Pulse LLC and Circuit City Stores, Inc. have launched a unified community and social network unlike any of its kind for connecting manufacturers and store associates in the retail industry. 

The partnership, entitled CityPulse, gives manufacturers unprecedented access to communicate their current and future products directly with the sales force in a collaborative learning environment. Circuit City associates will have the ability to interact with those manufacturers’ programming and create and post their own content in a ‘You Tube’-style environment where the best of the best is seen by the entire organization.

The system represents a significant change in the standard model of retail communication.  The typical engagement model for retail employees is characterized by a large number of disparate manufacturer websites individually vying for retail employee traffic on their individual web sites.  Using CityPulse, Circuit City associates will be directed to one community f

I'm writing about Better Place, one of the first venture-backed companies to tackle this energy crisis head-on. Former SAP exec and Better Place founder Shai Agassi aims to reduce oil dependency through the creation of a transportation infrastructure that supports electric vehicles. The idea behind it is to charge for the eletric grid usage and make the cars so cheap that no one will ever think of buying a gasoline car.

You can read more about Better Place and Agassi in a recent NY Times op-ed by Thomas Friedman here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/opinion/27friedman.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=shai%20agassi&st=cse&oref=slogin. Also, Better Place has just launched its first campaign targeted to the public, bascially it's social networking for the oil dependancy issue, www.betterplace.com/10words. Check it out, play around and post your own mini-festo.

Francisco, I'll be happy to connect you with a spokesperson if needed. Even if you don't vote, go check out the 10 words site. Thanks all

I recently introduced a new website that lists and honors breakthrough technology and innovative thinking: http://www.jumpintotomorrow.com. Everyday the site is updated, and everyday we hand out an award for the "Technology of the Day."  There are over 100 different technologies and innovations on the site spanning 24 different categories, from aerospace to fitness, business technology to nanotechnology with lots and lots in between. Visitors can group their interests from products they want to see and buy, to companies they can invest in to causes they want to join and more.  Because we're incredibly discerning about that which we put on the site, we hope that what's there feels more objective than subjective.  In the end, we're just trying to bring some more attention to companies and individuals doing really amazing things.