I need some help with this one. I don't understand why people get so excited about sub-30 second boot times in Windows 7, or with Vista's apparently horrid slowness.

See, I never shut my machine off. I close the lid, it goes to sleep. I open the lid, it resumes in a few short seconds. Windows 7 is especially quick, but Vista was fast, too. Unless I'm toying with an OS that can't pull off the go-to-sleep-and-wake-up trick (several Linux distros, I'm talking to you) I just don't need to power down that often.

My desktop computer at work is the same. When I leave it idle, it suspends. I bang on the space bar and up it comes - and in fewer than 15 seconds. Yes, sometimes a shutdown can't be avoided, but those occasions have been few and far between for me. Am I alone in this?

I wouldn't think so. A friend of mine hasn't rebooted his Linux-based media server in more than a year. It may take a full minute to boot, but I doubt he'd care if it can run for 365 days straight from then on.

Don't get me wrong. I love building systems with Raptors and watching them tear through the startup process. I understand that the amount of time an OS takes to boot says something about how it's been put together. It just seems to me that there are dozens of other things that are more important to compare when looking at the different systems.

What do you think? Do you shut your computer completely off that often? Is a half minute too long to wait for it to power back on?

There's no question that we all want computers that boot up and shut down more quickly. While a fresh install of Windows XP might boot as quickly as 30 seconds on some computers, the more applications you load onto your computer, the slower it will boot. Things get even worse with Windows Vista which loads about as quickly as paint dries. While Microsoft and other OS makers are working to cut boot times, if you're using a current generation operating system, odds are you spend at least a few minutes every day waiting for your computer to startup and shut down.

Now here's the big question of the day - if this is your work computer we're talking about, should you be paid for that time? Apparently employees at seveal companies including AT7T and Cigna have filed lawsuits alleging that they weren't paid for the time it took to turn their computers on and off each day, a process which they claim takes 15 to 30 minutes.

The employees say they should be paid for their time, because they're doing other work related activities while the computer loads, while employers argue that just as often, they aren't. But you know what? It's not like the employees are lying in bed sleeping at home. It's hardly their fault their bosses installed software that takes for-friggin-ever to boot. Not that I'm taking sides in this dispute.

What do you think? Sound off in the comments.

[via TaxProf Blog and Gizmodo]

A few weeks ago, Mahalo's Jason Calacanis (who founded Weblogs Inc. and Download Squad) issued an e-mail missive (now posted here) predicting that 80% of all web 2.0 start-ups would fail to reach the next round of funding or profitability. The man makes some good points, and the tenuous economic climate is already leading to start-up layoffs and reduced expansion. Fortunately for the web industry, there are still some silver linings. Social widget provider JS-Kit just closed a Series B funding round for $3.6M.

JS-Kit offers compact JavaScript snippets that you can add to your webpage or blog to add dynamic rating, review, poll and comment functionality. We've discussed JS-Kit before and it really is one of the easiest ways to add threaded and dynamic commenting or Digg-like rating systems to a blog or website.

In addition to closing a second round of funding, JS-Kit has also hired on Chris Saad, co-founder of the DataPortability Project as a strategic advisor. Chris is an incredibly, incredibly smart guy -- he is also responsible for APML and Particls -- and he is sure to be a huge assett to the JS-Kit team.

Knowing what's going on inside your OS is critical to keeping it running smoothly. Sure, task manager and msconfig are built-in to Windows, but they're pretty minimalistic. For something with a little more punch, give Winpatrol a shot - we first looked at it in 2005, and it's bigger and better than ever.

Winpatrol offers a software "Swiss-army knife" of features for protecting and tuning your Windows system. Scotty (the app's mascot) keeps a watchful eye on process, services, startup programs, IE helpers, lmhosts, and a slew of others. It'll even lock your file associations and alert you to attempted changes to your hosts file. If you're interested in paying for the plus version, you'll get more detailed information on processes and tasks via a connection to an online database.

You can also use Winpatrol to help speed your Windows boot time a la msconfig - but not just by enabling and removing unwated startups. You can move and startup item to a delayed group, which allows apps that you want to give priority a little more elbow room when you boot your rig.

Anyone who's looking for tighter control over Windows performance or who wants a little extra virus or malware protection would do well to download Winpatrol. Scotty's definitely a nice addition to any Windows (32 and 64-bit) perimeter defense.

If you've ever used the Windows utility MSConfig to remove your Windows startup menus, you've probably noticed that the applications aren't really gone. They're just disabled. You could go and delete them using a registry editor or a more powerful tool like AutoRuns. Or you could permanently delete entries using MSConfig Cleanup.

Here's how it works. You bring up MSConfig by clicking on "Run" in your Windows Start Menu. Navigate to the "Startup" tab and unselect any applications you don't want to run when Windows loads.

Then fire up MSConfig Cleanup and you should see a list of disabled programs. Check the boxes next to the ones you want to permanently remove, and click "Clean Up Selected." Honestly, we're not 100% certain why you'd want to use MSConfig and MSConfig Cleanup instead of AutoRuns, but if you've already disabled a bunch of programs using MSConfig, this free utility could provide a fast way to make your changes permanent.

[via gHacks]

One of our biggest complaints with Windows Vista is that it takes far longer to boot up and shut down than Windows XP installed on an identical system. When Microsoft first announced the feature set for Vista, one of the things they claimed was that you would actually have shorter startup times, but we later discovered that what they meant was that there would be power saving features that would make it easy to put your PC into sleep mode when you're not using it and quickly resume.

But if you're a Vista user that likes to completely shut down your computer, you've probably gotten used to waiting a while for it to start up when you next hit the power button. It turns out that part of the problem might not be with Vista itself, but in 3rd party software that doesn't play well with Vista. For example, although we've long been fans of AVG Free Edition anti-virus software, Ed Bott and Dwight Silverman both suggest that it could have a dramatic impact on Vista startup times.

So we went ahead and uninstalled AVG and lo and behold, our system did seem to boot up more quickly. Of course, there are various ways to measure boot speed. For example, you could stop the timer when you first see your Windows desktop. But for many users, what really counts is the moment when you can start clicking on programs and expect them to respond or the moment when your internet connection is ready, allowing you to launch a web browser, chat program or other online applications. And we have to say, the time between the desktop showing up and our internet connection working has gone up significantly since uninstalling AVG.

Our tests were completely unscientific, so we don't have a lot of numbers to share with you. And our system still takes 80 to 90 seconds to startup with Vista, while we can boot Windows XP on the same system in about half the time. But now we're curious. If you're using AVG on Vista, have you tried uninstalling it to measure the impact on your startup times?

We still highly recommend AVG Free if you're using Windows XP. But if you're using Vista, you might want to check out some free alternatives like Avast!, AntiVir, BitDefender, or ClamWin.

Think you have a hot startup idea? Write it down and you could net a little funding.

Bang Ventures from New York is offering $15,000 U.S. for startup CEOs to get their ideas off the ground. "You Be The VC" Candidates start by submitting applications outlining their plans for a new internet startup. These will be judged by handpicked professionals in the startup field to guarantee unbiased results and ensure that funding goes to best idea seen in the public's eye. There are no limits as to the number of ideas that CEO's can submit, just as long as they are in by the deadline of December 2007.

Voting begins March 2008, with the $15,000 prize money, temporary relocation expenses to Cambridge, MA, and living expenses being handed out upon final vote submissions. Winners of the "You Be The VC" campaign will also be able to utilize Bang Venture's support network, resources and materials.

[via killerstartups]

Some internet startups take months or years of planning. Others can be put together in just a matter of days with a good idea and a little pluck. In July a group of 70 people got together in Boulder, Colorado to vote on ideas that had been proposed. Over the course of a single weekend, they chose an idea and created Vosnap, an online polling tool.

This weekend, 120+ people have signed up for a similar "Startup Weekend" in New York City. The group will choose from more than 15 ideas, and try to put together a business plan by Sunday.

Vosnap is up and running, but isn't making money yet. But the process was successful enough to encourage Startup Weekends around the world. Future events are planned for cities including Boston, Atlanta, and London.

[via Silicon Alley Insider]

How many times have you been befuddled with a product, only to result to the dreaded 1-800 number in the manual to resolve your issue? Hours later only to find no resolution in sight.

Enter Fixya, a startup that has taken on the challenge of supplying online technical support, user guides and repairs by letting users help each other. In a few simple steps users get the help they need with their items by submitting product related questions from a catalog of over 700,000 current consumer products, ranging from baby items to electronic gadgets. Other users can then choose to answer questions to the best of their knowledge, with experts standing by. It's a very unique online service that I'm sure big brands would love to sponsor or be a part of. Can we say no more 1-800 in the neat future? Maybe!

There have been lots of rumors and buzz circulating the past few weeks on whether or not Google was pursuing Adscape, a startup -- only officially launched in February 2006 with $3.2 million in funding -- that specializes in in-game advertising. After a brief quiet period, details are starting to emerge about an agreement to acquire Adscape Media for $23 million. Could this be the next big thing for Google?

In-game advertising insiders say that it will most likely will not do much for the search giant but, I highly doubt that. With this being a potential new advertising category, and with Microsoft already in the mix, there is serious potential for Google to open new doors and show smaller businesses the opportunities they could bring. With all current generation gaming machines having some form of internet connectivity, locally focused in-game advertising could find a whole a new level.

Google specializes in online, and if the ads are kept online in Adscapes dynamic advertisements for video games, all should do just fine. Don't expect and major deals to be worked out yet, as I'm sure Google has a lot of development to do on the project.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has been around for a while mostly trying to make the life of a small business owner easier, and boy we need it. Running a small business is hard, and for many business owners, getting started, or better yet, keeping the thing going is especially tough. The SBA wants to help by offering a bunch of free podcasts to help you get or keep going with your fledgling enterprise. Here is the list of currently available podcasts:

• Check List for Starting a Business
• SBA Programs Support Entrepreneurial Veterans
• Is Entrepreneurship for You?
• The SBA Small Business Training Network-Log On!
• Selecting a Business That Fits
• Disaster Preparedness for Business Owners
• Financing a Small Business
• Creating a Business Plan
• Making Your Business Plan Work for You

I haven't listened to all of them yet, but they seem to contain some useful information for business owners.

[via Lifehacker]

These days it seems like anyone with an idea and some time can crank out a Web 2.0 startup, be it a service, community, one-trick-pony or ambiguously named whichamadinger. It also seems like many of these startups could use some guidance to help them find their way. With goofy names, varying user experiences and questionable goals running amok, we figured it was time to lay down some ground rules. Check out our seven tips to help Web 2.0 startups be all they can be:

1. Help me make the move: New blogs and communities need easy tools to let their users integrate some sort of blurb about their new hangout on their other sites and communities. For example: I've been playing with Vox for a few weeks now, and just recently they introduced a badge tool that puts together all the HTML users would need to insert in another blog sidebar. This makes it easy for users to tell existing readers they have have (or are moving to) a Vox blog. While it's a smart move and I'm using a badge on my personal WordPress blog, this generator should have existed the day Six Apart, and all who follow in their footsteps, flipped the switch on their service.
   
   
2. Don't make me jump through hoops: ...or give you my e-mail address just to check out your service. Good: Tell me in plain language how your product works and how it can make my life better. Better: Show me with lots of screenshots or even a few screencasts. Best: Just let me start playing with it and worry about registration after I've decided whether it's any good or not.
   
   
3. Tell me what it is, not what's inside: I don't care whether your service is powered by Ruby on Rails, .NET, AJAX, REST, or Vegemite, so don't waste another breath on it. Tell me what it does and why I want to use it, and keep the nerdy chest-thumping on your Developers page.
   
   
4. Keep it simple: ...if you want me to do it a hundred times. If adding a bookmark or a hotspot on a map is a multi-stepped process, the likelihood of me doing it a lot goes way down. This is often the difference between making or breaking the site. Quicker processes mean I'll be back many more times to do it again, and more traffic equals more money for you.
   
   
5. Play well with others: It's great that you have a (hopefully) unique vision for your community, but let's be real: you aren't the first startup on the block. This one comes again from my pleasurable experience at Vox: users can upload their pictures, audio and video to Vox, or they can find this media at other communities like Flickr, YouTube and even iStockphoto to easily plug into their posts. This "friendly neighbor" aspect of Vox earns the site huge points in the Web 2.0 community department, as they clearly recognize there is value in allowing their users to hang out at other sites.
   
   
6. APIs!: Speaking of playing with others: the technical details shouldn't be on the front page, but they should be there. The gold standard of Web 2.0 is a well-documented interface that lets geeky users and other Web 2.0 developers get at all of your site's data and roll it into their own desktops, web sites, and services in a variety of ways. Bonus points for nailing the trifecta: XML, JSON, and YAML.
   
   
7. Don't let your four-year-old name it: Flickr got away with ditching the vowel--you won't. We were through with double-Os long before Squidoo, Calgoo, or Zooomr (triple-O!) came along, and the same goes for your EEs. Domain name scarcity is not an excuse for stupid product names any more than improved traction is a justification for clown shoes.

Simple rules with (ideally) broad implications. We hope these can make their way into the hands of the next Flickrs and del.icio.uses so everyone can have a better time on the web. But is our list complete? Are we missing anything? If you have a rule or two that should have made this list, you know what to do.

Thanks to Jordan and Ryan for contributing to this post

Obvious Corp? Curious name for a company, but this is Web 2.0, right?--At least it's not Obviousr. Obvious Corp is a brand new company founded by Blogger creator Evan Williams and his Odeo co-founder Biz Stone. As its opening move, Obvious Corp has acquired Odeo, Inc.'s assets including Odeo and Twitter. Williams explains the move in his blog, saying, "I believe there is a lot of value in what we've built-both Odeo and Twitter-but I did not believe the structure was going to lead to the kind of success we wanted. In the new company, with a new structure, and a new model, I think they are great investments." He also describes how Obvious will be doing things differently than the Web 2.0 status quo, and the Obvious web site makes clear that it will be launching new products in the future, but "not until we get our current projects on the right path and also find the right people." Having been a fan of Williams since his Blogger days, I wish him lots of success with his new venture, and look forward to seeing what Obvious Corp creates.

Awhile back I reported that Microsoft was considering making it impossible to disable the Windows Vista startup sound, short of physically turning off your speakers. I'm still getting comments on that post. Happily, Microsoft has reversed its position. In a post to the Windows Vista Team Blog product manager Nick White writes, "We heard you loud and clear when it came to discussing our plans to include a default start-up sound that plays as you boot-up Windows Vista: you said you wanted to have the opportunity to mute it if and when you felt it necessary." Going forward, Vista will have a (relatively) easy-to-find option in the Control Panel to disable the startup sound. Thanks for listening, Microsoft!

[Via Ars Technica]

According to BusinessWeek, Skype co-founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom are preparing to launch The Venice Project, a new start-up that "combines the best things about television with the social power of the internet." Venice--which is just a codename--has been in very limited testing since the summer, but the beta program will expand significantly in November, and Friis says it will be available to everyone by the end of the year. They're currently courting small and large media and TV companies to put their full-length content on the network, which will be accessed through a stand-alone app and work on P2P technology just like KaZaA and Skype. It will have built-in intellectual property controls and will stream media rather than download it, which BusinessWeek naively assumes "makes it much more difficult for users to make, distribute, or sell illegal copies of the content that they watch." At the uber-austere Venice Project web site you can sign up for their mailing list which, presumably, will notify you when that expanded beta program starts.