PhillyTreeMap.org: crowdsourced census of Philadelphia’s tree canopy

Map rendering of some 180,000 cataloged trees in Philadelphia, via PhillyTreeMap.org.

Philadelphia is crowdsourcing a census of its trees, and, yes, would you mind helping?

Unveiled on Arbor Day during Philly Tech Week, PhillyTreeMap.org is a wiki-inspired web application that allows users who register free to collaborate with the project partners — City of Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission – to map,  inventory and preserve the Philadelphia urban forest. The project was built by local mapping company Azavea.

Nearly 180,000 are already cataloged, though the species and other core details are missing.With guidance from the site, users can ascertain species type, estimate trunk diameter and height and fill in other specifics that will help the coalition of groups to better ascertain what is lacking and what is working in Philadelphia foliage.

PhillyTreeMap is meant to help Parks & Rec with its 30 percent tree canopy goal outlined in Greenworks Philadelphia by engaging residents around tree planting and stewardship, Azavea Project Manager Deb Boyer said during the Green Tech Showcase unveiling. Currently Philadelphia has an average of roughly 20 percent canopy across the city, though some parts have fuller coverage and other parts have far less.

Funding has not yet supported a mobile interface, which would allow users to more easily update entries while at the tree, Boyer said, but the browser experience is a user friendly one. Team members will offer some project oversight in case of false information, but the hope is for Philadelphians to help with this cause, she added.

According to a press release [PDF]: “Azavea built PhillyTreeMap using open source code contributed by the Urban Forest Map project in San Francisco and plans to collaborate with the group on future urban forestry projects.  The development of PhillyTreeMap was supported by a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture.”

Visit Philly, Visit Bucks County launch mobile sites, app

Two major tourist agencies of the region are touting new mobile websites and applications integrating destination and direction-driven content.

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp. has launched the mobile version of VisitPhilly.com, and Visit Bucks County has released iPhone, BlackBerry and Android apps, in addition to their own mobile website.

Something like three quarters of travelers who use smart phones rely on them during trips, better than the 60 percent usage in preparation, according to the January 2011 ‘State of the American Traveler’ [PDF] survey from Destination Analysts. That’s why GPTMC focused on quickly actionable information, says Caroline Bean, who handles national media relations for GPTMC.

“Our site focuses on best practices to best serve people looking for information during their trip,” Bean says, including focuses on GPS-driven maps tied to sightseeing, restaurants and hotels. Direct ticket sales will be an area of growth for the site, she said, being particularly mindful that VisitPhilly.com sees traffic spikes on the weekends.

The trends are similar in Bucks County. The apps, mobile site and text messaging service are “designed to provide immediate access to tourism-related information,” says Visit Bucks County public relations manager Michelle Greco. Their text messaging focus is tied into advertising and marketing programs featuring discounts and coupons. All products are free to use.

Philly 311 web app to be piloted in June, due for public release ‘in next three months’

Screenshots of the 311 app on BlackBerry, featuring the welcome and problem screens. Click to enlarge.

By the summer’s end, Philadelphia 311 will take another big step forward, City Managing Director Rich Negrin announced at the Philly Tech Week Signature Event.

“In the next three months, we’ll see the release of our first 311 [web] app” Negrin told 150 attendees at WHYY, many tweeting the news to a projected Twitterfall, in highlighting what’s new for the non-emergency call center.

The web application represents another, more passive front face to 311, supporting call intake volume — due to surpass three million calls received, Negrin added — and the walk-up service at City Hall.

“It’s not just your granddaddy’s app,” said Rosetta Lue, the director of the non-emergency call center. “You can enter requests, track complaints and have a community calendar with what’s happening. You don’t have to wait for our call center to be open.”

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SEPTA subway iPhone app launches

Patrick Cassidy, the developer behind phillysubway, has a theory about mass transit iPhone applications.

“Transit systems have quirks and you need to be user of the system to write an app for it,” he says.

A SEPTA rider and the lone employee at Caffeine Fish, Cassidy followed up regional rail scheduling application Trainboard with phillysubway, an iPhone app that provides up-to-the-minute subway schedules. Users can hold their iPhone normally for the North/South Broad Street Line, or turn their phone sideways for the (mostly) East/West Market Frankford Line.

A functionality that, Cassidy says, had him fearful that Apple would reject the application form its App Store.

[Disclosure: Caffeine Fish is a Technically Philly advertiser. This post is not part of any advertising package.]

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Emerging Technologies for Enterprise 2011: Mobile as lesson in past, future of web

The sold out 2011 Emerging Technology for the Enterprise conference will finish up later this afternoon, but not before mobile took its stage.

The conference, a locally-organized, two-day conference for high-level enterprise software development discussion and now in its sixth year, features tracks on various focuses, from infrastructure and languages to agility and frameworks. And, yes, mobile.

Last year, too, mobile was already a feature, but, says Tracey Welson-Rossman, a co-organizer of the event, the level of interest in mobile has intensified even faster than she expected. Welson-Rossman, who is the director of sales for Chariot Solutions, the Fort Washington consulting firm that organizes ETE, and a Philly Startup Leaders board member, says mobile’s growth has mirrored the success of the conference itself.

“When I talk to our panelists and speakers, they are sticking around to actually sit in on other sessions because most conferences don’t have the diversity that we’ve seen happen here,” she says, adding that presenters aren’t paid but are increasingly motivated by the reputation of ETE and those in attendance.

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Comcast asks employees for support in ‘Worst Company in America poll:’ Roundup

Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an e-mail subscri ption for our Comcast news updates.

• Comcast Begs Employees To Vote For Charter In Worst Company In America Poll [Consumerist] — Allegedly, Comcast representatives encouraged employees, if they agreed, to vote against Comcast in this year’s annual March Madness-style public voting bracket on Consumerist to determine ‘the worst company in America.’ Last year, Comcast took the unfortunate crown.  The round one voting is here.
• Who’s Going To Buy Sprint Now? Verizon? Comcast? Google? [Silicon Alley Insider] — The Wall Street Journal cites a source as saying Comcast is not interested.” H/T PTN
• Co-Presidents to Head Up USA Channel [New York Times] — “Comcast’s NBCUniversal division is promoting two executives, Jeff Wachtel and Chris McCumber, to be the co-presidents of USA, the most-watched channel on cable television. “
• Comcast Gives Customers More Choice with Mobile Self-Service [Comcast blog] — Mobile bill pay, to add to other features
• Comcast forms diversity advisory council [phillyBurbs.com]
• Philadelphia Union adds TV partners [Philadelphia Business Journal] — ComcastSportsNet and the Comcast Network will broadcast Philadelphia Union soccer games
• Comcast government-affairs exec retires [Inquirer] — “Comcast Corp. government-affairs executive Joe Waz is retiring and will launch a consulting business, the Philadelphia cable company said today.”
• Comcast DOCSIS 2.0 Markets To See Upgrades As Comcast Pushes 3.0 Past 85% Of Their Footprint [Broadband Reports]
• Comcast Business Services Launches Indirect Channel Sales Program – Signs with Telarus, Inc. [PR Web]

Submissions open for mobile art exhibits

A local organization dedicated to the intersection of technology and arts is hosting an open call for submissions.

But it may surprise you to learn that your work—if chosen—won’t be geared for display in a gallery.

Instead, the host, Breadboard, a venture sponsored by the University City Science Center, plans to share the works through several mobile interfaces.

It’s virtual public art exhibit, which we covered in October, is opening for new submissions. Folks can submit 3D Layar files that are geographically mapped. When a user comes across a piece in the city, they’re able to view the work using the free Layer app for iPhone and Android devices.

Second, a new program being put together by Breadboard with partner Center for Mobilities Research and Policy, DIS•LOCATIONS, questions our mobile life and our social connection to it using under-used store fronts in a familiar area of the city: along Market and Chestnut between 8th and 12th streets. Folks will be able to interact with video installations and window overhauls at by scanning mobile QR codes to download additional artistic content. We dig it.

Deadlines begin the second week of February. Virtual Art submissions are capped on the 12th, while DIS•LOCATIONS submissions will be taken until the 14th.

We could take it upon ourselves to enter, but it would just be embarrassing.

Comcast Roundup: Ed Rendell urges NBC deal approval, Level 3 parries back and More

Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an e-mail subscription for our Comcast news updates.

DEFINITE READS

• Comcast and NBC [New York Times editorial] — Urging regulators to not feel rushed in approving the Comcast-NBC merger.
• As Comcast-NBC try to tie up merger, news editorials differ on consequences [Post Tech: Washington Post] — An October Washington Post editorial “said that many of the same critiques of the Comcast-NBCU deal were voiced in 2001 by hand-wringers nervous about the AOL-Time Warner merger – worries that came to naught.”
• Comcast merger helps consumers [Politico editorial by Ed Rendell] — Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell responds to an editorial from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders criticizing the NBC deal.
• Level 3: Comcast Charging For Local Access, Not Peering [Multichannel News] — Colorado online distribution company Level 3 lobs back more detailed criticism of Comcast, after last week’s blow up. Comcast quickly denounced the update as, well, as not being an update.

Hulu and Earthlink give more details on their perspective on the NBC deal, extension of the partnership and more.

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Hispanic community’s distance from the web will affect voting Nov. 2: Guest Post

Hispanic voters and their use of the web will both have an impact on Tuesday's election, says Tek Lado magazine Editor Liz Spikol.

This is a guest post by Liz Spikol, Editor of bilingual Tek Lado magazine, as part of our Guest Contributor Week. Want to have an op-ed or feature you’ve written to appear on TP, now or in the future? Drop us a line.

One way you can tell it’s election time: Latinos are in the news.

President Obama is reaching out, first by highlighting Latino kids at the White House’s first science fair, and then—one day later—revealing a broad plan to encourage educational achievement among Latino children. He’s also suggested, in ways big and small, that voting on Nov. 2nd should be a priority for the Hispanic community.

He’s not wrong to push for those votes, particularly in such a hotly contested battle.

CBS News reports that in some states, the battles may be decided by Latinos —and Latinos tend to vote Democratic. The country’s fastest growing minority has a lot of power, and Obama knows it.
Right now about 19 million Latinos nationally are eligible to vote.

There are implications on both sides of the aisle for Latinos, and to understand where each party stands can be of significant value when pulling a lever behind that flimsy blue curtain.

Understanding that those 19 million voters don’t necessarily vote in lockstep, how Latinos get their information about each party — on the web or through mobile devices — can be just as crucial to that understanding.

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Verizon preps local LTE network, Comcast launches WiFi offering

Updated, 10/13: Comcast communications rep Charlie Douglas writes to correct us that Comcast’s Xfinity WiFi is not related to its 4G Xfinity 2go service, which launched last year. “The [Xfinity WiFi] devices are located directly on our existing hybrid fiber-optic coaxial cable network,” Douglas says.

Philadelphia is no stranger to being a mobile testground for telecommunication companies, and two announcements last week have not broken that trend.

Verizon Wireless has announced at a CTIA mobile conference in San Francisco that Philadelphia will be a part of the company’s initial 4G Long Term Evolution mobile technology launch. The fourth generation tech, which will be available before the end of the year, will allow devices average downloads of 5 to 12Mbps and upload speeds of 2 to 5 Mbps.

Comcast, too, officially launched its new entered the 4G mobile market Xfinity WiFi network last week, PC Mag reports. Comcast’s residential broadband customers in Philadelphia and some parts of New Jersey are able to access the hotspots at no cost. Users can locate hotspots for the service here.

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