Portland, Oregon, startup news, open source, and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
Portland-based Grabb.it has announced the release of a new microblogging feature for its users.
Following the lead of services like Twitter, Jaiku, and Pownce, the new Grabb.it feature allows users to post short messages (less than 140 characters) and provides a feed to which others can subscribe. An example can be found here.
The recent development efforts—like the iPhone interface—have led to a growth spurt for Grabb.it, forcing them to have deal with (welcome) growing pains.
Now, I know Vimeo (Connected Ventures) is based in New York, but did you know that they have a tie to the Rose City?
They do. The Community Director for Vimeo, Dalas Verdugo, lives here in good ol’ Portland. I think. I’ll have to admit, I can’t confirm that he lives here. (Chris Anderson, however, can.) But it certainly appears almost certain that he does.
He just posted a photo of IKEA Swedish meatballs. And everyone knows that Portland is still all gaga over the new IKEA. So, he lives here. Probably.
So there’s a tie.
Well, Vimeo just released a widget they’re calling Hubnut Projector (it was referred to as “Projector” when I originally posted; now they appear to be calling it “Hubnut”), that enables you to embed a series of Vimeo videos within a Web page. And since we’re all big fans of the embeddable media—like SplashCast—around here, I felt it worthy of a mention.
An example can be found, below. Scratch that. I tried to embed it and it appeared to conflict with the site template. An example can be found here.
Word around the campfire—if Twitter is a campfire—is that there is a new SplashCast player currently undergoing testing.
[UPDATE] More SplashCast folks twittering about testing, testing. This leads me to wonder if there is some Twitter hook in the new SplashCast player. Or at least the ability to “post this to Twitter.” Of course, they could just be testing, seeing as their posts are coming via Twitterific.
Stay tuned. I’ll be sure to post more news on the latest SplashCast release as it becomes available.
Just a reminder that the monthly BarCamp Portland meetup will begin tonight at 5:30. The meeting is held at Jive Software.
For more information, see Upcoming or BarCamp Portland. An RSVP is required.
The Portland meetups are intended to be a little less intense and more frequent than a full BarCamp Portland event. The intent is to get a group of cool people interested in technology together to chat over drinks on the fourth Thursday of every month.
Previously: BarCamp Portland gathering August 23
Last week, I saw the news on Jive Software securing a $15 million round of funding from venture firm Sequoia Capital.
Being the diligent type that I am, I immediately jumped over to the Jive site to get the full story.
Only there wasn’t anything there.
No press release. No blog post. Nothing. Crickets chirping.
But I’ve diligently checked the site, time and time again, since that point, and I am now happy to report that Jive is now talking about the round in a post from the CEO, Dave Hersh, on Jive Talks.
Hersh addresses questions that plague any startup making this sort of control-wresting decision:
For more, read Dave Hersh’s post on Jive Talks, “More on our $15M Funding Round with Sequoia.”
[Update] Mike Rogoway of The Oregonian provides additional coverage—and a little link love for Silicon Florist (Thanks, Mike!)—on the Silicon Forest blog.
Last week, I mentioned that Portland-based Ruby on Rails shop Planet Argon had released Rails Boxcar, a leased hosting environment for Rails applications. At that point, details were a bit slim as to what the Rails hosting environment would offer and what it would cost.
Today, Planet Argon officially unveiled the service offering on their blog:
Unlike a typical VPS, we’ve pre-configured Boxcar to allow you to follow just a few steps to get your Rails application up and running as quickly as possible. We’ve also given you more control over your environment to install additional packages, gems, and programs.
For the initial launch, we’re offering 6 and 12 month plans, both of which have a 30 day money back guarantee. Prices start at $85/month for the twelve month plan and $90/month for the six month plan.
For more information, see the Planet Argon blog.
Portland-based Jive Software added another high-profile notch in its belt with today’s announcement that PC World is now using the Jive Software ClearspaceX platform to power its user forums:
PC World is proud to unveil its brand new community platform, based on Jive Software’s ClearspaceX platform. You can check it out right now!
The new community platform retains our popular message-board discussions while adding robust features such as blogs and wiki documents. PC World community members have more freedom than ever to express themselves, discuss news and issues, troubleshoot and solve problems, and write their own tech encyclopedia. For more information, see our “What is Clearspace?” wiki document.
For more information, see the PC World forum posting on the new interface.
[UPDATE August 23, 2007] Jive has posted an entry about the PC World launch to the Jive Talks blog.
Previous coverage:
Just a friendly reminder that you’ve been invited to schmooze with the Metroblogging Portland crew, tonight, at rontoms, starting around 5:30.
Okay. I know all of you folks know how to blog. Some of you use Twitter. Some of you podcast and post videos.
I know that you get the whole “grassroots media” thing.
But what about interacting with the mainstream media? I mean, besides that KATU thing. What about coverage that reaches the non-technically savvy? You know the 99.9% of the population that could use the tool you’re building if they only knew about it?
Enter Portland Grassroots Media Camp. The camp is a free gathering, held August 24-August 26, in a variety of venues around town. And while it focuses on a number of things that you, Mr. or Mrs. Technophile, completely understand, it also offers some sessions on things that you may not understand, specifically:
So, if you’re a working by yourself or with a small startup, and building the next big thing sans massive marketing dollars and wily PR agencies, I thought this might be valuable for you.
As our old friend Tom Peterson used to say, “Free is a very good price.”
For more information or to register, visit the Portland Grassroots Media Camp blog.
(Hat tip to Around the Sun)
I received a strange eVite from Portland ABC affiliate KATU inviting me to a blogger get together that they are hosting.
KATU wants to get to know the blogging community and is interested in joining the conversation. There’s no agenda, other than to enjoy some food and beverages courtesy of our hosts. Meet fellow bloggers, view (and photograph!) the television studios and have some fun!
And I’m not alone. Nearly 300 Portland area bloggers got the same thing.
Out of the blue. Yet intriguing, nonetheless.
Maybe Amanda is coming to town. Or maybe it’s just a ploy to raise KATU’s visibility, given that this was included:
To help spread the word (and hear what fellow bloggers are saying about this meetup), let’s tag our blog posts and photos “KATUmeetup”.
Other mentions, so far, include:
Did you get one? What’s your take? Someone from KATU care to elaborate? Or perhaps Brian Westbrook who seems to be the eViter for the event?
One thing is for sure, Portland Mercury’s Blogtown PDX is not happy with the snub.