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Eat your vegetables—or maybe someone else’s—with Veggie Trader

Rick Turoczy on April 27, 2009

It never fails. All it takes is the first glimpse of that burning orb up in the sky and the first warm spell. And suddenly every Oregonian is sprinting to the local garden store, grabbing their shovels, and frantically tilling their backyard beds or their local community gardens.

But come summer and early fall, what happens? That’s right: too many zucchini.

Enter Portland-based Veggie Trader, a social swapping site that uses the Web to help overbearing gardeners… err gardens share their bounty with others—and get vegetables they can use in return. Read More

Amazon acquires Portland-based Lexcycle makers of iPhone ebook app Stanza

Rick Turoczy on April 27, 2009

You never know. There might be something to this whole iPhone thing and Portland.

Today, Portland-based Lexcycle was acquired by a little bookstore up in Seattle called Amazon.

“We are excited to join forces with a company that has innovated on behalf of readers for over a decade and is a pioneer in ebooks,” the company stated in a blog post. “Like Amazon, we believe there is a lot of innovation ahead for ebooks and we could not think of a better company to join during this exciting time.” Read More

Windows laptop and netbook owners can rest easier: GadgetTrak launches PC-Trak

Rick Turoczy on April 27, 2009

With Portland-based GadgetTrak, Mac and mobile users have been a little spoiled. You see, they’ve had access to GadgetTrak’s theft recovery software for a while now. Windows-based users, however? They were still openly susceptible to laptop theft without much hope of recovery.

Until now.

Today, Windows laptop and netbook users are finally getting the same protection as the Mac and mobile folks: GadgetTrak has launched for Windows. Read More

Portland venture capital: Capybara, DFJ Frontier open a Portland office for early stage investments

Rick Turoczy on April 27, 2009

Seems like we’re going to need to change our tune about venture capital firms not being interested in Portland, Oregon, and the Silicon Forest.

Mike Rogoway over at The Oregonian reveals that DFJ Frontier in partnership with Capybara Ventures has opened another office for early stage venture capital—right here in Portland, Oregon. Read More

Verso-tile: The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) gains a Portland-based Mac fanatic

Rick Turoczy on April 25, 2009

There are tons of great blogs around the Silicon Forest. And, by extension, that means we have a bunch of great bloggers. So it stands to reason that, every once in a while, one of those bloggers makes the leap from the farm leagues to the big show.

The latest to make the jump? Kelly “Verso” Guimont, who just got the call to join The Unofficial Apple Weblog—affectionately known as TUAW—as a new writer. Read More

Dear Web startups: Buying local isn’t just for food

Rick Turoczy on April 24, 2009

Every once in a while, I get something stuck in my craw that causes me to get up on my high horse. Sometimes I then convince that high horse to climb up on a soapbox. And then I take on a holier-than-thou stance and pontificate on something which has been irking me.

This would be one such occasion. (And, fair warning, there’s another one coming soon.)

Something has been bugging me. And if you’ve got a sec, I’d like to lay it all out there.

And to be candid, remember I’m only taking the time to bitch about it because I think we could be fixing something that would help the Web and mobile startups in the Silicon Forest get the recognition they so richly deserve.

And it’s really easy to fix. Read More

Want Twitter search analytics done right? Portland’s Clicky may have nailed it

Rick Turoczy on April 24, 2009

If there’s one thing we here in Portland love, it’s our Twitter. And it’s not just because the inimitable Rael Dornfest, Twitter’s user experience (UX) engineer, happens to live in Portland.

No, it’s something deeper than that. Twitter works for Portland’s dynamic. It meshes with our culture and our geekiness and our whatever.

And so it should come as absolutely no surprise that, when it comes to understanding Twitter, Silicon Forest startups come up with some interesting solutions. Like Portland-based Twitalyzer. And like the latest feature from Clicky, the lightweight yet extremely feature-heavy Web analytics tool. The new feature with which I’m so impressed? It’s called Twitter brand monitor. (Calm down, Dawn.) Read More

SoMe Awards winners: Who walked away with the social media crowns?

Rick Turoczy on April 24, 2009

Remember Encyclopedia Brown? He was this kid detective who could always figure out random stuff using random clues? He was kind of like the MacGyver of the youth sleuth scene.

Well we had a little bit of a mystery going on ourselves tonight in the world of the Portland, Oregon, social media scene that needed some solving:

Who had taken home the honors from the Social Media Awards—the coveted SoMe Awards?
Read More

Positive press: The Oregonian points to the potential the startup community holds

Rick Turoczy on April 23, 2009

Hang in there, you entrepreneurial type you. You’re making progress. I know it. You know it. And now, other folks are starting to take notice. Like The Oregonian.

In a recent article entitled “Oregon’s high-tech better off now than in dot-com bust” business and tech reporter Mike Rogoway—one of the mainstream media folks in Portland who clearly “gets it”—had the following to offer about the under the radar startup scene: Read More

Open source citizens continue to impress with Open Source Bridge conference

Rick Turoczy on April 23, 2009

Yes, yes. I’ve been helping with the Open Source Bridge stuff as much as I can. I mean, I’m not an open source guy, per se, apart from my ever deepening appreciation for the talented people who make the world of open source what it is.

When it comes right down to it, I’m an observer. And, from time to time, an extremely lucky participant. A respectful tourist in the world of open source citizens.

But every once in awhile, I get to contribute. Today was one of those days. Read More

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