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Month: August 2010

Portland’s PingGadget purports to take a page from Twitter and a page from Foursquare

Sometimes, there is a better wheel. Sometimes, a market has an 800 lbs gorilla that could use a little toppling. And yes, sometimes, I use inane marketing drivel when I can’t think of any better way to get into an article.

But see? Now we’ve made it through the intro. So I can tell you about PingGadget, a new Portland startup that’s looking to take the best of Twitter’s short format and combine it with Foursquare-esque location information to deliver a new microblogging platform. Read More

REMINDER: SXSW panel voting ends today; Twitter and Facebook streams return to regularly scheduled programming

[HTML1]If you spend any time in social media, you’ve no doubt been inundated over the last two weeks with requests to “vote for my panel at SXSW.” Ever since SXSW instituted the crowd sourced PanelPicker, folks have taken to the airwaves to pimp their panels to their peers.

Admittedly, I’m part of the problem. But not for much longer. You see, today is the last day you can vote on the proposed 2011 SXSW panels. Read More

REMINDER: Tonight, free beer, free pizza… Oh and maybe a little something about Intel Atom, your apps, and a little cash

Sure, sure. Building those apps is all fun and games until someone needs to make a living from it. And then? Then things get a little more confusing.

That’s why Intel is hosting an event tonight—to help developers get more out of their apps. More money that is. It’s all about learning how to turn your code into cash. Read More

Not sure where to start? StartupDay 2010 (and this discount) can help you start your startup

After a very successful initial event last year, the folks at Seattle 2.0 have organized another StartupDay. Filled with a—well, a day—of interesting talks from a wide variety of successful tech entrepreneurs.

And since bootstrapping your venture is all about making ends meet, we can probably save you a few pennies, as well. You see, if you’re willing to make the jaunt up to Seattle, you can also cash in on a discounted conference rate. But you have to act fast. Read More

REMINDER: Mobile Portland invites panel of educators to discuss mobile and education tonight

While we all find a great deal of satisfaction and entertainment in mucking with technology day in and day out, every once in awhile, it’s nice to actually do something with it. Yes, yes. Even if it’s that shiny new mobile technology.

So tonight, Mobile Portland will be discussing not only something to do with technology but something very worthwhile—the use of mobile technology for education. Read More

On open source and government: An accidental manifesto

[HTML1]A number of us recently read the Willamette Week’s coverage of open source and the City of Portland’s engagement with the open source community. Seeing this type of coverage from a mainstream publication was a high watermark of sorts. A step forward. But how big of a step?

I asked Audrey Eschright, Open Source Bridge co-founder, the driving force behind Calagator, and local open source advocate, for her take on it—for more details on her position, more insight into her thinking. What she provided wound up being—by her own admission—an accidental manifesto on open source and municipal government. Read More

Portland Panel Picker: Vote for these SXSW Interactive panel proposals from Portland

It’s that time of year again. Time for folks to be voting on the SXSW Interactive talks they’d like to see—all via the SXSW 2011 PanelPicker.

And so like we did for the SXSW 2010 submissions, I thought it might be helpful for you to have a list of the Portland people who have submitted sessions for your consideration. Read More

Paperbacking Portland geogeeking: Adam DuVander releases Map Scripting 101

Yes, I realize “paperbacking” isn’t a word. But you hip kids Google and Skype and whatnot. I thought you would give me a little leeway. Or something. What’s that? Whoa whoa whoa. “Geogeeking” is so a word. Is so. Is so!

I think we’re just going to have to agree to disagree. (Is SO!) Because I’ve got more important fish to fry here. You see, one of our favorite Portland tech types—Adam DuVander—has finished his tome to geogeeking (is SO!), Map Scripting 101: An Example-Driven Guide to Building Interactive Maps with Bing, Yahoo!, and Google Maps. And we’re not talking any eBook here. We’re talking real dead tree stuff. And that, my friends, deserves a Map Scripting 101 launch party. Read More

Another Portlander plans to revolutionize banking: Bill DeRouchey joins BankSimple

BankSimple isn’t a Portland company, per se, but co-founder and Chief Product and Technology Officer, Alex Payne, lives here in Portland. So much like Vimeo and Kickstarter, we consider them part of our tech scene.

And now, the Portland office of BankSimple is going to double in size. News has broken this morning that Bill DeRouchey, formerly of Ziba Design—and a guy who has more knowledge of buttons and ukeleles than most—has joined BankSimple as Creative Director. Read More