The service allows startups to create company profiles to attract investors, and allows investors to vote on innovative ideas and companies. It claims to filter out the not-so-good stuff in order to simplify the process for both entrepreneurs and investors. 

“Two years ago, I was working for FundingPost.com. After a few months in the business I was frustrated with the way we were connecting entrepreneurs and investors,” founder Jason Biondo tells VentureBreak. “PitchBIG is a free service that provides entrepreneurs with the ability to connect with investors. We simplify both the entrepreneur’s and the investor’s exhausting process of finding, researching and connecting with each other. On top of the platform, we have created an algorithm that determines Pitch Score that encourages entrepreneurs and investors to compete against one another. Additional features include profile statistics, automatic startup news updates, multimedia content, full privacy control and a voting system for companies.”

The PitchBIG team consists of three guys who are amazingly collaborating internationally. The company has not yet landed any outside funding of its own, but hopes to in the near future.

I think this is something to keep an eye on — it’s a great idea, and I hope it takes off.

I’m going to separate this review into three different sections to try to make this a little bit easier for everybody. The first section will be a description of why I bought the Prime. I want everyone to understand why I got one, the features I was most interested and the specifications I considered before making the purchase. Then I will list all of the pros and cons that I think are applicable.

If you’d like, you can find the rest of the pictures I took of my Prime in this album here.

For many tech companies that go public, an IPO is a necessary step for scaling the business. It’s an injection of funding that helps the company grow, reach new markets, hire additional staff, etc. But Facebook has no need for this kind of financing. It has already raised several billion dollars of funding from Goldman Sachs, Russia’s Yuri Milner, China’s Li Ka-shing, and various other VCs, and it is widely traded on private stock exchanges like SecondMarket. With the company’s continued growth, it could certainly sustain this without any problems. Facebook doesn’t need to go public.

An IPO actually seems to be a way for those initial backers — and many of the company’s employees — to cash out.

Without a doubt, some investors will stick with the company to watch it grow even more, but the $100-billion question is this: How much bigger can Facebook get?

It has a user base of close to a billion people, and it controls a big chunk of the online ad market. Both of those numbers are still growing, as people in other countries continue to discover the service, and advertisers move the campaigns to Facebook because of the social aspect.

But the growth won’t last forever.

There are already signs of people giving up because the network is too noisy. Some younger users are moving to platforms like Twitter and Tumblr to avoid their parents, who are all on Facebook.

Facebook’s biggest challenge is to find a way to profit more and more from those billion users. Zynga already snatched up the social gaming idea. Could Facebook become a bank by building and expanding Facebook Credits? Maybe. But the most obvious route would be to grab a larger share of the advertising market, which is what “frictionless sharing” apps are designed to help it do.

Many advertisers are still unconvinced, though. Facebook does indeed have a decent share of the market, but their click-through-rates are still relatively low. Facebook needs to prove that targeting users through their social activity is worth more than other advertising methods. Some critics say the majority of Facebook users are not interested in or receptive to traditional advertisements. Personally, I’ve never clicked an ad on Facebook.

Facebook also has to worry about growing competition from Google. Not only is Google the king of online advertising to begin with, but it is now adding a social platform to the mix as well.

Facebook is looking more and more like AOL every day. Could this be the beginning of the end of the Facebook Era?

How do normal people go about picking an antivirus for their computer? Honestly, I’m not really sure. I’ve never really done it before. I’ve just been using AVG Free since I’ve had a computer. But now I’m working in IT and the problem has risen. We are looking to upgrade to a new antivirus and I need to help figure out what the best one is.

My first thought was, “How do you go about judging an antivirus program? A person can’t go by what is said about the software on it’s company’s website. According to it’s owner, every antivirus is the best antivirus.” I needed something better. I looked for two things: reviews from real people and unbiased benchmark tests.

Instead of downloading and trying every single antivirus and trying to test them myself, I was able to find a couple different unbiased sites that have done tests on them already. Which ones block the most viruses, which ones take up the most resources and of course, price. I also did as much digging as I could to find real reviews and IT professionals’ opinions on which products were the best. Here’s what I found.

This probably isn’t the best way to organize the spreadsheet but this is what I came up with. Here is a spreadsheet with scores of whether a website said something good or bad about a product and then a link to that page. Out of the antivirus programs I searched for, it would appear that Kaspersky has some of the best reviews and performance of all of the programs. In a close second and third are ESET and Avira.

I currently have the Kaspersky, ESET and Avira trials downloaded and I am playing with them. At first glance, Kaspersky’s interface looked a bit more modern and nicer to me as well as going through the initial scan quicker than ESET but Avira’s is very nice as well. They do contain almost the exact same set of features so a person isn’t really missing much by choosing one over the other. Kaspersky also wins the price battle for the business version, coming in at $40 for a one PC license over ESET’s $60. But Avira takes the consumer price war with a feature packed free version.

At this point in time, I will more than likely be putting in my vote for Kaspersky as our new antivirus but I don’t think any of them are a bad choice. I think the most important thing in an antivirus is that it works for you. I know many people have different preferences when it comes to what they want in an antivirus program. They want it to look different, give them more or less notifications or have more or less features.

Go for the trial and free demos. Try a program out before you buy it. Always look at reviews from real people and un-biased sources. Don’t look at reviews on the company’s website. Also ask your friends what they use and if they like it and would recommend it.

What antivirus do you use? Was it on my list? What do you like about it and why do you keep using it? Please leave your comments and any other questions below or tweet me @DevonSchreiner.

Also check out Blog.DevonSchreiner.com, for more articles like this one from Devon.

[MBA Online]

This video, produced by Socialnomics, suggests that all of these common things will be killed by technology in the next 6 years:

• Wrist watches
• Paperback books
• Instruction manuals
• Car keys
• Greeting cards
• Credit cards
• Memo pads
• Maps
• Alarm clocks
• Cash
• Smartless phones
• Classrooms
• Traditional homework
• Education inequality
• Newspapers
• DVD
• Brooadcast TV
• Terrestrial Radio
• Checkbooks
• Paper resumes
• Mail order catalogues
• Electronics stores
• Clipping coupons
• Boring planes
• Tollbooth operators
• Gas stations
• Privacy

What do you think? Are these predictions realistic? Voice your opinion in the comments below.

Not only is Newt Gingrich’s plan for lunar statehood insane — it’s also illegal! As BuzzFeed points out, Gingrich’s plan for an American moon colony or a 51st Moon State violates the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which was pitched by the USSR, UK, and USA. The worry back then was putting nukes on the moon pointed at Washington or Moscow. Now, 45 years later, it’s crushing Candidate Gingrich’s crazy dreams.

The treaty, in part, states that:

The exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries and shall be the province of all mankind;

Outer space shall be free for exploration and use by all States;

Outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means;

Extending the United States to the moon contradicts just about all of that.

Sorry, Newt. As nice as your lunar statehood plan sounds, it’s just not feasible.

The long-awaited IPO of the year, or perhaps the decade, is here. Facebook will file paperwork for an Initial Public Offering on Wednesday, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

This will be the largest tech IPO in history, yielding around $10 billion for the social giant. The next largest tech IPO is Infineon, a German company that raised $5.9 billion in 2005.

There aren’t many details, Facebook refuses to comment, and the WSJ’s source is unnamed. But they have a long track record on stories like this, so we think it’s a safe bet.

The $10 billion share offering would yield the company a total valuation of $100 billion, which is right where we expected it to be.

Facebook halted its trading in secondary markets earlier this week, a strong indicator that an IPO is on the way.

This also explains why Facebook so quickly rolled out Timeline to all users. Once it files its paperwork, it will be forced to go into a “quiet period,” without product announcements, interviews, or other public statements.

Are you excited for Facebook, or will this be a change for the worse? What do you think, and will you buy a slice?

Thanks to iMacquarium for the picture.

Today’s technology is tomorrow’s junk and there is nothing you can do about it. New computers will be released, faster processors will be manufactured and bigger hard drives will be announced. The exponential improvement of technology creates an exponential growth of computers in landfills. There is no way around it. What most people don’t know is there are things you should do to protect your security and information when throwing these machines out. Make sure you follow these tips when you are getting rid of an old computer.

Backup Phase

The first thing a person needs to do when getting rid of an old computer is get all of their information backed up and saved somewhere other than the computer. Flash drives and external hard drives are cheap, easy ways to store and transfer information from computer to computer. These devices can also be used to save backups of your important documents when you’re not migrating computers.

Before you move onto the next phase, do a test and make sure your files will open on a new computer if you are moving them. Especially when moving to a different operating system or from older machines, the formats can get mixed up a bit. Do the necessary testing to make sure everything works before it’s too late.

It is also a good idea to make sure you can locate all of the installation files and CD’s for all of your programs. Nothing is worse that not being able to find the disc to reinstall your favorite program or game as soon as you need it.

Cleanup Phase

A backup copy has been made and you now have access to all of your precious information. You can chuck the old computer into the nearest dumpster now, right? No. Because not only do you still have access to all of your information, so does whoever picks up your old computer. The computer needs to be wiped clean before you do anything with it.

Many simple programs exist that will easily complete this task. My favorite is Darik’s Boot and Nuke, also known as DBAN. A person can burn it to a CD, boot the computer to that CD, type in the word ‘autonuke’ and DBAN will automatically wipe the hard drive a specified number of times, making it completely useless to someone snooping for information. *NOTE* This is not reversible! This deletes your information FOREVER! Only do this if you have completely backed up everything!

There are other “cleaning” methods that will get the job done just as well but will leave your hard drive a little bit more unusable. A person could take a giant magnet to their hard drive, use a big hammer, or one of the favorites of the internet, shoot it with big guns. These options are more viable when you don’t need to use the hard drive again and not the preferred route if you want to sell your computer.

Discharge Phase

Recycle. The first option for getting rid of that old hunk of junk is recycling it. There are many public and private companies that are always ready to take any and all electronics and recycle them in an eco-friendly manner. Please do not just throw your computer away. If you must get rid of it and no one else can use it, please recycle it.

Donate. If your computer is still in functioning condition, there’s no reason not to keep it in service. If you’re feeling generous, donate your computer. There are many different charities looking for computers that can be re-purposed for families that can’t afford a computer and even after school programs.

Another place to donate your used computer would be to your local geek. Geeks love computers. Just because your computer doesn’t have much value to you, doesn’t mean that someone else couldn’t use it.

Sell it. I believe this is one of the worst options for getting rid of your computer because electronics lose their monetary value quicker than anything else. While they usually maintain their functionality, people are more likely to spend their money on a new computer rather than a used one. But, you can always take out a newspaper ad, try eBay, Craigslist, Zaarly and all the others and try to make a few extra dollars.

Don’t want to get rid of that old computer just quite yet? Learn a bunch of different, cool and educational ways to re-purpose it.

Did you enjoy this article? Find more from Devon at Blog.DevonSchreiner.com.