Online Air Fare Predictor Farecast Takes Off

Farecast seems to be a great concept which could really add value to consumer airfare buying. If it can tell me the best time to buy to save the most money, I will use it everytime I fly.

Farecast.com is the first airfare prediction website. We help online travel shoppers save money by answering the question; should you buy now or wait? Our beta version is available to travelers departing from Seattle and Boston to more than 120 domestic markets.

We are passionate about creating the best place to shop for airfare online. Our team focuses on building new product features that will help travel shoppers make more confident and smarter airfare purchase decisions. So stay tuned for future releases and be a part of the next big thing in online travel.

Have you seen other prediction markets providing useful information? Tell us about them.

Tower Digital Too Little Too Late

Tower Records trys again to pull itself out of a tailspin by resurrecting online downloads. It is sad to see a company with little vision die a slow death.

Seeking to expand its online offerings in the digital world, Tower Records enters the music downloading business todaywith a service that will initially feature more than 1.2 million tracks.

The iconic music retailer, based in West Sacramento, hopes to use its 46 years of experience in the record industry to attract customers who want to download music.

That won't be easy. Tower enters a crowded field of more than a dozen download sites dominated by the iTunes Music Store, which has sold more than 1 billion songs since it was launched in 2003 and controls more than 70 percent of the U.S. market. - Clint Swett -- Bee Staff Writer

Will Tower succeed or fail? What is your best BIG IDEA to revive the struggling music seller?

Digital Music Group Downloads Chancellor

Digital Music Group Inc., which distributes songs to online music stores, announced Monday that it has acquired Chancellor Records, a label that recorded such '50s and '60s pop stars as Frankie Avalon and Fabian.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The purchase includes some 2,000 tracks in Chancellor's library, which DMG plans to sell through download sites like Apple's iTunes Music Store.

Sacramento-based DMG said it will convert some of the songs to cellular phone ring tones.DMG's stock closed Monday at $5.06, up 42 cents on the Nasdaq National Market.

-- Clint Swett Sacramento Bee

Can you Digg it?

Web upstart Digg which displays and ranks stories based on user rankings or "diggs" unveils a new look and some expanded categories today. The previous tech only website has expanded into other categories to broaden appeal.

Based on many web analytics reports Digg is gaining ground on the NY Times and fast. With the new categories, new look and cross over appeal to a more mainstream audience Digg is preparing to become a major news source.

They even have a cool new feature called the Digg spy which allows anyone to see the rankings rise and fall in real time.

Will it be long before Google follows suit with its own newsrank technology to challenge Digg. If their current trajectory continues Digg may become a likely takeover target in the near future.

What do you think of Web news sites like Digg and Google News?

The Biggest Threat to Business and Economy is Lax Cyber Security

Just another in a long list of information security breeches.

Insurance provider American International Group has confirmed the theft of a file server and other hardware that held the personal information of approximately 970,000 potential customers.

Company officials said an intruder entered one of its Midwest offices sometime after business hours in late March and walked off with a file server and other equipment, including several laptop computers, that held the data in question.

Why are companies so careless with our data?

The AIG data loss is just the latest in a long string of high-profile incidents in which well-known companies have mishandled customer information.

Most recently, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs admitted that it had exposed the personal information of up to 26.5 million veterans when a computer was taken from an employee's home.

Other recent breaches have been reported by a regional office of the YMCA and travel site Hotels.com.

A new study from researchers at Gartner indicates that it is markedly less expensive for companies to invest in new security and encryption technologies than it is for them to respond to a data breach.

According to the analyst firm, businesses pay roughly $6 per year per user for encryption tools, or $16 per user per year for intrusion prevention software licenses, versus paying out an average of $90 per user to address problems after a breach has occurred.

Is there a trend happening here? If the bandits stole just $1,000 from each identity theft victim the total would equal $970,000,000 Almost $1 billion dollars. Is this bothersome to anyone else? Give me your thoughts.

SunEdison Bathing in the Spotlight

SunEdison founders Claire Broido Johnson and Jigar Shah have differentiated themselves by creatively packaging solar panels and reselling them to corporations. What was once unaffordable is now providing a nice return on investment for Goldman Sachs.

The company, founded in 2003, has developed a financing model that helps large companies like Whole Foods Market Inc. and Staples Inc. install rooftop solar panels without having to commit the upfront costs of installing such a system, which can be $500,000 or more.

SunEdison does so by rounding up investors such as Goldman Sachs to pay for the solar installation. The companies and government agencies that use the panels pay a fixed price for electricity for 10 to 20 years. They also get another, less-tangible benefit: the public relations boost that comes with using green energy. - Baltimore Business Journal

My only question is why are they based in Baltimore and not Sacramento? Did we miss the boat or is there still time to capture some of this market share. With an abundant amount of sunshine, high tech manufacturing facilities, and easy access to air cargo and warehousing facilities wouldn't this type of business be a great fit for Mather Field?

McClellan Park Shows the Way - Mather Field the Next to Play?

If McClellan Business Park is the model for converting a former military base into a viable community, could the same process happen at Mather Field in Rancho Cordova, Ca.

After five years of redeveloping McClellan Park, its owners announced Tuesday that they are ready to probe a red-hot commercial real estate market and find out how much they can capitalize off their investment.

This doesn't necessarily mean the property will be sold, said Larry Kelley, president of McClellan Business Park LLC, which owns and operates the former Air Force base. He and his partners would consider a restructured partnership, an investment or a purchase. - Dirk Werkman and Jon Ortiz -- Bee Staff Writers

One of the driving forces behind the redevelopment of McClellan Park was the McClellan Technology Incubator run by Oleg Kaganovich.

Also this week was an article in the Sacramento Business Journal about the tremendous residential growth of Rancho Cordova the regions youngest city.

After two decades with little residential growth, Rancho Cordova is preparing for a massive expansion. The 56,300-population city is seeing developers build and plan for 350,000 residents. - Mark Anderson Staff Writer Sacramento Business Journal

Could Mather Field in Rancho Cordova become the next McClellan Park? With some vision and strategic planning Mather Field just might become the next BIG success story for redevelopment and technology innovation in the Sac Metro region.

Where in the World is Sacramento?

About halfway between San Jose and Lake Tahoe. Click on the headline above for a regional map. Zoom in to find surrounding communities like Rancho Cordova to the east, West Sacramento to the west, Roseville to the north, and Elk Grove to the south.

Or for more detailed information take a look at the Wikipedia reference of Sacramento or the community information website for Lyon Real Estate.

Cyberstates 2006 - High Tech Industry Data in California from the AEA

This is probably the most comprehensive data on technology in the US available. The price is reasonable and the info could provide a boost to your market research. The AEA is the former American Electronics Association founded in 1943. They also have an office in Sacramento.

AeA is delighted to bring you Cyberstates 2006: A Complete State-by-State Overview of the High-Technology Industry. This 165 page report provides you with new 2005 national data on high-tech employment, exports, and venture capital investments. Cyberstates 2006 also includes the latest available state data on employment, wages, establishments, payroll, and research and development expenditures.

The AEA is collaborating on an exciting event with SARTA soon and their website is packed with useful information and reports about technology.

Techcoire Events Connect the Sacramento HIgh Tech Community

If you haven't heard about Techcoire before today you may not be alone. It is one of the best kept secrets of the Sacramento region. This group of over 1200 technology executives, entrepreneur's, and venture capitalists is composed of the who's who in Sac Valley technology circles.

Events are planned throughout the year and this Thursday's should be a good one. Titled "Winning your first customer: Serial Enterpreneurs Panel" this event promises to share expert entrepreneurial experience and ideas on getting that first key customer.

If you are planning a technology startup, need capital, or are looking for expert opinions and advice this is the place to start.

CalPERS - Sacramento's Sugar Daddy

Davis, Ca based Central Valley Fund received a nice shot in the arm from Sacramento based CalPERS, the nations largest pension fund with over $200 billion in assets.

The Central Valley Fund will receive an additional $30 million from the California Public Employees' Retirement System, the state public pension fund said Monday.

The Central Valley Fund is a venture capital fund that targets traditional manufacturing or agricultural companies, rather than technology or start-ups. - Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal

Although CVF does not fund startups or technology companies the message is clear. CalPERS is ready to invest in central valley ventures.

Sacramento is Smart, Sophisticated and Sexy

A new player in the SacMedia Market announces a Fall debut. They are so new you can't even Google them yet!

Sacramento's crowded magazine market is about to get a new entry -- a city mag called "Sactown" that, its backers say, will be as "smart, sophisticated and sexy" as the region it's covering. - Bob Shallit

Behind the new venture are a couple of magazine veterans, Rob Turner and his wife, Elyssa Lee.

I'm in love with Prosper, but maybe there is some room in my life for a Fall fling. Sactown magazine better turn up the heat and turn on the romance to woo this fickle market.

I'm looking forward to reading! How do we rate on the S-cubed factor? (Smart, Sophisticated, and Sexy)

Intelligent Life, Smart Communities and Government Funding

After watching a PBS documentary on KVIE Sacramento this afternoon on the search for intelligent life it got me thinking. Many scientists have attempted to develop a formula to predict the likelihood of intelligent life in our universe. This formula contains many variables which are not currently solvable and therefore the percentage of planets with the probability of containing intelligent life cannot be solved. For the most part we can pinpoint the conditions which will lead to intelligent life or at least the path which will lead close to it, but we are still uncertain of the research until we find at least one example.

This made me think about what factors combine to create smart communities. Now, I'm not talking about just brainpower here. I'm talking about what factors make a really great place to live, work, and play. After all that's what we all want isn't it?

So this leads me to my point. If the factors which create a really great community to live, work, and play could be defined and federal, state, and local funding were allocated based on this formula. Would the Sacramento region encourage more smart communities just like the factors which spawn intelligent life on other planets?

If funding at the federal, state, and local level were more rational and focused on encouraging the factors which help create smart communities like; increased clean energy output, jobs growth, increase in median income levels, quality of life, and education levels. Would we have more smart communities?

A simple formula:

Smart Community Score = Clean Energy Growth (5%) + Jobs Growth (4%) + Median Income Increase (2%) + Increase in Education Level (3%) X 100 = 14 + Quality of Life Index 25.4 = 39.4

1. Community C = 39.4 - 21% of the pie
2. Community F = 38.7 - 19%
3. Community A = 38.4 - 16%
4. Community D = 37.6 - 16%
5. Community B = 36.2 - 15%
6. Community E = 35.0 - 13%

The focus being on improvement. It's the same concept as pay for performance for executives, except politicians would compete for an increased share of the pie for fostering smart growth. Now there's a novel idea! Local politicians being held accountable between elections. Wouldn't this type of system foster goal based planning?

If the Sacramento region defined what an ideal community would look like and agreed to allocate regional funding based on a smart community score, would this encourage local governments to focus their time and energy on smart growth concepts, increasing quality of life, and providing better employment opportunities?

Some regional thinking like this has been fostered by Valley Vision, but is there more which can be done? What are your thoughts?

Virtual Networking and Building a Team

Weekend Wrapup

It's Saturday morning and I have decided unofficially that on the weekends I will blog about the weeks events. A summary or recap if you will about the things I learned the people I met and the general state of the Tomato. You are probably asking why is this blog called the Tech Tomato. Well Tech for technology, and Tomato because the Sac region was known for its agricultural output. And because it kinda rhymes and it's ketchy, sorry bad pun.

Clint Swett - Staff writer for the Sacramento Bee wrote in Thursday's business pages about a company called LinkedIn.com Great company, perfect for business to business networking and they have a revenue model which works. But what about Jimmy Joe Bob who wants to start a business and is looking for a way to attract team members. Well it seems to me on LinkedIn one still must network and meet others offline. Whereas with a relatively new web services called Meetup.com one can setup a virtual group, send out a few email invites and coordinate a meeting without ever leaving home.

There is a link to this service at the bottom of the page and you will see there are already 164 entrepreneur meetups in the country. I predict meetup will become the virtual town center of the future. The tools and interface are clean. They have a revenue model to sustain operations and the concept scales really well. It's so easy to use my Grandmother could find a group and join! As a group is formed members are invited and virally the group grows daily. These people invite others and you get the idea. So if I had to choose the next BIG BIG thing in social networking I would take a look at Meetup.com. I use it and am growing to love it. It seems to be a perfect fit for entrepreneurs looking to find teams or team members. Try it out.

That's all he wrote. What is your favorite social networking website?

Volcano Erupts in Sacramento

Volcano Corp. had a very successful IPO Thursday raising $52 million dollars and creating the 10th Sacramento publicly traded company.

"It's great to see a local high-tech company actually go public here versus getting acquired," said Oleg Kaganovich, chief executive of the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance.

"If Volcano stays independent, this could be another nice shot in the arm for Sacramento entrepreneurship." - Scott Lenet, managing director for West Sacramento venture capital firm DFJ Frontier

It's time to break out the bubbly. Cheers!

Intel Inside - Folsom Outside

Paul Otellini says goodbye to communications and cell phone chip units in Folsom. In the past few years Intel has faced mounting competition from Advanced Micro devices for PC based microprocessors and continuing losses from its communication and cell phone chip businesses. These losses and a new CEO have compelled Intel to review its money losing divisions. Intel simply has not been able to compete in markets dominated by companies like Broadcom and Texas Instruments. Intel employs some 7,000 people at its plant in Folsom, CA.

"Ignore speculation about Intel's future direction and stay focused on business." - Paul Otellini, CEO to Intel employees in a company webcast

If you are at the Intel plant in Folsom and working in one of these divisions my advice would be to go straight to the online employment websites, do not pass go, you won't collect $200. Takeovers are always ugly and people always get fired. You are up for sale. Don't fool yourself. Head for the door now. I'm joking, sort of.

Anyone looking for a few good engineers?

Volcano Erupts with Less Vigor than Expected

Volcano Corp., a Rancho Cordova medical-device maker, had expected to launch its initial public offering of stock early Thursday. Today it was announced that Volcano Corp. has dropped its offering price to $8 a share, a move that could cut as much as $30 million from the proceeds of the IPO.

The lower share price still could pump close to $55 million into the Rancho Cordova, CA company. Volcano Corp. is expected to trade on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol VOLC.

Courtesy Adam Weintraub
Sacramento Business Journal

Sacramento left with Cold Spots after MobilePro WiFi Blanet is Pulled

With all the discussion about the MobilePro pullout of the WiFi deal with the City of Sacramento it made me think maybe there is a better solution than blanketing the entire city with WiFi.

MobilePro Corp, which won a contract from the City of Sacramento last year to set up a wireless broadband network downtown, says it is withdrawing from the project after the city tried to change the terms of the deal.

The Bethesda, Md.-based company said Friday that Sacramento now wants a high-speed wi-fi network that would be free to all users and supported by advertising. MobilePro had wanted to charge for access for higher broadband users, but make slower, limited bandwidth available for free.

Wouldn't it make sense to focus on providing WiFi in areas where Sacramentans will actually use it like large public places such as the airport, shopping malls, cafe's, libraries etc.

The whole deal begs the question "Do we need a WiFi blanket over the whole city or just the HOT spots?"

Any thoughts?

Silicon Valley and and the Sacramento Region

Read an interesting essay from Paul Graham on the ingredients for a successful Silicon Valley Souffle. "How to be Silicon Valley", May 2006.

To sum it up Paul says you need a few key ingredients; nerds, rich people, world class universities, the right attitude (fun & business friendly), and a youthful culture to attract entrepreneurs.

"Like any good recipe, leaving out one key ingredient can turn a gourmet meal into dog food."

Does this sound like the Sacramento region? Do we have any/all of these ingredients?

Gim'me your thoughts. Comment on this article.

Sacramento Ranks 30th in America's Smartest Cities

Sacramento ranks 30th in the Business Journal's ranking of America's Smartest Cities.

Which community boasts the highest concentration of brainpower -- and therefore can claim to be America's smartest big city?

The answer is Seattle, according to a new study by Bizjournals.com.
An analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data puts Seattle's No. 1 ranking in perspective:

-- Forty-seven percent of Seattle's adults hold bachelor's degrees, the strongest proportion of college-educated residents in any big city. It's nearly double the U.S. average of 24.4 percent.
-- Seattle is second to Washington, D.C., in the share of people with advanced diplomas. Twenty-one percent of Washington's adults have earned graduate or professional degrees, followed by Seattle at 17 percent. The national average is 8.9 percent.

San Francisco and Austin are the runners-up in the Bizjournals.com study, which ranks the relative brainpower of 53 large communities.

Rounding out the top 10 are Colorado Springs, Minneapolis, Charlotte, San Diego, Washington, Portland, Ore., and Albuquerque. (Click here for profiles of the 10 brainpower leaders.)

Reprint from BizJournals.com

Digital Music hires investor-relations firm

Digital Music Group Inc. has hired its first investor relations firm, the latest move in its evolution as a publicly traded company.
Digital Music Group (Nasdaq: DMGI), a content owner and distributor of digital music, has hired Allen & Caron Inc. as its investor relations firm. The Irvine-based company's clients include Align Technology and Top Tankers Inc.

"As a newly public company operating in a rapidly growing and ever-changing segment of the entertainment industry, we realize the importance of clear, consistent and continual communication with each of our constituents, including our investors ...," Digital Music CEO Mitchell Koulouris said in a statement.
Digital Music of Sacramento buys digital rights to sound recordings, such as tracks from Johnny Cash to Kool & The Gang, digitizes, formats and distributes them for sale to consumers through online music retailers, such as Apple iTunes and Yahoo! Music.

Shares of Digital Music were down 17 cents to $6.03 in mid-day trading Monday, off of its 52-week high of $10.42. The stock debuted on Nasdaq at $9.75 on Feb. 2, but dropped 50 cents during its first day of trading.

Reprinted from the Sacramento Business Journal

Tech Tomato Launches Sacramento Region Technology and Entrepreneurial Blog

This is the first post of the Tech Tomato from Sacramento, CA and surrounding communities to engage local entrepreneurs, tech geeks, venture capitalists, angel investors, and others in discussion focused on the Sac Metro region start-up culture.

Hopefully this will be a place to get a quick weekly dose of what's happening in the Sac Metro region start-up community. I would like to profile some local entrepreneur's and start-up companies and share news and updates from around the region.

If you have a story idea, news item, or interesting rumor send it to me and I will share the most intersting items each week. As I find new and interesting start-ups or technologies I will post those here as well. Technology, Biotechnology, Clean Energy, Software, and Web technologies are all fair game.

Send your questions, comments, and story ideas to me geoffreysakala (at) gmail (dot) com.