Recently I changed commenting systems from the Wordpress default to using Intense Debate and then switching to Disqus. This need for change was due in part that I began thinking my blog needed to open up and get a bit more social. At that time, if you wanted to comment on ToMuse you needed to register. That requirement was put into place for several reasons that included cracking down on spammers, using the Social Profiles plugin, and helping to ensure good thought provoking comments instead of useless driveby link-dropping drivel.

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Today’s list of technology funding announcements:

Greenroad – GreenRoad raised $15 million from DAG Ventures, Amadeus Capital, Balderton Capital, Benchmark Capital, and Virgin Green Fund.

fbFund – Facebook announced 20 latest winners of fbFund, which was created to encourage applications on Facebook Platform and Facebook Connect. The winners are listed below with information about each provided by Facebook. Each one will receive ~$25,000.

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Today’s list of cool new web stuff:

MobiQpons – “mobiQpons lets you reach out to local customers on their phones and when they are looking for deals.”

Twollars – A form of Twitter currency that is used to say thank you to people and maybe donated to charities on Twitter as well.

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Today’s list of technology funding announcements:

HeyZap – Announced today it has raised somewhere between $500,000 to $1 million in seed funding from Union Square Ventures

Ultracell – A provider of fuel cells for mobile applications announced $3.8 million via BASF Venture Capital, OnPoint Technologies, Espirito Santo Ventures, and Miami Valley Venture Fund

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Today’s list of cool new web stuff:

Transferr – “Transferr takes pictures of your favourite sites and presents them as icons on your home page, ready for easy access.”

TweetLister – “TweetLister is a free service that allows real estate brokers and owners to take full advantage of the vast, wide-reaching social network on Twitter.com.”

MashLogic – “MashLogic is a Firefox extension that works quietly under the hood to enrich web pages with the kind of information and media you care about. It’s respectful of your privacy, and super simple to use.”

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Swoopo is an online discount auction (a.k.a. penny auction) where individuals purchase bids to place towards an item that’s up for sale. The cost of the bids are usually $0.75 and once placed they raise the price of the item by either $0.15 or $0.01 depending on the product. A 20-second countdown timer is reset by each time a new bid is placed and when the timer reaches zero, the last bidder wins. The winning bidder pays the final price of the auction which is usually at a great discount of the manufacturer’s retail price (MRP) for the item.

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Today’s list of technology funding announcements:

Facebook – Facebook announced $200 million from Russia’s Digital Sky Technologies raises Facebook valuation to $10 billion

LogLogic – $8.8 million from Focus Ventures and others

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Today’s list of cool new web stuff:

Contenture – “Contenture is a new way to monetize your web site using a revolutionary patent-pending micropayment system that fixes all of the complexity of traditional micropayment systems.”

Ovi Store – Nokia’s new mobile applications store

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Keith Rabois posted an interesting article on TechCrunch today which suggested that the root of all eBay’s problems over the past years was primarily due to its lack of fun. He attributes the rising use of sites like Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube as the culprits for eBay’s loss of users. For those of you that aren’t familiar with Keith, he’s currently the vice president of strategy and business development for Slide.

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