The leadership styles we look at here are:
Hi Tagxe Users,
Tagxe will be closing its website today. At time of death, we are exactly 1 year old and we have 1,493 registered users and 349 rides created. However on our key benchmark of our success, we have no successful ride that we have matched up so far.
,We envisioned Tagxe to change the world (as all entrepreneurs doJ). But our efforts seemed to have fallen short of the required critical mass for Tagxe to be a self sustaining system. The main reason for stopping Tagxe was that the team has decided to move on with other ventures. (Also our 1 year hosting plan has ceased)
We will be redirecting Tagxe.com to the Tagxe forum. Some users have already started using it to organize rides so I guess this will suffice as an interim solution until a real solution can be created by someone else. One key thing that will be missing is that you will no longer get ride notifications when a ride is created.
We would like to thank all of you for being the early adopters of a vision that tried to make everyone’s lives easier. We would also like to thank TagxeBoy (Andy@photoatwork.com) for being our most enthusiastic user and also for volunteering to be the forum moderator.
Wenhan says: To the Tagxe Team(Yee Han & Patrick): Thanks for helping out in Tagxe. You guys are great housemates and team mates. We are glad that we have tried to make a dent in the universe. I will be moving on to my next venture which will be my final year project that will be my start-up concept (think Digg.com with local and personally relevant stories). For those who want an invite, check here.
Yee Han says: I will be focusing on my studies and continuing my passion for photography. It has been a great time learning and working with Wenhan and Patrick.
Patrick says: I plan to get married in 2 years time.
Leave Comments Here
I just sold my car, a Mitsubishi Mirage vintage 2000 with 90K miles on it. It was a good deal for me and the buyer. I got it for a good price so I let it off at a good price too. I know my car is reliable but I was thinking of how I could make sure that my car is in peak condition when buyers came to test drive. This is the list I came up that I think might help you get a higher price for your car.
1. Polish, wash and clean your car’s exterior and interior
First impression counts! This is important!
2. Inflate all tires equally
This reduces any chance of alignment issues. Sometimes you feel that your car is drifting. This is usually not an alignment issue but one where tires are either infliated to a different amount. In case you do any an alignment issue, you can try to hotfix the alignment issues by custom inflating your tires to “balance” it all out
If you under inflate your tires by a bit, it also helps for a less bumpy drive. However this comes at a cost of reduced mileage
3. Fill it up with premium gas
Premium gas helps a little bit for smooth acceleration. Use pump this one time!
4. Oil change and clean the engine
Bring it to a mechanic for an oil change. Oil changes will make for smoother transmission changes and acceleration. If it is due soon, bring the car in yourself. Alternatively if you are a scrimper, let the first interested buyer bring the car in for an inspection. Large auto repair chains usually bundle oil changes and 50+ point checks together for a cheap price.
Ask for the mechanic for help in cleaning the engine dirt off. The engine will look well maintained when the hood is opened
5. Change the tyre covers
30$ from Costco. This helps to improve first impression lot if you are like me and scratch the covers on the kerb when doing a parallel park,
6. Warm up the car before the buyer comes
So that the engine has the power for quick acceleration which buyers like to test
7. Get your documentation ready
a. New Smog Check
b. Service records
c. The title
d. Carfax report
e. Vin Number
8. Get a cheap mechanic check from a honest mechanic (I use a highly yelped mechanic)
You can share the cost with the first interested buyer. A recent check report will help push in decisive buyers to real buyers.
Be aware that mechanics usually tell you to change everything. So get the mechanic to highlight only the things that really need to be changed.
9. Take lots of flattering photos of your car(photoshop???)
No need to highlight the flaws. The buyers will see them when they come for the test drive. But the goal of an ad is to get response and not to close the deal. The test drive and you are the deal closer.
10. Test the market valuation
Other than checking KBB and other similar car prices, you can do a market price test.
Post a ad on Craigslist with some information. No pictures or vin number and see how many people email you to setup an appointment. Once you have 3-5 people emailing you in a week, you are probably are at a good spot.
Now post the real ad with photos and bell and whistle. Add a few hundred dollars to the price where you got response. Now people will be contacting you and you know how much your car can fetch
Bonus:Never let bird shit stay on your car for too long. After a while it starts to corrode the paint and past that point, there isn’t much you can do 
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No? how about a different colour?
or a 3d one?
Still no? arrow down for the answer
/* www.ZhouWenhan.com
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There!
and a little web 2.0 bonus
Hi,
I just wanted to post this great event that is happening. There will be speakers from Storm Ventures, Intel and Qik.com(of course the event will be qiked live too) and Nokia.
Should YOU Mobile? – Opportunities & Challenges in the Mobile Space
You are cordially invited to attend “RainMakers Live!” Conference brought you by The National University of Singapore Entrepreneurs Association (NUSEA).
Date: Friday, June 27
Time: 5:30 – 9:00 p.m
Venue: Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, 950 Page Mill Rd, Palo Alto.
To pre-register for early bird tickets, please visit http://rainmakers2008.eventbrite.com/ by noon on Friday, June 27.
Only limited seats available!
Conference Theme:
RainMakers Live! Summer 2008 will bring together the leaders in the mobile applications and wireless space to discuss the topic “Should YOU Mobile? – Opportunities & Challenges in the Mobile Space”. It will consist of a keynote speech, a panel discussion and an exhibition of some of the hottest mobile start-up in the Valley.
Speakers:
• Purnima Kochikar, Director of Strategy and Business Development, Nokia Enterprise Solutions
• Sriram Viswanathan, VP of Mobility Solutions, Intel
• Tim Danford, Partner, Storm Ventures
• Vish Mishra, Venture Director, Clearstone Venture Partners
• Bhaskar Roy, Co-Founder, Qik.com
• Lewis Adams, CTO, GainSpan
• Hank Nothhaft, Chairman and CEO, Danger
• Tom Kosnik, Fenwick and West Consulting Professor, Stanford University
For more information on “RainMakers Live!” Conference, please visit: http://www.nusea.org/rainmakers2008/
Thank You to Our Sponsors:
We liked to thank our kind sponsors: IDA Singapore, SABA, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, and NUS Enterprise for their generous support to NUSEA “RainMakers Live!” Conference!
I look forward to seeing you at “Rainmakers Live!” 2008,
“Rainmakers Live!” 2008 Committee
NUS Entrepreneurs Association
With the iphone leading the charge to have GPS in consumer phones, location based services are positioned to be the next big thing in the software industry. This article checks out some early entrants in the fledging industry.
1. Whrrl http://www.whrrl.com/
Whrrl is a new mobile network that lets you aggregate information as you visit different places in life. It’s generally like a location review service that’s wrapped up in a map mashup and a social network.
2. Brightkite http://brightkite.com/
The service, a device agnostic, SMS-based application, lets you “check in” at various locations out in the real world and then see who else is there, has been there, and who is nearby. You can check in via text or via the web, but text is easiest if you’re mobile.
3. Loopt https://loopt.com/ 
Loopt is a mobile social mapping application. Using cell phones and mobile devices, it displays the locations of a user’s friends along with their presence status (available, away, etc) visually on maps or on lists. Based on GPS and related data, users can request alerts when friends are within a certain distance, send messages to groups of friends in particular area, and be able to tag and blog physical locations in a way that’s accessible to friends through Loopt. Users can also take pictures from their cell phones and tag them; these pictures will be available to friends and others on the Loopt network.
4. Rummble http://www.rummble.com/
Rummble users build their social network on with a basic relationship (i.e. friend, relation or business) but then apply tags to that. Users can review almost anything (restaurants, stores, coffee shops, etc.). Rummble has an algorithm that works out which reviews by others in the user’s network to trust, based on user’s behavior and relationship to them. Rummble functions across Web and mobile and Facebook.
5. LOcle http://locle.com/
Not much is know about this startup. Here is what i have gathered
Locle is the hottest mobile geo-social networking app, showing your location and if friends are near, without a need for GPS or operator LBS.
Locle [2] is an application for Java Mobile, Symbian S60 and S80, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry phones that allows users to share their location using either GPS or cell-tower. The application integrates into Facebook and other social networking websites with open APIs (application programming interfaces). Locle is developed by Leprecian, Ltd., who also own GSM-Tracker [3], a cell-tower semantic tagging community website.
6. PublicEarth http://www.publicearth.com/
PublicEarth’s goal is to become the premier data source for this next generation of location specific data and content. They define next generation location specific data and contact, in its essence, in the same way that the Google Maps Mashups work: “content attached through geographical coordinates to relevant points of interest in the physical world, describing in organized detail the attributes of those points of interest, accessible through a simple intuitive web mapping interface.”
7. uLocate http://www.ulocate.com/index.php 
uLocate is calling WHERE a platform for mobile LBS widgets because you can personalize which services you choose to use on your cell phone and you can use the Where.com website to drag-and-drop new services to your phone.
WHERE is also the world’s first mobile location-based services (LBS) platform built with both consumers and developers in mind. The WHERE platform offers easy access to global positioning system data (GPS), a simple programming paradigm, and a unique go-to-market opportunity for mobile application developers.
8. Citysense http://www.citysense.com/home.php
Citysense, a location-based service that the company calls “social navigation.” The first Citysense application is a mobile map that shows the busiest nightlife hot spots in San Francisco. Citysense is currently available only for the BlackBerry, but an iPhone version is promised.
“Citysense demonstrates the power of combining anonymous, aggregate location data for social navigation,” said Sandy Pentland, chief privacy advocate and co-founder of Sense Networks.
9. RadiusIM http://www.radiusim.com/ 
RadiusIM relies on location-based features to differentiate it from other web-based instant-messaging services. It offers access to key IM services such as AIM, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger and Google Talk, and it lets you search for other RadiusIM users based on their location.
10. My own?
I haven’t really named my startup yet. Suggestions on the name are welcomed.
My startup(in a few words) will be on the topic of
• Discovery of Mobile generated Content
• Creation of Content on Phone
• Community Conversation
Think of it as Digg on your phoneJ
if you want one of the limited invites when it launches, just leave a comment below. Thanks!
Just an plug for an event that my friends are organizing. If you are in Silicon Valley, do check this out.
Should YOU Mobile? – Opportunities & Challenges in the Mobile Space
Date: Friday, June 27
Time: 5:30 – 9:00 p.m
Venue: Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, 950 Page Mill Rd, Palo Alto.
If you want a free invite(I have 2), just email me! me@zhouwenhan.com
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Hi, I bought Neardeals.com.
I wanted to use it for a coupon search type application on the phone wiht LBS functionality. I have however decided to pursue another startup instead. If you want to buy this, just contact me!
Business Cards have a lot of information now a days. People’s contact and interest are listed in multiple profiles across the internet. We have a ton of ways for someone to contact us(IM, Phone, Emails, Social networks etc)
ShrtCards provides you a simple contact page that you maintain.
When you pass out business cards with the ShrtCard code, the recievers can just go online and enter www.ShrtCard/XXXXX to see your contact details.
ShrtCard is not searchable nor indexable so only people with the ShrtCard Code can see your contact.
On the ShrtCard Contact Card, you can import the contact to various contact managers (outlook, gmail etc)
I thought of this idea when I was…
Trying to design a simple name card with just my name and my website where users can find the ways to contact me.
Vote for my Idea on Cambrian house
ShrtCards: Simplify Your Business Card
So i was on getafreelancer.com trying to get quotes for clone sites that I could buy and spin off. Then I got this message from this dude who is clearly out of his mind…I am going to play along with him just to see his response.
Message on Project Posted!
dkmisra has just posted a message for you on project named Programmed a Clone Site before?
Message:
Hello Mate, I don have any personal clone site but i can give you thr URL Of that site from where u can get atleast 40 sites clone. They have clone of all famous site like orkut, frindester,alibaba,gmail,facebook and so many top sites you can go that site and buy and clone with ur customzation and ur choices templates so if u can believe on me then i can give u the That URL but i will charge $2000 from ur give that site url if u r agree connect me on dkmisra at g-mail dot com
You view and answer this message on this page.
I am planning my 2 week trip through California and I was tempted to use Priceline.com and Hotwire to book my accommodation needs. The business model and how they work are not necessary the most transparent and easy to understand stuff. Both Hotwire and Priceline sell a variety of travel related products like air tickets, hotels, car rentals etc.
How Hotwire works is by showing you a few available hotels after you provide some details of your travel(i.e. Date of stay; where you want to stay and how many people will be needed a room). Hotwire then shows you their partner hotels in the area. You can see the description of the hotel, the amenities it has and an approximate location. What you cannot see if an exact name of the hotel. They do this so that with the low prices, people will still purchase hotels rooms that have not been sold. Hotwire will tell you the name of the hotel once you have paid for the booking. (Note: Hotwire does not do refunds. Once the hotel is booked, you had better be there to use your Hotwire booking. This is important!)
Because you cannot see the name of the hotel you are booking, this brings a lot of unease in most people because they want to be sure of the quality of the hotel. With that we provide our first tip.
1) How To Guess The Hotel Which You Might Be Booking
It is pretty likely that you can figure out which hotel you are booking if you go through the steps below.
Step 1: Look for the list of hotels on Better Bidding.com
For this example, I will use Los Angeles as an example. To access BetterBidding’s Hotwire list of hotels in California, just click here. BetterBidding’s list shows you by area the names and the amenities of the hotels in that area.
By comparing BetterBidding’s information and the description that Hotwire gives you after you filled in your travel details, this should allow you to pinpoint the name of the hotel to a 60% correct guess.
Step 2: Compare with TripAdvisor
Of course one is never satisfied since we are talking potentially a few hundred bucks here. So in our quest to make our guess close to 100%, Hotwire(Most of the time) also provides you a TripAdvisor rating and the number of reviews the hotel has.(Yippee!)
Now go to Tripadvisor.com and enter the hotel name that you have previously guessed. Hotwire will show an approximate number of reviews the hotel has. Just make sure the number of reviews on TripAdvisor and Hotwire matches up and you should have a 99.99% chance of getting the hotel. (I.e. Don’t ask me for a refund if this doesn’t work.)
2) Protection Is Unnecessary (Well…Not This Protection Anyway)
Hotwire has a new feature called Trip Protection. The protection protects your Non-Refundable booking against unexpected events such as medical emergencies, strikes, natural disasters and bad weather. From what I have seen, the approximate cost is about 10% of your booking. It is also highly unlikely that you will even use this protection. For its cost, you are better getting travel insurance from an insurance provider.
3) Get Starwood Preferred Guest For Free Upgrades
Starwood Preferred Guest is like a frequent flyer miles for hotels. Hotwire does not earn you points when you book a Starwood hotel through them but when you check in, sometimes the hotel will upgrade you for free if you tell them that you are a Starwood preferred guest. The membership is free so go ahead and register here.
4) Timing Is Everything
Hotwire changes their prices frequently. It has been reported that new users get a slightly better rate than returning users. ($10 at most) So if you are looking to book a hotel, clear your cookies from your web browser first before going to hotwires website.
Hotwire also has a useful chart to check when the hotels are the cheapest. In some months, hotels in an area will be 50% cheaper than their peak period.
In General, when booking a hotel, booking earlier is almost always cheaper.
5) Caveats About Hotwire
Hotwire is not the hotels’ website so they don’t really know and can’t control which room the hotel gives you when you check in. This is true even though they ask for how many people are coming with you; they do not confirm that the number of beds the hotel gives you on check in is appropriate. What they suggest you to do is that you call the hotel once you have made your reservation and quote your confirmation code, then give them your details of the number of beds required, whether you want a smoking or non smoking room and any other features you care about.
6) Pick Up The Phone And Call Directly
Compare prices on Hotwire, Tripadvisor.com, and the hotel’s website before booking. It has been reported that the hotels sometimes have promotions that make booking through the hotel itself cheaper. Also if you don’t book through hotwire, you can still cancel your reservation later on without a penalty.
Also Hotwire’s retail price is way off…so take that with a large pinch of sodium.
And if you have already made your purchase, you can ask for a refund within 24 hours of booking if you find a price that is cheaper online. You do have to screenshot and save this for proof.
7) Prices Are Higher Than Priceline
Hotwire prices are about 20-30% more expensive than Priceline. However for Priceline you have to spend time bidding for the hotel. Everytime you bid and do not receive a winning bid, you cannot rebid in 24 hours so you will need a few days to try to get the 20%-30% discount. This might mean that the hotel room might be sold while you are waiting to rebid. So if you are a patient man, go with Priceline.com(It’s fun too!)
Book Hotels With At Least 3.5 Stars
Hotwire gives you the most savings if you use it to book for hotels that are better than 3.5 starts. Anything lower than that and the savings become marginal and you are better booking through the hotel itself. Don’t expect Motel 6 pricing on Hotwire. Plus it is well know that Hotwire’s star rating is not entirely industry standard. Check the Tripadvisor rating and google the hotel after you have obtained the name from tip #1.
9) Check To See If The Hotel Double Charged You After You Leave The Hotel.
I am hoping this doesn’t happen to you but hotels can make mistakes. They might have missed that you already paid on Hotwire and they will still charge you again. Just make sure you look at your credit card statement. If this happens, call the hotel instead of hotwire. If that doens’t works then call Hotwire.
10) Check Out These 2 Sites
biddingfortravel.com
betterbidding.com
So there is the 10 tips I promised. I haven’t checked into my hotel yet so I will update you guys later on my experience. I just hope I do not get a “special room”
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