The Silicon Bayou has been buzzing with tech and entrepreneurial news. Here are the most popular stories published on Silicon Bayou News in the past seven days:
Welcome Back, Pubcon
Pubcon is coming back to New Orleans for the second time within a year. The conference, along with hundreds of technology speakers and thousands of attendees, will be held on March 17 – 20, 2014 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Pubcon began in 2000 as an informal gathering of early search engine optimizers and webmasters at a London pub. Over the years Pubcon has shifted away from its original pub gathering meaning and more towards the is the premier social media and optimization conference it has become.
New Orleans Hackers Launch Online Registry Forensics Class
Hacker Academy teaches students how to be true information security professionals by learning, practicing and using tools from online classes. Local hackers Vico Marziale, Joe T. Sylve , and Jerry Stormo of 504ensics, and Andrew Case are instructors in the new Hacker Academy class, Registry Analysis for Digital Forensics and Incident Response Master Class. The class is a self paced course, that teaches how to understand forensics artifacts stored in the registry, develop processes to use registry forensics in all investigations, and apply common analysis techniques, find malware and track user activity in the registry.
Bitcoin in the Big Easy
Bitcoin is an open source peer-to-peer electronic currency that offers anonymity through its secure transactions. Although the center of some controversy, the already famously popular currency has made its way to Louisiana. Only a handful of retailers in Louisiana currently accept Bitcoins. David’s Antiques in New Orleans is one of those retailers. The French Quarter store sells antiques along with new items as well. Ester Edry, who runs the store along with husband David, embraces Bitcoin as she embraces mixing the old and new in her store.
Propeller Featured on Entrepreneur.com
In a recent article, Wannabe Social Entrepreneur? How to Navigate the Growing World of Impact Accelerators, Entrepreneur.com mentions the increasing need for accelerator programs designed for social entrepreneurs who care just as much about their mission as financial viability. Sound familiar? New Orleans-based Propeller does just that. Propeller is a nonprofit that works to solve local problems through social entrepreneurship. Propeller acts not only as an accelerator for local startups, but also as an incubator and work space, host to the annual PitchNOLA competition, and a general force dedicated to supporting social innovation in New Orleans.
Zlien Continues to Expand, Hiring Two
Local technology company, Zlien, provides an easy lien management services including electronic filing of mechanic liens, preliminary notices, bond claims, Miller act claims and more. As a leader in lien and bond compliance, Zlien’s team is growing. The company has announced two hires, Madeline Fortino and Jake Kupperman.
New York’s ‘Take the H.E.L.M.’ Competition Attracts New Orleans Startups
Take the H.E.L.M., a competition created byNew York City Economic Development Corporation, is all about transforming and expanding upon the already thriving business in Lower Manhattan. To make the location even more attractive to startups, the organization was offering up over $1.25 million in cash prizes for the lucky H.E.L.M. 2.0 winners and runner-ups. The selection committee narrowed it down to 19 finalists, including New Orleans-based Dinner Lab and 4.0 Schools. Dinner Lab and 4.0 Schools competed in the “Domestic / New to New York” category. Dinner Lab was the runner up in the category.
WizzForms Saves Time and Money by Eliminating Manual Data Entry
While maintaining local headquarters, IDScan.net has continued to be a leader in the ID scanning market for years. The company recently launched its newest product, WizzForms, which eases the time-consuming, error-prone and inconvenient task of manual data entry. WizzForms allows iPad users to scan any U.S. or Canadian identification card and populates the data–name, address, gender, etc.– into a web form. The product is a highly customizable solution that easily integrates with users’ current websites and web forms with the option to create separate profiles for each form.
Tulane Moves Forward With New Riverfront Tech Campus
Tulane’s plan for a new technology campus focused on coastal applied sciences and engineering is finally moving forward. The plan, originally called Riversphere, has been in the works since before Katrina. The new campus will house the Tulane University Riverfront Campus for Applied Coastal Sciences and Engineering and will be located in downtown New Orleans next to Mardi Gras world.
Financial Fridays: How Marketing Can Affect Your Bottom Line
Whether you like it or not, marketing is quickly moving from traditional to digital, which means if your business lacks a coherent digital presence, you are quickly falling behind the competition – and your revenues may soon follow. Hibernia Bank lists few digital marketing strategies that your business should be taking advantage of to reduce your bottom line, including a coherent website, local listings and social media.
3D Printing – A Game Changing Technology
Contributor Mark Lewis writes that the thought of being able to make products ourselves with CAD programs, apps and 3D scanners and then print them out at home is mind-boggling. Will this in turn decentralize the manufacturing process? He discusses multiple advantages and disadvantages of 3D printing. Click here to read more.