Contest: FREE $129 ticket to Mogo Media’s Adobe Flash training seminar

Technically Philly is proud to be partnering with Mogo Media on a contest to get you, our dear reader, a free ticket to Mogo’s upcoming comprehensive, all-day Adobe Flash seminar.

At the Philadelphia Convention Center on Friday, February 26th, instructor Paul Trani—who’s is an Adobe Certified Instructor and a courseware developer and trainer for online software learning resource Lynda.com—will lead a full day of Flash training. Attendees will learn the basics before they create animations, learn to program in ActionScript 3.0, and understand how to utilize Adobe’s full Creative Suite to improve workflow.

Whether you’re trying to get ahead at work, hoping to learn a new skill, planning to improve your personal Web site or considering a career change, this is a great way to get to know Flash.

And we’ve got a free ticket—a $129 value—to give away! Sound awesome? There’s one ‘lil catch.

To enter the contest, leave a comment below or on Twitter using the hashtag “#TPcontest,” listing your favorite Philly-based Web site design. You know, the one that makes your heart flutter with its sharp graphics, thoughtful interface or just damn-clean script. Maybe it’s about functionality and usefulness. Maybe it’s the site’s typography and lack of Web 2.0 tack. Whatever the case, briefly tell us why you like it and include a link. If commenting, be sure to enter an e-mail address where we can reach you if you’ve won. We’ll track you down on Twitter if that’s your preferred entry method.

The deadline to enter is 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 17. We’ll choose a winner at random and announce it Thursday, Feb. 18, at 11:00 a.m. Good luck!

Can’t wait? Technically Philly readers get a special 10 percent discount if they register for the Flash seminar. Coupon code is “TECHNICAL” (case-sensitive).

Comcast Roundup: Sen. Al Franken says ‘hard to trust,’ NBC lobbying continues 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

• The Washington Post reports on Comcast’s bolstered presence in D.C. circles, ahead of regulatory oversight of its deal for NBC.
• The New York Times reports that Democrats in particular have been critical of the NBC deal. Among them, the Washington Post reports that former NBC star and current Senator Al Franken said NBC can’t be trusted. But the Post also reports that Pittsburgh’s mayor, among other local leaders, encouraged their congressional members to support the deal.

Below, why some say the Comcast-NBC deal would ruin Web video, Brian Roberts makes a promise about layoffs and More.

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Shop Talk: West Philly’s OpenHatch is “a business card for geeks”

Update: corrected college names, edited Atlanta information.

OpenHatch, like many companies, was one born of frustration.

The company calls itself a “business card for geeks,” a service that allows open-source programmers to automatically import contributions from services like Google Code, Github and Sourceforge to create an automatic index of a programmer’s work.

Currently, programmers have to manually keep track of their open-source projects. Which can be frustrating when it comes time to apply for a job or show off a portfolio.

While OpenHatch has only been public for a just under two months, the company has rolled out several key features to help programmers keep tabs on all of their work without having to spend time digging through code repositories.

Members get a profile page with a link and description to their work that is automatically populated. The site also has a map that lets programmers know what other people in their area work on the same project.

Just eight months in, the company’s ambitions to become the best marketplace for open-source talent is easy to explain. However, to tell the story about how the OpenHatch guys came to Philadelphia, you’d need a world map, a handful of pushpins and lots of patience.

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Startup roundup: P’unk Ave launching Apostrophe 1.0 CMS, Clio possible “household name” backing, Proton saves BP $3.7m

Introducing Technically Philly’s Startup Roundup. Here, we’ll parse out the small pieces that make our greater Startup ecosystem thrive. We want to keep you in touch with the innovations that we can’t quite get to covering, but that deserve highlight. If you’ve got news to share, get in touch.

DEFINITE READS

P’unk Ave will launch the first version of its open-source Apostrophe content management system on Wednesday. The developer says that the CMS has been used for several of its clients, including Duke University, Kiberton Waldorf School and the Environmental Management Assistance Program. We’ve wrote about the CMS in this roundup before, and after talks with co-founder Geoff DiMasi, we think the team is playing its release pretty low-key for the quality of the product. It might be DiMasi’s punk rock roots—ask him about seeing Fugazi back in the day.

Orpheus Media Research, developer of music analysis tool Clio, says in an to Technically Philly that after reaching out to investors with its full business plan, the new company has been “aggressive in reaching out to major industry players,” and is in partnership talks with two large content partners and three “household name” corporations for technology and funding. Additionally, after reducing its funding requirements, it is now seeking private equity partnerships with angel firms as opposed to venture capital. Get on that, investors.

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NYC BigApps contest winners announced; Avencia not included

The biggest example to date of contest-driven technology submissions for making government better hasn’t gone Philadelphia’s way.

Callowhill-based GIS software firm Avencia was Philadelphia’s lone representative in software application contest NYC BigApps,  hosted by that city’ s government and aimed to foster more transparency and accountability. It didn’t turn out as they hoped.

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Science Leadership Academy: A new model for schools

Students walk down the hallway in between classes at the Science Leadership Academy.

In partnership with Temple University’s Multimedia Urban Reporting Lab, the university’s capstone journalism class, students Chelsea Leposa and Jared Pass will cover neighborhood technology issues for Technically Philly and Philadelphia Neighborhoods through May.

At the Science Leadership Academy the students are treated like adults, says junior Cody Nichols.

Built in partnership with the School District of Philadelphia and the Franklin Institute, the Science Leadership Academy (SLA) is a new student-oriented, project-based program. Put away your No. 2 pencil at SLA, there are no standardized tests aside from the state required PSSAs.

Students work closely together and with teachers to create a variety of projects. Student projects even contribute to the school’s daily activities. SLA’s help desk, for instance, is one of the largest student projects, says Chris Alfano, tehe school’s system administrator and computer support specialist.

“We have about 12 students who are assigned to come here, and they pretty much take care of all the school’s repair needs,” Alfano says. All 10th and 11th graders at SLA are required to have an internship that meets once a week.

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VC Roundup: Is VC ready for its turnaround?

Welcome to the VC Round-up, where we’ll parse through venture capital news related to Philadelphia-based private equity firms and the companies they fund. Subscribe to the roundup as an email newsletter. If you have any VC-related news to pass along to us, please drop us a line.

DEFINITE READS

According to the VCs assembled in New Jersey for the New Jersey Technology Council conference, VC activity is primed to heat up in the coming months. Bala Cynwyd-based Osage Partners was among the local firms in attendance. “If you can survive the last three years, then you have something,” said one attendee.

Ben Franklin Technology Partner has anounced nearly $600,000 in investment, including $50,000 going to Viddler. If you remember, Viddler told us in October: “We’re done funding.”

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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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