistent pursuit of government data can fuel an innovative business model. By obtaining
data from the Department of Labor, SEC, Census Bureau, EEOC and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, BrightScope is able to provide 401K ratings and financial intelligence, which leads to greater efficiency in the 401K plan market.

On the whole, Gov 2.0 seems to be evolving. The consensus from the sessions and discussions with attendees like David Stephenson (@Data4All), Jack Dangermond @ESRI and others was that Gov 2.0 is now more about identifying opportunities, being innovative when tackling challenges and taking action.

For a complete Twitter stream of the event, click here – www.govwin.com/gov20-summit.

For the latest tweets on #g2s click here.

On October 21, 2009, The Catholic University of America announced that more than 1,000 solar panels would be installed on several campus buildings before the end of year to reduce energy costs and carbon dioxide emissions. This project, implemented by Herndon, VA-based Washington Gas and Gaithersburg, MD-based Standard Solar, has now been completed – resulting in the largest solar panel system in the metro DC region in terms of the amount of electricity produced.

According to data released by Standard Solar, the system will produce about 340,000 kilowatt hours of electricity each year and result in 294 fewer tons of carbon dioxide being emitted annually. The avoided emissions will be the equivalent of reducing the use of 30,300 gallons of gasoline in 2010.

Standard Solar, the Mid-Atlantic region’s largest designer and installer of solar electric systems completed the installation right before this past Christmas. The four arrays that were installed consist of 1,088 3-by-6-foot panels on the roofs of the Raymond A. DuFour Athletic Center, the academic building Aquinas Hall, and the dorms Gibbons Hall and Flather Hall. Under the terms of the arrangement, The Catholic University of America,  the national university of the Catholic Church in America with over 6,700 graduate and undergraduate students, will purchase the energy produced by the solar panels from Washington Gas at guaranteed prices.

In addition to the economic and environmental benefits, Catholic University also used the installation process as an educational experience for students studying solar power and renewable energy. Students received instruction from Standard Solar and Washington Gas on the technology, and will continue to get hands-on experience in the years ahead.

“As climate leaders from around the world take stock of the climate meetings in Copenhagen, it is fitting the University and Washington Gas Energy Services are ‘walking the talk’ about sustainability,” said Scott Wiater, Standard Solar President. “We look forward to helping other colleges and universities connect what’s going on in the classroom to what we can help their schools achieve on many rooftops all over campus,” Wiater added.

Frank Gruber, one the most popular Washington, DC tech figures and a product manager of AOL’s Lifestream Platform, has revealed on his blog, Somewhat Frank, that he is leaving AOL to pursue new interests.

Saying that his New Year’s resolution “is to be bold”, Gruber writes that he will devote much of his time to growing TECH Cocktail, which he started with Eric Olson in 2006, prior to joining AOL three years ago. TECH Cocktail is a community building startup that offers events and community-powered projects open to bloggers, technology enthusiasts, entrepreneurs & professionals interested in technology in under-served technology communities.

In addition to TECH Cocktail, Gruber writes that he has “co-founded Shiny Heart Ventures, a startup focused on building products that remind us of the joys of life.” The company’s first product was Thankfulfor, “a social gratitude journal which launched in September” and according to Gruber, “has been growing into a strong community.” Last month the company also lunched Shiny Maine Lobster which is designed to “help bring a family business online for fresh lobster” that can be shipped direct by mail.

Gruber writes in his blog, “I have racked up a lot of airline miles bouncing between DC and the West Coast. It has been a good run and a great learning experience working in a large organization and I have met so many great people along the way. I am proud of our accomplishments at Aol. As anyone who has ever worked at a large company can attest, it is not easy to launch a product in a big organization and I did it a few times in just three years.”

In his blog, Gruber thanks AOL for the opportunity to work for them and bring new products to millions of people across the world. He said, “I am so proud of our accomplishments and look forward to Aol doing it’s own start-up thing in 2010.”

Maryland-based iBiquity, a developer of HD Radio™ technology, had excellent news to report this month. Not only have sales of its HD radio receiver doubled from last year, but Ford announced yesterday that it was adding both iTunes tagging and crystal-clear radio sound through iBiquity’s HD Radio technology as some of the latest features to be available in 2010 on Ford cars.

Over 730,000 HD Radio receivers were sold in 2009, with half a million of those sold through September and another quarter of a million sold in the last couple of months. The sales mean that 1.3 million HD radios have been sold since the technology became available. No details were immediately available on how many receivers would be installed by Ford in 2010.

Ford’s decision is driven by the company’s focus on providing advanced radio technology to consumers. The digital technology provided by iBiquity enables broadcasters to offer near-CD quality sound, without static, fadeout and other problems associated with analog signals. The receivers also display information on the music playing, such as song title and artist. By merging this technology with iTunes Tagging, Ford customers will be able to capture songs they hear on the HD Radio receiver by tagging them and storing them in the radio’s memory. Up to 100 tags can be stored at a time. A person can then sync the radio with their iPod, view the tagged songs and decide if they want to purchase them in iTunes.

In response to the deal, iBiquity COO, Jeff Jury said, “Ford continues to lead the market in bringing advanced capabilities to popular vehicles. We are very pleased that HD Radio technology is an integral part of Ford’s broad offering of new features.”

Nearly 2,000 radio stations in the U.S. currently broadcast in digital HD Radio sound, with more than 1,100 stations also airing HD2/HD3 channels. Approximately 85 percent of the U.S. population is served by a station broadcasting with HD Radio technology.

This story originally appears in dcTechSource at: http://www.dctechsource.com/ibiquity_hd_radio_chosen_by_ford.aspx

QBurst, a web and mobile application development company based in Fairfax, VA, has launched theapps.mobi, a searchable directory of iPhone apps ranging from Education, Business and Entertainment to Travel, Weather and Lifestyle.

Theapps.mobi provides a sophisticated web site that provides users the ability to browse through a detailed catalog of iPhone and iPod Touch applications, reducing the need to browse the Apple store for applications.

What’s more, the site provides iPhone application developers a chance to be recognized via search engines as well as through its changing “featured” and “latest” application highlights, which are shown prominently on the main screen beneath the app search bar.

The site was designed by QBurst to run on Google’s App Engine platform, and the company will manage the site.

QBurst, which also has offices in India and the UK, consists of a team of over 200 professionals that help design and develop custom applications for companies of all sizes.

This article originally appears in dcTechSource at: http://www.dctechsource.com/qburst_launches_iphoneipod_searching.aspx