Google Transit and SEPTA finally play nice

A screenshot of SEPTA's new integration with Google Maps

Let’s face it — SEPTA isn’t exactly quick on adapting new technologies.

It took a group of determined Web developers and some HTML scraping to make the delightfully useful iSEPTA iPhone application, SEPTA has repeatedly delayed the implementation of smart cards and many stations (*cough* Tioga *cough*) still do not sell tokens or make change.

But for all of its feet-dragging and delaying, the area’s transit system has finally accomplished its long-requested integration with one of the Web’s most used tools for travel planning.

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Friday Tech Links: Big Brother in Lancaster, girls still hate tech and More

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.

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Events highlights for the week of June 22 – June 28, 2009

I know what you’re thinking.

You’re thinking, “I wish I could design a map using Twitter that was a good user experience and utilized Google Book Search.”

Well Technically Philly reader, you’re in luck! Our fair city has a diverse slate of events this week that will make your strange hypothetical dream a reality in no time.

Get started after work on Tuesday and join the pun-loving OpenStreetMap enthusiasts over at the Prohibition Tap Room for “Mappy Hour.” Although, you shouldn’t have too much to drink, as it is awfully hard to chart the trails in Fairmount Park when you can’t walk straight.

PhillyCHI (which is not a box score for the upcoming Phillies-Cubs series) is getting together Wednesday to listen to Kyle Soucy, their former chair, talk usability testing. This is the first time in weeks that the group has held an event in city limits, so you best take El out to University City if you have been meaning to catch PhillyCHI in action.

On Thursday, you can either continue the usability theme with the UX Book Club meeting over at P’unk Ave, or you can head to Center City for the June Philly Tweetup.

Round out the week on Friday as University City continues its Google obsession with a meeting about how Google Books and Google Scholar affect librarians. Librarians, whatever you decide, please leave the card catalog alone. That thing is awesome.

All events listed on the event calendar are free to attend. Be sure to check our complete calendar for more information, or follow us past the jump.
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Google confirms Street View tricycle on UPenn campus, reader snaps first pictures

Photo courtesty of Scott Spitzer of scottspitzer.com.

Put on your Sunday’s best and quickly plan a practical joke to be forever immortalized online; Google Street View is back in town. On Penn’s campus, at least.

Earlier today we reported that a Technically Philly reader spotted a Google Street View tricycle roaming the University of Pennsylvania campus Wednesday, and now we have confirmation from Google and the first reader photo.

This afternoon, a spokesperson for Google said that Street View has been peddling around the UPenn campus during the past few days in a promotional partnership that provides the search giant with access to Penn’s private walks.

“[We're partnering] with universities and colleges who say ‘this is a great chance to explore our campus in a different way,’” Sean Carlson, Google’s manager of global communications and public affairs, told Technically Philly in a telephone interview.

Carlson says that Google has recently partnered with San Diego State, University of San Diego and Penn State for similar opportunities.

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Google Earth application maps U.S. military deaths, 16 lost from Philadelphia

Nick Zangara was 21-years-old in 2004 when a makeshift bomb exploded near his convoy in Tikrit, 90 miles northwest of Baghdad and a universe from his home in Northeast Philadelphia.

The George Washington High School graduate is one of at least 16 people from Philadelphia who have been killed in Middle Eastern military conflicts this decade, according to a new Google Earth layer called “Map the Fallen.”

“This Memorial Day I would like to share with you a personal project of mine that uses Google Earth to honor the more than 5,700 American and Coalition servicemen and women that have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan,” writes Sean Askay, the layer’s creator. “I have created a map for Google Earth that will connect you with each of their stories, you can see photos, learn about how they died, visit memorial Web sites with comments from friends and families, and explore the places they called home and where they died.”

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More chatter about region’s tech future; Philly vs. Philacon Valley

There’s much ado about the future of Philadelphia’s technology scene.

Active discussions are taking place about how Philly can become a hub of technology innovation on the popular PANMA new media listserve.

Subscribers have been debating whether or not Philadelphia can become the Silicon Valley of the East coast. There’s even a few mentions of a “Philacon Valley.”

Earlier this week, Google CEO Eric Schmidt told Technically Philly that the city met all the criteria for a tech renaissance.

Except, instead of championing Philadelphia’s long list of suburban tech companies, he suggested that tech hubs tend to grow best in urban centers.

“Do you think Schmidt understands that when you get down to brass tacks, it’s the Philly tax situation that’s keeping [Center City] tech entrepreneurship artificially suppressed,” responded one reader on the PANMA listserv.

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Google CEO Eric Schmidt weighs in on Philly’s tech future

Google CEO Eric Schmidt speaks to press at a media event at Penn Monday afternoon. Credit: Rikard Larma/Metro Philadelphia

Google’s Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt thinks Philly has what it takes to be a hub for technology.

Schmidt was prompted by a question from Technically Philly at a press event following Penn’s 253rd Commencement Monday afternoon where he gave the ceremonial address.

“To have a tech renaissance, you need universities, which you have here. You need good engineering programs like [Penn and Drexel]. You need a vibrant youth culture and a diverse culture. I think you have all of that criteria here,” he said.

“It’s not a suburban phenomenon. It’s an urban phenomenon. Young people want to live in urban culture.”

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If you spot Google’s CEO on the Blue Line Monday, what would you ask him?

Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt will deliver Penn's commencement address Monday.

Penn students have their fingers crossed that the clouds won’t break Monday morning.

“The temp sounds perfect, but please no rain!” said one tweet.

At least, that’s one impression left by a student on an official Twitter account dedicated to the University of Pennsylvania’s 253rd Commencement ceremony where Google CEO Eric Schmidt is scheduled to speak.

Technically Philly would love to peak at Schmidt’s prepared speech, as Google has been the center of allegations that it has a monopoly on Internet search and advertising. We’re especially interested since the Obama administration took a harder stance on monopolies when it peeled back a Bush-era antitrust policy, the Inquirer reported on Tuesday. The Wall Street Journal noted yesterday that Google may be unstoppable.

Still, it’s hard to argue that the company isn’t innovative. Just yesterday it unveiled a host of new search features. Not to mention that a few hours of Google down time sent the Twitter-verse screaming in protest.

As news-gatherers, and not news commentators, that’s where the conversation ends for Technically Philly. Instead, we pose a question to you, our readers.

If you happen to run into Schmidt – albeit with great surprise – on the Blue Line on Monday, what would you ask him?

Will GMail ever be out of beta? Have you ever rode the official Google zip line into the office? Or maybe you would ask a more hard-hitting question about those monopoly allegations. Maybe something completely off the charts.

What would you ask? We’d love to hear about it in our comments.

Friday Q&A: Gabriel Weinberg, CEO of Duck Duck Go

Duck Duck Go. It’s a name that’s sure to bring the Valley Forge-based search engine company attention just by folks trying to figure out what it means.

Some have called it silly. Others have mentioned a common childhood game by the same name.

CEO Gabriel Weinberg says it isn’t named after anything special.

“I wish I had a good answer for you. I don’t. It came to me one day and I really liked it,” he says during a telephone interview.

If anything, Duck Duck Go is just something different. In the Web search industry, that’s important. It might be one of few ways of chiseling away at Google’s dominating market share the search giant currently queries 63 percent of U.S. searches.

That’s OK with 29-year-old Weinberg. He says Duck Duck Go offers features Google can’t: uncluttered, human-sourced, friggin’ fast search results. Direct to you from the ‘burbs.

Last week, the company unveiled its Firefox toolbar, a search tool that redirects users from parked domains and spam sites, part of Duck Duck Go’s fight against typo squatting. It’s the second Duck Duck Go-branded software release, the first, a search app for Apple’s iPhone. Traffic has been good to the company, increasing steadily month by month, Weinberg says.

We spoke with Weinberg about what makes Duck Duck Go special, how the two-employee company plans to continue growing, and his vision of the future of search, after the jump.

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