“MINNEAPOLIS, MINN – February 3, 2012 – TST Media today announced that it has acquired Wisconsin Sports Network (WSN) from TDS Telecom. Based in Madison, Wisconsin, WSN is the online media destination of choice for over 85,000 student athletes participating in high school athletics in the state of Wisconsin every year.”

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“The Northstar Multiple Listing Service, the group that manages most Twin Cities-area home listings, is updating its iPhone/iPad app for real estate agents and other MLS members with a technology called HomeSpotter, which was developed by Twin Cities tech guru, Aaron Kardell.”

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“There’s an interesting experiment afoot in the startup community, which poses the following questions to entrepreneurs: Would you be willing to trade equity in your startup in return for social media buzz, and customer feedback?

How much, if any, would you fork over? Minneapolis-based startup called Wahooly is both asking those questions — and proffering a few answers.”

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“ST. PAUL, MINN. (January 27, 2012) — Reeher LLC announced that Temple University has joined the Reeher Platform, the first shared management system dedicated to higher-education fundraising in which features and tools added for one customer benefit all.

The public Philadelphia-based university, which serves approximately 39,000 students and nearly 280,000 alumni, is using the Reeher Platform to optimize annual giving programs, increase major giving effectiveness and maintain strong alumni relations.”

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“CaringBridge recently appointed Leigh Bailey and Karen Hohertz-Jacobs to its board of directors. CaringBridge is a Minnesota-based nonprofit providing personal and private websites that connect people experiencing a health challenge to family and friends, making each health journey easier. CaringBridge seeks board members who can provide leadership, valued advice and governance of its program.”

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“February 27 application deadline for volunteer web pros (nerds) and nonprofit organizations

Who: The Nerdery seeks like-minded web professionals to join in giving their time and talent to help nonprofits create websites they couldn’t otherwise afford at The Nerdery Overnight Website Challenge

Who Else: Eligible nonprofits (501c3-registered organizations in Minnesota) can apply by February 27 by articulating how nerds could help them do what they do – only better – online.”

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What is the name of the company and/or product?

TechTalks.tv

What is the customer value proposition? What business problem is being solved?

TechTalks.tv is the best way to publish and share presentation slides with videos. There are many publishers who generate slide-based videos. For example, business enterprises having regular seminars, or individual experts trying to share their knowledge via a presentation, or conference organizers trying to monetize their conference content. These publishers currently do not have a go-to platform to do so.

What is the target “launch” date?

We’re currently accepting users for our public beta and plan to launch officially in the next couple months.

Who is on the team?

• Jason Martin – Co founder and CEO
• Rajnish Kumar – Co founder and CTO
• Jovan Stojanovic – Lead Designer

What is your greatest strength?

We’re a persistent team of enthusiasts with strong backgrounds and experience in streaming video, customer development and design.

What is your biggest weakness?

The classic ‘chicken and egg’ scenario of getting content publishers on board and user signups. We’re going to give publishers the chance to claim their channel soon and this will drastically add more content to the site.

What is the specific technology or combination of technologies, framework, languages, etc. that makes this thing run? Is there any IP?

Our cloud-based tool to allow experts and publishers to generate slide-based videos without installing any software.

Is there a revenue model?  How big is the market?

Eventually after the network effect, we will be ad and subscription based. The online education market is exploding and there is a unique opportunity for universities and brands to publish their original content with us and reach a global audience.

What is one resource you could use that would take this to the next level?

We’re looking for angel investor funding to help us scale. Preferably, we are looking for connected investors with experience in this space who would like to have an active role.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Tell us what you think! Contact at Jason@techtalks.tv or follow on Twitter @TechTalksTV

“As you may know, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has decided not to bring the PROTECT IP Act (the Senate’s version of SOPA) up for a vote next week.

And since I’ve heard from many of you about this issue, I wanted to take a moment to share why I support copyright protection legislation — as well as why I believe holding off on this bill is the right thing to do.”

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“A Twin Cities man has become the latest consumer to sue Apple, AT&T and California software firm Carrier IQ for allegedly spying on his iPhone via secret monitoring software. About 60 similar lawsuits have been filed against cellphone companies nationwide.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis by consumer George Howell, says the alleged spying violates federal privacy, wiretap and fraud laws.”

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“Local IT companies seem to always be in need of more professionals for development work, and now they have new resource that could fill their IT departments in the future.

The IT-Ready Apprentice Program is launching in Minneapolis and St. Paul, with an eye toward other cities in the future. The non-profit program covers the cost of recruitment, training, and certification for employees taking on help-desk, call-center, and technical duties.”

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