SOFTA Ventures

5 Great Sites for Exploring Cities Around the Globe

5 Great Sites for Exploring Cities Around the Globe.

We’ve picked our five favorite websites from around the world that offer extensive street level imagery from places as varied as Munich, Mae Hong Son, Moscow and Miskolc. So grab your Panama hats and get ready to hit the virtual sidewalks of streets many, many miles away.

June 13th, 2010 Posted by Larry Zinox | internet | no comments

All Good Things Come to Those Who Research

Well it ends up that our trials with the iPhone SDK 3.x shortcomings proved to be one of the best things that could have happened to our project.  In searching for a work around we uncovered an answer that is not a work around but is truly a superior solution to what we had thought the SDK could provide.  The answer moves us from the realm of just providing a software application to being a service provider.

It entails adding some equipment at a data center, but that equipment opens us to some very expansive telecommunications possibilities.  It will allow us to create an engine that we can then use not just on our iPhone app, but as the back end for any smartphone on which we choose to release our application.  We’ve had numerous conversations with both the manufacturer as well as the local VAR and we are convinced it will do everything we need for now and well into the future.

And in a serendipitous twist it also solves the issues we were having with out Iowa project.  It will allow us to do everything we wanted our third party technical partner to provide but couldn’t.

In speaking with the manufacturer it seems that no one else is using this hardware in the way we intend, even though it is 100% capable of doing what we want.  That may be the best news of all, it gives us a competitive advantage.

Shows what you can do when you view problems not as roadblocks that impede, but as challenges to succeed.

September 9th, 2009 Posted by Michael ORoark | SOFTA, Uncategorized, blackberry, development, internet, iphone, mobility, palm, smartphone, social networking | no comments

Facebook to Emulate Twitter’s Follower Model With Profile Fans

Facebook to Emulate Twitter’s Follower Model With Profile Fans.

Could it be that you will soon be able to have followers, not just friends, on Facebook too? That definitely appears to be the case.  Look closely at notifications and you’ll see the new option to receive an email notification whenever another Facebook user “Connects to me as a fan.” In other words, Facebook followers, here we come.

June 26th, 2009 Posted by Larry Zinox | internet | no comments

Jackson dies, almost takes Internet with him – CNN.com

The question I heard asked, was “how many people does it take to bring down the Internet?”  Answer, just one, when its someone such as Michael Jackson.

Its a truly a sad day for everyone as the world deals with the early death of a beyond super-star status super star. But it is interesting to see how an event of such proportions can impact the Internet‘s ability to keep up. Makes you wonder if the powers that be are wondering how the entire global communications network will hold up if and when a global crisis should occur.

June 26th, 2009 Posted by Larry Zinox | internet | no comments