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. Follow along with the Startup Roundup’s dedicated RSS feed. If you’ve got news to share, get in touch.

DEFINITE READS

USA Today highlights Temple entrepreneurship after university officials noticed that self-employment in the 2009 class is at an all-time high. Northeast Philadelphia news website NEastPhilly.com was highlighted prominently, along with Shawn Geller, who founded CollegeClipper.com, which helps retailers connect with college students using coupon offers. [Full Disclosure: The TP staff graduated from Temple and we're buds with NEastPhilly.com's McDonald]

Update, 10:19 a.m.: The winner of Temple’s $65,000 Be Your Own Boss entrepreneurship contest was also announced this morning. Next Engineering, which designs an automated suspension system for motorcycles that uses sensors and fluid-based absorbers to provide more control and safety, took home the prize.

MIGHT BE WORTH YOUR TIME

The Wharton Business Plan Competition saw a handful of new startups vying for the $20,000 grand prize. As we reported yesterday, life sciences ran the show, but there were several local startups that also nabbed some of the lower-hanging prizes. Most notably, Penn’s Jason Halpern won $5,000 in an undergraduate award offering for his PowerFlower agricultural solar solution. And Penn student Aymeric de Hemptinne received the $3,000 People’s Choice Award for Kembrel.com, a campus-centric private shopping community that helps connect brands with students.

Mobile payment platform XIPWIRE has been active in the local news lately after officially announcing last week. Let us count the ways (in which a press release works):

• Inquirer
• Daily News
• Philadelphia Business Journal
• 6ABC
• KYW
• City Paper
• NBCPhiladelphia

And we’re just giving you legacy guys a hard time. A press release also worked back in January when we first covered the mobile platform.

GIVE A GLANCE

RazorFish, Microsoft’s creative agency opened an online healthcare marketing branch Razorfish Health two months ago and already the company has laid off 5-10 staffers, AgencySpy reports.

Startup Roundup will post weekly on Wednesdays until there’s not a Philly startup story left to link to on the Internet. See others here.

We’ve been chronicling the plight of Razorfish for a few months now. To recap: Microsoft acquired Razorfish’s parent company in 2007 and has been looking to unload the interactive agency ever since. Razorfish, formally known as Avenue A, has offices all over the world including Center City Philadelphia.

According to the Times of London, Microsoft was in “an unholy rush” to get the deal done so it wouldn’t have to pay scheduled bonuses to Razorfish’s employees.

Details of the deal after the jump.

The software giant settled on Publicus’ $530 million deal which includes an agreement to buy “hundreds of millions” in Bing advertising. Microsoft will take a stake in Publicus as part of the deal.

• The purchase was roughly 1.5 times Razorfish’s 2008 earnings.
• $230 million was in equity and $300 million in cash.
• Publicus agrees to buy ads from Bing at a discount for five years.
• Razorfish’s management will remain unchanged
• Razorfish will retain its branding.

[h/t to Philly Tech News, paidConent, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and the Times of London]

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.

The software giant is said to be courting five major ad firms with the help of banker Morgan Stanley.

To refresh your memory, Microsoft acquired the agency, which has offices in Center City, in 2007 when it purchased Razorfish’s then-parent company, aQuantive. Since, many suspected that Microsoft would eventually sell the Razorfish brand.

But, according to the Wall Street Journal and other sources, the lack of credit in the market and a potential conflict of interest for buyers are putting the prospects of a sale in serious doubt.

To help sweeten the deal, Microsoft is offering advertising inventory across its Internet properties such as Bing, XBox Live and MSN.com as well as the use of the company’s “ad technologies.” Which, we can only presume, means the Bill Gates’ secret chamber of hamsters running on wheels that power the interwebz.

Some estimates even have Razorfish selling for as low as $400 million, roughly equal to its 2008 revenue.

However, it may take more than the above incentives to persuade prospective buyers. By agreeing to use Microsoft’s ad technologies, the company is forcing buyers, who are advertising agencies that often buy advertising against Google and Microsoft search results, to get into bed with Microsoft.

To top it all off, Microsoft may not even be not fully committed to selling the company in the first place. Because of Microsoft’s reluctance, the lack of a credit market and the potential of alienating Google, the chance of a deal happening in the next few months is “less than 25 percent.”

Razorfish, formally known as Avenue A | Razorfish, counts Center City among one of its sixteen worldwide offices and is responsible for the current Philly.com design, among other projects.

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.

The state budget deadline came and, like every other year of Gov. Ed Rendell’s tenure, it went by without a completed plan.

This year, though, the fight has something to do with the state collecting $3.5 billion less in taxes than it anticipated. So everyone’s feeling the pinch. Even, it seemed, Ben Franklin Technology Partners, the state-funded, startup investment company that we reported could see a $10 million, 60 percent budget cut or more — and then others did too.

But the Inquirer’s Joe DiStefano thoughroghly researched the report, suggesting that the report BFTP pointed to in its defense was less than square — a report from the Pennsylvania Economy League that showed BFTP bringing in $3.50 for every $1 invested in it.

“That’s not real,” DiStefano wrote. “The authors [of the report] estimated, and extrapolated, and multipliered, using what the Economy League’s Rich Stein told me were “quasi-experimental” techniques.

According to his article, the state put $50.7 million into BFTP this year, a total Rendell wants to cut to $35 million the coming fiscal year. The original Senate Republican budget put it nearer to $20 million.

Little question remains whether BFTP has done good, but much debate, DiStefano clearly shows, can be had on if it’s done enough to avoid one of the largest state budget tightenings in recent memory.

After the jump, Michael Nutter is not on Twitter, a biomedical firm brings jobs to Philly and six other tech and innovation links you need in your life right now, including our most read story of the week.

Ordered by an incredibly complex algorithm rendering importance:

• Inquirer City Hall blog Heard in the Hall reports that Philadelphia’s city administration is noticeably absent from the nation’s Twitter obsession. They also add that the Michael Nutter on Twitter ain’t really Mayor Michael Nutter, but an impostor.
• The New York Times BITS blog reports that the government of the 67th ward has invited software developers to develop applications to let Internet users navigate large data collections, like inspections and events. It’s about transparency and innovation. Yo, Allan Frank, why didn’t this happen in Philadelphia first [PING!]?
• ZDNet shares an interview with Navid Safabakhsh, a principal at San Francisco and Center City-based interactive web development agency Freshout, on his firm’s use of open source, collaboration and other technologies to help companies better use the Web to connect to customers.
• The Business Journal reports that biomedical firm EResearch Technology said late Monday it is moving a 30-person customer care team to its new headquarters on Market West, Center City. With a city that may have finally begun to halt its plummeting population, even small job additions are bright spots.
• The Financial Times reports that Microsoft is putting Internet ad agency Razorfish, with Center City offices, up for sale.  via CNET
• The Associated Press reports that the worst may be over — at least for the U.S. tech market.
• The AP also reports on the surprise reversal from the Chinese government on PCs with built-in search filters.

• Our Most Trafficked Story of the Week: SEPTA opens Google Transit data to third-party developers

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.

No worries. Technically Philly is here to give you the low down on all things Philly at the music/movie/tech festival that is South by Southwest. The “i” component of the festival, meaning “interactive,” is four days of panels, talks, parties and even karaoke. Plop down in your favorite chair, and read along about those with ties to the metro area who will make noise in Austin. It will be like you’re there. Sorta.

People

Patrick Moorhead, Director of Emerging Media – Avenue A | Razorfish

Moorhead is leading two panels with David Polinchock of Brand Experience Lab: The Invisible Web and Ubiquitous Computing and Emerging From a Recession with Emerging Media Intact. He is not currently living in the city, but he was a teacher at Drexel, was involved in PANMA and his employer might best be known for the philly.com redesign.

Geoff DiMasi, Owner – P’unk Ave.

DiMasi, along with several other coworking leaders around the country, is part of the Regional Whuffie Building: Attracting Innovation to Your City panel. The panel is meant to prove that innovation happens outside of the Silicon Valley, and we’re glad a Philadelphia rep on board. As a co-founder of Indy Hall, founder of South Philly-based interactive firm P’unk Ave., host of Junto and co-organzier of Ignite Philly, DiMasi may know what he is talking about.

Darlene Cavalier, Founder – Science Cheerleader

We may have a pro-Temple bias given TP’s own academic history, but Cavalier should do just fine leading her panel about allowing amateurs mine large amounts of scientific data. The former Temple student and 76ers cheerleader runs the Science Cheerleader blog and is an advocate for increasing the accessibility and profile of amateurs contributing to science. She started out stuffing envelopes at Discover magazine and worked her way up to be a Senior Manager at Discover’s parent company, Walt Disney. She still lives in in Philadelphia.

Alex Hillman, co-founder – Indy Hall

Coworking will be on Hillman’s mind as it often must be, while he leads a panel by himself about the coworking movement. Several other coworking leaders will be in Austin, so either none of them felt like getting up at 11 a.m., or Philly’s Indy Hall has become the ideal coworking model. Hopefully the latter. Hillman will also be part of a group panel on recommendations in Web applications and e-commerce, such as the “you might be interested in…” box on Amazon.

John Gruber, blogger – Daring Fireball

You know you’ve made it when Merlin Mann, the saint of Internet productivity, is on a panel with you. Gruber and Mann are set to discuss ways to increase credibility on a blog. His own blog, the Apple news site Daring Fireball, is a full time job for Gruber, who lives in Philadelphia.

Parties

The parties do not have individual links, you’ll have to comb through the party page.

SXSW Interactive Opening Happy Hour hosted by Razorfish

Razorfish isn’t primarily based in Philadelphia, but they do have a Philly office. So there is an outside chance some local peeps will attend. Although if the event’s Facebook wall is any indication, you might be better off going somewhere else.

OK! Happy Cog’aoke

Locally based Happy Cog is throwing a Karaoke competition that has at least four local competitors that were voted in the top 20.

Surely there are more events containing Philly residents, but we did are best combing through the stacks of events and panels. If we missed something, drop a comment and we’ll add it above.