Small Business and Startup

Statistics From Inc. 500 CEOs on Their Companies’ First Year

A by the numbers look at what inspired CEOs of the fastest-growing private companies to take the leap, where they made mistakes, and where they were able to get startup funding.

What Happens After You Reach Your Crowdfuning Goal?

Now you’ve raised the funds – now you have to make sure your backers are happy with the investment. Entrepreneur Andrew Thomas suggests 4 ways to keep your newly funded project successful and accountable to the many people who pumped money into your startup.

The Next Big Thing in Responsive Website Design

Responsive design, which allows designers and developers to build websites that adapt to every screen size, is one of the most empowering web tools created in the last decade. But adapting to the screen is only the first frontier, and today, users expect online experiences that not only respond to what device they’re using, but also their location, time of day, what they’ve already read, and events happening in real time.

Advice From 5 CEOs of Successful Startups

Mashable interviewed five business leaders who have gone through the process of getting a startup off the ground. There success, and their mistakes, should help you on how to approach roadblocks with poise, a steady mind, and healthy expectations.

How To Design a New Website With SEO In Mind

If you’re going to be creating a new website, or updating your old one, it’s important to think about SEO first, rather than waiting until the website is already created. Here are 9 tips that will make sure your website is SEO ready from day 1.

Structuring Your IT Department to Meet Business Goals

A recent Dell survey shows that 80% of business executives polled say they’re turning their attention to IT issues — particularly those involving rapidly expanding data resources, the analysis necessary to grapple with them and the process of putting tools in place to leverage information in pursuit of new ideas and better performance. Here’s how you can keep up.

Web Hosting

The Difference Between VPS Servers, Cloud Servers, and Dedicated Servers

In this post we looked at three of the most widely-used hosting options on the web – virtual private servers, dedicated servers, and cloud servers – to make sure you understand the different paths available to you. Making the wrong choice isn’t likely to kill your business, but it might end up costing you a tidy sum to correct your mistake.

How To Decide If You Should Use a Cloud Strategy for Your Business

Cloud computing is becoming widely used, however, many people still don’t completely understand what the term “cloud” really means. That’s partly due to the term “cloud computing” being used for a broad collection of services, delivered at many different layers (infrastructure, application platform, software, and business process), and implemented in a variety of different ways (public, private, hybrid, on-premises, and off-premises). This piece by Forbes looks into the different ways you can use cloud and the pros and cons of each.

There Are Now Over a Billion Websites

The internet hit a major milestone this month, passing 1 billion websites — and counting — according to the real-time Internet tracking site Internet Live Stats. It’s incredible to think that just 23 years ago, there was 1. How long until 2 billion?

The 5 Things We Learned About Net Neutrality

After 3.7 million public comments and an orgy of lobbying, do we know what the FCC will decide on net neutrality? No, but here are five things we’ve learned so far.

General Tech

Microsoft Buys Minecraft for $2.5 Billion

The software giant wrapped up a $2.5-billion deal to buy Mojang AB, maker of the popular “Minecraft” videogame. They are hoping this move will help lure more people to the company’s smartphone system, and draw into its orbit a younger crop of users and software developers.

Yahoo Directory Closes

Proof that even though things sometimes feel like they will never change, they always do. Yahoo was the Google of it’s nice, but this month they released this statement: “our business has evolved and at the end of 2014 (December 31), we will retire the Yahoo Directory. Advertisers will be upgraded to a new service; more details to be communicated directly.”

ShellShock: All You Need to Know About the Bash Bug Vulnerability

A new vulnerability has been found that potentially affects Linux and Unix operating systems, in addition to Mac OS X (which is based around Unix). It is allowing attackers to gain control over a targeted computer if exploited successfully. In other words, it allows the user to type commands into a simple text-based window, which the operating system will then run.

Moodle Lands at #12 on the Top 100 Tools for Learning 2014

An incredibly powerful and useful tool for educators. We just want to say congratulations to them. It is well deserved.

And To End On A Fun Note

In this mesmerizing video, the hands of 288 analog clocks dance and twirl, animating themselves into a digital watch face.

Image: Flickr/MikeLicht