A new way for websites and other online services to store passwords could prevent breaches like the one that resulted in 6.5 million LinkedIn users having their passwords posted online earlier this year.

That kind of data dump happens when an attacker gains access to the server storing user passwords. Researchers at computer security company RSA have created a system that splits passwords in two and stores each half in different locations. The two halves never come together, even when a person logs in and has his password verified. That should make it harder for someone to steal them, because a thief would need to break into both those servers, which can be protected in different ways.

It's true that Latin American startup entrepreneurs are finding success by looking north to Silicon Valley for investment, mentoring and inspiration. But there is another side to this story. There are a number of entrepreneurs from the United States (and other parts of the world) who are looking south to Latin America for opportunity, talent and growth.

Why? There are a couple of strong underlying trends -- like more stability, better education and faster economic growth -- but a big reason is the success of Start-up Chile, a government initiative that is changing the face of entrepreneurship in Latin America. So, how can one government initiative which has existed for less than two years already be considered a success, let alone responsible for changing the entire region?

Outside of Kyoto, Japan there is a popular tourist district called Arashiyama. The area has been a frequent destination since the Heian Period (794-1185), when nobles would enjoy its natural setting. Arashiyama is particularly popular during the cherry blossom and fall color seasons. Within this area lies the famous bamboo forest of Sagano.

Are women more or less likely to help others of their gender get ahead at work? A Catalyst study done earlier this year asked both men and women about the kinds of mentoring and assistance they’d received. Overall, more than half (59 percent) had received either informal or formal mentoring.

What’s interesting is that women who had been mentored were more likely than men to be “paying it forward” to the next generation of emerging leaders at work. Sixty-five percent of women, vs. 56 percent of men, were doing so. And 73 percent of those women were mentoring other women.

A Cedar Rapids-based fund management group has announced the formation of a $3 million seed-stage investment fund focusing on the creation and growth of Iowa-based businesses.

Iowa Seed Fund II LLC was launched by AccelerateIT LLC, a fund management group that with EDC Inc., a Cedar Rapids-based business accelerator. It is a Qualified Community Seed Fund under Iowa law, allowing investors to receive a 20 percent state tax credit on their investment.

Dr. Henry Chesbrough is widely credited as writing the foundational research about the impact of Open Innovation, which he defines as “the use of purposive inflows and outflows of knowledge to accelerate innovation, and expand markets for external use of innovation, respectively. (This paradigm) assumes that firms can and should use external ideas as well as internal ideas, and external paths to market, as they look to advance their technology.”(1) In his game-changing research “Open Innovation: The New Imperative” (2003) (2) and “Open Innovation: Researching a New Paradigm” (2006), Dr. Chesbrough argues that traditional innovation methods which are too internally focused are prone to miss opportunities, restricting the overall potential in advancing technology, finding new paths to market, and developing new products or services. Instead, he proposes that companies significantly increase their capacity to create new and better products by engaging third parties in the innovation process.

The last stop of the amazing MySmark roadshow in the US is the Big Apple!

After the official nomination of “Global Hot 100” in Boston by the World Summit on Innovation & Entrepreneurship, after DEMO Conference in Silicon Valley, today we have landed in New York City!

Right from the world capital of marketing we have launched the new MySmark video teaser with a special preview for one of the top digital agencies in town… more news coming soon!

In an effort to determine how higher education can be a more efficient and effective partner in supporting, accelerating and driving the commercialization of new technologies in Ohio, the Board of Regents formed a Commercialization Task Force.

(Reuters) - Venture capital firms raised $4.98 billion dollars last quarter, the National Venture Capital Association and Thomson Reuters said on Tuesday, accelerating a trend in venture capital where funds are heading to extremes in size.

The dollar amount represented a doubling of the $2.17 billion raised in the year-earlier period, but a shrinking in the number of funds, to 53 from 66.

The bulk of the cash was raised by a handful of venture firms amassing outsized funds. Sequoia Capital raised $950 million last quarter, while GGV Capital raised $524 million. New Enterprise Associates raised $524 million last quarter, part of its $2.6 billion NEA XIV.

Promising startups are often led by young entrepreneurs whose leadership philosophies are shaped more by ready-made Silicon Valley notions rather than real-world insights.

Just because a company is in an early stage doesn't mean the executives need to work 18-hour days and down Red Bulls like other 20-something drones. By instead applying old-school principles, they can build a platform and culture that is truly scalable.

Here are four traditional lessons a fledgling company needs to embrace:

Human activity is still killing right whales, one of the most endangered animals in the ocean. An analysis of four decades of whale deaths shows that attempts to prevent them have not had a demonstrable impact.

Only around 460 North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) are thought to be swimming the waters off the eastern seaboard of Canada and the United States. The governments of both countries have implemented several measures to protect whales from becoming entangled in fishing gear or being hit by ships, such as the US ‘ship strike rule’ that limits vessel speeds in certain areas. That rule came into force in 2008 and is due to expire next year.

These solar-shaded computer centers are designed to help kids in the developing world have access to mentors halfway around the planet.

Shipping containers have become popular sites for repurposing in recent years--we’ve seen shipping container homes, gardens, even portable pizza shops. Architecture and design firm Perkins+Will is taking a different tack by turning 40-foot shipping containers into learning laboratories in South Africa.

Startup accelerators are great, as far as they go. The problem is that, after startups enjoy several months of pedal-to-the-metal support and mentorship, the vast majority of them exit the programs and hit a brick wall. The cheerleading stops, venture funding never materializes and the founders go back to writing code for a living. NestGSV is trying to fix that.

Like an accelerator or incubator program, NestGSV gives its resident startups office space, advice and lots of other amenities (even a beach volleyball court) at its Redwood City, California, campus near Silicon Valley.

One of the most frustrating aspects of using information and communications technology (ICT) is the frequency with which things don’t work, where “things” equals just about any hardware or software tool that you could possibly name. Monitors start flickering, files won’t open, obscure error messages crowd your screen, hard drives make funny noises… you name it. One of the most rewarding aspects of using ICT is the access it provides to an enormous network of people who might be able to help you. Twitter can be an extremely effective way of getting your questions answered, but it also teaches us some important lessons about the right ways to ask questions.

In one of my classes this semester, students are learning to use a variety of software tools to create online resources. Like all of us, they are frequently running into problems or roadblocks. This is often how one learns: trial and error. Our class has developed a system using Twitter to ask questions about such problems: we use the hashtag #help318 when we have a question that needs to be answered. Everyone in the class (not just me) keeps an eye on the hashtag and tries to help out whenever possible. This system has been pretty successful so far.

Just because a startup is showered with press and venture funding early on doesn’t necessarily mean it’s guaranteed to succeed in the long run.

All that extra hype can help a tech startup attract users quickly after its launch, which is key for any tech company just starting out, but it can also put too much pressure on a young company that may not have all the kinks figured out.

Computers are leaner, meaner and cheaper than ever before. With computing power no longer at a premium, we're swimming in numbers that describe everything from how a small town in Minnesota behaves during rush hour to the probability of a successful drone strike in Yemen.

The advent of so-called "big data" means that companies, governments and organizations can collect, interpret and wield huge stores of data to an amazing breadth of ends. From shoe shopping to privacy concerns, here's a look at five ways "big data" is changing the world:

Sure, you now know where to network, who to network there with and which student entrepreneurs to drag along with you, but that means diddly if you can’t make it more than 30 seconds into a conversation before stumbling over the startup jargon that inevitably permeates every event. No one wants to swap stories with the college student who’s saying, “Eli Manning shouldn’t have been last year’s Super Bowl MVP,” when they’re trying to talk minimum viable product.

To save you from the traumatizing experience of going all tongue tied, we’ve pulled together a list of buzzwords, both necessary jargon and informal slang, every entrepreneur should know. You’re welcome. Looks like you can hang out at the Venture Café and Voltage after all.

What innovation lessons can you learn from an old-timer? I’m not sure how much the name Philips means to the American consciousness. In Europe you know this name. It is in every consumer electronics’ shop on the Continent, as well as every hospital, and indeed it might also be hanging over your head in the shape of an electric light bulb.

Philips is big and it is old – and it has been struggling until recently to prove that its form of conglomerate enterprise still has a role in a highly focused customer-centric economy. Still, could it have something to teach the world?

ATWOOD, Kan. — An entrepreneurship fair held at her local high school encouraged Miranda Simminger to start thinking like a businesswoman. She sketched out plans for a local touring company, and then built an enterprise around raising rabbits that continues today. She markets a variety of rabbit meats as well as rabbit hair items like purses and keychains and rabbit manure for fertilizer through the High Plains Food Co-op, mostly to customers on Colorado’s Front Range.

“I learned a lot, and it was a lot of fun,” said Simminger, who lives on the family’s farm near Ludell, Kan., helping to raise hogs, cattle and chickens. She hopes her family can continue to find ways to expand the farm’s revenue so that she and her other siblings can remain involved in food and fiber production.

Once you are able to achieve some real “traction” with your business (paying customers, revenue stream), it may seem the time to relax a bit, but in fact this is the point where many founders start to flounder. All the skills and instincts you needed to get to this level can actually start working against you, and you can fail to scale.

Investors often say that successfully navigating the early stages of a startup requires lots of street smarts, guts, and luck. For successful scaling of the business, there has to be a transition to “executive” mode in the more traditional business sense. Certain behaviors between these two modes are incompatible, and can cause real problems.