Philippe Matthews Show Guru Advice, Author Reviews, Tech Reviews, Entertainment News

Drew Houston, founder of Dropbox, said no to offers from Google and Apple, and is running one of the world's fastest growing Web start-ups.

Picture the scene: It's 2004, and Brian Chesky , the future cofounder and CEO of Airbnb , runs up on stage in full cap and gown to the pulsating bass line of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." Chesky's set to give the student commencement address at Rhode Island School of Design--but before reaching the mic, Chesky rips off his black robes, revealing a white tuxedo underneath, and starts dancing to the beat: moonwalking, crotch-grabbing, robotting.... Fast-forward a mere eight years, and rhythmically dubious Chesky's the chief executive of a company now valued at $1.3 billion . (His comical graduation speech is pretty much the opposite of Steve Jobs's Stanford address .) On second thought, don't imagine that dance number from yesteryear

Don't wait. Here are seven reasons to launch a venture today

Genius sometimes just means not realizing that something is impossible. A college student arrived a few minutes late for his final exam in mathematics. The room was quiet, with everyone working hard, and the profes

When brands ask consumers to snap a product photo and text or email it in, Pongr recognizes the image and replies. Is that really better than QR codes? We asked its president

Nicholas Kristof has been writing for The New York Times for more than a quarter century and has appeared on that paper's op-ed page since 2001, often penning articles about the struggles of people in distant parts of the world.

Bones have amazing electrical conductivity properties and, as one artist recently found out, can vibrate at the right frequencies to make a lovely macabre speaker set. Turned on its head, bone's response to physical stress can be used to produce music---or at least musical tones. That's what artist Boo Chapple discovered during the course of a year-long collaboration at the University of Western Australia's SymbioticA lab , the only research facility in the world devoted to providing access to wet labs to artists and artistically minded researchers.When Chapple began this project, she knew that extensive scientific literature suggested bone had what are known as piezoelectric properties

Great businesses succeed by motivating people with the straight facts. There are four ways to get the truth out there.

When Project Runway winner Chloe Dao's national spotlight faded, she needed help, but couldn't afford a consultant. Chloe Dao knew she needed help. But she didn't know where to find it.

With the return of the brilliant planet Venus to our evening sky, I'm reminded of an amusing anecdote related by a good friend of mine, George Lovi, a well-known astronomy lecturer and author who passed away in 1993. One night, while running a public night at the Brooklyn College Observatory in New York, the telescope was pointed right at Venus, which was displaying a delicate crescent shape at the time. Yet, one student gazing through the telescope eyepiece stubbornly insisted that he was really looking at the moon.

The BioBook is an interactive iPad biology college textbook that allows students and professors to create their own customized learning experience. Since the launch of the iPad, colledge educators have been seeking an inexpensive alternative to paper textbooks that could leverage the collective knowledge of teachers and students. With a $249,000 grant from the Gates Foundation's

Anyone can be a tour guide--and redefine the term while they're at it--with this Japanese travel startup. Tatsuo Sato got the idea for his startup, Shiroube , during a trip to Eastern Europe. While in Belarus, Sato made a sort of barter arrangement with a local student.

In a month, the fastest solar cars will meet in Australia for a 14-hour race to determine the speediest sun-powered vehicle. After a disappointing finish in 2010, Stanford's team thinks they have what it takes

Citelighter makes web research tools. CollegeHumor makes fun of everything.