It took New York to create a Philly URL shortener

Let’s give credit where credit’s due.

While they’ve been blowing out coverage of local real estate issues, the Philly edition of Brownstoner brought something else to the table. They’ve introduced a Philly-specific URL shortener, ph.ly.

We’re a little shell-shocked that the 67th ward beat us to it, but it’s certainly a novel idea.

Like traditional URL shortners, ph.ly lets users enter a URL to be shortened to the four-character domain for short messaging services like Twitter. Users can track total clicks, or stats over the last month or week. More features are expected, like compatibility with Twitter. Only thing that’s missing—but available in services like tinyurl—is the ability to provide your own link name instead of random character generation.

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Down with Pennsylvania’s tech tax!

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.

Pennsylvania lawmakers sounded a warning bell last week, predicting a $1 billion deficit if taxes aren’t increased or significant spending cuts executed. And for the first time in close to two decades, computer services professionals are being looked to to help bridge the gap.

Governor Rendell’s proposed 2011 budget includes plans to broaden the tax base to 74 goods and services not currently taxable under the state sales tax, including computing and information technology work.

Call it history repeating itself.

In 1991, with an expected hole in the budget, Governor Casey looked to extend the sales tax to additional professional services, including computer services. Paul J. Mathison, who has analyzed state budgets and their impact on technology for close to two decades, remembers it well.

Read more at Philadelphia magazine’s Philly Post.

VC Roundup: DreamIt kicks off, BFTP gets busy

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

Technically Philly was able to stop in to see half of DreamIt Ventures‘ kick off weekend at the University City Science Center last Friday where local media, entrepreneurs and participating companies got a chance to network and prepare for the incubator’s third class. It was the first time that the participating companies were able to see the space and meet one another. New this year is Brooklyn-based edication investor Startl’s involvement. The group partnered with DreamIt to incubate five of Dreamit’s 15 participating companies.

In opening remarks, co-founder Mike Levinson said that DreamIt received over 350 applications and the tech world considers DreamIt as “one of the top three incubators in the country.”

Also new to this year’s class, Kerry Rupp will be replacing Steve Barsh, who is focusing on his new startup, Packlate.

The event was rounded out by Deputy Mayor of Economic Development Alan Greenberger bragging about Philly, Science Center CEO Steve Tang welcoming the businesses to the space and Click Equations CEO Lucinda Holt discussing the difference between CEOs and Founders.

….

Ben Franklin Technology Partners has been busy in recent weeks. The southeast group invested $800,000 in five (mostly pharma) companies last month, but then shelled out $2 million for eight more recently. The group also released its annual report and the finalists for the New Energy Idea Contest and plans to announce a winner June 17th.

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Code for America chooses Philly for web development team

It seems as though the City of Philadelphia will get a helping hand in its quest to move forward with the growing list of possibility in Web transparency and government openness.

As expected, Philadelphia was chosen as one of five cities to receive the work of a team of Web developers and technologists as part of the inaugural Code for America class.

Starting in January 2011, the organization, which founder Jen Pahlka called something of a Teach for America for online government application development, will give each city a top tech team of developers, designers, and product managers for an entire year to build out their dream application that drives transparency and participation within the city and its government.

Mashable reports that Philadelphia’s project will be an ‘Open311-type project.’ No word yet on how that relates to the 311 application that City technology honcho Allan Frank had pledged could be completed this month.

Winning is not entirely free, as WHYY reported in a follow up on our interview with Pahlka. The city would put out $225,000 for expenses, though CFA organizers say the talent they receive will exceed $1 million.

The other winning cities are Boston, Washington D.C., Seattle and Boulder, Colo.

Events Highlights for May 10-16, 2010

No Cinco De Mayo this week to muck up your plans to get some networking done on Wednesday night.

Actually, even if you plan on drinking Wednesday, Tuesday has quite a few events, and the rest of the week is pretty full, too.

Tuesday, catch the return of Philadelphia Standards Organization or meet out in the ‘burbs with Agile Philly. And yes, Wednesday’s got plenty to offer as well: check in with May’s Philly ALT.NET meeting for an overview of Microsoft Azure and more.

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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:

Caffeine Fish – Caffeine Fish develops the Trainboard iPhone app and offers iPhone development consulting in the Philadelphia area.

Towerstream – Towerstream 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.

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.

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.

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.

David L. Cohen, Comcast Executive Vice President, talks Comcast, taxes and startups

David L. Cohen doesn’t run Comcast.

He didn’t run the Rendell mayoral administration either, and he doesn’t run the University of Pennsylvania or the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, nor does he have any of the titles that put him as the figurehead of any of the organizations that his fingerprints are on.

But he’s always in the conversations.

The Comcast Executive Vice President who spent much of the early 1990s as Ed Rendell’s mayoral chief of staff — as immortalized by Buzz Bissinger’s noted book ‘A Prayer for the City‘ — and before it had a private law career is as well-connected as they come.

So, Cohen, who is also the chairman of both the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and the University of Pennsylvania, has a unique vantage point on the region’s technology, political and cultural vanguard. Below, Cohen talks to Technically Philly about bolstering college graduate retention, the true affects of the NBC deal and why that purchase has something to do with Vietnam.

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Drexel’s green home technology experiment

From left to right: Cody Ray, Dr. Joan Weiner and Aleksandra Wolchasty standing in front of the Drexel Smart House

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.

The is the second of a two-part series about residential technologies being developed or explored in the region. See the first here.

Frat houses are usually synonymous with keg-stands and jungle juice. There, eco-friendly house technology would seem as important as finishing homework.

But a group of Drexel students are trying to alter that perception, using an abandoned frat house as a great green opportunity.

The Drexel Smart House, located at 34th and Race Streets, is a 19th century Victorian home that is being transformed into a living, working laboratory for green tech. The Smart House team, a student-run organization, hopes that after it is built, it can serve as a platform for green design, technology and research.

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Comcast Roundup: Reports make the case for NBC deal, net neutrality broadens and More

• The Inquirer’s Bob Fernandez covers two Comcast-funded economic reports that help make the case its NBC acquisition isn’t anti-competitive.
• The Washington Post technology blog has a series of posts on net neutrality, from action groups urging the FCC to restructure its approach to be more able to follow through on its broadband policies to the FCC chairman’s apparent agreement to Microsoft’s sudden emergence in the conversation.
• The Inquirer also reports on rumors that the FCC will hire an outside expert to help review its growing regulatory overview of the Comcast-NBC deal.

Shop Talk: The Planning Collective wants to make Philly beautiful

Updated: clarified city’s role

In the city’s never-ending battle between bicyclists, pedestrians and automobiles, The Planning Collective wants to offer a reason for truce.

As Philebrity posted yesterday, The Planning Collective isn’t some official city organization, but a group of seven Penn grads that think the city could make better use of its space, especially vacant lots.

The for-profit company’s latest effort is to make the 12th and Morris intersection with Passyunk avenue into a pedestrian plaza. And they plan on doing it with funding from Pepsi through its Refresh project (vote here).

The Refresh Project is the soft drink company’s campaign to have customers vote on projects that help “refresh their community.” For a proposal to be awarded the cash, it in the top ten of its category at the end of the month. The Planning Collective is gunning to be eligible for the $50,000 grant for May.

“We are committed to changing the way things happen in Philadelphia,” says Clint Randall, one of the company’s co-founders. “We wanted to plan projects that were a little out of the box.”

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