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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Smart home technology increases automation while lowering energy consumption

Philadelphia Smart Home's Patrick Griffin explains the control center

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 first of a two-part series about residential technologies being developed or explored in the region. Read the second on Thursday.

Dinner is in the oven. A grocery list has been generated after surveying the empty pantry. The front door’s been opened for the deliveryman and the authorities have been alerted of a possible intruder on a neighbor’s property.

Sounds like a fairly normal day. Except each one of these tasks has been miles away from the home.

Welcome the convenience of living in a smart home, technology developments for residential properties that are coming fast. While home technology is not yet able to allow all of these tasks, industry experts say we’ll quickly move toward a state of complete home automation and remote user-control.

“Smart homes are a culmination of products and functionality,” says Utz Baldwin, the CEO of the Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association (CEDIA), a trade association for electronic home installations. “What makes a house smart for me will be different than what makes a house smart for you. It comes down to the needs of the homeowner.”

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Philadelphia ranks well in cybercrime report, but concern remains

Mary Lou DiMaggio is still trying to resolve her father's identity theft

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.

Like so many others, Kenneth Swope, a hard-working tile setter and self-described family man, was taken advantage of when his identity was stolen.

“[Someone] got a hold of my social security number, and opened up a couple accounts in my name,” Swope, 50, says.

He didn’t find out that his identity had been compromised until he applied for a home equity loan to pay for his daughters’ college tuition. When he applied, he found something on his credit report that shouldn’t have been there. “I had to call the credit company to find out who opened the account, and they wouldn’t tell me. They said it was me,” Swope says.

After some investigation, he found that the accounts were listed under his parents’ home address, where he had never lived.

Swope suspected a relative who had been living at the address, but
because he wasn’t sure—no charges have been brought against anyone—he faced difficulties with credit agencies. “Every creditor and credit agency wanted me to prove everything,” Swope says, “but nobody wanted the person who opened the fraudulent accounts to prove anything.”

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Can mobile ubiquity help bridge Philly’s digital divide?

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.

Apple’s iPhone and iTouch sold 57 million units in 28 months, according to Morgan Stanley’s The Mobile Internet Report.

Smartphones and other Internet-ready handheld devices have gained immense popularity. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 83 percent of people own cell phones or smartphones and 35 percent of people have surfed the Internet with their phones.

Ashley Cox on smartphone

“I go on there for everything,” says Ashley Cox of her mobile smartphone, “I’m on it everyday, all day.” African Americans are the most active users of mobile Internet. On an average day, 29 percent of African Americans used mobile Internet in 2009, up 141 percent from 2007. In 2009 the national average was only 19 percent.

“Mobile Internet expands people’s realization of the power of the Internet,” says Michael Morgan, an industry analyst on mobile devices for ABI Research, “you know you can be connected to information wherever you are.”

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FCC plans to increase Internet speeds in national broadband plan

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 Federal Communications Commission will push on telecommunication companies to make the Internet 25 times faster through its National Broadband Plan.

One of the major goals of the unprecedented agenda is to provide broadband access to all Americans. The plan also intends to provide 100 million American homes with 100Mbps (megabits per second) broadband service in 10 years. The current average household Internet connection speed is 4Mbps.

�This is very possible,� said Justin Shi, an associate professor and associate chair at Temple University�s College of Science and Technology. This advancement in communication technology will eventually change social and economic systems, Shi says. The seemingly large feat of increasing Internet speeds by 25 times can be accomplished by improving the current packet-switching system used for the Internet.

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Ex-offenders seek training to improve computer literacy

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.

�I�m an individual that wants to try and get ahead in life,� says Hymine, 53, an ex-incarcerated felon who reentered society in 1992 after spending a year in prison for drug possession, who asked Technically Philly to not share his real name.

Hymine’s story illustrates the difficulties and inequalities ex-offenders often face upon returning to society.

Hymine says that he is a military veteran. He served in the Army and the Army Reserves from
for two decades in the 70s and 80s. He is also well educated. He received a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Cheyney University in 1987. In 2006, he returned to Cheyney and received his Master�s in Public Administration. In addition he is currently working on his Doctorate in Human Services through an online program.

Even with his impressive resume, Hymine says finding employment is challenging. �I have one little smear and they treat me like I ain�t shit,� Hymine says.

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Nonprofit Technology Resources repairing computers, refurbishing futures

One of Nonprofit Technology Resource's Tech-Redi workers repairs a computer.

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.

Disclosure: NTR is a Technically Philly advertiser, though this post was not part of any advertising package and was reported by non TP-staffers.

Lorenda Legions was referred to Nonprofit Technology Resources Tech-Redi program in 2008, and three months later she was a full-time employee.

�It�s a wonderful program, I learned a lot,� Legions says with a smile.

Legions, like other Tech-Redi workers, was placed in the warehouse stacked-full with palettes of computer monitors, hard-drives and motherboards. She had no idea what any of the parts were used for, but that soon changed.

NTR, located on at 16th and Brandywine streets in the Fairmount section, helps welfare recipients gain useful computer and technology skills.� Workers learn to identify components, manage inventory, and assemble, refurbish and repair computers.

�It�s a very rewarding program,� Legions says. �If you come in with the right attitude and mindset you can really excel.�

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Ripples created from Lower Merion Webcam spying

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

Updated 2/24, 5:50 p.m.: Fixed name of High School.

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 lawsuit filed against the Lower Merion School District last week has created a lot of questions in the educational community. In this case, it is alleged that the Vice Principal of Harriton High School used a picture, taken from the webcam of the 15-year-old student�s school-issued computer, to support the claim that the student had engaged in inappropriate behavior in his home. In order to take the picture the school remotely activated the student�s webcam.

�We think what they did was horrendous,� says Chris Alfano, the Science Leadership Academy�s computer support specialist. Remotely activating a webcam is a security feature that was previously used by Harriton High School to recover stolen laptops. In the past 14 months it has been used about 42 times, and it has helped recover 28 laptops.

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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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