Last night a special meeting was held to begin discussions on how to shape the future of the NY Tech Meetup. Thanks to Scott and Dawn for organizing the evening and for the very tasty pizza and drinks. I will have a full recap of my thoughts and ideas for moving forward this week. I’ve received a bunch of emails asking about the video so I will post the video now. It’s 1 hour in length and covers the review and discussion of ideas. If you prefer text, all of the notes are listed on the Meetup site.

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Other CenterNetworks Coverage: iminlikewithyou, FriendFeed, Web Jobs

The NYSIA monthly meeting for September consisted of a boot camp for startups. I was able to capture each of the segments on video and this session discussed tips for a technology plan for a new business. Topics include: SaaS as a business model, the realization that you may need to do things again in the beginning to find the perfect model, the importance of staying focused, and a number of pitfalls to avoid. The pitfalls slide is a must-read for any new startup (about 13 minutes in). The pitfalls include: not documenting your work, doing it the second/third time before finishing the first time, staying away from consultants, deadend architecture and finding the right balance of equity for employees. Also discussed is management and when/how to split out all of the tasks when you are a founder.

I’d suggest hitting the “fullscreen” button to view the slides clearly.

Special Alert: CenterNetworks Conference Coverage:
– DEMO
– Techcrunch50
– Event and Interview Videos

By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - A computer and an Internet connection may soon be all that are needed for anyone to hear closing arguments in a corruption trial or listen to the testimony of a mob turncoat. The federal judiciary approved a pilot program this week to make free audio recordings of court proceedings available online. Although a court’s participation in the program is voluntary, U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan, the executive committee chairman of the policy-making Judicial Conference, said he expects the system ultimately will be widely used. "I do hope the Judicial Conference efforts will be looked at as an attempt to see if we can make court proceedings more inclusive and transparent to people," Hogan said in an interview.

News organizations and open-government groups applauded the decision, which will allow the files to be played on television and radio and posted on Internet news sites and blogs. At present, recording devices and cameras are prohibited in all federal courtrooms. However, in some high-profile cases the Supreme Court releases audio recordings of oral arguments. Some federal trial courts, such as the one in Philadelphia, sell daily audio recordings of hearings.

The pilot program, set to launch in the next few months, would put those recordings on the court’s electronic records database for download. "It gets the judges accustomed to the idea that electronic coverage can be beneficial," said Barbara Cochran, president of the Radio and Television News Directors Association. "It makes storytelling more accurate and more compelling." Cochran’s organization supports allowing cameras in federal courts, something some Supreme Court justices have adamantly opposed. All states have laws allowing some camera access to courts but, in practice, the policies vary. States such as Florida, for instance, routinely allow them while others such as Minnesota allow them only if all parties consent.

Hogan said the audio pilot program is not a step toward allowing cameras. Although that will be the normal practice someday, Hogan said the movement to open courts to cameras was hurt by the recent Florida case over custody of former Playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith’s corpse. In that case, Judge Larry Seidlin was accused of showboating for the camera. On live, national television, he discussed everything from his wife to his morning swim, then sobbed as he issued his ruling. "It was not the dignified judicial proceeding you’d expect in a courtroom," Hogan said.

He described the pilot program as a compromise between allowing no recording and turning the court into a set for a TV show. Attorney Nathan Siegel, who represented more than a dozen news organizations last month and won the release of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby’s grand jury tapes, agreed. "As technology becomes more pervasive and access to recorded material becomes more a part of daily life, the courts are moving with the times," Siegel said. Hogan, the chief judge in the Washington, D.C., federal court, made news in the Libby case by creating a media room with a closed-circuit video feed for the trial. He said the response was positive and he received no complaints about the broadcast of the Libby tapes.

With so many high-profile cases, the Washington courthouse is a good testing ground for the audio program, Hogan said. He said he does not yet know how many judges will sign up here or nationwide. He said judges will have discretion over when to turn the recorder off, such as during a FBI informant’s testimony or when a rape victim takes the stand. Ronald Collins, a scholar at the First Amendment Center, said lawyers will haggle over when that’s appropriate. "Inevitably there’s going to be a U.S. attorney who objects on secrecy grounds, a defense counsel who objects on prejudicial grounds or invasion of privacy. There’s going to be a victim who objects," Collins said. "Those determinations will be made on a case-by-case basis but the default position is open."

According to the New England Journal of Medicine, and the American Medical Association, using a program like SugarStats will reduce the complications associated with diabetes by as much as 40%.

Volcano, Hawaii - Marston Alfred, founder and chief architect of SugarStats.com, himself a diabetic since he was 9 years old, has developed a web based self-management application in which users can track, manage and monitor the most essential and important of their diabetic information online. Through a user-friendly web interface using the latest in web and information technology, SugarStats.com also enables the Diabetic to selectively provide friends, family, educators and health care professionals ‘read only’ access to their statistics. Primary elements affecting blood sugar levels including medication, food intake and physical activity are addressed in a manner that is not overly complex or too feature rich, enabling the end user to expediently self-manage via the Internet and Internet-enabled mobile devices. The core of this system will be available free to the public.

20.8 million people, approximately 7.0% of the U.S. population, have diabetes. Diabetes was the sixth leading cause of death listed on U.S. death certificates in 2002. The prevalence of diabetes is increasing at an alarming rate, as are the associated personal and societal costs, including long-term complications such as blindness, kidney damage, cardiovascular disease and lower-limb amputations. Further studies show diabetes and its complications cause substantial loss in quality of life, are the fourth most frequent reason for ambulatory physician visits, and incur $132 billion dollars in U.S. health care expenditures, directly and indirectly annually. There is now abundant evidence that complications of diabetes are preventable.

According to Dr. IM Stratton, Al Adler, HA Neil, et al, management of glycemia in diabetes is crucially important to the prevention of both acute and long-term complications. In general, every percentage point drop in A1C blood test results (e.g., from 8.0% to 7.0%) reduces the risk of micro-vascular complications (eye, kidney, and nerve diseases) by 40%. When programs like SugarStats were used regularly by the diabetic, they showed an average of a 1 point drop in the A1C levels.

Web-based tools have been emerging as effective methods for lowering HbA1C levels and several other key health markers in diabetics such as blood pressure however, to date, none have been available to the public. SugarStats.com provides a proven means to substantially lower these important health markers while also supporting the important opportunity to shift the focus of diabetes management toward patient self-management.

Alfred was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes as a child. He always felt dissatisfied and uninspired with the various ways to monitor and track his blood sugar levels and trends, finding them either over complicated and involved, or pedantic and & ‘boring’. Now 24 years old, Alfred’s professional expertise in the field of computers, networking and Internet technology/programming provided the foundation from which he developed for himself an engaging, informative, time saving and means to effectively address his diabetic management needs. From his personal quest, SugarStats.com has now emerged to support Internet-accessible diabetics the world over an alternative means to effectively address, control and ultimately improve their health.

Alternate Contact: Daerick Lanakila at dlanakila [@] sugarstats.com SugarStats POB 909 Volcano, HI 96785

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Permission to Reprint:
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Journalists, newsletter publishers, bloggers and others: You may reprint anything in this article as long as you include a link to our website and email.

Need a screenshot of what a diabetic would see on their personal SugarStats page along with more info regarding SugarStats is available at http://www.sugarstats.com/tour

CONTACT: Marston Alfred at 619-573-4071
SugarStats
PO Box 909
Volcano, HI 96785
http://www.sugarstats.com

About This Release: If you have any questions regarding information in these press releases please contact the organization listed in the press release. Issuers of press releases and not PR Leap are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.

Launch Date: Not officially launched

In the company’s own words, what is it? Joost™ is a new way to watch TV, free of the schedules and restrictions that come with traditional television. Combining the best of TV with the best of the internet, Joost™ gives you more control and freedom than ever before - control over what you watch, and freedom to watch it whenever you like. We’re providing a platform for the best television content on the planet - a platform that will bring you the biggest and best shows from the TV studios, as well as the specialist programs created by professionals and enthusiasts. It’s all overlaid with a raft of nifty features that help you find the shows you love, watch and chat with friends, and even create your own TV channels.

Outside quote about company: Greg Sandoval of CNET News says, “Joost’s nifty technology may be enough to sway the entertainment industry to place a bet on proven winners in Friis and Zennstrom.

A menu allows users to switch channels with a click of a link. Users will also have TiVo-like control of the content and access to any show offered regardless of time of day. They can also can skip ahead or backward within a show.

The Luxembourg-based company will support itself with advertising, specifically Internet ads that behave just like TV commercials.”

Features:
* first global TV distribution platform
* interactive, community-driven environment
* viewable anytime, anywhere with a broadband Internet connection
* broadcast-quality content
* free
* secure

Management/Directors:
Fredrik de Wahl, CEO
Janus Friis, Co-founder
Niklas Zennström, Co-founder
Dirk-Willem van Gulik, CTO

Relevant Links:
http://joost.com/press/2007/01/the-venice-project-code-named-no-more.html
http://blogs.business2.com/business2blog/2007/01/venice_project_.html
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2085227,00.asp
http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/8689/1103/

TechAddress: What makes your company stand apart from your competitors?

IMSafer: The products for protecting children online are overwhelming for parents, hard to use, and require too much work on the part of the parents. IMSafer is “simple,” “easy to use” and “effective.” The basis of what we do is built on the perception of trust and communication. We don’t allow parents to spy on every conversation their child has online, if our language analysis identifies a threat, we let parents see that threat and enough of the conversation to give them proper context.

TechAddress: What are some of the main features?

IMSafer: Our language analysis notes text that may be inappropriate or may be indicative of predatory behavior and gives parents a notification with a ‘snapshot of the conversation’ along with a ‘rating’ of that screen name that is generated by other parents. They can then vote themselves on that person to help other parents make informed decisions. Users of our IMSafer Social Networking Service can also be notified when their children receive links to social networking sites.

TechAddress: Who’s your target customer or audience?

IMSafer: Parents of kids and teens that go online who respect their children’s privacy as well as their duty to protect their kids should check out IMSafer and give it a try.

TechAddress: Any new things in particular that you’re working on right now?

IMSafer: We are constantly improving our language analysis engine. We think of it like an anti-virus database, people are always trying to figure out new ways to do harm, and we’re trying to stay a few steps ahead of them.

TechAddress: Where do you see your company heading in the future?

IMSafer: We’re going to stay a few steps ahead of the predators. For example if kids start moving away from social networks and into something new like mobile group chat, that’s where we’ll be.

TechAddress: Any negative feedback or criticism regarding technology and services?

IMSafer: Criticism comes for the most part from people that don’t understand how our service works. A parent’s first job is to protect their child. We give the parents a tool to help them do that while giving the child as much freedom and privacy as we can to still be effective. Once kids see that we aren’t spying and that their parents only get alerts on clearly bad language, they are generally in support of the program.

TechAddress: So what would you say is the guiding principle behind your company?

IMSafer: Each of us had at least one conversation with a guidance counselor who said, “If only you could use your powers for good.” This is our chance.

TechAddress: What is the mission of your company and what are you bringing to the market that is innovative?

IMSafer: We started with a simple plan: to rethink the problem of protecting kids online. “Simple,” “easy to use” and “effective” are our guiding principles. The products for protecting children online are overwhelming for parents, hard to use, and require too much work on the part of the parents. IMSafer is simple, easy to use and effective.

TechAddress: Where are you in terms of funding and your lifecycle?

IMSafer: IMSafer does not disclose current funding.

TechAddress: If your technology or service is not formally launched yet, when’s the launch date? If you have already launched, when was your launch date?

IMSafer: We launched IMSafer on October 3rd, 2006 and added IMSafer Social Networking Service on October 18th, 2006. Today, 1/17, we announced support for Microsoft Vista and the Mac. We’ve tied in to Vista’s Parental Control API’s to build on the great work that Microsoft has done and created a Wizard to make it as easy as possible for parents to protect their kids online. Our complete announcement is up at http://www.imsafer.com/splash/press

Location: Headquartered in Palo Alto, CA

Launch Date: Formed in 2004

In the company’s own words, what is it? XenSource plays the dual role of leading the open source Xen™ community, while simultaneously selling value-added enterprise solutions based on Xen technology. Founded and run by the original Xen development team, XenSource is committed to nurturing and growing the Xen community, and dedicates a significant amount of its own engineering resources to developing open source technology to maintain the Xen hypervisor’s position as the world’s fastest and most secure hypervisor.

In addition to its open source efforts, XenSource develops, markets, and sells value-added solutions and services based on the Xen hypervisor, including enterprise grade virtualization infrastructure solutions. These solutions allow enterprises to realize the TCO savings that result from increased server utilization, server consolidation, and reduced complexity in the data center.

XenSource is backed by leading venture capital firms, including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Sevin Rosen Funds, Accel Partners, and New Enterprise Associates. XenSource is based in Palo Alto, California.

Outside quote about company: “We were looking for a virtualization solution that offered high performance and was easy to use,” said Chris Rogers, president of ServerCave, Inc., an Internet hosting and consulting firm based in Herndon, Virginia. “With XenEnterprise, we were quickly up and running on our IBM server. We have found it to be easy to manage and dependable.”

Features:
Xen Enterprise™-Multi-OS virtualization for Enterprise IT
* Packaged & Supported Xen™ Virtualization
* Easy Installation and Deployment
* Blazing Fast Performance for Windows and Linux Guests
* Multi-Server Management
* Powerful Administrator Console
* Broad Hardware Support
* Affordable Annual and Perpetual Licensing Available
* Fully Supported

Xen Server™-Windows virtualization for Windows IT Professionals
* Packaged Xen™ Virtualization
* Easy Installation and Deployment
* Blazing Fast Performance for Windows Guests
* Multi-Server Management
* Powerful Administrator Console
* Low Cost Annual Licensing
* Seamless Upgrade Path
* Fully Supported

Xen Express™-Free Starter Package for Developers and IT Enthusiasts
* Packaged Xen™ Virtualization
* Blazing Fast Performance for Windows and Linux Guests
* Single Server Management
* Powerful Administrator Console
* Seamless Upgrade Path to XenServer™ and XenEnterprise™
* Free

Management/Directors:
Peter Levine, President & CEO
Ian Pratt, Xen™ Project Lead, Founder and Office of the President
Simon Crosby, CTO and Founder
Frank Artale, VP of Business Development
John Bara, VP of Marketing
Earl Charles, CFO
John Glendenning, VP Worldwide Sales
Gordon Mangione, Senior VP Product Operations

Relevant Links:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/jul06/07-17MSXenSourcePR.mspx
http://news.com.com/XenSource+gets+new+CEO,+direction/2100-7344_3-6039649.html
http://www.xensource.com/news/pr011007.html
http://www.informationweek.com/windows/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=191901720&subSection=Open+Source

TechAddress: Tell me a bit about your company, what it does and what’s your value proposition?

tag2find: The idea started at the University of Applied Sciences in Hagenberg, Austria (in the heart of Europe). After so many times having trouble finding our files on the desktop we came up with the idea to develop a tool based on tagging. We do believe in a future where intuitive information retrieval will no longer be a difficult task, rather than something people will enjoy.

TechAddress: What makes your company stand apart from your competitors?

tag2find: We combine several sophisticated technologies in a very tiny and easy to use application that is highly flexible and will grow along with the community development. Our idea is to embrace existing technologies and existing desktop search engines and integrate them and provide additional features. Therefore, tag2find is positioned between the information and the desktop search.

TechAddress: What are some of the main features?

tag2find: tag2find empowers the user to find his files on the desktop by simply using tags. Based on this technology, the file directory hierarchy is no longer relevant on an operating system because it does not matter where your files are stored. Speed and ease of use are the main concerns of the software. No overwhelming user interface distracts the user from his task, but simple and ready-to-use integration in the existing desktop software provides fast access to all tasks at hand. While entering tags, the software supports the user in deciding the appropriate tags for given files by providing tag suggestions.

tag2find helps migration from current, traditionally hierarchical file structures to the new, interlinked tag structure by providing tools for setting up initial tags based on existing documents and structures within the system. A fully tagged environment provides the huge advantage of searching and finding information based on semantic relations - those relations are easily defined by the users. A stored file can be found by any combination of its attached tags, releasing the user from the burden of having to remember strict and unique paths to the files. At the moment, even with strict guidelines for placing files within folders, situations arrive every minute where the user has to decide about the correct placement of a file. With tags, he can simply attach both, providing him and his colleagues the possibility of finding a file both ways.

TechAddress: Who’s your target customer or audience?

tag2find: Everyone who is seeking for a convenient way to organize their files or information in a very flexible way.

TechAddress: Any new things in particular that you’re working on right now?

tag2find: We are working on the next hot upcoming features which will get the user to a next step for tagging (see http://www.tag2find.com/upcomingfeatures.html) on the desktop. Based on the current feedback, the look & feel of tag2find will change as well as some parts will be re-implemented. Cooperative tagging is another topic we are working on.

TechAddress: Where do you see your company heading in the future?

tag2find: We will incorporate the continuous community feedback and this approach proves to be just the right thing to do. We will grow as more and more users are coming across our tool and appreciating the powerful features and the convenience for their daily use.

TechAddress: Any negative feedback or criticism regarding technology and services?

tag2find: As a start-up we are still facing some bugs we have to fix. Fortunately, the test users are supporting us with a lot of feedback and feature requests. Of course, we are just beginning and there is still a way to go to make all our visions come true.

TechAddress: So what would you say is the guiding principle behind your company?

tag2find: We are guided by the vision to eliminate inflexible hierarchical folder structures on the PC and create a new experience and a new level of productivity when cooperating with others, based on simple, yet efficient means, like tagging.

TechAddress: What is the mission of your company and what are you bringing to the market that is innovative?

tag2find: Combining tagging with sophisticated features into a useful application to create something that provides a great value to customers.

TechAddress: Where are you in terms of funding and your lifecycle?

tag2find: We just released a very early technical preview, which is just a glimpse on what is about to come. At the moment we are setting up some financing for 2007.

TechAddress: If your technology or service is not formally launched yet, when’s the launch date? If you have already launched, when was your launch date?

tag2find: Our first, very early technical preview version was published on December 23rd, 2006. This version is more or less a working demo, yet incomplete regarding features and performance. We are now collecting feedback and improving tag2find.

Location: Headquartered in San Mateo, CA

Launch Date: Founded in 2002

In the company’s own words, what is it? Composite is the SOA data services leader. Composite Data Services reach your data where it lives and deliver it how you need it, so all your data appears as if it’s in one place. Only Composite’s award-winning Enterprise Information Integration (EII) technology, high performance information server, easy-to-use data services development suite, and packaged applications services let you easily leverage existing data assets so you can build applications faster across both SOA and traditional environments.

Key capabilities include:

* Virtualize your enterprise data. All your data appears as if it’s in one place, clear and simple, without silos.
* Reach your data where it lives. Overcome location and complexity, without impacting performance
* Deliver data how you need it. On demand, secure, SOA-enabled.

Our award-winning products deliver these capabilities as solutions to wide variety of IT use cases including custom development, business intelligence, compliance reporting, SOA-enablement, master data management, and more.

Outside quote about company: The Business Intelligence Network said, “Composite Software, a provider in SOA Data Services recently announced strong support from implementation firms and SOA vendors for its next-generation Composite Information Server (CIS) as the most practical approach for enterprises deploying an SOA. Partners and end customers can build applications faster without worrying about the data’s location and complexity. Composite’s easy-to-use tools and pre-built data services for leading packaged applications give partners a leg up in SOA implementations by delivering existing data to new applications more easily.”

Features:
* Accelerate new development projects
* Leverage existing data assets
* Enable SOA

Management/Directors:
R. James (Jim) Green, Chairman and CEO
David Besemer, CTO
James Crawford - VP Engineering
Marcy Dutton - VP Finance & Operations
Robert Eve - VP Marketing
Christian Nall - VP Sales
Jason Monberg - VP Application Products
Peter Tran - VP Product Marketing

Relevant Links:
http://www.it-director.com/technology/applications/content.php?cid=9068