The message your getting usually means that Impulse is having trouble connecting to our servers. This can be caused by extra 'security' apps, like SpyBot, AdAware and the like. Even some anti-virus applications can have their own 'spybot' functions, and Firewall settings.
Check your system (SysTray) for any of these 'watcher' type programs and try to turn them off, then launch Impulse and see if it connects.
If it still fails, run the file below and copy & paste the results into an e-mail to support@stardock.com;
Follow this link in Internet Explorer (any other Browser will not work):
http://sd.stardock.com/mike/apps/enumerate_startup.bat
Save the Batch file, run it, and copy & paste the text from the log file it generates on the desktop into a support ticket.