Comcast Roundup: Net neutrality DOA until Nov. 3, the future of NBC Sports predicted 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 Sports Business Journal makes five predictions about what will happen when Comcast runs the NBC Sports show. H/T LA Times
• The Washington Post reports that a decision on controversial ‘net neutrality’ rules has been delayed by the FCC until after the November elections.

Below, more angles on the future of online video, how Comcast exists in the news ecosystem and more.

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mychinoki.com gets businesses and consumers text messaging

Some time in between e-mail and Facebook, the viral social media of choice was text messaging.

But Matthew Balin seems to think the business of texting was never fully capitalized. In July, Balin launched mychinoki.com, a mobile platform that connects consumers and businesses for SMS updates.

It’s a chance for users to cherry pick what messages they want from what local businesses, which is why Balin chose a name he says is a Westernized translation to a Japanese phrase meaning ‘cherry picker.’

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PHILO makes TV more social, Penn grads drawn to other cities

The three founders of an application aiming to interject social media into TV watching got an education in Philadelphia but their addresses — and the buzz surrounding their startup — are in the familiar bi-coastal entertainment hubs.

As the web has buzzed for some time now, PHILO is a web and iPhone application that has its users ‘tune in’ to the TV programs they are watching in the same way Foursquare users ‘check in’ to physical locations, then pushing a conversation discussing shows in a “newsfeed-like conversation” as Mashable put it.

Like others before them, the three founders put time in at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in the 1990s but don’t call the region home. CEO David Levy, who also heads the Wharton Angel Network, and CTO Carter Page are in New York City, and Greg Goldman calls Los Angeles home.

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Azavea’s Cicero API goes international, GIS firm launches new website

Beyond dots on a map.

That’s the new tagline of GIS software firm Azavea, which has undergone a branding overhaul since it changed its name in March following a disputed legal claim.

As part of that move, last month, the shop based in the Callowhill neighborhood unveiled a new look to its website, completing the shift from a decade-old Avencia name to its new Azavea brand. Read about their CMS here.

The new look coincides with news that Azavea continues to expand the map they go beyond.

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Links: Ben Franklin butter statue makes new biofuel, Navy Yard energy project and more

DEFINITE READS

• Mike Armstrong of the Inquirer puts a critical eye to the big-scale, $129 million energy innovation hub planned for the Philadelphia Navy Yard, as led by Penn State.
• The New York Times highlights how an 800-pound Benjamin Franklin butter statue has led to the next great biodiesel fuel craze, with the help of Center City-based BlackGold Biofuels.
• Keystone Edge profiles Center City-based design firm Bresslergroup and Lititz-based Woodstream and their collaboration around improving the mousetrap. Yup.

Below, find what Philly developer was listed as 15 nationally to follow on Twitter, robots at Pennsylvania Hospital and more.

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Comcast Roundup: Al Franken still hates NBC deal, ’30 Rock’ will stay on 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

• Ars Technica reports that Sen. Al Franken, perhaps the most vocal critic of the NBC deal, again voiced his frustration with the proposed deal.
• Broadcasting & Cable reports that Comcast outlined its program access philosophy to regulators of its NBC deal. H/T Philly Tech News
• The Wall Street Journal reports on the last minute bombarding of the FCC by Comcast opponents regarding the NBC deal. [Paywall]

Below, is Hulu headed toward an IPO, a Philly product rollout and more.

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Philly Speaks back up, again, hit with malware insertion

The familiar warning image for Mozilla users that appeared when visiting Philadelphia Speaks over the weekend. The site should be safe to visit again.

We know something is up with popular web forum Philadelphia Speaks whenever the comments and emails start rolling in.

This past week, Philly Speaks was offering visitors a warning, declaring the site malicious.

As of this morning, the forum has been cleared and most browsers should stop offering the warning, according to an email from Philly Speaks founder Wil Reynolds.

“We had a malware insertion in vBulletin,” Reynolds wrote. “But we’re back up, just waiting to get back on the clean list for Google and Trend Micro.”

Part of the resolution included updating their VB forum software, which means a different look both in browsers and on mobile devices. More tweaks are expected in the coming days.

The forum was hacked back in May and has faced other set backs after replacing popular Phillyblog last fall.

Frank Eliason formerly of @ComcastCares talks customer service and moving on

In the pantheon of social media, Frank Eliason is certainly something of a celebrity.

He was the start of a social media craze from Comcast, chasing down and responding to online complaints from customers. In the history book of social media, Eliason, who popularized Twitter handle @ComcastCares, will be among the forefathers of the movement.

After beginning in September 2007, his role was buffeted with a team of Comcast tweeters and blog readers and outreach specialists.

Nearly as well known as complaints about Comcast service were the signs of that Eliason’s team was listening. It was a strange juxtaposition, an attempt to move a mountain of negative perception with a relatively small team of persistent web-based professionals.

And Eliason was at the start of what has become accepted as the norm.

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Links: NuPathe goes public, more on Code for America

The Philadelphia Business Journal reports that biomedical startup NuPathe, whose CEO and founder Jane Hollingsworth we interviewed in September, has made its company public and plans to move on selling its migraine patch in 2012.

Urban Omnibus has a Q&A with Jennifer Pahlka, the founder of Code for America with whom we spoke in April about Philadelphia’s project.

The Philadelphia Business Journal also has a story on a legal battle between lawyer Arthur Alan Wolk and legal blog Overlawyered.com.

Every Friday morning, we make sure you didn t miss anything with Friday Tech Links.

Comcast Roundup: Partnership with Blockbuster, net neutrality ‘trap’ 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

• Zatz Not Funny reports on Comcast’s deal with Blockbuster to partner on DVDsbyMail to, you know, send DVDs by mail, and TechDirt wonders why.
• The New York Post reports that the FCC is readying a ‘net neutrality trap’ for Comcast.
• The Inquirer’s Bob Fernandez reports that Comcast has already spent $90 million on lobbying, advertising, lawyers and other costs pushing for approval of their acquisition of NBC.

Below, four months in prison for hacking Comcast, the most expensive rowhome purchase ever and more.

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