There can be a variety of reasons consumers seek businesses that are open round the clock, whether it’s to pick up medicine for a coughing child or to find someplace to eat in the middle of the night.

Whatever the motivation, 2itch is a new Google Maps mashup that can help, offering a maps-based way to find establishments that are still open.

Launched late last month, 2itch displays all locations open 24 hours a day in many metropolitan areas across the United States.

Users simply double-click on the area of the map they’re interested in, or enter an address or ZIP code.

The ad-supported site includes a variety of hospitals, restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations and activities that are available round the clock, and users who come across others can add their own along with comments. 2itch’s beta version, launched in April, began with some 2,000 locations focused on its home territory of Los Angeles along with Orange County, Seattle and New York, but the site has more than doubled since then, expanding to include Chicago and San Francisco as well as the ability to add international locations.

A mobile version is also now available at m.2itch.com, and an iPhone-specific version is in the works, the company says.

Photo by 2itch.

Thinking about starting up a Twitter account for your business? Or considering allowing employees to use Twitter? Here are 10 tips to consider before getting started.

1. Decide before you join how you want to use Twitter. Will it be used for Customer Support (like Comcast does via @ComcastCares) or will it be used to offer promotional deals (like Zappos the on-line shoe site via @Zappos) or will it be to socially network to build up business?

2. If using a business name be sure to use something like “Name_Business Name” (Jane_ABCCompany). That way more than one employee can use Twitter and represent the company. Zappos does a great job with this one.

3. Be sure to use a photo (and not a logo), fill out the description (tell folks why they should be interested in following) and include a link to the company’s website.

4. Let everyone be authentic. Twitter isn’t about just tweeting news about your company or promotional deals. It’s about developing relationships. If you or an employee loves music, let that come through too.

5. Realize that it will take time to develop a following.

Read more.

Photo by twitter.

Several men wordlessly carry out furniture, broken computers and boxes of garbage from a large blue house on a quiet upstate street on a brisk autumn morning. Rusting bikes and an old grill lay discarded in the overgrown backyard which is spotted with empty beer cans and crushed milk cartons. The mood is oddly serene as the men unload the remnants of what was one someone’s home.

Todd Drake, manager of Empire Real Estate Management in Latham, is overseeing yet another eviction. The home’s former owner has long gone, leaving just debris and an old phone number in his stead. After a county sheriff’s deputy checks to make sure no one is inside, crews head in to change the locks and clean out the refuse — also known as a “trashout.” Drake is stoic as he watches his crew.

“We’ve been butt-kicking busy,” said Linda Hall of All REO Preservation. “I work in the field as much as I work in the office.”

So busy that Hall’s even working on putting together a nationwide plan to give work to other contractors, and currently has crews and subcontractors in several other states. Her business also offers its own training program for startups.

Photo by Associated Press.

1. Phishing scams related to the financial crisis
According to the Federal Trade Commission, there is a new round of email scams out there that are tied to the financial crisis. Many of these emails “phish” for personal information — your Social Security number, account numbers, passwords, etc. The scammer then uses that info to steal your identity.

2. Scams related to the banking crisis
The banking crisis is presenting scammers with another golden opportunity. We’re hearing numerous complaints about official-looking emails that claim to be from a bank or from the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation). These emails prey on your fears, claiming your bank is in trouble or that money has been stolen from your account. Most ask for your personal information, which they then use to steal your identity or illegally access your account.

3. Home rescue scams
With today’s housing troubles, mortgage rescue scams are crawling out of the woodwork. These scams target people who fear losing their home and ruining their credit because of foreclosure. A “real estate investor” contacts you and offers to bring your payments current if you’ll sign over the deed. He offers to keep making the payments in the future. You’ll need to move out so he can rent the house, but you won’t have a foreclosure on your credit.

4. Mortgage renegotiation scams
A smooth-talking salesperson tells you he can renegotiate your mortgage with your lender and help you keep your house. He’ll require a fee (as much as $1,000 or more) before he can start, of course!

Problem is, the “deal” he gets is one that you could have gotten on your own, and it probably won’t be enough to keep you in your home. However, because he was “successful” in getting the loan renegotiated, he has technically earned his fee and there’s little that you can do about it.

5. Fake check scams
Everyone is looking for a little extra money these days. But if you get a check in the mail that you weren’t expecting, don’t get excited-and don’t cash it. It could be one of the many “fake check” scams going around.

These scams involve everything from claiming you won the Publisher’s Clearing House Sweepstakes to offering you work as a “mystery shopper.” But they all have one thing in common: you receive a check – a real-looking check, payable to YOU – for several thousand dollars. They tell you the money is to pay for contest fees, or is your fee for being a mystery shopper. They ask you to deposit the check and then wire them most of the money back.

Photo by ilco.

Whether you’re an employee of a company or an independent professional working for yourself, you might have a chance to work from home. Be aware, though, that this arrangement can cause problems if you’re not prepared. Here are some tips.

1: Dress the part

2: Keep a separate office

3: Discipline yourself regarding break times

4: Discipline yourself regarding snacking

5: Check insurance

6: Educate and set guidelines for the family

7: Establish start and stop times

8: Use a separate phone line for business

9: Clarify computer ownership and policies

10: Check zoning if necessary

11: Keep in touch with the boss

Photo by woodsy.

It’s a well-known fact that dogs can be conversation starters that help break the ice with people their owners meet. Taking the notion a step further, a new collar tag from Boston-based SNIF Labs lets pet owners forge new connections with fellow dog-walkers, both online and off.

Available in a range of colours and patterns, the SNIF Tag is a small RFID device that attaches to a dog’s collar and records his or her daily movements and social encounters. On the social side, each SNIF Tag emits a unique signal that is sensed by the SNIF Tags worn by other dogs.

When Fido meets such tag-bearing playmates during a jaunt to the park, his collar stores that information and later uploads it automatically into the accompanying base station, which stays plugged into the owner’s PC at home. The dog’s owner can then log in to view the profiles of the owners of those other dogs and decide if they want to connect online as well.

In addition to monitoring social interactions, the SNIF Tag also uses an accelerometer and motion-analysis software to record a pet’s activity. Owners can monitor the dog’s movements in real time while he’s home but they’re at work, for example; alternatively, when Fido is out with the walker, information on his activities will be automatically uploaded when he returns.

Activity levels can be reviewed by the hour, day or month, and owners can compare them with those of the other SNIF Tag-wearing dogs in the neighbourhood.

Photo by SNIF Labs, Inc..

Chris Hart of Eastpointe enjoyed a romantic Sweetest Day dinner with her boyfriend at an Auburn Hills restaurant without worries about driving home after drinking.

When it was time to call it a night, a chauffeur for the Designate, a Birmingham-based designated driver service, safely drove the pair back to Macomb County inside Hart’s 2008 Chrysler Pacifica. Another chauffeur followed the car and returned the driver to work.

Hart, 42, was pleased she took no chances by arranging a responsible way to get home that night and has since told her friends about the service she learned of from a radio advertisement.

“It’s just peace of mind,” she said of not fearing repercussions for driving under the influence like harming someone or a costly arrest.

Founded in March 2007, the Designate in Oakland County recently announced it is heightening its presence in Macomb County with an increased staff and a staging pod in Fraser. Those changes aim to reduce the wait time for customers without prior reservations just in time for Thanksgiving Eve, one of the biggest bar nights of the year.

Photo by The Designate.

Small businesses finally are getting their own little piece of the federal government’s ballooning bailout package.

U.S. officials announced the federal government as part of a broader package will lend up to $200 billion to institutions that originate consumer loans and business loans backed by the Small Business Administration.

The rationale, Secretary Paulson said in a news conference, is it will create liquidity, spurring banks to lend again to consumers and businesses. Some hope it could especially help banks that specialize in offering SBA-backed loans, since such lending has dried up in recent weeks.

Nobody, of course, really knows at this point whether such a cash infusion into the lending system will actually save many struggling small businesses. But some are optimistic it will help – and feel it at least shows policy makers recognize the dire situation on Main Street and want a more direct solution.

Photo by dlnny.

Here are 10 home based business ideas, in no particular order:

1. Translator. In a multi-ethnic society such as the United State, translation service is in big demand. American Translators Association can be a good source of information on how to establish a home-based translation service.

2. Tutoring. You can start a business tutoring students by advertising at schools, the local YMCA, and other places frequented by families. If you have children, talk to their teachers and determine the needs of your school district.

3. Accounting. There are many franchises and opportunities available for certified public accountants. If you are interested in getting certified, take a look at the Web site of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants for information on specific state requirements.

4. Web design. If you can design quality Web sites, consider turning your skills into a home-based business. Although the software and hardware costs can be steep, good Web designers tend to be well-compensated for their efforts.

5. Desktop publishing. Do you have a creative flair for putting together brochures and newsletters? You can offer your own desktop publishing services to other small businesses. Software can be expensive, so make sure to give applications a trial run or take a course before investing in one.

6. Photography. If you are skilled with a camera, you can open your own photography studio in your home. Keep in mind that you will need space to shoot the pictures as well as a light-free space for a darkroom if you decide to process your film and print your photographs yourself.

7. Catering or personal chef. Consider starting your own catering or personal chef business from your own kitchen. You can set yourself apart from competitors by providing specialized services such as low-carb or vegetarian menus.

8. Gift baskets. Gift basket creation is a popular and creative home-based business. Target both individuals and businesses to increase potential sales.

9. Wedding planner. If you are an ace at organizing important events and have a Rolodex full of contacts, consider becoming a wedding planner. There are numerous online certification courses online.

10. Personal shopper. If you are a great shopper with an eye for people’s personal styles, you can offer your services to those less inclined. In addition, consider providing a gift shopping service for those too busy to shop themselves.

Photo by svilen001.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit loves his coffee. So it comes as no surprise that he found a way to drink coffee from a cup, instead of the traditional straw, on his day off Sunday aboard the International Space Station.

Drinking any liquid in the weightless environment of space could be a messy affair. With hot coffee, it could be a potentially scalding affair. So astronauts use silver pouches and plastic straws to sip anything from water to orange juice to Pettit’s beloved space java.

“We can suck our coffee from a bag, but to drink it from a cup is hard to do because you can’t get the cup up to get the liquid out, and it’s also easy to slosh,” Pettit told Mission Control while sending a video of his new invention to Earth.

Pettit arrived at the space station last week aboard the shuttle Endeavour, which is delivering a recycling system that converts urine into drinking water and other new gear to outfit the space station for large, six-person crew.

He used a piece of plastic ripped from his Flight Data File mission book and folded it into a teardrop-shape that’s closed at one end. Surface tension inside the cup keeps the coffee from floating out and running amuck.

“The way this works is, the cross section of this cup looks like an airplane wing,” he said. “The narrow angle here will wick the coffee up.”

The result: space coffee in a zero-G cup.

Photo by NASA.

It’s like writing a school paper for Meagan Ting, one of the hosts of Teen Talk at Chico’s public radio station, KZFR.

She researches a topic, say, mental illness by surfing the Internet, talking to friends or bouncing ideas off her sometimes co-host, Amber McCready. “We e-mail it back and forth until it’s done,” she said.

By the time she has finished her research, instead of writing an essay and turning it into one of her teachers in the ACT program at Chico High School, she reads it. Out loud. On her own radio show.

Meagan became interested in Teen Talk as a sophomore when Chico High English teacher Chris Persson connected her with Ed Pitman, who was then adult supervisor for the program.

The idea of talking on the radio for up to an hour was a little daunting.

Photo by ChicoER.com.

History is peppered with tales of phenomenal ideas taking shape in sleeping minds; Paul McCartney said that he awoke with the tune of Yesterday in his head, and Robert Louis Stevenson said that the idea for The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde came to him in a dream.

But what exactly is going on in our minds while we sleep? Does slumber really prompt creative genius? And can the most uncreative of people receive flashes of inspiration once their head hits the pillow?

Scientists believe that the mind at night weaves together bits of information in innovative ways. Throughout the day your brain rarely gets a chance to stop and think.

In a state of constant alertness, it responds to a stream of challenges, from writing a report for a work deadline to remembering where you left your car keys and figuring out what to buy for dinner.

How to be inspired

Lack of sleep kills creativity
According to Professor Foster, a good night’s sleep increases the likelihood of developing novel solutions to problems. If your grey matter won’t produce a solution to a vexing problem - sleep on it.

Go to bed early
One study suggests that the most creative part of our sleeping occurs in the first half of the night, during slow-wave sleep. So if you need an answer to a solution and are short on time, it’s best to go to bed early and get up early, rather than to stay up late.

Mull over a problem before you go to bed
Try to direct your creative powers by thinking about the problem you want to solve, but don’t fret over it - you won’t be able to sleep.

Photo by kuypers.

When gasoline prices shot over $4 a gallon this summer, Americans didn’t wait for Washington to respond with an energy policy. They took action on their own by driving less and switching to more fuel-efficient cars.

The results are dramatic, but also problematic.

The good news is that gasoline consumption has fallen compared with a year earlier in every month from March through September of this year, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. Vehicle miles traveled — the wonky term for how much we drive — have dropped for 11 straight months, and fell 4.4% in September, according to the Department of Transportation.

The only people driving more in September than a year earlier were the proud few who live in North Dakota and the denizens of the District of Columbia. The lousy economy depressed driving in many parts of the country. Our nation’s capital, however, is a rock that’s always above the water line whether the economic tide is high or low.

In short, many Americans, by choice or by default, did what the people who worry about the climate and U.S. dependence on petroleum wanted them to do. They burned about 5% less gasoline in August than a year ago, according to Energy Information Administration data.

Photo by Scyza .

Successful small business owners are constantly balancing the need to invest in new productivity-enhancing technology with the impact on their bottom lines.

But between now and the end of the year, with the help of two unrelated economic factors — increased IRS Section 179 deductions and the growing importance of “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” — the decision to purchase that new high-speed color printer, multimedia projector, high-speed document scanner or virtually any other tech product, may just be a little easier.

A change in the 2008 Federal Tax Code has resulted in historically high allowable write-offs of tangible property; property that generally includes that much needed printer, scanner or digital projector.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the Friday and Monday immediately following Thanksgiving (this year November 28 and December 1), signal the kick-off by consumer electronic and office product retailers of their most aggressive marketing programs of the year.

The combination of these two factors may result in small businesses being able to purchase new digital products at the very best prices of the year.

Photo by pawel_231.

Travel isn’t getting any easier except for one bright spot called a Luggage Hugger.

Divorced and left with nothng but optimism, Lucia Burns, inventor and mother of two sons, spotted an opportunity when planning a trip.

After buying new black luggage she realized if it was the only bag on the carousel she still wouldn’t recognize it as her own.

Made from Spandex, Luggage Huggers stretch around your suitcase to add style and function. Luggage Huggers unify group travelers and offer unique advertising opportunities with embroidery or custom print for eye catching world wide repeat visibility! Luggage Huggers are available in ever changing colors and styles.

Now Luggage Huggers offer the travel world a little bit of fun back and the effortless ability to ID your bags from way across the airport or cruise ship with this innovative new product.

Photo by Luggage Huggers.

Death by email is not a pleasant experience.

Now I am not here to say email is evil or even bad. It’s great. Really, it is, I swear. I mean that! Well, mostly, I guess.

But I recall the time when I was about 10 years old and taking a walk with my sweet grandfather. He always used to counsel me, “Moderation in all things Stevie. Too much of anything is bad for you.”

So what do you do, how do you handle the never-ending avalanche of email? Here are five solutions:

1. Declare e-mail bankruptcy. This is a fairly recent phenomenon, and certainly an understandable one, albeit pretty bold as well. The idea here is that when your inbox gets so full that you either are looking at emails that have been sitting there for, say, a year, or there are so many unopened and unanswered emails that you just can’t see a way out, you simply delete them all and start over.

2. Schedule it.

3. Use an autoresponder or outsource it.

4. Use the phone.

5. Hire an assistant.

Photo by clix.

Nick Cranham, of Cinderhill, is giving families the chance to keep their loved ones close after death – by turning their ashes into photo frames.

The engineer only used to offer the service to grieving pet lovers but now has applied for a worldwide patent for the idea, which also includes pendants, memorial plaques and cufflinks.

His first client was John Fitton from Buxton, Derbyshire, whose daughter Beth was killed in an accident in July 2007. Cranham made five silver pendants with a polymer inlaid ’stone’ created from Beth’s ashes.

Fitton said: “The pendants are of very high quality and make a unique keepsake of my beautiful daughter Beth.

“Beth’s mother wears hers all the time. The rest of us don’t because we’re afraid of losing them. A little bit of Beth is still with us.”

Cranham came up with the idea for company Sentimental Connections after chatting with a vet friend, and spent £50,000 on research and development.

Photo by Sentimental Connections.

The iPod is an incredible organizing device! It takes many shelves worth of CDs and condenses them into one tiny gadget, thereby reducing clutter.

Looking at the iPod from an organizer’s point of view, there are some great ways it can help you be more productive too. Here are a few:

• Drown out distractions.

• Time yourself.

• Pace and focus yourself.

• Hands-free reading.

Photo by abbyyy.

U.S. entrepreneurial activity fell from 12.4 percent of the total workforce in 2005 to 9.6 percent in 2007, according to a joint study by Babson and Baruch Colleges.

Despite the decline, the nation’s rate of entrepreneurship was 50 percent higher than in other comparable countries, the study reported.

While more businesses were founded in the United States than in other countries last year, many aren’t expected to grow or create new jobs over the next five years.

Opportunity remained the biggest motivator for starting a business, though the percentage of entrepreneurs who launched a start-up out of necessity rose from 12.1 percent in 2005 to 15.6 percent in 2007, the study found.

Photo by ilco.

Reining in holiday spending gets complicated when your young children really believe that reindeer are involved.

It’s one thing to tell teenagers that money is tight this year and there will be slim pickings under the tree. But kids who still believe in Santa Claus see Christmas a bit differently.

After all, Santa makes all the gifts. So what’s wrong with asking for a Nintendo DS and an iPod?

But today’s tough economy can be a great opportunity for parents to teach even the littlest kids some powerful lessons about money and spending, says Susan Beacham, founder of moneysavvygeneration.com, which sells educational products to teach kids about money.

Austin Keck of Sammamish, Wash., decided to help his parents out a little this year when his 9-year-old sister, Stacie, asked what the economy had to do with Santa’s Workshop.

Austin simply explained that Santa may make the toys, but he “sends the bills to the parents.”

Beacham suggests telling little ones that they should put their “No. 1 need and No. 1 want” on a list for Santa.

“It’s important for kids to understand that Santa is going to bring some needs” as well, she says.

It’s also important to remind kids that Christmas is about more than gifts, she says. Along with its religious aspects, Christmas should be about families spending time together, she says.

Photo by yksin.

The nearest Wal-Mart is two hours away, and only foul weather, a deer in the road or a Washakie County sheriff’s deputy would slow down anyone with a mind to drive there faster.

Yet Ten Sleep, population 350, is just as connected as any place these days, and home to a new company that is outsourcing jobs not from the United States to the Far East, but in the opposite direction.

Eleutian Technology hires people in towns across northern Wyoming to teach English to Koreans of all ages using Skype, the free online calling and person-to-person video service. Two years old, Eleutian already is one of Wyoming’s fastest-growing businesses.

The company has close to 300 teachers hooked up to more than 15,000 students in Korea, and CEO Kent Holiday said he’s just getting started.

“Our plan was never to be a company that had a few thousand subscribers,” Holiday said. “It’s a $100 billion market just between Korea, Japan and China, and so we wanted to be the leader and we wanted to have millions of users.”

Photo by Associated Press.

I’ve heard a lot of doom and gloom from small-business owners lately. After all, the economy stinks. Headlines scream at us: Consumer confidence is down, unemployment is up. Housing prices are down, business closings are up.

In the face of all that, I have a piece of advice, “Pull up your pants!”

Heck, those of us who have small businesses don’t have to read the news to know times are tough. We see what’s happening in our own businesses. Costs are up, sales are down. We have fewer customers, and the customers we have place smaller orders.

Nevertheless, I say again — in the words of President-elect Barack Obama — “Pull up your pants!”

Here are ways to pull up your pants, roll up your sleeves, and survive, even thrive:

• Sit down and plan.
• Look for new markets and new customers.
• Retain current customers.
• Position yourself as the less-expensive alternative.
• Look for digital solutions.
• Get out there and make sales.

Most importantly, make up your mind: Are you going to be one of the fatalities or one of the survivors? Are you going to let the times overwhelm you or learn to change with the times? If you want to be one of the winners instead of one of the losers, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and pull up your pants!

Photo by Freedom Foundation.

1. Don’t focus on growth; focus on cash preservation
David Cowan, Bessemer Venture Partners, recommends companies move toward cash preservation rather than growth. “Spend less time worrying about what competitors will do in terms of features, it won’t be your biggest problem because competitors will have same issues in terms of growth,” he said. “Move toward cash preservation.”

2. Work out how to monetize social networks
Citi analyst Mark Mahaney said the opportunities he sees are in social networks. “At the moment, no one has figured out how to monetize them, but they can - absolutely,” he said.

3. Don’t make new commitments, look for opportunities in mobile technology
Cowan also recommends to avoid new commitments, and to make money he suggests looking at new ways to use media. Taking out his iPhone, he played a tune for the audience using the new Ocarina application. “Six people developed this and it’s sold tens of thousands.” This is only one idea; there are lots of creative ways to use the Internet and mobiles.

4. Strike while there is less competition
William Tai, Charles River Ventures, sees opportunity in going forward, and is most excited about Internet technologies, mobile and open source. “Everything is bigger and happens faster when stuff hits in this environment,” he said. In the environment of a few years ago, you’d have 20-50 competitors; in this market you have fewer competitors and an opportunity to shine.

5 Look to the virtual world and expect to nurture your product for 7 - 8 years
Basil Horangic, North Bridge Venture Partners said that they’re seeing excellent growth in companies that are working on social networks, virtual world space and the monetization for virtual goods. “There is a lot of innovation in those areas,” he said. As for startups looking to be acquired, he tells the audience that the data shows companies go public and get sold at seven or eight years of age.

Photo by clix.

The New Product Innovation Competition, an annual competition open to all Suffolk students, had its third annual award ceremony at the Law School. The competition was established in 2006 by Professor Sushil Bhatia of the Sawyer Business School.

First place was awarded to Marrinder Singh, Karen Lassko, Maria Brown, and Rick Baker for their Time-To-Toss Label. The Time-To-Toss Label will provide pharmaceutical consumers with a color indication label adhered to their prescription bottle alerting them that their medication has expired when it turns red. The team said that they were “excited to put the product in the industry,” and that they think it is “a very viable, helpful product.”

Second place was awarded to Ivan Echeverria, Fabice Kabore, Raul Artigas, and Pelerge Charles for Kronos Healthlink, a revolutionary health monitoring device that performs basic health information gathering for immediate analysis by the user’s diagnostician.

Third prize went to Lauren Berardino for DigiCook. DigiCook is meant to help people decide what to eat for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It has a vast number of recipes and there is something for everyone from food recipes for babies to those who are dieting. It also contains categories for all types of food such as Italian, Mexican, American, Seasonal, etc.

The students were judged by a total of 24 non-faculty judges including Suffolk University alumni and the representatives of different industries, from pharmaceutical and software technology companies to patent attorneys and financial institutions. “The range of students’ ideas was very wide: from expandable sandals to an artificial liver,” said Dmitry Andreyev, a patent attorney.

Photo by Sawyer Business School.

Increasingly on the Internet, invention advertising is taking an odd and seemingly inexplicable turn toward advising independent inventors to not seek patent protection, which is undeniably bad advice that will undoubtedly cause much disappointment and heart break for those who actually follow it.

But why is it that you are starting to see more and more advertisements that say it is unnecessary to get a patent and you should simply forego that step?

The reason you are seeing more and more bad advice aimed at steering inventors away from the patent system is likely because effective September 15, 2008, new rules of practice went into effect at the Patent Office that require a patent attorney or patent agent to be 100% in charge of the creation of any documents filed at the United States Patent Office.

Patents do not always need to be expensive, at least not at the time you chose to file an application. Since 1995 the US Patent Office has allowed for the filing of what are called provisional patent applications.

A provisional patent application is much less expensive to file because there are no required formalitites that need to be observed, other than including at least one drawing of some kind and including a cover sheet, which is a form that the USPTO provides on its website.

Provisional patent applications currently cost $110 for independent inventors and small businesses.

Photo by forwardcom.