• Organizers tell us that the deadline for nominations for the PA Tech Awards, which we covered last month, has been extended to midnight tonight. Vote Philly!
• Spot the most defibrillators in Philly, win $10K! [SciStarter -- An interview with Penn Prof. Raina Merchant, who is behind the effort we covered
• Hedger pausing on print [New York Post] — Randy Smith, who owns nearly a third of the company that publishes Philly.com and the newspapers, is trying to sell, reports the paper. More from Poynter.
• SAP will add 500 jobs in Newtown [Delaware County Daily Times]
• AstraZeneca to cut 7,300 more jobs amid fourth-quarter profit drop [Inquirer]

• Dell Forms Software Group, Names Former CA CEO as Head [PC World] — With Berwyn’s Boomi division playing a role
• Sunoco CEO Elsenhans to step down [Philadelphia Business Journal] — Lynn Eisenhans
• Philly fuse maker chooses Bucks over North Carolina [PhillyDeals:Inquirer] — Action Manufacturing is moving 175 jobs out of North Philadelphia to a new Bucks County spot
• A Geek’s Guide to First Friday & Second Saturday: February 2012  [Geekadelphia]
• Quantum Leap’s tweet counter picks up more buzz [Delaware Online] — Newark, Del.-based analytics company
• “Jackpot Internet Cafe” will offer high-end computers and software, as well as sweepstakes games [PlanPhilly] — A Fishtown business that has concerned residents compromises and pitches itself as a more of an internet cafe.
• #visitUS: Help Curate a Philly Foursquare List, Get Philly a City Badge [Geekadelphia]
• Apostrophe just got easier [P'unk Ave newsletter] — More from the South Philly web firm’s CMS
• Drew Bacon’s Poppler: The Geekiest Guitar in Philadelphia [Geekadelphia] — Video below.

• A look at Cipher Prime’s ‘Splice’ [Inquirer] — Geekadelphia’s Eric Smith pens a column
• New Jersey man turns campaign stint into software success [Inquier] — “Together they spent 20-hour days devising a social-media tool – a “game-changer,” the nonpartisan New Organizing Institute has called it – that maximized efforts by the campaign’s field offices and led to the prodigious get-out-the-vote initiative that proved key to Obama’s success.” On NationalField from Aharon Wasserman.
• Open Question to our Readers [Hive76]

• InterDigital shares could retreat after no deal emerges [Inquirer:PhillyInc] Meetings with Google and Apple around its 19,500 patents drove stock prices up. More from Peter Key here.
• Rick Nucci as Dell Boomi General Manager [Philly Tech News] — Noting the transition from Bob Moul who left the company after the exit to Dell
• Philly Gamification Start-Up Hiring Dozen Employees [FINS] — More on Hoopla Software from Philly Tech News here.
• Liquid Acquires Premier Video Production Capabilities [Liquid Interactive]
• SAP Roundup [Philly Tech News] — Among other items, PTN hits some SAP North America news coverage
• Philly Gets Curbed [PlanPhilly] — From potential competitor and more from NewsWorks on the story Technically Philly broke here of the real estate blog network adding a Philly outpost.
• Code for America’s Jennifer Pahlka talks networked cities at TEDx [PlanPhilly] — Video below.

[Disclosures: InterDigital has been a Philly Tech Week sponsor in the past.]

An op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle caught our eye:

With surprisingly little fanfare and even more surprising bipartisanship, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a crowd-funding bill this month that would allow startup companies to sell securities by way of social networking and crowd-funding websites.

In essence, crowd-funding affords the public at large the opportunity to provide small amounts of incremental funding to entrepreneurial companies. Think of it as charitable giving for startups, although the return comes not in peace of mind or a tax deduction but in the form of equity in the company.

MORE

Patrick K. FitzGerald is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor and MBA lecturer on entrepreneurship at the Wharton School of Business.

Joshua Scott Albert. (Photo: David Maialetti/Daily News Staff Photographer)

The months-old saga of local restaurant scene blog turned personal attack-laden rumor mill StaphMeal.com has reached the point where Technically Philly feels compelled to acknowledge it.

In September, former restaurant worker Joshua Scott Albert outed himself as being behind the blog, as Grub Street reported, following a libel suit from noted Le Bec Fin owner Georges Perrier. Ah, how the internet can be twisted in ugly ways.

With seeming reluctance, Albert was profiled this week by the Daily News and, in the December issue, by Philadelphia magazine.

• Nutter signs business tax relief bills  [Philadelphia Business Journal] — The bills were passed by Council here
• Master Grief [Bygone Era] — An essay from Geekadelphia’s Eric Smith, who describes how a broken heart caused him to get that full-sized Halo character costume we told you about.
• NuPathe CEO: Getting migraine patch OK’d shouldn’t be headache [Philadelphia Business Journal] — Conshohocken CEO Jane Hollingsworth had its Zelrix migraine patch turned down by the FDA in August, but they’re regrouping to resubmit in the first half of 2012
• NextDocs Establishes Asian Presence with New Office in Tokyo [NextDocs blog]
• Transit Hackers Take Philly for a Ride [Programmable Web] — On the Apps for SEPTA event we sponsored

• A Matchmaking Service to Unite Scientists and Citizen Volunteers [Forbes] — SciStarter.com from Science Cheerleader Darlene Cavalier
• Chromebooks help students go to the head of the class [Google blog] — Boasting Chromebook use in classrooms, including at the Montgomery School
• Our very own co-founders named to Empact100 and to be honored at White House [LTL Prints blog] — “Our very own co-founders, Kendall Schoenrock and Carsten Petzold have been named to the Empact100  list of the country’s top young entrepreneurs under 30 and will be recognized at the White House in Washington, D.C. on November 17.”
• Inquirer, DN moving to 8th and Market [Inquirer]
• Constitution Center Teaches History of Thanksgiving Using Hallpass Webcast [Geekadelphia]
• Sam Katz named chair at Phila.-area biotech greenhouse [Philadelphia Business Journal]
• Save The Internet [Redeye VC] First Round Capital’s Josh Kopelman is talking about the controversial Congress hearing around “first American Internet censorship system”.

• Bentley Systems buys 2 software companies [Philadelphia Business Journal] — Bentley “has bought an English software company and an Australian software company for sums it did not disclose.”
• Aweber announces enhanced web form integration for WordPress [Aweber] From the suburban startup. More here.
• NextFab Studios Giveaway: Win Some Handmade Speakers From Jesse Gerard [Geekadelphia]
• The State of OpenData in Philly [Open Knowledge Foundation Blog] — Written by Voxeo Labs hacker Mark Headd
• Pass Me Another One of Those Hive76s [Hive 76 blog] — The hacker space stars as an energy drink in a computer wallpaper
• FlackCheck.org: using comedy to combat lies in politics [Newsworks]

• Checkpoint slashes 3Q, annual outlook; shares dive [AP via Business Week] From Philly Tech News: Center City-based “company now plans 1,000 employee reduction vs. 200 in prior plan; CEO cites sudden downturn of business in Europe.” Checkpoint moved to Philly from Gloucester County last fall.
• Learn how we helped to fabricate the TEDxPhilly sign [NextFab Studio]
• Gift List by QVC [Tim Quirino's blog] — The QVC developer and Geekadelphia co-founder shows off the QVC’s new app
• Greater Philadelphia Chamber adds education focus [Philadelphia Business Journal]

• Geek of the Week: Brady Russell: Creator of the Webcomic Eat the Babies [Geekadelphia]
• Philly Photo Day is Oct. 28 [Geekadelphia]
• Teva decides fate of Cephalon offices [Philadelphia Business Journal] — “Following the completion of Teva’s takeover of Cephalon Friday, a Teva spokeswoman confirmed that Cephalon’s corporate headquarters in Frazer, Pa.” More details on the deal here.
• New startup accelerator, Novotorium, takes shape in Bucks; to launch next month [Philly Tech News]
• Digitas/Razorfish Health CEO Kramer to Retire by Year’s End (MediaBistro: AgencySpy)
• MyYearbook.com tops business growth list [PhillyBurbs.com]
• NJ Transit Starts Tap-And-Pay Smartphone Option With Google [Bloomberg]
• Early stage companies target health sector at Philadelphia conference [Med City News]
• Apps for SEPTA Recap [Vox Populi] — Including video from sponsor TicketLeap of the hackathon Technically Philly co-sponsored

• Steve Jobs. Our economy. My suggestion. [John Fazio blog] — The co-founder of Northern Liberties hackerspace Devnuts writes about wanting to create smaller businesses to localize wealth.
• Who Are The Philadelphia Region’s Most Committed Small Business Lenders? [Multifunding blog]
• SEPTA sets a good example for open government, seriously [Daily News] — Excitement over the SEPTA hackathon we helped sponsor
• Solar firm to expand to N.J. [Courier Post] — California-based solar company Solmentum opened its east coast offices in Cherry Hill
• SunGard Availability unveils bigger data center [Philadelphia Business Journal] The new digs at 1500 Spring Garden St.
• MAYOR NUTTER ANNOUNCES CITY EXCEEDS 25 PERCENT MINORITY PARTICIPATION RATE [City press release] — Increase in minority, women and disabled businesses working with the city
• Design Philadelphia Picks: October 13-23 [Eyes on the Street] — It’s launched
• Freedom of the Word & Computer Security – An Activist Computer Security Workshop This Saturday  [Geekadelphia]
• Cephalon to be replaced by TE Connectivity in S&P [Philadelphia Business Journal]
• Reality Television Show Seeking Philly Geeks For New Program  [Geekadelphia]
• Philly area companies on 2011 InformationWeek 500 [Philly Tech News]

• SunGard in $14 million Center City expansion [Philly Deals: Inquirer]
• Quiet Time-keeping for Musicians at Curtis This Year [ATR website] — Bucks County-based ATR Systems installed more than 60 synchronized wall clocks at the new Curtis Institute of Music building in Center City
• Whipped Bakeshop’s New Website & CakeCam  [Geekadelphia] — Fishtown high-end dessert shop is trying something new, a live camera of their work during normal business hours.
• Spark Energy Launches New Mobile Website & App [Spark website]
• What data should the city release? [It's Our Money: Daily News] — The report on the OpenDataRace, which we told you about, and which also got coverage in GovFresh by developer Mark Headd.

• Real-Time Data [Inquirer] — On Saturday’s SEPTA hackathon we’ve told you about
• BarCampPhilly: Back For Another Year of Sharing, Learning & Partying  [Geekadelphia]
• Philly.com to crowdsource new hyperlocal news site for the Main Line [NBC 10] — Plans for the South Philly site were squashed
• Exploring Regional Economic Growth Inside the Navy Yard [Chamber of Commerce] — Coverage from an event hosted by Urban Outfitters. [Full Disclosure: Our parent company Technically Media is a chamber member.]
• MAYOR NUTTER, COUNCILMAN KELLY AND LOJACK SAFETYNET ANNOUNCE FREE TECHNOLOGY FOR THOSE PRONE TO WANDERING [Press release]
• DesignPhiladelphia Spotlight: The Gang Print Run @ Vox Populi  [Geekadelphia]
• Philadelphia notable Lauren Hart promoting region’s life sciences  [Philadelphia Business Journal] — Watch the narrated video below.

• Now it’s time to have a party [Yikestopia] — Fishtown web dev firm Yikes Inc. is hosting an open house next Friday to check out its recently completed LEED-certified rehab on Girard Avenue, featuring Michael Nutter. Read our coverage here.
• Welcome to N3rd Street [Dangerously Awesome] — Alex Hillman thinks his section of Old City has something interesting brewing
• Groupon Rolls Out Loyalty Program to Try to Make Merchants Happier [All Things Digital] — Launching in Chicago and Philadelphia this month, notes Philly Tech News
• Kids Dungeon Adventure: An RPG for the Little Ones, Made Just Outside of Philly  [Geekadelphia]

• Join us at MSF’s Traveling Exhibit and Happy Hour [Bluecadet Interactive]  — The Northern Liberties interactive design firm is joining a Doctors without Borders meetup tonight to talk about their new project exposing childhood malnutrition.
• MIS ranked in the top 20 by U.S. News & World Report [Temple University Fox School] — The university’s business school gets a strong nod
• 3 Fun Apps That Amplify and Filter Your Social Connections [Mashable] — Including Philly’s Cliq. We just highlighted Cliq here.
• Phila.’s most profitable outpatient surgery centers [Philadelphia Business Journal]
• MAYOR NUTTER CELEBRATES TEVA PHARMACEUTICALS GROUNDBREAKING AT NEW DISTRIBUTION CENTER [City of Philadelphia] — In Northeast Philly
• Penn labs get $12.5M from NIH  [Philadelphia Business Journal]
• So Here’s What Really Happened When A Pair Of Philly Football Writers Got Into A Fight Today [Deadspin] — Below the Taiwanese animation of the news that Inquirer Eagles writer Jeff McLane and Daily News writer Les Bowen got into it, as posted by the 700 Level.