Tuesday's Daily Pulse

› Jacksonville business women's group wants to provide 'makeover' to local small business [Florida Times-Union]
The Jacksonville Women’s Business Center is hoping to find the right local business to give an $8,000 makeover. It’s part of the Small Business Super Makeover video contest that started Feb. 13. Shops and companies from throughout the First Coast business community will contribute to help cover the $8,000 package that will help the winning business makeover their operations.

› No deal out of Genshaft-Alexander USF funding meeting [Tampa Bay Times]
University of South Florida President Judy Genshaft and Sen. JD Alexander met for about an hour Monday but failed to reach an agreement on the university's proposed budget for next year. Genshaft and Alexander both described the conversation as fruitful but failed to reveal many details about the meeting.

› South Florida arts lovers can tweet from their seats [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Tara Gustman couldn't resist pecking away Twitter updates on her iPhone during a recent performance of "Madama Butterfly." "Orchestra just made me jump out of my seat!" read one of her 35 tweets to her 460 virtual followers. Gustman had a "tweet seat" for the Palm Beach Opera, one of several performing arts companies around the country providing in-house zones where patrons can use their cellphones to share thoughts during a show, using Twitter.

› Smaller companies seen as key to regaining high-paying manufacturing jobs in Orlando [Orlando Sentinel]
Although Orlando hasn't experienced the recent comeback in factory jobs that has occurred statewide and nationwide, newer manufacturers in the region have at least helped bring some stability during the past year to a sector battered by recession and the economy's slow recovery, industry officials say.

› Students build robots, race electric cars at UCF Engineers Week [Orlando Sentinel]
University of Central Florida engineering students are showcasing their technical prowess this week by building robots that march in line, racing homemade electric cars, and duct-taping their buddies to a wall to show the wonders of products designed by engineers.