As critical components of an innovation economy, Florida’s university research parks help develop advanced technologies into commercial products. Further developing these research parks would produce high-wage jobs, diversify the economy, and keep graduates of Florida universities in our state.

Florida is home to more university research parks than any other state in the nation. These research parks create high-skilled, high-wage jobs, usually in the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), and retain talented Florida university graduates. Their members also provide an exchange of technologies and best practices among all parks through the Florida Research Parks Network (FRPN).

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It can be hard to get the attention of the right people for your startup at SXSW, but one marketing stunt may make it a little easier.

Life360, the communications app for families, is partnering with BMW to give as many as 10 founders the chance to pitch a well-known VC for 15 minutes, in the backseat of a BMW i3 during SXSW in Austin, Texas. The VCs include Christine Herron from Intel Capital and Ethan Kurzweil from Bessemer Ventures.

Image: SXSW 

With some internships, you're lucky if you get some free food and the occasional swag. Other internships, apparently, pay you more than $6,000 a month.

Glassdoor, a job site that features reviews from anonymous employees, just put out its annual list of the highest-paying companies for internships. There are six companies on the list that pay more than $6,000 a month (which would work out to $72,000 a year) and one company that pays more than $7,000 (or $84,000 a year).

Warren Buffett says if you want to learn how to make money from the stock market you should look at how he made some money with two small real estate investments. In an excerpt published by Fortune, from his upcoming annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, Buffett writes about his purchase of a Nebraska farm and his investment in a retail property near New York University in Manhattan.

In both cases, he bought when prices were unusually low after bubbles had burst.

In both cases he had no particular expertise.

Image: Lacy O'Toole | CNBC - Warren Buffett 

The ambitious talk of turning Madison, WI, into the nation’s premier hub for healthcare and healthtech startups has grown louder in recent weeks. Now add 100health to the conversation.

The new company, housed in downtown Madison co-working space 100state, is part think tank and part startup incubator. 100health will work with healthcare providers, insurers, and other organizations to research and identify problems that can be solved using technology tools. Then 100health will form startups that will build software to fix the problems. Its staff will serve as founding team members to help entrepreneurs develop the initial product, and the companies will pull from a pool of entrepreneurs in 100health’s network to further staff the startups as they grow.

Image: http://www.xconomy.com 

Until Facebook and its ilk came along and spoiled things, I had personal branding all figured out.  I could easily make any CEO, celebrity or celebrated author look and sound brilliant in traditional media.  As long as clients didn’t do anything horrifically embarrassing between board meetings, movie premieres and book releases, I made certain their reputations — and monetary worth — held up.

Social media turned personal branding into a 24/7/365 challenge.   Everyone makes blunders, including business owners who keep personal branding coaches on their payroll.

Don’t fret about minor gaffes.  Correct them, make amends and move on.

But here are seven social media mistakes too serious to ignore.

Image: http://under30ceo.com 

Comcast's acquisition of Time Warner Cable (TWC) is well underway. The $45 billion deal cements Comcast's position as the country's largest cable provider and the First Among Equals of our national cable cartel. The Philadelphia-based media giant previously acquired NBC Universal in 2009 (as memorably satirized on 30 Rock), which gave them control of valuable networks like Telemundo, Bravo, and CNBC, along with the NBC broadcast network.

I currently hold the titles of CEO at www.raintreefarms.com and CMO at www.remit.ug. I know the problem of not being able to pull in VC capital all too well. Traditional VC have a vague understanding of African markets. In fact, the reason that VC turned from philanthropy is probably because he’d actually been on the ground and tried his hand at projects. He understands how difficult that is but also saw opportunities for himself, and more importantly, realized who is best suited to maximize them.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo., Feb. 27, 2014 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Dramatic change in angel investing means both threats and opportunities for the angel investment community and the tens of thousands of entrepreneurs they support, according to the Angel Capital Association (ACA), the world's leading professional association for angel investors. The global angel investing community will debate and assess this new environment at the 2014 ACA Summit, "Angel Impact: Entrepreneurial and Economic Success," March 26-28, 2014, in Washington, D.C.

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The newest wearable device isn’t for fitness fanatics or life loggers. It’s designed for older people who want to stay in their homes. Later this year CarePredict, a startup based in Davie, Florida, will begin shipping its first batch of wearable tracking systems intended to help relatives and other caretakers monitor the activity of older adults for early signs of serious health concerns. The system involves sensors worn on the wrist and stuck to walls inside the home to track activities in different rooms and alert someone of any suspicious changes.

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Bitcoin, a purely digital currency, is backed by no commodity and governed by no central bank, but it exists because a small number of humans have chosen to believe in its legitimacy.

Its pseudonymous creator (or, more likely, creators) “Satoshi Nakamoto” willed it into existence in 2009, not only describing how the so-called cryptocurrency would work but shipping a full working implementation. The original software had all the hallmarks of a gag or hack: a great, metastasizing practical joke played by clever cyberlibertarian coders upon all who put their faith in fiat (that is, government-backed) currencies.

Image: http://www.technologyreview.com 

Biometrics is shifting into the consumer space and being readily accepted by users because the industry has started to dispel the myths and deliver convenient security. Apple’s latest iPhone has certainly made inroads into making this technology acceptable to the man on the street, removing the stigma that fingerprint biometrics is only for criminals. For years, some have seen this technology as a privacy-invading monster that heralded the beginning of George Orwell’s dark future. Now, it is finally being recognised as a simple and secure solution that is very, very clever.

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MONTREAL, Feb. 27, 2014 -- /CNW Telbec/ - Data released today by CVCA - Canada's Venture Capital & Private Equity Association shows a 31% increase in venture capital investments in 2013, with total venture capital financing reaching a six-year high of $2 billion. Jérôme Nycz, Executive Vice President of the Business Development Bank of Canada's (BDC) Subordinate Financing and Venture Capital divisions was upbeat about these latest numbers.

"The increase reported by CVCA is very encouraging, and it confirms a positive trend since the lows of 2010," says Nycz. He believes 2013's positive results are the fruits of an ecosystem coming together. "The fact is that venture capital has a real, tangible impact on Canadian businesses. We have been working hard in recent years with our partners to further stimulate Canada's venture capital ecosystem."

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Put on a helmet — you're in for a wild pelican-powered ride.

After a particularly nasty storm, a pelican stumbled ashore at the secluded Greystoke Mahale resort in Tanzania. The pelican, named Bigbird by the staff, was abandoned by his flock because he couldn't fly.

We would like to invite you to take part in the VIII International From Science to Business Forum to be held 13-16 May, 2014, in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The From Science to Business Forum was first held in 2007 and has become an annual event. Over the seven years, innovation development obstacles in Russia, new trends in Russian and international markets, new Russian Federation Government initiatives, development institutes, scientific organizations and business companies have been discussed. The main Forum focus has been international experience in the innovation sphere and comparison of innovation systems in different countries.

The topic of the VII International Forum was “Globalization of Innovations”. It was devoted to the spheres of universities and business cooperation, as well as business support ecosystem creation. The Forum was attended by representatives of countries where institutions promoting high technology commercialization have existed for decades.

The 16th annual Angel Venture Fair is accepting applications for its Tuesday, April 29th event at the Union. Companies that have participated in the AVF have raised millions of dollars. There are six reasons an entrepreneur wants to apply:

1. 87% of companies that have exhibited, over the last four years, have had follow up meeting with investors.
2. 300 to 400 investors and conduits to investors attend.
3. The Senior Talent Scout for CNBC, Lori LaRocco, will be our keynote lunch speaker. A good contact for raising your visibility nationally and internationally.
4. Dave Verrill, Chairman of the Angel Capital Association, will be our breakfast keynote speaker. 
5. AVF markets its applicants all year round to every Angel Group and seed venture fund in the United States. 
6. Applicants are allowed to attend any of the five Education Events the AVF runs throughout the year for free.

Mid-Atlantic - Russia Business Council is delighted to announce that 2014 will mark its 20th anniversary. It is our great pleasure to welcome you to the 20th Anniversary Kickoff Event. This event will take place at the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce office in the DiBona Conference Room located on the 7th floor at 200 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA on February 20, 2014 from 4:00 to 5:30 PM.

The 20th anniversary kickoff on February 20, 2014 will include presentations about the twenty years of Mid-Atlantic - Russia Business Council activities, as well as new developments in Russia and MARBC plans for the future. Plans for the anniversary year include more than twenty events and programs that will take place in both the Mid-Atlantic Region and Russia will also be discussed. Key events include the 19th Annual Russian-American Technology Week (RANIT) and the Days of Russian-American Innovation Entrepreneurship Cooperation (RAVC 2014). The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce will present the 3rd annual travel tour to Russia

The best books seem to have an effortlessness to their writing, as though each word has been set down just where it needs to be. Nowhere on the page is the agonizing, writing, rewriting, not writing of getting it done visible. "Writing a long novel is like survival training," Haruki Murakami has said. "Physical strength is as necessary as artistic sensitivity."

Image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net 

Dark chocolate lowers the augmentation index, a key vascular health predictor, and reduces adhesion of white blood cells to the vessel wall

It might seem too good to be true, but dark chocolate is good for you and scientists now know why. Dark chocolate helps restore flexibility to arteries while also preventing white blood cells from sticking to the walls of blood vessels. Both arterial stiffness and white blood cell adhesion are known factors that play a significant role in atherosclerosis. What’s more, the scientists also found that increasing the flavanol content of dark chocolate did not change this effect. This discovery was published in the March 2014 issue of The FASEB Journal.

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Dr. Lucian Iancovici is an investment manager at Qualcomm Ventures with a focus on the Qualcomm Life Fund, a $100 million digital health fund. He manages the fund’s investments in Fitbit and PracticeFusion. This week at HIMSS, Iancovici was a keynote speaker at a venture forum to explore investment trends in healthcare and the different approaches digital health startups are taking to take on pain points in the industry.

In an interview with MedCity News, Iancovici identified a few emerging patterns he sees in digital health centered around mobilizing, organizing and analyzing patient data to catalyze changes in healthcare.

Image: Dr. Lucian Iancovici