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Category: #featured

As the Twitter turns: Chappelle’s (no) Show Portland or Dave’s not here… wait hold the phone, yes he is

Rick Turoczy on July 15, 2009

[HTML1]Now, it’s not like I haven’t fallen victim to silly Twitter rumors before. I have. Innumerable times. Guilty and guilty. But this one has to top all of the others.

[HTML3]Seems that sometime today a little Twitter rumor started that comedian Dave Chappelle was going to stage a secret show in Pioneer Square. Well, and you know. One thing led to another. And Portland does love the Twitter. And pretty soon there were thousands of people in Pioneer Square.

But the question remained: would Dave Chappelle make an appearance? Read More

Happy 10th Birthday, MetaFilter!

And while we should be proud of MetaFilter as a product of Oregonian ingenuity for any number of reasons, I’ve got one more reason to add to the list: MetaFilter just turned 10 years old.

Rick Turoczy on July 14, 2009

One of the most widely read yet least often recognized as a product of the good old Silicon Forest has to be MetaFilter, the quintessential Weblog of random facts and finds. And while we should be proud of MetaFilter as a product of Oregonian ingenuity for any number of reasons, I’ve got one more reason to add to the list: MetaFilter just turned 10 years old.

A blog that’s been around for a decade? (TechCrunch, for example, is four years old.) That’s impressive for any project. Let alone a project that discusses everything from dinosaurs to blasphemy to the truly and completely random site. Read More

Portland Web and graphic design community to the City: Spec work? Ur doin it wrong

In a classic case of one step forward, two steps back the City of Portland is now proposing a design contest to redesign PortlandOnline. And it’s spec work.

Rick Turoczy on July 13, 2009

[HTML3]Sigh. And just when we thought things seemed to be going so well with the City of Portland. I mean, the City had committed to being more open, gone out for bid on fixing the PortlandOnline site, and just ratified the Portland Economic Development Strategy. Yet, now that string of victories risks being thoroughly undermined by a slap in the face to the Portland Web and graphic design community.

In a classic case of “one step forward, two steps back,” the City of Portland is now proposing a design contest to redesign PortlandOnline. And it’s spec work. Read More

Survey: Which Silicon Forest startup organizations do you find most helpful?

If you’ve got a few seconds, I’d really appreciate your providing your opinion on the Silicon Forest organizations that are doing the most to help startups.

Rick Turoczy on July 13, 2009

[HTML1]With the City of Portland planning to spend more time helping startups, I got to thinking. “How are we helping startups, already?” I said to myself. “Not only that, but who’s doing a good job of it?”

Now, I easily rattled off any number of organizations who were focused on helping the Portland and Silicon Forest startup environment. But other than my own personal opinion, I couldn’t really gauge who was helping entrepreneurs succeed.

Clearly, I don’t know the answer to that question. But you know who does? You. That’s why I’m asking you to tell me. (And once you tell me, we can tell everyone else.) Read More

Love Twitter, your iPhone, and hide-and-seek? There’s an app for that: hideNtweet

Well, thanks in part to Portland’s Nate “@xolotl” Angell that dream of Twitter and iPhone and hide-and-seek goodness has become a reality. Get ready to play hideNtweet.

Rick Turoczy on July 10, 2009

[HTML2]If you’re like me, you love a good game of hide-and-seek. Or hide-n-seek. And like me, you may also be a big fan of the iPhone. Perhaps even—and this would be the trifecta—you, like me, may have spent a minute or two on Twitter. If so, you may be thinking what I’m thinking. What’s that? Well, I’m always thinking, “If only could I combine my affection for the iPhone and Twitter with the joy of hide-and-seek? If only….”

Well, thanks in part to Portland’s Nate “@xolotl” Angell, some ghost naming from Heather “@twigz” Angell, and illustrations by Brett Forman of a novel design—and of course tons of brilliant coding by John Ellis who doesn’t happen to be in the Silicon Forest… yet—that dream of Twitter and iPhone and hide-and-seek goodness has become a reality.

Get ready to play hideNtweet. Read More

Oregon Small Business Boost results: Eugene’s Palo Alto Software gives away more than $3 million of software

That’s what made Eugene-based Palo Alto Software’s Oregon Small Business Boost was such a cool idea. So cool in fact that it was amazingly successful. Like $3 million successful.

Rick Turoczy on July 10, 2009

[HTML4]It’s always great to see Silicon Forest companies giving back to the community. Especially given our current economic conditions. And with Oregon running neck and neck with Michigan for the ranking in unemployment, every little bit helps.

That’s what made Eugene-based Palo Alto Software’s Oregon Small Business Boost was such a cool idea. So cool in fact that it was amazingly successful. Like $3 million successful. Read More

Portland Economic Development Strategy passes, City formally recognizes open source, mobile, coworking, and startup communities

Aside from being the first publicly recognized Portland economic development strategy in 15 years, it’s the first time that Portland has formally recognized the open source, mobile, coworking, and startup community.

Rick Turoczy on July 9, 2009

While the news coming out of yesterday’s Portland City Council meeting will likely be mired in heated he-said she-said debates about the fate of the 39th Avenue / Cesar Chavez hoopla, something very important happened late in the day: Portland’s City Council unanimously passed the Portland Economic Development Strategy.

Read More

If Twitter is just people talking about what they’re eating, then iAte’s real-time local restaurant reviews are sheer genius

iAte gives you local restaurant information coupled with tweets associated with the venue. So instead of everyone yammering about what they’re eating, you get a focused stream about a certain food in a certain town or about a specific restaurant.

Rick Turoczy on July 8, 2009

[HTML3]You know the old (well, old in Internet time) joke. Twitter? Why would I get on Twitter? Isn’t that just people talking about what they’re eating?

Well, yeah. To some extent it is. But what if they were talking about that new restaurant where you were going to spend your anniversary—and it sucked. Or what if you were really hankering for vegan BBQ and your first choice happened to be closed? Sometimes what people are eating, where they’re eating, and what they’re tweeting can be extremely valuable.

And Portland-based iAte is gobbling that Twitter data up and serving up some very tasty results. Read More

Meeting at City Hall: Open Source, Mobile, Startups and the Portland Economic Development Strategy

open source folks, mobile developers, Web types, tech-heavy micro businesses, coworking spaces, and individual developers was more than a lot of political glad handing. It was all part of preparing the Portland Economic Development Strategy.

Rick Turoczy on July 7, 2009

[HTML3]Remember when Portland Mayor Sam Adams met with a bunch of startup types a few months back? Remember when he claimed that he wanted Portland to be one of the most open cities in the world?

Well, all of those meetings with open source folks, mobile developers, Web types, tech-heavy micro businesses, coworking spaces, and individual developers was more than a lot of political glad handing. It was all part of preparing the Portland Economic Development Strategy—a joint effort between the City and the Portland Development Commission and the first effort of its kind since 1994.

And now, we’ve got a chance to see if that strategy will become a reality. Read More

Nedspace II: Former Vidoop space in Old Town keeps its startup flare

NedSpace folks are teaming up with eROI—not only a successful Portland startup but also an Old Town landlord—to turn the former Vidoop space above Backspace into another NedSpace workspace.

Rick Turoczy on July 7, 2009

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of NedSpace, the coworking space on SW 3rd that’s full of some of the most business-minded tech entrepreneurs in town. I also like the fact that it’s run by a couple of already successful entrepreneurs as a way to give back to the community. And as if that’s not enough, NedSpace serves as the home of the Portland Ten, the startup bootcamp designed to whip would-be entrepreneurs into shape.

Apparently, I’m not the only one who’s a fan. The NedSpace concept is popular. So popular, in fact, that they’ve run out of room. Read More

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