ups

I spent a little time last week trying to persuade my colleague Shara Tibken to audition for the second, New York series of "Start-Ups: Silicon Valley."

She seemed reluctant. I'm not sure whether it was the compulsory bikini shots or having to access a vast egotistical madness within that seemed to put her off.

Worryingly, viewers seem to be increasingly put off too. The Bravo Ratings site, which monitors performance, suggested that a fulsome 50,000 fewer bright young things cared to watch last week's second episode.

This led to Randi Zuckerberg, the show's executive … Read more

Some eternal questions vex us through history. How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? How do cats purr? How many balloons would it take to lift my house into the air like in the "Up" movie? That last question is no longer a mystery.

An online calculator from real estate blog Movoto will tell you how many helium balloons you'll have to order from Party City to get your house off the ground. You tell it how big your house is and it gives you the number. For the record, my 1,100-square-foot house will require a mere 28,470,200 balloons to battle gravity.… Read more

Episode Two of Bravo TV's "Start-ups: Silicon Valley" began with Hermione (blonde) and Ben (short), the pretty British brother and sister dismissed last week by Dave McClure, uttering a primal scream.

This is apparently something of which Steve Jobs was very fond.

It also began with David (gay) and Sarah (fake blonde) working out with a private trainer.

Being a gorgeous entrepreneur is very hard. Staying a gorgeous entrepreneur is even harder.

And then Kim (brunette, frightfully self-confident), employee of Ampush Media, which sells fascinating online ads -- or online ads in a fascinating way -- wonders … Read more

Today Jawbone unveiled a new and revamped version of its Up fitness solution. Priced at $129.99, and available now for preorder, the Up says Jawbone has been significantly rebuilt from the inside out for increased strength and greater functionality. … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Square launches mobile payment service at 7,000 Starbucks stores.

- Razer Naga gaming mouse requires always-on Internet connection; license agreement says they can use this to spy on you.

- Mr. Fusion (sorta) cell phone charger.

- Four African teenagers invent a urine-powered generator.

- Follow Bridget Carey on Twitter and check out CNET Update every afternoon!

- Don't forget to enter our Halloween Samsung Galaxy S3 Giveaway contest, ending this Sunday!… Read more

It's all right watching a reality show and accepting it as mere entertainment.

It's quite another thing to face that reality and decide whether the show truly reflects it.

So before sitting down to watch "Start-Ups: Silicon Valley," Bravo's real husbanding of the tech world, I went to see what these people were like face to face.

Somehow I secured a ticket to the red carpet party in a place that had a rather gray, sticky carpet in San Francisco's Marina district.

I took with me my 6-foot blonde Amazonian bodyguard, Angelina, who is … Read more

Setting up your iPad Mini doesn't take a lot of time or effort, but for those first-time iOS owners who aren't too sure about the process, it can be a bit intimidating. Don't let it be. Below you'll find a slideshow of the entire setup process, from start to finish, explaining what each screen is and means to your end experience.

Before you begin, it's a good idea to have access to a Wi-Fi connection or a computer connected to the Internet with iTunes installed. You'll need one or the other to complete the … Read more

Wake Up Time is a clock app for displaying the time, setting an alarm, and setting custom sounds. Wake Up Time is a fairly simple app in what it does, but it's handy when you want a larger clock display on your device. Wake Up Time installs easily.

The Wake Up Time interface shows an image of a clock radio. Time is shown on a simulation of an LED display. You can set multiple alarms with customizable snooze duration. The sound can be customized to whatever you wish. The free version of Wake Up Time is fairly basic but … Read more

The Ostrich Pillow personal nap tunnel already gave plenty of people the heebie-jeebies. Now, there's something even stranger invading the napping-accessories market. The UpRight Sleeper is a modified neck brace that holds your head in place so you can snooze while sitting.

The contraption is adjustable so it can sit under your chin or go up around your forehead. It moves around to accommodate different head shapes and sizes. A back strap is trapped between your back and your seat to keep everything in place.… Read more