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In 2003, Laura Ching left a marketing job at Walmart.com to co-found Tiny Prints , a Sunnyvale, California, business that sells invitations, announcements, and other customized stationery online. The business is a perfect fit for Ching, a stickler for proper etiquette. Here are two of her favorite things.

After I started my Web design and social media company, in 2008, I realized I needed a way to streamline communication with my clients, employees, and personal contacts. For about a year, I've been using a free Web-based service called Threadsy , which lets me access my e-mail, Twitter, and Facebook accounts in one place. You can access Threadsy through a Web browser, but I use a Mac app called Fluid to turn it into a desktop application.

Tablet computers are becoming more popular for Web browsing on the couch, watching Netflix movies in bed, or reading books on the train. But can a tablet replace a laptop for business travel? To find out, I grabbed an Apple iPad and the Lenovo IdeaPad U260, a new ultra-portable notebook with a 12.5-inch screen, and headed from Minneapolis to Los Angeles

AutoSlash cuts the time it takes to find the best car rental rates.

A free service called Gogobot makes it easier to tap people in your social networks for travel recommendations. After creating a profile page on Gogobot.com , you can post questions about your trip directly to your Facebook and Twitter accounts.

More hardware companies are introducing superfast laser printers, capable of shooting out dozens of pages per minute, thanks to powerful processors. Just how fast are they?

The loan application process can be daunting, what with thousands of possible lenders and stacks of forms to fill out.

The "Aha" Moment: Crystal Martin's daughter received plenty of cards when she turned 4 in January 2010, but her favorite played "Happy Birthday" when she opened it. That inspired Martin, a political consultant for congressional candidate Jim Reed in California, to create a talking direct-mail brochure that would help her boss stand out

Security for smartphones is crucial, now that so many of us use them to make business calls, check work e-mail, and store information. We sampled several apps designed to take the risk out of computing on your phone.

%excerpt% Read the original post: The Man Behind Quirky

America, they say, is the land of second chances. No one knows this better than our readers, many of whom have started businesses and failed. True entrepreneurs never leave it at that, however

Rashmi Sinha seemed destined for a career in academia. Born and raised in India, she earned her Ph.D. in psychology at Brown University and did her postdoctoral work in cognitive neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley

David Arrick thinks most cupcakes are pretty froufrou. His New York City company, Butch Bakery, makes manlier desserts. Its cupcakes, which sell for about $4.25 each, come in 12 flavors, including Home Run, a peanut butter cupcake topped with banana cream and crumbled bacon, and Beer Run, a cupcake made from chocolate, beer, and crushed pretzels

Erika Anderson has something of a Silicon Valley pedigree. She graduated from MIT and Cornell Law School before bringing her socially conscious business plan to the Bay Area's Singularity University

%excerpt% See original here: Elevator Pitch: StorageByMail