In the News

Eye chart: Philadelphia's Warby Parker in focus

CNBC Thursday, October 25, 2012

CNBC talks with Philadelphia eyeware company co-CEO Neil Blumenthal.

"We're an early-stage company, 2 1/2 years in," Blumenthal said on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street."

"We're just looking at the next step now. ... We're more focused on how can we get glasses to people as quickkly as possible," Blumenthal said.

Original source: CNBC

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Penn State prof helps take sting out of swinging the bat

Discovery News Thursday, October 25, 2012

A Penn State University professor's work is helping batters who experience sore hands swinging baseball and softball bats, reports Discovery News.

"Having identified that vibration I helped tune a mass spring vibration absorber" embedded in the bat's knob "that attacks that frequency," Russell told Discovery News. "We tried it out and did pre and post measurements and found that it completely removed that unwanted vibration from the bat."

Russell worked with baseball bat manufacturer Marucci Sports to incorporate the technology into their youth and senior league bats.

Original source: Discovery News

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Remembering the funny side of Arlen Specter

The Washington Post Thursday, October 18, 2012

Not many know that Arlen Specter, the longtime Pennsylvania senator who died last week at age 82, was almost as funny as he was moderate, reports The Washington Post.

After losing his Senate seat in 2010, he got downright serious about his comedy, doing gigs in Philadelphia and NYC in the past year, and was scheduled to do another in Philly next month. His material, while not always the freshest, was boosted by his natural comic timing — and his willingness to plug VIP names into jokes. A few highlights from his recent sets:

• “I’ve been in comedy now for 30 years. [Long pause to let audience laugh when they realize he’s talking about the Senate.] The only difference is, it’s not stand-up: We all have comfortable chairs. It costs about 27 million dollars to win a seat — so when you win one, you like to sit down.”

• “Bill Clinton is a friend of mine, because I’m a friend of his: I voted not to impeach him. And that’s a hell of a thing to do considering the evidence.”

Original source: The Washington Post

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Pocono Biking: On the family bike trail in Jim Thorpe

The New York Times Thursday, October 18, 2012

A New York Times writer brings his family to Lehigh Gorge State Park in Jim Thorpe, and with the help of Pocono Biking, enjoys local landmnarks like Picture Rock and Mud Run Creek.

Within minutes of being dropped off with perhaps 20 other passengers, we were on the trail, the Lehigh River far below on our left, and a steep, wooded hill dotted with waterfalls to our right. The trail is wide and well maintained, a gravel surface under a canopy of trees, with mile markers to chart progress, picnic tables and signs noting points of interest and giving a bit of history.

Original source: The New York Times

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Pennsylvania hospitals among nation's most wired

Nurse.com Thursday, October 18, 2012

Nurse.com reports that Main Line Health (Bryn Mawr), Abington Health, Crozer-Keystone Hospital in Springfield, Grand View Hospital in Sellersville, Pocono Medical Center in East Stroudsburg and Lehigh Valley Health Network in Bethlehem were among the top healthcare organizations for IT achievements, while Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (Philadelphia) and Chester County Hospital (West Chester) were among 25 most improved facilities.

The annual Most Wired survey, released in the July issue of Hospitals & Health Networks magazine, the journal of the American Hospital Association, recognizes healthcare organizations for information technology achievements in infrastructure, business and administrative management, clinical quality and safety and the care continuum. The survey also included questions based on concepts of meaningful use.

Original source: Nurse.com

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Bootstrapped no more: Pittsburgh's Branding Brand rakes in $7.5M in Series A funding

TechCrunch Thursday, October 18, 2012

Pittsburgh-based mobile commerce and apps startup Branding Brand has raised $7.5 million in Series A funding, reports TechCrunch.

The Series A round, announced last week, was led by Insight Venture Partners, and saw participation from CrunchFund and Eastern Advisors. It’s the first outside investment for the company, which had been completely bootstrapped until now. The additional capital will be used to fund customer acquisition, technology development, and operations, the company reports.

Original source: TechCrunch
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Find foliage in Pittsburgh without leaving the city

NBC News Thursday, October 11, 2012

Pittsburgh is among several cities highlighted by NBC News for its fine foliage that can be enjoyed within city limits.

Riverview Park, built in the early 1890s on one of the highest points in the county, “offers some fantastic views of the changing foliage, not only in the park, but beyond,” Sexauer said. When in the heavily wooded Frick Park, the city’s largest, “you don’t realize you are in an urban setting,” he added. A quick drive to Schenley Park provides panoramic vistas of the downtown and easy access to walking trails. In October, Gateway Clipper Fleet offers a number of journeys to “experience the beautiful colors of fall from the decks of our riverboat,” with food and entertainment, like half-day Fall Foliage Cruises ($50 for adults, $16 for children) and several nine hour cruises along the Ohio River. Venture Outdoors, a nonprofit, will sponsor its Fall Foliage Ride on the Great Allegheny Passage on Oct. 7—an easy 22-mile round-trip to "celebrate the peak of fall foliage as we bike the oldest section of the Great Allegheny Passage." Riders will travel to Confluence, “a charming valley village,” where they can eat packed lunches or choose from a list of bike-friendly restaurants ($15 for non-members).

Original source: NBC News

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Avella: A classic Pennsylvania high school football story reborn

The New York Times Thursday, October 11, 2012

The New York Times visit tiny Avella High School in southwestern PA to reveal a team and town's comeback via an old friend, football.

Ryan Cecchini started playing here as a freshman in 1995, when the losing began. After college, he returned home to work in construction, as many here do, and when he interviewed to coach the varsity team in June 2011, he sold the administration on this: he understood the severity and the depth of the losing because he had experienced it firsthand.

Now in his second season, Cecchini has Avella 5-0, guaranteeing a winning season, and one win away from a probable playoff berth. A turnaround this swift has stirred an upwelling of pride.

Original source: The New York Times

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Yeah, but how do they make money? Philly's DuckDuckGo among tech's biggest names

Mashable Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Mashable looks at how some of the biggest names in tech make money, including Philadelphia search challenger DuckDuckGo (which still isn't profitable).

As one might expect, advertising and paid subscriptions are two major sources of revenue for these companies. The Internet has also given rise to a phenomenon known as “freemium,” when a company provides a base service for free but charges fees for certain premium features. For instance, Dropbox offers 2GB of free cloud data storage. If a user wants more space, however, he or she will have to pay up.

Original source: Mashable
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Pennsylvania ranks No. 10 among app economy states

Application Developers Alliance Wednesday, October 10, 2012

The app economy accounts for more than $630 million in economic impact and nearly 13,000 jobs in Pennsylvania, ranking 10th nationally according to a report released by the Application Developers Alliance.

Scranton, PA is home to Steamtown National Historic Site, a collection of steam locomotives harkening back to the era of coal and steel. It’s also home to Appek, a mobile application developer started by two college graduates. Originally, says founder Adam Ceresko, they built an iPhone app so that Penn State students could get information about bus schedules. After graduating, they started the business in Scranton because it was their hometown, and because of the cheap cost of living.

Original source: Application Developers Alliance

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UPenn researcher: Iran creating private internet

MIT Technology Review Thursday, October 04, 2012

MIT's Technology Review reports on University of Pennsylvania-funded researcher Collin Anderson's findings that indicate Iran is building a private internet network.

Anderson gathered his evidence using two hosts based in Tehran. He has obviously had some significant help from inside Iran to carry out this work and acknowledges the help of a number of individuals he is unable name because of "self-censorship and intimidation" within Iran and beyond. That's clearly difficult and dangerous work that must be applauded.

Original source: MIT Technology Review

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Survey: Pennsylvania among nation's top digital states

Government Technology Thursday, October 04, 2012

Government Technology reports on the Center for Digital Government's Digital States Survey, which gave Pennsylvania an 'A-' putting it among the top-10.

Most states submitted responses to a series of survey questions, focusing on IT leadership, service delivery, citizen engagement, innovation and collaboration. For those states not submitting information, evaluators considered several factors, including interviews and various other interactions with CDG staff throughout the survey period. Researchers, executives and senior fellows from the Center for Digital Government were involved in the comprehensive evaluation process that resulted in each state’s grade.

Original source: Government Technology

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High-tech duet sounds great in Philadelphia

NIU Today Thursday, October 04, 2012

A violinist in Philadelphia and a cellist in Illinois performed a duo in real-time thanks to new technology enabled by Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, reports NIU Today.

“Since Internet2’s inception, all across the world I have been asked by musicians, ‘Can we play together?’ and the answer has always been no,” said Ann Doyle, director of cultural collaborations for Internet2. “It is with gratitude to the LOLA project team, that the answer is now yes!”

Original source: NIU Today

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Geisinger: Surgery with a warranty is working

The Atlantic Thursday, October 04, 2012

The Atlantic looks at Central Pennsylvania medical innovator Geisinger Health Group and its ProvenCare experiment, which has resulted in a 67 percent reduction in in-hospital mortality.

Here's how they've done it: standardization. Geisinger strengthened their odds by overriding their cardiac surgeons' individual operating styles with 40 set best-care guidelines that everyone, every time, had to follow. Even dissent is strictly formulated -- doctors who veer from the guidelines have to justify their reason for doing so, selected from a previously agreed-upon list of acceptable justifications.

Original source: The Atlantic

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Philly's First Round Capital announces the $500,000 Dorm Room fund

Pando Daily Thursday, September 27, 2012

Pando Daily likes the idea of the University of Pennsylvania as Stanford of the East, reporting on new UPenn neighbor First Round Capital's Dorm Room fund.

Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Facebook were started on college campuses. The thinking goes that if students were smart enough to create these companies, then they are smart enough to identify peers with potential. First Round is taking applications for its batch of eight mini-VCs on the Penn and Drexel campuses. Once its initial investment team is picked, those members will choose their own replacements as they graduate.

They’ll be given $500,000 to invest in companies (around $15,000 each) over the course of the school year.

Original source: Pando Daily

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