Utilities Finding Peer Pressure a Powerful Motivator National Grid, the electricity and gas provider to several Northeastern states, last week announced the expansion of its Home Energy Report program, which delivers energy-use statements to homeowners showing how they stack up against their neighbors in similar-size homes. The announcement follows a successful pilot program, started in October 2009, with a test … Read More

In a recent blog post Seth Godin wrote: Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.” I’m not sure this is true. In fact, I’m pretty sure that if you watch the dollars, you don’t have to worry so much about pennies. Big brands don’t sweat the small expenses. They don’t hassle about a return, or a … Read More

I know all the arguments for buying a used car. Most personal finance writers will tell you that buying a two year old car with low mileage is the best way to go. I agree with them but those two year old, low mileage, accident free vehicles are hard to find at a good price. I’m not encouraging you to … Read More

What a way to start Monday - inspired by a group of entrepreneurs devoting their entire Sunday to the decoration of a start-up incubation centre. There’s such a strong sense of community around the VI project in Belfast right now…

Original Source of Smells like start-up spirit

If you keep track of green technology companies, you may have heard rumblings about Bloom Energy, a secretive company that has raised nearly $400 million from investors like Kleiner Perkins for its supposedly game-changing fuel cell device. Now the 8 year-old company is finally emerging from the shadows with the Bloom Box, a $700,000 to $800,000 machine that 60 Minutes … Read More

Here’s a screenshot that the folks in Redmond won’t like: How about that? “Results 1-3 of 3 for review us on bing “. And yes, you’ll get a lot more results if you try that search using Google, Yahoo, or Yelp. Bing might be gaining search share , but it’s way behind on having SMB’s asking customers to write reviews … Read More

- VI (pronounced ’six’) is a Virtual Incubator for very early stage companies based in Northern Ireland which focuses heavily on mentoring and operational readiness. It claims to be the first and only entrepreneur-led startup incubator in the UK and…

Original Source of Bytes ‘n Pieces

One of the most recognizable marine animals on the coral reefs and seagrass beds they call home, seahorses Hippocampus spp. fascinate children and adults alike, earning them a place among the most popular animals for saltwater aquaria. Although endangered in the wild, more and more seahorses are being captive-bred by hobbyists. This month, José María Cid Ruiz offers his perspective … Read More

Twitter is a great marketing tool. Many people might make the mistake of thinking that it’s only for online businesses, but Twitter will bring a ton of business to a local brick and mortar shop. It takes a bit of work to turn your Twitter page into a marketing machine, but there are a number of ways to accomplish just … Read More

So, there we have all this oil, sitting in these nice thick oil shale beds out West and just waiting to turn some local in Colorado into the next “world’s richest person”. All they have to do is to figure out how to get the oil out of the ground cheaply enough to make money from it. (And if you … Read More