Silicon Prairie

Hardcore Computer: There's no doubt that Hardcore Computer's super-fast, liquid-submerged computer with glowing blue lights scores high on the razzle-dazzle meter.

DoApp: It's just another weekday morning at Caribou Coffee, except that the top dogs of Rochester's most entertaining start-up are enthusiastically duking it out at the table closest to the espresso machine.

BuyOnlineNow: There's a lot to be happy about. The Rochester e-commerce company has gone from selling $340 in office products in its first month in 2000 to selling about $2.5 million per month in 2009.

BrokerBin.com: The dust was still settling from the epic boom and bust in Internet start-ups when Keith Litke in 2001 hatched the idea for BrokerBin.com, the Rochester-based e-commerce company he nowdescribes as"an eBay for computer dealers."