Olney’s Central High School Robolancers team makes case for STEM

The following is a report done in partnership with Temple University’s Philadelphia Neighborhoods Program, the capstone class for the Temple Journalism Department.

The Central High School Robolancers in Olney should be designing a robot for a different task than usual: one that gives out a good pat on the back. The team of robot-building students placed in the quarterfinals of the local-regional For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology robotics competition in Philadelphia, and took first-place overall in the local-regional Boosting Engineering Science and Technology competition.

The Robolancers competed in grueling competitions which required them to put in long hours designing, building and programing their robots. (Photo courtesy of Central High Robolancers)

After winning the BEST regional, the team traveled south to Alabama for the BEST south-regional competition, where they took sixth-place overall. The top eight teams competed in the national BEST competition in Florida, and the Robolancers placed second in video presentation and third in engineering notebook.

The team also competed in the local underwater Marine Advanced Technology Education competition for the first time this year, placing first in presentation but taking second in the overall competition after a blown fuse disabled their robot. They then went on to Texas for the international MATE competition in Houston earlier this month.

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PyStar Philly offers Python training for women, part of female tech scene

Women gathered together during the Pystar Philly event, held at Azavea in Callowhill, to learn the basics of Python computer language.

The following is a report done in partnership with Temple University’s Philadelphia Neighborhoods Program, the capstone class for the Temple Journalism Department.

A perception exists that computer programming is dominated by males, though there’s more balance here than you might think.

Pystar Philly, held this Saturday at Azavea’s headquarters in Callowhill, is a workshop event designed specifically to reach out to women interested in learning to develop using the programming language Python.

“The goal is to introduce Python to a group of people who have never been exposed to it before, and make it seem fun, appealing and easy to do,” said Dana Bauer, event organizer and GIS analyst at Azavea, in an interview with Technically Philly.

“Python is cool because it is relatively easy to learn and start making things quickly,” Bauer said.

Engaging women who want to gain skills for a personal agenda or to make them more employable is the purpose of the Pystar workshops.

“We want to create a friendly, inviting environment for women interested in learning to code to do so in,” Bauer said.

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PredictiveEdge launches Proactive Parenting Network, new tool for child-safe browsing

"Who you going to call?" is what PredictiveEdge CEO asked when discussing how the Proactive Parenting Network compares to safety features on Facebook and other social media websites.

The following is a report done in partnership with Temple University’s Philadelphia Neighborhoods Program, the capstone class for the Temple Journalism Department.

Hanging from one of the cabinets of PredictiveEdge CEO Bill Thompson’s desk is a piece of paper that reads, “Parenting Problems? Who You Going To Call?”

Under the text are two pictures: the first of Facebook creator and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the second is the logo for PredictiveEdge’s behavioral social media program, called ‘the Proactive Parenting Network.’

With more than 500 million active users, children of all ages are increasingly influenced by Facebook and other social networking websites, many of which don’t go beyond basic safety features for users.

“The Internet’s not going away. Facebook’s not going away. It’s going to continue to become more and more dominant in our kids’ lives. We’re the generation that has to adapt to that,” Thompson said.

The newly launched Proactive Parenting Network serves as a resource for parents to better understand and protect their kids in the digital realm. It’s a package of resources to help combat the internet-age old problem of safe browsing for kids, including more adaptive and advanced tools like a keyword-driven firewall and more powerful browsing history and data collection.

But is it sapping away privacy?

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Alexandre Scialom takes top prizes at Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan, NFTE sends winner to the White House

First place winner Alexandre Scialom smiled as he accepted his award plaque for his winning business plan, theCourseBook.

The following is a report done in partnership with Temple University’s Philadelphia Neighborhoods Program, the capstone class for the Temple Journalism Department.

theCourseBook, billed by its founder as “Yelp for adult education” won Thursday the two top prizes at the second annual Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan, netting San Francisco entrepreneur Alexandre Scialom a cool $50,000 $25,000.

Thursday’s event, held by the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, was a business plan competition that challenges young entrepreneurs to apply their innovative business ideas in educational formats.

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Scrapple TV: Marc Brodzik of Woodshop Films wants national ‘pirate TV’ network online [VIDEO]

Woodshop Films founder Marc Brodzik gives direction to Scrapple TV Sports co-anchor 'Hot Carl' during a recent shoot.

The following is a report done in partnership with Temple University’s Philadelphia Neighborhoods Program, the capstone class for the Temple Journalism Department.

A man in a suit and white beard with a deep baritone began to read the news in front of a green screen.

Suddenly, the bright ring of a cell phone broke the silence in the otherwise quiet recording studio. Marc Brodzik, who was standing behind the camera, wearing a faded Tide detergent shirt, shorts and flip-flops, reached into his pocket and with a grin pulled out his phone and shut the ringer off.

“Phones off, bitches.”

It is with that humor and laid backed demeanor that things are run at Brodzik’s Woodshop Films, a local video production company that started its own internet channel, called Scrapple TV, three years ago.

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Philadelphia Game Development meetup group hosts small May meetup, serves as ‘beginning’

Drexel student and aspiring game developer Tom Rodriguez discusses game development with other attendees of Mays meeting of the Philadelphia Game Development Meetup group.

The following is a report done in partnership with Temple University’s Philadelphia Neighborhoods Program, the capstone class for the Temple Journalism Department.

The Philadelphia Game Development meetup group held their monthly meeting Saturday at Cosi on 9^th and Chestnut streets.

The group, which was established in 2003, is an informal network of professional and amateur game developers from the Philadelphia region. The group has 200 members, according to its site, ranging from established developers to hobbyists.

There is no strict attendance policy, as members can RSVP for the meetups at the group’s website or just show up. The informality leads to fluctuating attendance numbers and topic discussions. Saturdays meeting covered topics ranging from 3D modeling applications to animation programs among only three attendees, though the group has had dozens at other events.

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‘Blogger tax:’ bill creating business privilege license exemption for ‘hobbies’ faces City Council vote [VIDEO]

Mike Lyons, who runs the blog West Philly Local, sits on a bench at Locust and 40th streets.

The following is a report done in partnership with Temple University’s Philadelphia Neighborhoods Program, the capstone class for the Temple Journalism Department.

Mike Lyons and his wife run West Philly Local, a blog that covers news in West Philadelphia.

His site has been up for just three months and gets a modest 800 to 900 unique visitors a day. Although Lyons hopes to monetize the site in the future, it has yet to make any profit.

For bloggers like Lyons, the year-long dispute concerning the city’s so-called ‘blogger tax’ has caused a great deal of confusion.

But new legislation introduced by Councilman Bill Green could keep Lyons and other hobbyists, including bloggers, from being required to apply and pay for a city business privilege license.

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GameLoop Philly: video game development convention draws 80 first year to UArts

The following is a report done in partnership with Temple University’s Philadelphia Neighborhoods Program, the capstone class for the Temple Journalism Department.

The number of groups, businesses, organizations and conversations around Philadelphia’s video game development scene is slowly growing. Add now: an annual showcase convention.

This Saturday, more than 80 game developers, designers and programmers gathered at the Corzo Center at the University of the Arts in Center City for GameLoop Philly. The convention, which organizers are aiming to make an annual event, is based on the success of GameLoop Boston, which began in 2008.

“Philly was the next natural choice. The founders in Boston knew a lot of people here and know the game development community here is starting to get some footing,” said Ray Merkler, an independent game developer in Philadelphia who was one of the events co-organizers.

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