Friday Tech Links: Philly handling recession, First Round Capital frequents New York and more

First Round Capital's Josh Kopelman is interviewed by Sammantha Ettus and Gary Vaynerchuk of ObsessedTV

In which we link out to the tech news from Philly and elsewhere (when it matters) that slips through the cracks and make it way fun. See others here. When it comes to ultimate economy metaphors, it’s time for car talk. Philadelphia is only experiencing a tank of bad gasoline, not a shot transmission, Inquirer Business Reporter Mike Armstrong said Wednesday. Of course, we only kid. It’s good news for Philly, which ranked 37th strongest of 100 major U.S. metros in a quarterly economic health report issued by the Brookings Institution. Hell, times ain’t rough for Delaware-based online advertiser eZanga. Fortune Magazine ranked it as one of the 15 fastest-growing marketing and advertising companies in the U.S., despite Internet advertising taking its first downturn since 2002 in the first quarter, reports Delaware Online. But do you know the problem with too much good news? Not enough drama. After the jump, how First Round Capital is ditching Philly for our lesser-neighbor up North, why social networking and work don’t mix, and gosh darnit, more proof that no one can fix that Philly budget deficit. Plus more goodies.
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Friday Q&A: Mike Harris CEO of AnySource Media

Malvern-based AnySource Media thinks it has a good guess about the future direction of online video. The company, founded in 2006, provides software to TV manufacturers that allows consumers to pull their favorite Internet content directly to their television.

If you had AnySource’s technology on your TV and hooked-up to the Web, you could order movies, browse your favorite video content and even purchase products without getting your computer involved.

The company, started by former Ravisent Technologies employees, recently closed a $3.2 million funding round provided entirely by local investors and is anticipating its debut and first revenue later this year. We sat down with CEO Mike Harris to discuss how his company makes money without charging TV makers, what he thinks of Boxee and his fight against the West coast. Oh yeah, and he’s hiring.
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