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:

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.

Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce – Earlier this week, the Chamber of Commerce hosted an entrepreneurial event highlighting the fact that small businesses are the employers of the future. Check the organization’s website for future events.

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.

Towerstream – Our newest advertiser is the leading 4G service provider in the U.S. and is setting up shop in Philadelphia. Contact Towerstream to find out how, in less than a week, you can have first-class 4G service for your business.

Mogo Media – Web and Graphic design event planner Mogo Media will host an Adobe InDesign training seminar May 5th. Use discount code “TECHNICAL” to receive 10 percent off the admission fee. We worked with Mogo on its successful Adobe Flash seminar in March. Register today.

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

Philly.com sports portal possibly hit with malware attack

Visitors to Philly.com's sports section saw this malware warning in Safari this morning

Updated, 3:20 p.m.: According to a statement from Philly.com, the site has confirmed that a widget on the site contains code that is “not recognized by Google,” and was thus misinterpreted as malicious code. It hopes Google will remove the “malware” warning soon. “We do know that it was that code, we found the code that Google was flagging and it is a third-party widget on the site. We are working with that vendor to get that widget back up,” Editor and Vice President Wendy Warren said in an interview.

Philly.com‘s sports portal is appearing in Google search results and in browser notification systems as a site infected by potentially malicious malware, possibly caused by the site’s Flash-based advertisements.

Vice President and Editor Wendy Warren told Technically Philly that the organization is “responding very aggressively” to investigate the situation and that it is possible that code on the site might be being misinterpreted as malicious.

Warren said in a telephone interview this afternoon that there had been no reports that harmful software had been installed on user computers.

“We’re not sure if there was malicious code or not. Though we can’t rule it out yet, we’ve not found any evidence of it,” she says. “We’re going to check every piece of code that we haven’t written ourselves.”

Philly.com site administrators have disabled Flash-based advertisements and third-party widgets in the Sports section, where the malicious code has been found, Warren says. [Full Disclosure: Technically Philly has conducted business with Warren and Philly.com]

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Friday Q&A: AT&T regional VP and General Manager Dan Lafond

As we wrote in a column last week, AT&T is championing its mobile stability in the region. And Dan Lafond, AT&T’s vice president and general manager in central and eastern Pennsylvania, wants you to know about it.

The wireless carrier has received its fair share of criticism since the iPhone launched in 2007. Though the smartphone galvanized the mobile industry, AT&T—which, for now, exclusively sells Apple’s iPhone—has been beaten into the ground for network capacity concerns. A report released in October said that more than half of iPhone users would jump to another network if given a chance.

But the carrier has also responded with substantial infrastructure investment. In Pennsylvania alone, $725 million has been spent on capacity. And it seems to be paying off.

But, as Lafond notes in the interview below, in San Francisco and New York where the network is most congested, there exists the most news outlets reporting on technology, hence more negative coverage. Here in Philadelphia, he says, AT&T has reason to brag.

After the jump, we discuss with Lafond AT&T’s infrastructure investments in Pennsylvania, how mobile is affecting the digital divide and of course, the impact of the iPhone and what will happen if Verizon cuts a deal with Apple, too.

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Innovation Philadelphia to go back to the drawing board

Founding CEO Richard Bendis will take over Innovation Philadelphia temporarily

Update: clarified Bendis’ title.

Innovation Philadelphia, the economic development group with the mission to “attract and retain young professionals” is starting from scratch.

On April 16th, IP announced that CEO Kelly Lee, organizer of the GCECS conference last October, was stepping down. Three full-time staffers were also let go as the Board of Directors – all unpaid volunteers – will take the next 90 days to assess the future direction of the organization.

“It is not about saving an organization,” board chariman Richard Bendis told Technically Philly in an interview. “It’s about how can value be added to region. If IP can do that in some capacity, great.”

The reason for the reshuffling? Innovation Philadelphia’s funding, which depends largely on grants, has dried up.

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Comcast Roundup: Stronger than expected Q1, what NBC means for Web startups and more

DEFINITE READS

• Business Week reports on Comcast’s better-than-expected first quarter, backed by rebounding advertising. paidContent reports that during the earnings call, CEO Brian Roberts said he remains “hopeful” about the NBC deal.
• The Los Angeles Times reports that Kevin Martin, a former chief of the FCC who is now a private lawyer, is representing clients that oppose the Comcast-NBC deal.
• Reuters has a piece on investor questions around Comcast’s various “regulatory run-ins.” H/T Philly Tech News

Below, what the NBC deal could mean for Web startups, a secret product launch and more.

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What if a 13 year old in 1996 made Philly Web design firm sites?

Web design firms — from the boutique to the satellite offices — abound in Philadelphia.

They’re into branding and functionality and crafting sleek, sexy, modern websites for the city’s businesses, nonprofits and groups. So, what if a 13-year-old in 1996 had designed their own sites?

We find out by using the meme-worthy Geocities-izer that has made its way around the interwebs lately.

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Startup Roundup: Philly Startup Leaders to reorganize executive roles

Update: edited PSL information

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. Follow along with the Startup Roundup’s dedicated RSS feed. If you’ve got news to share, get in touch.

DEFINITE READS

Philly Startup Leaders wants new blood. According to a blog post announcing a reorganization, the startup support group is accepting applications for President, Vice President, and six other positions with in the executive-level staff.

“Now it’s time for more fresh blood to transform this city all over again. It’s time for each of us who has built PSL to make room for the people who will grow this community in ways we could never imagine,” the group wrote.

Folks can apply for the positions until May 14 to gradually phase into the positions over three to six months.

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Gigabit City working with Communities United for Broadband to elevate the broadband conversation

Whether Google is behind it or not, Blake Jennelle wants you to know that ultra high-speed gigabit broadband is worth investing in.

Though the Philly Startup Leaders founder would like to see those investments made here in Philadelphia, gigabit is bigger than this city alone.

“The end goal for Philly is still to get gigabit, but Google’s only going to install it in a couple communities,” Jennelle said in a telephone interview earlier this month. “The reality is, if gigabit matters and we want it here, we have to make the case to local companies, city government and the community that it’s worth investing in. It’s going to be hard to do that if the effort is in isolation,” he says.

After Google announced in February that it would help launch 1-gigabit data networks in select communities, the City of Philadelphia and leaders in the region’s technology community have been coordinating an effort to attract Google here. More than 1,000 communities are vying for the opportunity.

Though Philly is certainly not alone in contention, a unique approach to advocating for gigabit broadband is emerging here. Jennelle has been working closely with broadband consultant Craig Settles—a former Philly native whom we’ve often sourced on this site—to educate about and inspire other cities to invest in high-speed gigabit fiber.

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Five city departments and agencies that could use a Web overhaul

In an informal partnership with Philadelphia magazine‘s new Philly Post daily news blog, Technically Philly will be offering our insight on Philadelphia technology to a broader audience of tech-interested individuals every Tuesday. As is true of so much of our effort, this is yet another opportunity to voice the triumphs and concerns of the community to a broader audience in the city and beyond.

Read this post on Philly Mag’s Philly Post.

The use of technology to transform government has been growing municipal concern in city halls across the country.

Here, the City of Philadelphia has announced its intentions to release a service orientated 311 iPhone application, is applying for ultra highspeed broadband from Google and is in hot pursuit of a funded team of developers and technologists to make our every government transparency dream come true.

The overtures are there, even if the substance hasn’t yet hit the pavement.

As such, a question or three remains as to where the priorities of the newly centralized city division of technology should be. The Web has no limits — of space or time. So we’d think every department’s site should be an open and transparent list of expenditures and salaries, but there are specific goals each agency could reach — and those we wish they could.

Below, we share our hopes for Web openness and effectiveness at five agencies or departments Philadelphians often loathe.

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VC Roundup: Diapers.com takes over the world, DreamIt’s largest class ever

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Updated: Clarified Osage Ventures partnerships.

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

PBJ reports that this year’s DreamIt Ventures class of 15 is its largest yet, thanks to a partnership with Brooklyn-based Startl. Five of the fifteen were from the New York fund. Last year Dreamit had 11 companies. Our buddy Peter Key also writes that Steve Barsh will be leaving the incubator to focus on Packlate.com. In a recent interview with Technically Philly, Barsh said he plans on “dedicating ten percent” to the incubator.

Diapers.com is having a hell of a month. The company just finished raising its Series E (!) round to help speed along its already-breakneck growth. The company, originally backed by MentorTech Ventures, is the largest online provider of baby care items in the country. The company has also recently received press in Forbes, TechCrunch and the Financial Times. Fellas, you can now add Technically Philly to your list. You’re welcome.

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