DEFINITE READS

• Cyberjournalist reports that University of Pennsylvania researchers found readers are more likely to share three types of stories online.
• PEHub is looking for votes on where it should host its next meetup, and Philadelphia is a choice. Vote here.

Below, zombies and geeks, SAP CEO leaves in a tornado of speculation and more.

MIGHT BE OF INTEREST

• Keystone Edge has a Q&A with myYearbook founder Catherine Cook.
• i09 profiles the wildly successful Zombie screening that Geekadelphia held at the Troc in Chinatown.
• Peter Key of the Philadelphia Business Journal reports on Google seeking municipalities to try its broadband service. No word on in Philly is tossing its hat in.
• The Cadence Watch Company, which we covered in November before it was rebranded from Cadence Rowing, announced this week the winner of its watch design contest held during Design Philadelphia last October. Philadelphia University graduate student Josh Chadwick’s winning design will be manufactured and sold by Cadence in September.

GIVE A GLANCE

• AT&T’s regional office tipped Technically Philly that it has selected Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson as its infrastructure suppliers for its planned Long Term Evolution Network. It’s a step forward to creating the company’s next-generation 4G network, eventually here in Philadelphia.
• Philly Tech News has a roundup of the fallout surrounding SAP CEO Léo Apotheker stepping down — and more here.
• The Inquirer reports that “Philadelphia solar installer Eos Energy Solutions has been acquired by Mercury Solar Systems of New York.”

Every Friday morning, we make sure you didn’t miss anything with Friday Tech Links.

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.

The blog from incubator DreamIt Ventures features some knowledge spilled at a lecture on search engine optimization by Gabriel Weinberg, the CEO of Duck Duck Go, the Valley Forge search engine we’ve covered.

After the jump, business leaders playing squash, video from the Philly Startup Leaders barbecue and six other tech stories, including our best read story of the week.

Ordered by an incredibly complex algorithm rendering importance:

• Jeff Blumenthal from the Philadelphia Business Journal reports that three families connected to the Philadelphia business community are off to Israel to compete in the squash competition of the 18th Maccabiah Games, “an international Jewish athletic event similar to the Olympics.”
• Geekadelphia reports that the Black Cherry Bombshells online comic team, whom we have covered, is video podcasting its trip across the country to the San Diego Comic book conference.
• Keystone Edge has an interview with Don Miller, who is a part of the 8-bit music scene in Philadelphia. Geekadelphia loves these guys.
• Yup, we’re still on Microsoft’s rumored sale of online marketing agency Razorfish, which has Center City offices. PaidContent is covering it, even though AdWeek reports that it is unlikely the move will be made. Media Post News uses Razorfish chops. H/T Philly Tech News
• Innovation Philadelphia posts that members from their regional nonprofit economic development organization attended the barbecue held by the Philly Startup Leaders, an event we told you about. Below see their video interview with Aaron McLean and Tracey Welson-Rossman, members of the event committee.

• Our Most Trafficked Story of the Week: Friday Q&A: Gwen Shaffer, One Web Day organizer

Every Friday morning we make sure you didn’t miss anything with Friday Tech Links.

Lancaster security cameras on the streets are monitored by civilians working for a nonprofit group. They pan, zoom and call police if they see a crime. Linda Johnson / For The L.A. Times

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.

You’re probably being watched in Lancaster.

This city of 54,000 in the middle of a rural county of the same name just may be the most closely scrutinized place in the country, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times.

As many as 165 closed-circuit TV cameras that will soon bring constant live surveillance of very nearly every street, park and other public space. That would be more outdoor cameras than cities as large as Boston and San Francisco.

Two more things are unique about the camera network, as the L.A. Times story suggests: it was built and maintained by a private nonprofit group and few seem concerned about the privacy implications.

The group, which hires civilians to move and follow the cameras and dispatch police to suspiscious activity, hasn’t found much public outcry.

“Years ago, there’s no way we could do this,” said Lancaster’s police chief Keith Sadler told the Times. “It brings to mind Big Brother, George Orwell and ’1984.’ It’s just funny how Americans have softened on these issues.”

There is some question as to the effectiveness of cameras, though. In what the Times report calls the largest U.S. study, US Berkeley researchers evaluated 71 cameras that San Francisco put in high-crime areas beginning in 2005. In December, they released a report that found “no evidence” of a reduction in violent crime, though it did note “substantial declines” in property crime near the cameras.

Hat Tip Philly Tech News.

After the jump, the continued spat over a state film tax credit, robot-loving high schoolers and eight more of the week’s tech stories you shouldn’t miss, including our best read story of the last seven days.

In order of importance for your ease.

• The San Jose Mercury News reports that a study from the Association for Computing Machinery released last week, says a sizable gap in technology interest remains between boys and girls. Forty-five percent of 13-17 year old boys thought a computer science degree would be “very good,” compared to just one in ten girls.
• Geekadelphia reports on a recently released free iPhone application that helps you find upcoming concerts in Philadelphia. They can be searched by date and venue, and include features that locate venues, offer audio samples from performing bands and sell tickets.
• Inquirer film critic Carrie Rickey reports that with the state budget deadline next week and a lingering $3.2 billion deficit, a real debate remains regarding Pennsylvania’s $75 million film industry tax credit. The film credit is never broached in Philadelphia without the mention of Shooters, the tech-savvy Old City production company we profiled earlier this year. Relatedly, the Inquirer reported on the first ever Philadelphia Film Market.
• Information Week rags on Northern Liberties marketing firm Razorfish pretty harshly for what it asserts to be an outdated Web strategy. As Philly Tech News suggested: ouch.
• PE Hub reports on $2 million in new VC funding and what that means for a possible resurgence from RedLasso, the King of Prussia-based video-aggregation site. Check the SEC filing here, and read an interview we did with the firm’s CEO and president in March.
• A pun-heavy press release alerts us to the fact that TastyKake Baking outsourced the hosting and management of its voice and data networks to EvolveIP during their headquarters move to the Naval Yard. We covered EvolveIP last month.
• The Associated Press reports that the Italian trial against four Google executives has been postponed. The executives, who are accused of defamation and violating privacy for hosting a video that showed the abuse of an autistic youth, say the trial a threat to Internet freedom.
• The Inquirer reports on the trend of regional high schools adding FIRST robotics curriculum to encourage the study of engineering and related fields. The acronym FIRST means “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.”

• Our Most Trafficked Story of the Week: Google confirms Street View tricycle on UPenn campus, reader snaps first pictures

Every Friday morning we make sure you didn’t miss anything with Friday Tech Links.

It may seem that Joystiq is located in some fancy tower in some far-off city with a staff of a dozen writers. After all, the blog is owned by the largest media company in the world, is the 18th most popular blog on the Web and is one of the largest video game blogs in the world. And, as one look in Google Reader would tell you, they produce a boat load of breaking news, reviews and industry rumors that put traditional video game media outlets to shame.

But Joystiq is the result of a team of telecommuters from all over the world led by Philadelphia’s own Christopher Grant, who plugs away at the site in his Fishtown home with the help of his staff. Two staffers, Ben Gilbert and Dave Hinkle, live in and around Philadelphia as well.

While most large multi-author blogs do not have a true “headquarters,” Philadelphia has long had its impact on Joystiq. The man who Grant replaced and the site’s first editor, Vladimir Cole, was a graduate student at Wharton.

We chatted with Joystiq’s Editor-in-Chief about his climb to the top of Joystiq and found out who was lucky enough to receive four boxes of free video games from him.

Joystiq's Christoper Grant

Grant got into writing about his passion much like any other writer: by bugging the crap out of a newspaper editor. His girlfriend’s cousin happened to be the assistant editor of Philadelphia Weekly’s Arts and Entertainment section.

“I always teased her about how her publication was completely irrelevant to the entire demographic that they were seeking to go after,” said Grant, who was working as a carpenter at the time. “I told her ‘The biggest consumer product out there right now is video games, and you don’t cover them at all’.” Grant also argued that the very group of people that play video games the most, the 18-34 year old male, was one of the most highly sought after demographics by the paper’s advertisers.

Grant, who has an English degree, was soon offered a column and spent nearly a year writing 500-word reviews that appeared in the alternative weekly when he was noticed by Joystiq editor at the time, Vladimer Cole.

The North Jersey-native worked his way up the Joystiq ladder realizing after only a short time that the site could use some work and began putting more and more time into it. When AOL purchased Weblogs Inc. (a story in itself) Grant made sure he snagged a full time gig.

Now, Grant is officially a “senior programming manager” at AOL responsible for the entire Joystiq network. That network has blossomed, including subdomains focusing on individual consoles and blogs focused on specific niches in gaming such as WowInsider. However, as a result, despite his love for the city — he just recently purchased a home in Fishtown — he can’t really focus on topics specific to Philadelphia.

“I keep my head down working on the stuff that is relevant to us, which is not regional,” said Grant “games is a global industry.”

But as the man in charge, Grant did bring on local writer and Geekadelphia blogger Ben Gilbert after Gilbert approached him outside the Electonics Entertainment Expo. Gilbert had been a long-time fan of Joystiq and ran his own video game site called Quarterplay (now on hiatus).

Grant said that having some local help gives him the flexibility to delegate some tasks. “For example the other day I dropped off four boxes of video games at his house, stuff that they send me and I don’t want to sit on. You would think that getting a box of video games is like a fun treat, but it’s really not. It’s a lot of work there.”

Gilbert disagreed. “It was like Christmas, I have been playing video games non-stop the past few days,” he said.

Every Monday, Technically Not Tech will feature people, projects, and businesses that are involved with Philly’s tech scene, but aren’t necessarily technology focused. See others here.