TNT: MobiStories children books entertain anywhere

What does the color green sound like when it swooshes? Rick Toone and the rest of the crew at Doylestown-based MobiStories could tell you.

“We get wrapped up in all these little details,” he says, that go into creating the business’s interactive children’s books made for PCs and mobile devices.

The more-than-40 available MobiStories titles don’t feature any animation, but rotating thought bubbles, transitioning story text and high-quality voice acting help keep kids’ attention. They’re designed as if someone is reading right from the book.
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Picketers outside proposed Apple Store on Walnut

Picketers outside 1607 Walnut Street. Photo taken by Hughe Dillon.

Laborers’ union members are picketing the Apple Store-to-be at 1607 Walnut Street, according to the above camera photo from Philadelphia’s paparazzi legend Hugh Dillon.

“[The picketers are] against owners of [those] prepping the [building] for the Apple lease,” reports Dillon. “They [are] using non-union workers. They stress it’s not against Apple, as Apple is using union workers.”

In December we reported that this, the first official Apple store to be located in the city, was hiring.

City Council bill would make IT permanent part of city government

Councilman Bill Green and five members of City Council have co-sponsored legisilation that would create a permanent Charter position for a Chief Information Officer and would consolidate all of the city’s Information Technology resources under the Division of Technology.

The legislation would require the CIO to report directly to the Mayor and to create an annual IT strategic plan that includes productivity enhancements to help the city utilize paperless services. It also gives the CIO more oversight over city department technology appropriations.

“When they wrote the Charter in 1952, no one imagined there could be a paperless system,” Green told Technically Philly during a telephone interview this morning. “[The legislation would] make investment in and continual upgrade of our technology a permanent part of city government.”
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Event Highlights for February 8-14, 2010

Update, 2/8 9:37 a.m.:Refresh Philly will be held at Avencia’s office at 340 N 12th St Suite 402, not the Comcast Center.

Still recovering from that Super Bowl party you went to last night?

Well, get some coffee and shake off that headache. Our event calendar is packed with worthy events and it would be best if you paid attention.

Start your week off right, and head to Callowhill to see the the map-happy geniuses at Avencia talk about their Walkshed project and the company’s entry into the NYC BigApps contest. On Thursday, Hive76 hosts the Philly robotics meetup and cap your week off by taking PhillyCHI up on its offer of design-focused quizzo.

And, if you’re still feeling some withdraw from football, click through for your event highlights. This time with 60 percent more sports references.

All events listed on the event calendar are free to attend. Be sure to check our complete calendar for more.

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Brower Propulsion Labs fictitious aerospace company launching real expedition

This story first appeared in Philadelphia City Paper and is reprinted here with permission. Read it online or pick up an issue at newstands until Wed., Feb. 10.

The first mission of Brower Propulsion Labs, a New York-based aerospace company, was to launch into orbit the ashes of a deceased astronaut who became a drunk after his mission to the moon was canceled. Except, the story is a ruse. The laboratory — manned by only one employee — did launch a rocket, but it was a performance meant to dramatically retire a space suit hand-sewn by artist Steven Brower, a painter, product prototyper and space geek.

“The fictional story is more believable than the research I had to do to make the suit in the first place,” he says.

Reality is subjective throughout Brower’s fictional corporation, conjured to explain his diverse creations to the art world. For instance, he says, a painting could come from the advertising department, an electronic gadget from engineering. It’s as serious as it is silly.
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Thanks to our weekly sponsors

Technically Philly is made possible by advertisers and sponsors that are important to Philadelphia’s technology community. This week we’d like to thank:

Alex Hillman – IndyHall’s Alex Hillman has signed on as Technically Philly’s first “Philanthropist” sponsor. Be sure to check out his blog.

Nonprofit Technology Resources – Fairmount-based NTR refurbishes used computers and peripherals for families and individuals in Philadelphia who may not otherwise be able to afford to buy a computer. We urge you to donate to this great local cause.

Chariot Solutions – Long-time Technically Philly advertiser Chariot Solutions is host of the annual Emerging Technology for the Enterprise conference. This month, the developer and training partner is promoting the popular conference, which takes place April 8-9.

Springboard Media – Springboard Media is a certified Apple Specialist and retailer based in Center City and now, in Exton. They’ve got a ton of accessories and a great trade-in program that can score you up to $1,500 when you’re ready to upgrade.

Interested in joining these organizations and individuals in supporting Technically Philly? Check out our ad packages and contact Ad Sales Manager Tara Levin. Can’t find something that fits? We’ll customize a package for you.

Friday Q&A: Keith McGinnis on Philadelphia Weekly’s free Happy Hour Guide app

No one is suggesting that iPhone applications are going to save legacy media. But the conversation so often turns to profitability on mobile platforms, that it may be a surprise there are so  few truly local products from Philadelphia media.

NBC10 and 6ABC have free apps developed with the help of their national parents. Shopiks offers Philly coupons, and there’s the popular Philadelphia Concert Hub.

A screenshot of the app's interface. Click to enlarge.

“The rest are tour guides, canned content, RSS readers of Philly feeds or some sort of national content that is supposed to relate to our area,” says Keith McGinnis, who recently left a role heading up IT for Review Publishing, whose flagship brand is Philadelphia Weekly.

In December, PW likely made the region’s strongest big media play into mobile by launching a McGinnis-led Philly Happy Hour Guide application for the iPhone and iPod touch. The application offers users the chance to search and find the best happy hour deals at specific locations, specific bars, specific neighborhoods or wherever is nearest. There are options for calling a cab, getting directions and tracking just what’s your favorite.

Last month, the app became free to use, after a paid trial version, and so now, McGinnis says, PW has an excellent opportunity to test the waters of localized mobile profitability, ahead of anyone else in Philadelphia (No particular provision is being made for the few hundred who paid $1 for the app, McGinnis says, “I figure you saved $1 on your first drink special.”)

McGinnis is now joining the staff of Northern Liberties Web development firm o3world, but the Happy Hour Guide is still close enough to his heart that he took the time to chat with Technically Philly about how the app plans on making money, how it got made and what it means for PW’s always active competition with crosstown rival CityPaper.

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Links: Malcolm Gladwell review, redditt interview and More

DEFINITE READS

Our friend at Stubborn Dreams shares a fine roundup of Malcolm Gladwell’s lecture at Penn, which we tweeted out.

MIGHT BE WORTH YOUR TIME

The Inquirer’s Joe DiStefano profiles ListenLogic, a Fort Washington firm that helps companies track what people are saying about them online.

Below, big cuts at a pharma giant and Gabe Weinberg interviewing a social news agggregator.

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Avencia and Common Cause PA partner on Our Philadelphia, tracking city campaign contributions

The Web was always supposed to be democratic. But for all the good government oversight resources online, local politics often fail to attract the spotlight of transparency.

After Hallwatch went under, Philadelphians were left without a resource for hard data about their elected officials.

It’s an issue that certainly interests nonprofit, non-partisan citizens’ lobby organization Common Cause PA. Enough so that the organization has harnessed legislative data API Cicero, the brainchild of Callowhill GIS development company Avencia, to launch Our Philadelphia. The Web site explores “the role of money in local politics and allow users to investigate these issues for themselves.”

Made possible by the Samuel S. Fels Fund, the site shines the light on local campaign contributions for city legislators. Users can create custom RSS feeds, search by address, as powered by Cicero, and track information and content relevant to other keyword searches.

So, for example, a Frankford resident might find it entirely peculiar that the top contributor to the campaign of his city Councilwoman Maria Quinones Sanchez is energy drink manufacturer Cintron Beverage, to the tune of $21,500.

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Comcast Roundup: NBC hearings begin today, a Google balance and More

Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an e-mail subscription for our Comcast news updates.

DEFINITE READS

• USA Today reports that Hulu executives are likely eager to start experimenting with paid version of the popular video streaming site but must wait for the finalized result of Comcast’s deal with NBC, which owns nearly a third of the site.
• The Washington Post reports that today the congressional hearings on the Comcast-NBC deal have begun.
• paidContent reports on Democratic staff memos that discuss, ahead of today’s congressional hearings on the matter, the impact the merger has to “fundamentally shape the way Web video evolves.”

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