Startup roundup: P’unk Ave launching Apostrophe 1.0 CMS, Clio possible “household name” backing, Proton saves BP $3.7m

Introducing Technically Philly’s Startup Roundup. Here, we’ll parse out the small pieces that make our greater Startup ecosystem thrive. We want to keep you in touch with the innovations that we can’t quite get to covering, but that deserve highlight. If you’ve got news to share, get in touch.

DEFINITE READS

P’unk Ave will launch the first version of its open-source Apostrophe content management system on Wednesday. The developer says that the CMS has been used for several of its clients, including Duke University, Kiberton Waldorf School and the Environmental Management Assistance Program. We’ve wrote about the CMS in this roundup before, and after talks with co-founder Geoff DiMasi, we think the team is playing its release pretty low-key for the quality of the product. It might be DiMasi’s punk rock roots—ask him about seeing Fugazi back in the day.

Orpheus Media Research, developer of music analysis tool Clio, says in an to Technically Philly that after reaching out to investors with its full business plan, the new company has been “aggressive in reaching out to major industry players,” and is in partnership talks with two large content partners and three “household name” corporations for technology and funding. Additionally, after reducing its funding requirements, it is now seeking private equity partnerships with angel firms as opposed to venture capital. Get on that, investors.

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Event Highlights for October 19-25, 2009

We’ve become official employees of the Philadelphia Phillies post-season. It sure as heck feels like a full-time job, doesn’t it?

We know: it’s gonna be tough making it out to some of those events on our calendar this week unless someone’s carting a television along, or at least a mobile subscription to MLB.TV. After all, our boys play tonight, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

But we still have you covered. And it just so happens that the events are weighted on Tuesday. Coincidence? Major League Baseball-psychic-connection? We may never know. Hit the jump for the highlights. No, not a replay of that eighth-inning three-run Victorino homer. Event highlights.

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Philadelphia Zoo and Laurel Hill Cemetery get tech exhibits

Two mainstays of Philadelphia tourism have added tech-inspired exhibit additions.

The Philadelphia Zoo and Laurel Hill Cemetery have both embraced clever technologies meant to help educate their customers in interactive ways.

The zoo has installed touchscreens with an interactive application that highlights the conservation of its prized Amur and snow leopard cats. Laurel Hill, on the banks of the Schuylkill River south of East Falls, now lets visitors roam its acres of gravestones with only a cell phone as a guide.

It’s innovative stuff like this that has us considering leaving our PCs. For a few hours, anyway.

Philadelphia has seen an increase recently in technology-based tourist attractions, including the Rosenbach Museum and Library’s Abe Lincoln iPhone app, which we reported on in May. Last week we offered a few of our own local recommendations in a top ten list of Philly iPhone applications that don’t exist but should.

But those are housed on a phone. The cemetery and zoo are encouraging us to get out of the house, which is a recommendation duly noted.

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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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Events highlights for the week of April 27 – May 3, 2009

What’s going on this week?

Oh not much. Just that huge, silly Mashable mixer that brings the popular blog to Philly for the first time. Rumor has it they even catered the event specially to Philadelphia.

After you recover from talking social media until 2 a.m., you can shake off the grogginess by attending the third Ignite Philly presented by P’unk Ave‘s Geoff DiMasi and company. But, please, get there early. Last year’s was so packed that Johnny Brenda’s stopped letting people in.

If you can’t be around this weekend, then at least make it out to the SEO Grail April Meetup on Tuesday where Pay Per Click strategies and tips will be discussed.

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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P’unk Ave Active Intersection sound installation now streaming live

Ashley John Pigford’s Active Intersection sound installation, running this month at P’unk Avenue‘s office in the Passyunk Square neighborhood of South Philadelphia is now streaming live.

We reported on the University of Delaware professor’s installation with near-excruciating detail earlier this month in our Shop Talk series last week.

Pigford’s installation is a trippy experiment that documents, translates and transmits activity in the street outside P’unk Avenue’s office near 9th and Federal streets as sound.

A camera records sound and video of happenings in the intersection. A computer extracts information from the recorded data and outputs it into a droning, fluctuating melody. Then, the re-processed sound then gets synced to a projection of the video recording.

“It’s constantly changing, constantly flowing, which I think is a very positive human experience.” — Ashley John Pigford on his sound installation.

Be sure to check out the live stream—which is quite hypnotizing—and find out how it all works in our coverage.

Shop Talk: P’unk Avenue Active Intersection’s Ashley John Pigford

If you visit P’unk Avenue this month, you may enter an audio/visual time warp. But if you survive, you’ll be in for something special.

Ashley John Pigford is currently showing his Active Intersection sound installation at the space, an electro-organic experience that translates a busy intersection into an audio/visual sense frenzy.

A camera records sound and video happening on the street. A computer extracts information from the recorded data and outputs it into a droning, fluctuating melody. All of the re-processed sound than gets synced to a projection of the video recording.

“Consider it taking real life as data, translating it, and putting it back out to real life,” Pigford said.

It’s trippy. We know.

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IgnitePhilly organizers ask community to suggest presentations for third event

Have five minutes to spare on Saturday, May 2?

Consider stopping by Johnny Brenda’s in Fishtown that evening to catch just one presentation at the next planned IgnitePhilly speaking event. Or take those minutes and give a presentation of your own. The third in a series of Ignites was officially announced yesterday in a blog post written by Geoff DiMasi of P’unk Ave, who says that organizers are currently accepting recommendations from the community for potential speakers, 15 in all, before the May event.

“Are you working on a rad project, have something interesting to say or know someone that is?,” he asks in the post. “We are looking for inspiring speakers that are doing cool things in Philadelphia.”

Ignite gives presenters a chance to fire off the details of their ideas or projects in five minutes or less with 20 backing slides. No sales pitches or shameless self-promotion accepted. Still confused? Just watch the video presentations from the first and the second Ignites. It’ll take much less than five minutes to realize the potential to learn, share knowledge, and grab one of JB’s frosty, craft-brewed beers while you’re at it. Beer may seem like a side note, but its an integral point of contrast to the university lecture setting that the organizers are trying to steer clear of.

We called DiMasi to glean some additional details and found out why he thinks Ignite is 2009′s answer to Fugazi, after the jump:

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