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CubeSpace coda

Communities need campfires around which to gather. Whether they be meeting places to tell stories, warm safe places to meet friends, or roaring bonfires to celebrate our victories. Or even—at times—simply a place to Camp. CubeSpace was the campfire of the Portland tech community. And now its flame is out.

I was dreading writing this post. But somehow, given the state of things, it seemed—barring a miracle—that it was inevitable. And so it was, this evening, that the story we’ve all be following and anxiously awaiting, finally came to its unfortunate conclusion: CubeSpace is no more.

Communities need campfires around which to gather. Whether they be meeting places to tell stories, warm safe places to meet friends, or roaring bonfires to celebrate our victories. Or even—at times—simply a place to Camp.

CubeSpace was the campfire of the Portland tech community. And now its flame is out. Read More

Portland’s Small Society plays big role in Zipcar iPhone app

Local iPhone development agency Small Society—with whom I apparently have a bit of a fanboi obsession—made it to the big stage at the Apple Worldwide Developer’s Conference (WWDC) when Zipcar was asked to demo their upcoming iPhone app.

Urban Airship wasn’t the only exciting Portland-based iPhone news, today. Local iPhone development agency Small Societywith whom I apparently have a bit of a fanboi obsession—made it to the big stage at the Apple Worldwide Developer’s Conference (WWDC) when Zipcar was asked to demo their upcoming iPhone app.

“Small Society is working closely with Zipcar to bring Zipcar for iPhone to market,” said Raven Zachary at Small Society. “We love our friends at Zipcar.”

And apparently, so does everyone else. Take a look at some of the highlights from today’s coverage of the WWDC mentioning Zipcar. Read More

City of Portland wants to hire you to improve PortlandOnline

Portland isn’t willing to settle for second place. They know they can do better. And they realize that they’re sitting on a hotbed of creative Web talent in this town that could help them vault to #1, no problem. So, to get there, they’re asking for your help.

[HTML2]You may not know this, but the City of Portland’s Web site, PortlandOnline, was recently ranked as the second-best city Web site in the nation in terms of “Municipal E-Governance.” (PDF) Who beat them? Washington, DC.

There’s only one problem: Portland isn’t willing to settle for second place. They know they can do better. And they realize that they’re sitting on a hotbed of creative Web talent in this town that could help them vault to , no problem. So, to get there, they’re asking for your help. Read More

Urban Airship: Providing air cover for independent iPhone developers

Portland-based Urban Airship is taking flight at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in hopes of providing similar support to independent Apple iPhone developers. And just like their Web app predecessors, the impact could be huge.

[HTML2]While everyone points to the prevalence of open source as the primary reason for the renaissance of the Web affectionately titled “Web 2.0,” there are two particular components of Web development that have played a critical, albeit under appreciated, role. Those unsung heros? Frameworks, a means of simplifying common development tasks that allows developers to focus on the apps they want to build rather than the stuff they have to build, and Web services, a means of extending functionality and infrastructure by using services in the cloud.

Those two things have empowered small independent development teams which, in turn, has created the Web we know today.

Now, Portland-based Urban Airship is taking flight at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in hopes of providing similar support to independent Apple iPhone developers. And just like their Web app predecessors, the impact could be huge. Read More

Whiffies plays host to gluttony for the good of geeks

The sweet or savory deep fried darling of the Portland, Oregon, startup scene these days isn’t one of our traditional startups. Meet Whiffies.

The sweet or savory deep fried darling of the Portland, Oregon, startup scene these days isn’t one of our traditional startups. Sure, it’s got a Twitter account. Yes, it’s a popular hangout for many of the usual gang in the Portland tech scene. And, of course, it gets most of its work done during #afterhours. But this startup? It makes pies.

Meet Whiffies, the food cart playing host to a very special pie eating contest tonight—Pie Champ 2.0—raising money for Free Geek, our awesome local geeky recycling center. Read More

Strange Love Live + Conferences = Tech Love Live

Yes, yes. I know I go on and on about Strange Love Live. But c’mon. It’s a really good podcast. So good, in fact, that they’ve started taking the show on the road to conferences and events, like Cyborg Camp, BarCamp Portland, and WebVisions.

WebVisions was especially interesting thanks to an “open mic” format, where Cami Kaos spent time interviewing speakers and attendees—all day, every day. The only problem? It was one big stream.

The solution? Like Mugasha does with DJ sets, the Strange Love Live team has sliced and diced the conference stream into digestible chunks. What’s more, they’ve started a new site to house all of this ridiculously awesome content: Tech Love Live. Read More

SplashCast: I’m not dead yet! I’m getting better (focused)!

We knew full well that Portland-based SplashCast was shuttering their user generated content (UGC) features.

We knew full well that Portland-based SplashCast was shuttering their user generated content (UGC) features. That’s been coming for months.

When initial word of the change in direction reached the SplashCast user base, there was an expected outcry of dismay. But when it finally came down to it, keeping the UGC stuff going simply didn’t pencil out. As such, SplashCast decided to continue focusing on its Social TV efforts where it was gaining traction. And the June 1 shut down of the UGC features came and went without much notice.

Until today. Read More

Sad news: Oregon Media Insiders blog calling it quits [Updated]

I just heard that Oregon Media Insiders—arguably the de facto resource for all things mainstream media related in Portland—is no more. Writer Lynn Siprelle has decided to hang up the pen after the site led to the destruction of a friendship.

A post entitled “I’m done” outlines Lynn’s reasons behind the shutdown. Read More

Ignite Portland and Open Source Bridge lead to impressive OpenConferenceWare

Side project beget side projects. At least that’s the case with OpenConferenceWare, an impressive proposal and scheduling system developed Igal Koshevoy and Reid Beels.

While the name may of the system—affectionately dubbed OCW—may not be familiar to you, it’s pretty likely you’ve come into contact with it.

Why? Because It’s the system that Igal and Reid developed to help them manage a couple of other side projects with which they’ve been critical components: Ignite Portland and Open Source Bridge. Read More

Open Source Bridge or Marshall Kirkpatrick? Pick one (relax, you can’t go wrong)

Remember that one scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? You know the one. Near the end? Where they finally find the Holy Grail but it’s mixed up with all the chalices and cups and whatnot? Well, there will be no “He [or she] chose… poorly” tonight, my friend. Pick either the Open Source Bridge Volunteer Orientation or Portland Web Innovators featuring Marshall Kirkpatrick on APIs. No matter what, you’ll come off as wise as Indiana.

Need more than that to go on? Okay okay. Here’s what you’ve got. Read More