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Raven Zachary chairs iPhoneLive, a new iPhone conference for O’Reilly

Rick Turoczy on September 4, 2008

Raven Zachary Apple iPhoneThat’s right. Portland’s master of all things iPhone, Raven Zachary, has been tapped by O’Reilly to lead its latest conference, iPhoneLive.

And while this event is not going to be held in Portland (don’t get me started), I still chalk this up as a major win for both Raven and the Portland tech scene, as a whole. Anytime we have a local chairing a cutting-edge technology event, that’s a win. No matter where they hold it.

And it leads me to wonder… could Portland become more iPhoney than other technology hubs? It’s too early to tell, but let’s wait and see.

One thing is for sure: with Raven’s focus on this eyes-on-ubiquity Apple device, the interest in events like the Raven-founded iPhoneDevCamp, and Portland’s proclivity for the little bugger, it may only be a matter of time.

So, what’s iPhoneLive?

iPhoneLive will be a gathering of the best and brightest participants in the iPhone ecosystem today. Whether you’re already building apps for the iPhone or are a developer who wants to make a move to the iPhone platform; if you’re an entrepreneur or simply an enthusiast of the emerging iPhone industry, this is the event for you. It’s going to be a mind-blowing day filled with information that you just can’t get anywhere else. We’ll cover development issues from coding to release, as well as general market information and lessons learned from leading iPhone developers and entrepreneurs.

And, truly, what’s an Apple-oriented conference without some top-secret launch activity?

iPhoneLive will also feature Launch Pad, a showcase for the coolest, not-yet-public apps and startups. The iPhoneLive Launch Pad presents an opportunity for iPhone developers and entrepreneurs to unveil new applications and startups at a major event. There are a limited number of slots available for iPhoneLive Launch Pad, and there is no cost to participate. The deadline for submitting a proposal to participate is September 30th.

iPhoneLive will be held in San Jose, California, on November 18. For more information on the conference, see Raven’s post on the O’Reilly Radar. Already sold? Hit the iPhoneLive conference site to figure out how you can participate.

Digital Trends hires new CFO

Rick Turoczy on September 4, 2008

Digital TrendsDigital Trends is one of my favorite “sleepers” around the Portland area. Whenever I mention their name and the fact that they’re here in the Silicon Forest, I’m usually met with a “Really? That’s a Portland company?”

Kind of like Survey Monkey and—to a lesser extent—COLOURlovers. (Yes, those are both Portland companies, too.)

I mean, I rarely if ever hear anyone around here talk about Digital Trends—apart from an occasional mention on the Techvibes’ Portland Start-up Index (they’re ). And unfortunately, I never happen to run into any of their employees at any of the local tech events.

So, why should you care?

Only because Digital Trends happens to rack up about 40,000,000 visitors readers (3-4 million unique visitors to the site). Per month.

That’s right. 40 million visitors readers each month.

And that, my friend, is not to be taken lightly.

Another sign that they’re not to be taken lightly? Even though they’re pretty small, Digital Trends has just hired a new CFO, Nathan Bell.

No, not that Nathan Bell. That’s Nathan P. Bell.

In fact, I think this Nathan Bell is actually related to the CEO, Ian Bell. Or it’s just a random coincidence that they’re both named Bell—and that there are two Gauls in the company, too. (I’m not ruling anything out at this point, given that whole Nathan Bell thing. Maybe it’s Intrigo‘s Nathan who’s related to Ian?)

I’m sorry. Where was I? Gauls. Bells. Oh yes.

So Nathan Bell has been named the new CFO:

“Nathan brings years of financial experience to the table, and will help to shape the future path of the company as it continues to evolve and grow its awareness amongst technology readers,” said Ian Bell, Chairman and CEO, Digital Trends. “We’re pleased to welcome him to the Digital Trends team.”

And I’m hoping that we see more and more of Digital Trends around the Portland scene.

Digital Trends is the first stop for everyday readers, working professionals and gadget enthusiasts alike looking to make sense of how gadgets, games, home theater components and other tech-related products fit into their everyday lives. For more information, visit Digital Trends.

Silicon Florist’s links arrangement for September 03

Rick Turoczy on September 3, 2008

Remember to Celebrate the Small Victories | Internet Astronauts :: Bootstrap Startup Blog

Darius Monsef writes “Launching a new project can sometimes feel like you’re trying to summit a mountain made of sand… with every step forward, you sink back down a little. As you grit your teeth and push on step after step up that mountain, it’s easy to forget to stop and take a look back down to see just how far you’ve come. These are very important moments for you. For taking time to thank and acknowledge those that helped you get there and to refresh your mind, body and soul.”

Tulsa World: Vidoop leaving Tulsa

Via Tulsa World “Tulsa technology company Vidoop LLC is in the process of moving its headquarters and operations to Portland, Ore. Company co-founder Joel Norvell said the decision to move Vidoop and more than 40 employees was based on the company’s desire to be closer to the nation’s tech center.”

Viral Prone Multimedia Player Splashcast is All About Social Media | Today’s Best Tools

James Helms writes “[C]onsider Splashcast as a powerful demand driven online tool that if leveraged in the right ways can virally spread your message throughout the internet.”

Django 1.0 released!

Congrats to the folks who have been toiling on Django (a number of whom reside right here in the Rose City). Django 1.0, a high-level Python Web framework that encourages rapid development and clean, pragmatic design, has been officially released.

Shizzow Blog · Shizzow Tweaks for the Week

Via the Shizzow blog “We wanted to let you know about a few enhancements that we pushed out this week. This is our way of showing you we care.”

Think you know something about your listening habits? Take the Strands Music Quiz!

Via the Strands blog “Strands Music Quiz is an addictive game for the iPhone that challenges you with questions relating to your own musical taste. Compete with your friends and see who is the real music expert!”

Iterasi Blog: iterasi Magic Bus Rides at Inverge

The Iterasi Magic Bus makes a triumphant return. “It’s a big reason why I am so excited to get the iterasi magic bus back on out and welcome some people from the inverge conference on a little trip Thursday evening to see some works by local artists over in a part of town they might normally not visit. I’m talking inner SE Portland, one of the most exciting, emerging artist communities in the Pacific Northwest.”

View all my bookmarks on Ma.gnolia

REMINDER: Portland tech types at Inverge Thursday and Friday

Rick Turoczy on September 3, 2008

InvergePortland’s Inverge conference starts on Thursday, and a few of our favorite Portland tech types are taking the stage. If you’ve got time to attend, I highly suggest catching:

Not registered for Inverge? No worries. Passes will be available at the door. A Full Conference Pass will run you $495 or you can get a day pass for, well, roughly half that at $249.

For more information, visit Inverge.

Vidoop Oregon Trail: You have (not) died of dysentery

Rick Turoczy on September 3, 2008

Oregon Trail You have died of dysenteryIt’s common knowledge that we are afforded the luxury of our relatively cushy existence here in Oregon thanks to the efforts of pioneers. Pioneers who spent many an arduous day sitting on uncomfortable wagon seats as they headed toward their new home.

Last I heard, that whole “pioneer” thing isn’t a requirement to be a resident of the state anymore. Unfortunately—or perhaps fortunately for our amusement—no one told the soon-to-be officially Portland-based Vidoop.

Because they’re recreating the Oregon Trail with a trip from Tulsa to Portland. That’s right. The entire Tulsa crew is packing into a convoy and heading north to their new home.

28 people. 4 RVs. 7 U-Hauls. 42 people. 4 RVs. 5 U-Hauls, 2 trailers, 2 cars, 8 pets, and 1 blueberry bush. 5 days to get across the country.

And you get to watch all the hijinx with the Vidoop Oregon Trail blog! It’s like our own little Real World Road Rules episode.

And while there’s not much there now, bear in mind that the trip just started. There’s no telling what kind of hilarity will ensue after these guys have been on the road for a few days.

Here’s hoping they never buy more meat than they can haul back to their wagons, no one is attacked by rabid squirrels, and last but certainly not least, no one succumbs to dysentery.

Vidoop is expecting to land in Portland by Sunday. Until then, stay tuned to the Vidoop Oregon Trail.

Internet Astronauts launches

Rick Turoczy on September 3, 2008

I can’t say that Portland, Oregon, immediately jumps to mind when someone utters the word “astronaut.”

But if Darius Monsef—the creator of COLOURlovers, an incredibly popular community site centered on the discussion of (you guessed it) color—has his way, Portland will soon be known as the home of Internet Astronauts, his latest venture.

Internet Astronauts

Apart from a strangely compelling name, what is Internet Astronauts?

Internet Astronauts is a resource for bootstrapping startups and internet entrepreneurs who are ready to ignite their rockets and launch. The blog is the central resource in our initial launch of the IA site, but soon profiles, community tools and more resources will be added.

Yes, but why astronauts?

I use the astronaut theme because it implies the risk and dedication it takes to get a startup off the ground. It can take tons of hard work, early days and late nights… and laying it all on the line. Also, Astronauts are not in their careers only because it pays well… the high-risk isn’t worth the money. They do it because they love it. I’d like to think think I’m in this business for the chance to go somewhere new, more than the chance to make a lot of money. (Although that is a great possible benefit of being an internet entrepreneur.)

If you’ve had the chance to read the guest posts that Darius has written for Silicon Florist—“Community: The Secret Sauce of a Successful Internet Startup” and “Here’s the Deadliest Catch: Hiring an Agency to Build Your Startup“—you’re already familiar with his voice and some of his opinions.

He’s definitely a force with which to be reckoned.

And that’s why I recommend you take a few moments to swing by Internet Astronauts. Or just go ahead a dive right in by subscribing to the Internet Astronauts feed.

I’m looking forward to hearing Darius’ voice, opinions, and passion as he chimes in on the startup scene.

Mapdango mashes Digg, Flickr, FriendFeed, Wikipedia, and more into your maps

Rick Turoczy on September 3, 2008

While mapping services are often one of the first places people start mucking with APIs and mashups, few take to it as well as Portland-based Cartosoft. Continuing to push the mapping mashup envelope, they’ve just announced the latest version of their award-winning flagship product, Mapdango.

Mapdango

From the Mapdango v2 post:

You spoke, emailed, and clicked – and we listened. After some relatively in-depth analysis for usage trends over the last four months or so, we custom-tailored mapdango to provide users with a better experience exploring different locations around the world.

So what’s new?

Well, what’s most important to a mashup? More stuff to mashup, of course. And Mapdango doesn’t disappoint. If it’s got an API available and some GIS info, it’s likely that it’s on Mapdango, now.

The Google Maps based tool now includes travel books from Amazon, news from Google News, weather from WeatherBug, photos from Panoramio, videos from YouTube, articles from Wikipedia, country demographic information from the US Census Bureau, geotagged Flickr photos, events from Eventful, social connections via Google Friend Connect (Mapdango was one of the early beta testers of the Friend Connect service), related news from Digg, links from FriendFeed, and “a whole bunch” of social bookmarking links.

To make things a little easier to digest, the single view map has now been split into three separate views: a dashboard, a map view, and a social view.

What’s more, they’ve added the ability to string queries through a URL, making it easier to bookmark and perform quick lookups:

We have made it even easier to add dynamic location links to mapdango. Simply add a URL-escaped location to the following URL, and mapdango will search for a location: http://www.mapdango.com/location.php?q=. For example, to search for Portland, Oregon, you would create a link to http://www.mapdango.com/location.php?q=Portland+Oregon.

All in all, this feature-rich release marks another leap forward for Mapdango and Cartosoft. And it serves as a positive reminder to the industry that—with the continued proclivity toward open data exchange—individuals hold the power to accumulate and manage tons of data within a single resource.

To try it for yourself, visit Mapdango. For more on the latest release, see the Mapdango v2 release post on the Cartosoft blog.

Silicon Florist’s links arrangement for September 02

Rick Turoczy on September 2, 2008

Lifestreaming – Why it’s important, and why you should do it.

Drew Olanoff writes “Think of Strands as a water cooler that doesn’t go away. The office is there for you, the water is plentiful, and the people there are cool as hell and have something to talk about at all times.”

Community Manager Compensation Study

Dawn Foster writes “I’ve mentioned before about how great it is that ForumOne does focused, relevant, and interesting research on the online community market, and their most recent report is no exception. They just released the Online Community Compensation Study results a week ago. Since I participated in the study, I was able to get a free copy of the entire report, but Bill does a great job of summarizing the key points in his blog post.”

Google Chrome added to browser detection | Clicky Blog

Via the Clicky blog “Today Google released their new browser, Google Chrome, and we’ve already added support for it into Clicky, as can be seen by the screenshot below.”

Must Read Blogs for Startup Success

Via the Under the Radar blog “Instead of popping pills, a founder’s preferred uppers and downers are aspartame (Coca Cola) and carbs (pepperoni pizza); and instead of the phsych ward or the DSM, entrepreneurs turn to their local pub and follow bloggers.”

Clicky Analytics Service Tracking 2% Google Chrome Usage

Via TechCrunch “Web analytics startup GetClicky says that almost 2% of all internet traffic to the 45,000 websites they monitor is coming from Google Chrome today.”

View all my bookmarks on Ma.gnolia

Portland Start-up Index for September 2008: Did Vidoop get lost on the Oregon Trail?

Rick Turoczy on September 2, 2008

Didn’t we just have a Techvibes Portland Start-up Index a few weeks ago? Yes, we did. But Techvibes has decided to change the publication date, so we’ll be getting these at the beginning of the month.

Techvibes has changed a few other things, too.

And while the listings might be a little more cryptic now—and unfortunately lacking in indicators in regards to movement this time around—this effort continues to provide a interesting way to assess and discuss the local startup scene.

The biggest mover on this edition of the index? Pheedo rocketing up 33 slots to crack the top 20.

Strangest part of the new list? Vidoop has completely dropped off the index during the week that they’re relocating the entire company to Portland. NetworthIQ (acquired by Strands), MyOpenID (JanRain‘s OpenID relying party), and Workplace2go also disappeared from the list.

Portland Start-up Index for September 2008

  1. AboutUs
  2. MetaFilter
  3. Kongregate
  4. Discogs
  5. Digital Trends
  6. COLOURlovers
  7. Frappr!
  8. Jive Software
  9. SplashCast
  10. Platial
  11. Clicky
  12. Pheedo
  13. Earth Class Mail
  14. Sandy
  15. Gone Raw
  16. eROI
  17. Stikkit
  18. Attensa
  19. Active Reload
  20. Walker Tracker
  21. Grabb.it
  22. GadgetTrak
  23. iovation
  24. UrbanDrinks
  25. KnitMap
  26. Pibb
  27. ChoiceA
  28. Art Face Off
  29. LUNARR
  30. WeoGeo
  31. Iterasi
  32. FreeRange
  33. fmyi
  34. GoLife Mobile
  35. Rocketbook
  36. Picktastic
  37. Kryptiq
  38. Jama Software
  39. MomHub
  40. GreenRenter
  41. Goboz
  42. Lightfleet
  43. Imindi
  44. Cendix
  45. Vocal Nation
  46. Box Populi
  47. GoSeeTell
  48. Collaborative Software Initiative
  49. YourList
  50. Techchex
  51. Avnera
  52. Kumquat
  53. IDP Solutions
  54. Worldwide Nest

As always, the official metrics can be found at Techvibes.

Interested in seeing your Portland-based company on this list? You now have an automated way to add it. And make sure to drop the Techvibes folks a note, too.

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