BYO BYOB App
The Chicago version was recently released, and it's pretty much what it sounds like -- an (iPhone only, as of now) app that allows you to hunt down BYOB-friendly joints by cuisine or neighborhood. [via]
Merge
Category
Technology
Ruby on Rails on Rails
Hackatrain, the first-ever hackathon aboard a moving CTA train, will be happening June 16. Get on board.
NATO May Block Your Call
Another potential reason to be annoyed that NATO is in town: jammed cellular service.
Chicago Shares
Shareable is spending a week sharing Chicago's contributions to sharing technology, including the Chicago DataDive event that happened recently.
Programming Beyond Prejudice
At a hack day last year, Melissa Pierce was told, "No room for noobs with boobs!" by a rude programmer. So she created Chicago Women Developers, a resource for woman-friendly coding classes and events.
Your Cell Service in Chicago Sucks
...Unless you're on Verizon, RootMetrics finds. Both download and upload speeds for the other major carriers were all pretty poor.
Ars Seven Point Zero
News site Ars Technica has been completely redesigned. If you're familiar with the old one column layout, you'll find this primer very useful.
Someone's Getting Rich Quick
The Verge peeks behind the curtain of "internet marketing," and talks with The Salty Droid, a local blog that focuses on this seedy underworld.
Instagram + Pinterest = ?
What do you get when you mash up the latest pair of social networks to go viral? Pinstagram, developed by local startup Tapisto.
Talk with the CTO & CDO
John Tolva and Brett Goldstein, the CTO and CDO of Chicago, will be doing a live chat on Ars Technica today at 1pm, discussing the data portal and how it's helping change how the city is run. UPDATE: Due to technical difficulties (Ars just launched a redesign), the chat has been canceled.
Reviews for Those Who Might Need Help
JJ's List is a site where people with disabilities review businesses and services, created by JJ Hanley, producer of Refrigerator Mothers, a documentary by Kartemquin Films.
Welcome to 1871
1871, the new tech startup coworking space and entrepreneurship hub in the Merchandise Mart, opened its doors today.
Track Your Lousy Boyfriend
Should I break up with my boyfriend? is an iPhone app that answers that question, based on emotion tracker MercuryApp. Co-creator Sarah Gray is teaching a Dabble class on DIY breakups.
Discount & Do Good Simultaneously
Toodalu is a new service that gets you a discount at local restaurants, bars and a few shops -- with the added twist that every purchase also earns money for the charity of your choice.
Custom Webfonts for Sale
GB co-founder Naz Hamid and Scott Robbin today launched Shifticons, "the easiest and fastest way to create, mix and match custom icon web fonts."
Local Webbies
Local art and design blog Colossal, The Chicago Portfolio School, Pitchfork and The Onion (whose web team is local) are nominated in this year's Webby Awards.
Booking Dinner
Soup Next Door is a startup that handles ticketing for "unique food experiences" hosted by anyone from underground restaurants to budding chefs. There are only a couple listings for Chicago at the moment, but expect more soon.
Loku Around
Loku.com is a new service that created a "waterfall" of local news, restaurants, events, entertainment and deals.
Siri's Creator is a Chicagoan
After selling Siri to Apple, founder Dag Kittlaus moved back to Chicago, and talked about the city's tech future at Technori Pitch.
Get Hacking for Science!
The Adler Planetarium is hosting a Science Hack Day, 24 hours of serious creative geekery, May 12-13. Register here to join in the fun.
Join EveryBlock, Help Schools
During April, for every new person who joins EveryBlock, the site will be donating a dollar to classroom fundraiser site DonorsChoose.
Google Goes Beyond the Doodle
Paintings and sculptures from the Art Institute are among more than 32,000 pieces viewable on Google's new Art Project, which launches today. Streetview cameras were used to photograph many of the artworks in the gallery setting, providing a virtual visit to more than 100 museums worldwide.
Slower than Dialup -- but Much Cooler
Scientists at Fermilab have successfully sent an encoded message via neutrino, the subatomic particle. Unfortunately, the method has a data speed of 0.1 bit per second. [via]
McData Mining
At the end of this very technical post, Twitter data scientist Edwin Chen uses his tools and techniques to dig into the menu at McDonalds.
Second Hand Apple
MacMall is opening this Saturday at 329 W Grand. Their first location outside of Southern California, they sell refurbished Apple products as well as accessories, support and repairs.
The Chicago Way with Patents
Apparently part of the "Midwest mentality" in Chicago's tech scene also includes patent trolling.
Tech Culture Wars
PandoDaily's Trevor Gilbert diagnosed Chicago's tech scene as having a Midwest Mentality that holds it back. Naturally, that didn't sit well with some here in Chicago.
This American Life Retracts Apple Factory Story
On the day the new iPad comes out, This American Life is retracting the incredibly popular story about Foxconn's factories in China by monologist Mike Daisey (previously). Tonight's episode of the show will be an explanation of why the story is being retracted and how it occurred.
This American Life and WBEZ have also canceled the performance of Daisey's monologue, The Agony and the Ecstacy of Steve Jobs, scheduled for April 7 at the Chicago Theatre.
The following email was sent to fans of the show:
From: Ira Glass
Date: Fri, Mar 16, 2012 at 12:18 PM
Subject: Our recent Mike Daisey episode
To: XXXXXHi XXXXX,
I'm writing to tell you that tonight, This American Life and Marketplace will reveal that a story that we broadcast on This American Life this past January contained significant fabrications.
We're retracting that story because we can't vouch for its truth, and this weekend's episode of our show will detail the errors in the story, which was an excerpt of Mike Daisey's acclaimed one-man show, "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs." In it, Daisey tells how he visited a factory owned by Foxconn that manufactures iPhones and iPads in Shenzhen, China. He's performed the monologue in theaters around the country; it's currently at the Public Theater in New York.
When the original 39-minute excerpt was broadcast on This American Life, Marketplace China Correspondent Rob Schmitz wondered about its truth. He located and interviewed Daisey's Chinese interpreter Li Guifen (who goes by the name Cathy Lee professionally with westerners). She disputed much of what Daisey has been telling theater audiences since 2010 and much of what he said on the radio.
During fact checking before the broadcast of Daisey's story, I and This American Life producer Brian Reed asked Daisey for this interpreter's contact information, so we could confirm with her that Daisey actually witnessed what he claims. Daisey told us her real name was Anna, not Cathy as he says in his monologue, and he said that the cell phone number he had for her didn't work any more. He said he had no way to reach her.
At that point, we should've killed the story. But other things Daisey told us about Apple's operations in China checked out, and we saw no reason to doubt him. We didn't think that he was lying to us. That was a mistake.
Schmitz does a 20-minute story on our show this weekend about his findings, and we'll also broadcast an interview I did with Daisey. Marketplace will feature a shorter version of Schmitz's report earlier in the evening. You can read more details on our website, and listen to our show on WBEZ at 7 p.m. tonight, and noon tomorrow.
We've been planning a live presentation of Daisey's monologue on stage at the Chicago Theatre on April 7th, with me leading a Q&A afterwards. Maybe you've heard me advertising it on the air. That show will be cancelled and all tickets will be refunded.
I've never had to write an email like this. Like all our friends and colleagues in public radio, I and my co-workers at This American Life work hard every day to make sure that what you hear on WBEZ is factually correct. We will continue to do that, and hope you can forgive this.
Best,
Ira Glass© 1998-2012 Chicago Public Media. All rights reserved.
WBEZ / 848 East Grand Avenue / Chicago IL 60611-3509
The discrepancies in Daisey's story were uncovered in part by a report by Marketplace's Rob Schmitz.
Daisey has posted a statement on his own site, saying in part, "I stand by my work. My show is a theatrical piece whose goal is to create a human connection between our gorgeous devices and the brutal circumstances from which they emerge. It uses a combination of fact, memoir, and dramatic license to tell its story, and I believe it does so with integrity."
Below is the official press release from This American Life regarding the incident.
Myths Busted at the Museum of Science and Industry
An interactive exhibit based on the Discovery Channel's "MythBusters" opened at the Museum of Science and Industry today.
Building Tech Here
The Wall Street Journal takes note of our burgeoning start-up ecosystem.
May 2, 1871
1871, the new tech coworking space, is expected to open on May 2.
244 Years isn't a Bad Run
The Encyclopaedia Britannica has ceased the production of its printed volumes and is selling its remaining inventory. Of course, it's trumpeting the transition as a step into the future. Some reaction from the Trib, The NY Times, The Atlantic and the Financial Times.
Happy Pi(e) Day!
You can celebrate the wonders of 3.14159 with special offers on pie thanks to the efforts of the Illinois Science Council and a bunch of local bakeries and restaurants.
How Can We Rethink Ownership?
MAS Context's new issue (and redesign) is live, and the theme is "ownership."
Delivering the Good
GrubHub turns eight today, and in honor of the anniversary it's rounding every order to the next dollar* and donating whatever the difference is to Feeding America until midnight tonight.
* So, for example, if your order comes to $15.49, that's still what you pay, but GrubHub will donate 51 cents to Feeding America.
Pay for Deals
Groupon rolled out its VIP program in Chicago and five other cities this week. For $30 a year, you get first dibs on deals, access to closed deals and more.
Loving Father, Secret Octopus
Speaking of Kickstarter, the team behind the indie videogame Octodad has released a trailer for the game's crowdfunded sequel, Octodad 2: Dadliest Catch.
Cubs Win! (Not Really)
A new trailer for the video game MLB 12: The Show imagines what Chicago would look like if the Cubs won the World Series.
Catapult Launches
Catapult Chicago is a new coworking space for tech startups -- which is becoming common enough to be a trend.
Agony & Ecstacy of Steve Jobs in Chicago
WBEZ and This American Life are bringing The Agony & The Ecstacy of Steve Jobs, a one-man show by Steve Daisy, to Chicago for a performance on April 7 at the Chicago Theatre. Ira Glass will do a Q&A afterward. Tickets go on sale tomorrow, March 1 at 10am.
TAL aired an adapted version of the monologue in January, and it quickly became one of the most-listened-to episodes in the show's history.
Help Open Data
OpenChicago is a new site connecting developers interested in participating in the open data movement. All you need is a Github account.
Our Local Russian Net Mogul
One of Russia's biggest web entrepreneurs actually lives in Skokie. Anton "Tony" German's BayRu helps Russians shop online.
Adopt-a-sidewalk - Shovel Not Included
Chicago residents can now volunteer to shovel a snow-covered sidewalk by claiming a section of the city on their smart phone through a new web app, Adopt-a-sidewalk. The app also connects volunteers with seniors and people with disabilities who might need help with snow removal.
Meta-Weatherman
By analyzing weather reports from multiple sources, startup Weatherist.com aims to deliver the most accurate predictions possible. [via]
Tweet These Movies
Film podcast F This Movie! is holding the first-ever Twitter film festival this Saturday, Feb. 4. To attend, just get hold of the films in the lineup, follow @fthismovie and start watching and tweeting at noon! [via]
Grab a Cab Together
Taxi Share Chicago is an Android app that helps you find a person to share a cab with you.
iPhone Camera-Enhancing Mattebox is App of the Day
What Gizmodo calls "the closest thing the iPhone has to manual focus" is the creation of local designer/programmer/photographer Ben Syverson -- and it's their App of the Day.
Checking in Well
Youtopia is sort of like Foursquare for good deeds.
Technology Follows Us Home
Eric Fisher, who created the cool map of locals vs. tourists on flickr a couple years ago, made a new map of Chicago showing people going home, via their tweets.
Via Twitter (of course), Fischer said, "[The map] is paths from one geotagged tweet to the next by the same person, routed along the most heavily geotagged path in between." In a comment on Flickr, he clarified, "Keep in mind this is trying to be a map of travel from locations to other locations, not of individual tweets. The individual tweets are just to guide the paths. I think what you are seeing here is mostly a lot of travel between O'Hare and the Loop, not a particular tendency to tweet while driving on that route. (Also, the Edens is hardly represented here at all. Those two big routes to the north and northwest are Clark Street and Milwaukee Avenue."
See What's Been Plowed
The City's new Plow Tracker is great, but Derek Eder and Forest Gregg's ClearStreets takes it a step further and shows you where the plows have been, for a better idea of what progress has been made.
You've Got Chicago.com Mail
BuiltInChicago has sneak preview access to the @Chicago.com premium email address service. (Previously.)
Starting at 1871
A new "center for digital entrepreneurs," 1871, was announced today. The 50,000-square-foot space will be located in the Merchandise Mart and is meant to foster the city's startup scene by offering affordable deskspace and other services.
I Write, I Network
Xrivo is a newish social network based in Chicago that's all about connecting writers and readers.
Facebook Town Hall
Mayor Rahm Emanuel will hold another Facebook town hall meeting on January 23. Emanuel's previous virtual town hall was the first of its kind from a sitting mayor. Chicagoans can submit education-related questions online here.
Finding the Startups
Speaking of startups, TINCmag has put together a directory of them.
Lose Something?
Newly launched Found In Town is a new service designed to help track down things like phones lost in the back of a cab.
DIY Ward Maps
Have a lot of free time or want something to do during this weekend? WBEZ has a guide to help people create their own ward maps. Data and links to required programs are listed, but assembly is required.
$135/Mile is Uber Expensive
Uber customers in Chicago and elsewhere got a bit of a shock if they used the private car service on New Year's Eve: "surge pricing" that drove the cost of a ride up as much as 6.25 times the regular price. Not surprisingly, the reaction was uber negative.
Better Seats for the Buds Below the Belt
The University of Illinois at Chicago is conducting a study examining the correlation between bike seats and male impotence.
I Want to Pitch a Shark for You
Local comedian Steve Gadlin will be on "Shark Tank" Jan. 27, seeking investment in IWantToDrawACatForYou.com, his cat-drawing service, which has produced over 1400 custom cat drawings since it launched two years ago.
Go to Office Hours
Ohours gives you a chance to talk with experts in a variety of tech and business fields. It's a national site, but there are several local folks to meet with.
Doing the Math
Mu Sigma, a privately held analytics and "decision sciences" firm whose CEO was named one of this year's Crain's 40 Under 40, landed $108 million in new funding.
The Stop Online Creativity Act
ReadWriteWeb's Alicia Eler talks with Chicago artists about the effect SOPA would have on online artists.
The Data's the Thing
A couple of data sets from the city's data portal made it onto the Atlantic's list of the best metro data releases of 2011.
The New Process
The Verge features MNML's TikTok and LunaTik watches (previously) in its look at Kickstarter's role in the new product development cycle.
SpotHero is the Victor
Congrats to SpotHero, the winner of the the Apps for Metro Chicago competition.
Belly Hopefully not a Flop
You might have spotted Bellyflop iPad terminals at certain shops around town, but the customer loyalty program made its official debut today, under a new name: just Belly.
Be a Benevolent Benefactor
Benevolent is a new Evanston-based crowdfunding site with a twist: it's oriented toward individuals in need, who are "validated" by a nonprofit. The campaign goals are usually low, so even small pledges make a big difference.
Mapping School CPS Closings
WBEZ mapped and analyzed 10 years of school closing patterns, finding that closed schools tend to be in African American neighborhoods on the South and West Sides -- and are often replaced with selective enrollment or lottery schools.
DIY CTA Display
The CTA has provided developers, and those with "some computer savvy," the tools to create their own CTA arrival screens. Great for businesses who want to create a waiting area inside their warm establishments, or others who just want to shelter public transit users in a storm.
Pay to Read
The Sun-Times and its suburban sister publications will start using a metered method allowing 20 free views every month before readers will have to pay. The paywall goes into effect on Thursday.
Vote for the Best City Apps
The Apps for Metro Chicago Grand Challenge, the final phase of the year-long program, opens for voting at 4pm today. Vote for your favorite apps by Dec. 12.
How Important is an Email Address to You?
More specifically, would you be willing to pay $1,750 to lease YOURNAME@Chicago.com for 10 years? Josh Metnick thinks you might be.
Minorities in Tech
In this week's Crain's, FOCUS profiles Chicago's minority-owned tech firms.
AT&T Opens Concept Store
The first of these experimental Apple-inspired retail outlets is set to open in the Northwest suburbs, complete with a Learning Center, Solutions Center, Small Business Center, and, God willing, a chewy chocolate-covered center.
Who's on Google+?
WBEZ surveys the early adopters among Chicago media, sports, cultural institutions and other businesses on Google+. (Yep, we're on there.)
Building a Startup Collaboratively
The Junto is a new site that's meant to be a "startup for startups."
Another Way to Find the Train
QuickTrain is another iPhone CTA tracker app, with the distinction of being very good looking.
New Tech City
NewCity surveys Chicago's technology scene this week.
Sounds Like Chicago
AudioBoo lets you record from your phone (iPhone, Android or, incredibly, Nokia) or desktop and put it on a map.
Cutting the Crap Out of Learning
MentorMob, a site for putting together "learning playlists" of tutorials and informational pages, launched this week in alpha.
60% Off this Groupon Poem
The Reformed Broker waxes poetic ahead of Groupon's Friday IPO. (Thanks, Pete!)
Moto's Got a New Razr
Motorola's bringing back the Razr name with a rugged new Android phone -- but Crain's doesn't think it'll do much to help the company in the smartphone race.
Mob Knowledge
MentorMob officially launches today. It's a site for crowdsourcing knowledge to help collectively teach a variety of subjects, from salsa dancing to chemistry.
Illinois X Prized
Congratulations to downstate firm Elastec/American Marine on winning a $1 Million X Prize for a novel, vastly more efficient oil skimmer.
Recruiting Off the Rails
When contacting a developer to work on a popular web framework, it's often a good idea to check to make sure you're not trying to hire the guy who created it.
Chicago Tech's Big 50
Tech community site Built in Chicago released its first Top 50 Digital Companies list, based on number of Chicago-based employees. Topping the list are Groupon, CareerBuilder, Navteq, Classified Ventures, Orbitz, Echo Global Logistics, Restaurant.com, OptionsXpress, InnerWorkings and Thinkorswim.
Tracking the CTA
Grid Chicago's Steve Vance assesses the state of CTA train trackers.
Get Hacking, Ladies
Entrprnr and #MsTech have teamed up for SweetHack CHI+NYC, a two-city hackathon aimed at "evolv[ing] the conversation of female entrepreneurism beyond the issue of 'changing the ratio,' and towards actively advancing the quality of their businesses, networks and resources." It's this weekend, Oct. 14-16; register here.
Thought Different
Outside the Michigan Avenue Apple store, there's a pair of banners on the light pole memorializing Steve Jobs. Interestingly, they're not an official tribute by either the store or the city -- they're by local computer graphics firm ImageFiction.
Photo by Therese Flanagan
The Great Chicago iPhone Fire
Speaking of apps, the Chicago History Museum today launched The Great Chicago Fire and the Web of Memory, an app for iPhone and iPad that brings to life that fateful event 140 years ago. Download it from iTunes here for 99 cents.
Vote on Community Apps
The community round of Apps for Metro Chicago opened for voting on Friday; you have till the 14th to make your voice heard.
Makeshift Memorial
After news of Jobs' death, Apple stores around the world have become impromptu shrines, with the Michigan Ave. store among them.
RIP, Steve Jobs: the Local Reaction
Tributes to Steve Jobs are everywhere; here are some from Chicago media and tech world: 37signals, Ars Technica (more, even more), Nick Harrison, Andy Ihnatko, RedEye, Phil Rosenthal. Know of more? Tell us on Twitter. A few photographs from the Michigan Avenue Apple Store memorial are after the fold.
Track that Runner
How D-Tags, the RFID chips that track Chicago Marathon runners, work.
Tevatron Shutdown
Fermilab posted a video of the particle accelerator shutdown ceremony, including remarks from various people involved and the actual switching-off. For those curious, their website has some great info about the Tevatron, and the Reader's recent cover story does a great job fleshing out Fermilab's history.
Stars of the "Silicon Cornfield"
HuffPo blogger Keith Ecker wonders what Chicago's tech industry nickname ought to be. My two cents: If we want to lose the "flyover state" rep, perhaps talking about cornfields is the wrong direction. Meanwhile, Crain's named its first Tech 25.
Timelines on the Line
Chicago-based Timelines.com is suing Facebook over the social network's new Timelines feature, for reasons that are probably obvious.
Digital Battle of the Bands
New local startup SoundOff.fm lets musicians upload snippets of songs for listeners to vote on either organically or through song-to-song battle.
Type Local
Feel the need to be a typography locavore? In Chicago, you have a few to choose from: Ascender, T26, Okay Type, Blank is the New Black, Hazen Type, No Bodoni, Arlo and, interestingly, Cooper Black. Many more here. (Thanks, Grant & Su!)
Forget Incubators, How About a Tech Farm?
A 51,000-square-foot center for tech startups is in the works, according to the Tribune. The venture capital-backed plan would allow startups to rent desks or suites -- so it might turn out to simply be a massive coworking space.
Goodbye, Our Curvy Friend
Clever Apes sends off the Tevatron with an episode dedicated to the world's most powerful proton-antiproton accelerator.
DXO Messes Things Up
Technori profiles Daniel X. O'Neil, EveryBlock co-founder, past GB contributor and current executive director of the Smart Chicago Collabrative.
Great Movies on Your Phone
Roger Ebert now has an iPhone app of his "Great Movies" reviews.
Your Private Car is Here
Uber a private car service you set up via web or phone app, officially launched in Chicago yesterday. Now, for a minimum of $15, you can press a button and a black car will show up out front to pick you up.
Finding Your Speed
In case you missed MAS Context's newest issue launch: Speed is ready for viewing. The Chicago-based quarterly goes everywhere from the Town of Speedway, Indiana to the megalopolis of Mumbai, India.
Entering the Pitch
Chicago tech blog Technori has launched a pitch series to showcase some of the city's newest startups. The first pitch is Sept. 27.
Getting Social
It's Social Media Week here in Chicago and 11 other cities around the world. Check out the schedule for events today through Friday.
Working Hard to Retain Some Advertisements
Today the Trib is among the papers revealing iCircular, a new advertising platform for newspaper apps developed by the AP.
Meet Howard Tullman
Technori profiles Howard Tullman, web innovator, serial entrepreneur and founder of Tribeca Flashpoint Academy. Read more about him here.
Food You Can Print?
Cornell Creative Machines Lab has developed a 3-D food printer that will allow the creation of previously unheard of cuisine. And not just a hamburger with liquid layers of ketchup and mustard inside, either (though also that). Chicago's Moto Restaurant looks like it'll be one of the early adopters.
Go Go Gdgt
Tech blog gdgt is bringing its live show back to town this Friday.
Mapping History
History Pin places historic photos on a map; Chicago is full of shots. An app by the same name places the pics in Google Streetview. UPDATE: See also What Was There. (Thanks, Lynn!)
Are You Really Visiting Your Favorite Website?
In other Internet news, suburban-based Vasco Data Security's Dutch subsidiary DigiNotar is at the center of a hacking scandal that potentially threatens global Internet security.
Keep Making Apps
The Apps for Metro Chicago competition is still on, and in fact the Metropolitan Planning Council is sponsoring a new challenge for "placemaking" apps. There's a hackathon at Google Chicago this Saturday, if you're interested in diving in.
Groupon Off the Market?
In the latest twist in Groupon's IPO saga, WSJ reports the company has canceled its investor roadshow and is reevaluating its IPO date "on a week by week basis" due to the market's volatility.
Blow Your Mind with Exponents!
"Powers of Ten," a 1977 Eames film made for IBM, centers on a lakeshore picnic and zooms out 1,000,000 light years. Pretty crazy stuff.
Get Those Tasks Done
TaskRabbit, a crowd-sourced errand service similar to Zipments (previously) and Zaarly, is coming to Chicago soon. (You could always go the personal assistant route.)
Parking Apps for Chicago
SpotHero won the Apps for Metro Chicago last weekend. Second place was another parking-oriented app, FasPark.
HE.LP KICKSTA.RT GLI.TC/H
Last year, noise and tech and new media and those who love them came together in the form of the GLI.TC/H festival. For five days, the strange and wonderful ways data can be corrupted were celebrated with videos, art, coding and more. Although a success, the people behind GLI.TC/H need more than pops and errant flashes to bring it back to life. Head to their Kickstarter page to make it happen again.
Develop Socially
SocialDevCamp Chicago is this weekend, and there's still room for you.
High Tech, Low Brow
Local artists Taylor Hokanson and Chris Reilly have reached their Kickstarter goal for their low-cost CNC machine, but the fundraiser's still going until 11 tonight, so check it out if you're into art made by robots.
T-Shirts vs. Polos
The corporate cultures of Google and Motorola might not be a match made in heaven, the WSJ reports.
Google is Buying Motorola Mobility
Libertyville based Motorola Mobility, the split handset division of Motorola, is being acquired by Google for about $12.5 billion, mostly in an effort to gain patents in order to compete with rival Apples iPhone. Google plans to run Motorola Mobility as a separate company and plans to keep its Android platform open.
From IPO to Chapter 11?
They haven't had their IPO yet, but Bnet's Jim Edwards has decided Groupon should just declare bankruptcy now.
Groupon: Why Here?
TheNextWeb asked Chicago's tech community why they think Groupon grew up here rather than Silicon Valley.
Man vs. Mansueto
University of Chicago fourth year Mitchell Kohles challenged the automated storage and retrieval system at the U of C's newest library, the Joe and Rika Mansueto Library, to a race. How did Mitchell do? Let's go to the tape, err, YouTube video.
TribTab Coming
The Tribune Co. is developing a tablet computer to offer to subscribers to its newspapers, including the LA Times and Chicago Tribune. [via]
Haggle with Friends
VC firm Lightbank has invested in oBaz, a new "social haggling site" where you post what you want and they haggle a discount.
Tevatron Sees Hints of the Theorized Missing Piece of Mass
The Tevatron at Fermilab continues to make progress on the possibilities of the Higgs boson even though the accelerator is slated for closure at the end of September.
Leaving EveryBlock, But Still a Neighbor
Big congratulations to Dan X. O'Neil today. He announced that he has left EveryBlock to lead the Smart Chicago Collaborative. Their main goal is to bring high-speed Internet and resources to Chicago's underserved communities.
Amazon Escalates its Deal War with Groupon
Amazon is creeping into Groupon's backyard: AmazonLocal -- basically a reskinning of LivingSocial, which the company part-owns -- quietly launched this week in Chicago.
Kickstarting the Gist
Gis.to, the startup formerly known as Gistrr, is using Kickstarter to raise money to pay for well-written abstracts on a variety of topics. It's just one of many projects on Gapers Block's curated Kickstarter page.
Scanned Art
Art Barcs is a novel way to share your art with the world: through QR codes that provide additional information about a work on display. (Thanks, Elizabeth!)
Chicago Gets Techie
Tech Week starts today and runs through the 29th. Even if you don't attend the conference, there are plenty of open-to-the-public events that are worth checking out.
Google Art
Today's Google "doodle" logo in honor of Alexander Calder's birthday was in part inspired by a visit to the MCA.
Massive Attack
Last summer, UIC Electronic Visualization Laboratory grad student Arthur Nishimoto created Fleet Commander, a Star Wars video game that's played on a wide-screen multitouch display. He's currently working on a TRON game. [via]
This Dish is Recommended
Food Genius is a new app for Android and iOS that helps you decide what to eat at Chicagoland restaurants.
+Chicago
Google+ is barely two weeks old, and Chicago is already well represented.
Poor Connection Rates
Evidently Chicago is the least friendly city for teleworking, according to a Microsoft survey. We can take solace in the fact that San Francisco and New York are on the list, too. [via]
The Crowdsourced Second Coming of Kozmo
Zipments, a service that allows you to post a delivery job (picking up something at your office and taking it to your accountant's, for instance), launched in Chicago yesterday.
Make an App
The Apps for Metro Chicago developer contest has a new video featuring Rahm Emanuel, Toni Preckwinkle and Pat Quinn.
Big Brother Hits the Bars
Chicago start-up SceneTap wants to bring facial recognition software into bars so owners can monitor the number, age, and gender of their customers. Because figuring that out without computers would be impossible, right?
United States of X: Cellular Edition
The Connected States of America, a project from MIT, analyzes AT&T call and text data to see what communities arise. See where folks in Cook County are calling. [via]
Get Your Non-Profit a Website -- You've Got (More) Time
The Nerdery Overnight Website Challenge, a marathon site-building experience dedicated to helping non-profits in a very direct way, has extended its deadline to July 15. Go sign up here. Want to help out? There's a form for that too.
It Feels Alright, Keeps Your Mind On The Page
SmallDates is a new Facebook-enabled "anti-dating, dating" service developed by Doejo.
Get Takeout from Google
Google's Chicago-based Data Liberation Front just released a new product called Takeout that will eventually allow users to remove data from every Google application.
Like to Play with Data?
Create an App for Metro Chicago and it could earn you some cash.
Tribune Apps Team Wins Knight News Challenge
The Tribune's News Apps Team won one of this year's Knight News Challenge grants for their PANDA Project. The recursive name stands for PANDA: A Newsroom Data Appliance."
Soundtrack Advice
Startup MyZeus promises to give movie recommendations based on your music preferences, and let you share recommendations with friends.
Ads as they Happen
The Tribune will soon be adding "real-time" social media-enabled ads to its sites, courtesy of Chicago-based NowSpots.
Dude, Where's My Car?
FoGB Scott Robbin created a great app from City of Chicago open data that I hope I never have to use. Was My Car Towed works online, or from your smartphone browser.
Rent-a-Spot
Got an extra parking space? SpotHero is a new startup that'll help you rent it out -- or help you find one to rent if you need one.
Change Champion
Daniel X. O'Neil, EveryBlock's "people person" and a former GB staffer, is at the White House today, being honored as a Champion for Change for his work with open data on CityPayments.org.
Skip the Scalpers
Got One, Need One is an iPhone app that helps you find tickets or get rid of extras day-of without the need of middlemen. That is, if you can find other people using the app.
Eat Together Through Technology
Grubwith.us gets some attention from the NYTimes.
Crime's Heating Up
Real estate site Trulia now offers crime heatmaps, based on EveryBlock's data
Groupon Going Public
Groupon has filed for an initial public offering to raise $750 million. Meanwhile, CEO Andrew Mason revealed plans for a travel deal site with Expedia during his talk at the D9: All Things Digital conference.
Obama's CTO is Awesome
It might be the worst kept secret in Chicago's tech scene of late: Harper Reed is the CTO of the Obama 2012 campaign.
Lightbank Invests in OpenChime
Chicago-based VC firm Lightbank has invested in OpenChime, a startup that helps people and businesses field quotes for professional services. (Previously.)
The City's Data Opens Up
The City is opening the tap on data, moving beyond the FOIA info that has filled the City Data Portal for the past couple years. (Meanwhile, Michael Miner worries that FOIA is becoming passé among journalists.)
Kumbuya, My Lord
Proving they're willing to willing to take a step in the wrong direction in more than just publishing, the folks behind The Printed Blog have launched Kumbuya, which rolls the Groupon concept back to when it was a spinoff of The Point.
Tell a Zebra by its Stripes
Computer scientists at UIC co-developed StripeSpotter, a system that helps researchers tell zebras apart in the wild.
Dabble in Dabble
Dabble launched today, offering Chicagoans the opportunity to take a class on something they've always been curious about -- and also to try their hand at teaching something they're passionate about.
'Nother Nano Watch
If you liked the idea behind the TikTok but not the execution, maybe the LOOP Nano is more your speed. (You might also be into the grapple, for your iPad.)
Sharing to Save
You may have noticed a new share widget on GB this week: local startup ShareApon gives you points toward coupons just for tweeting or "liking" stuff.
Nerds Helping Non-Profits Overnight
Are you a non-profit looking for a better website, or a developer, designer, or project manager (or master copywriter or QA genius) with a desire to help non-profits get present a great online face to the world? Check out The Nerdery's Overnight Website Challenge -- August 20-21, the web development shop is organizing a great opportunity for non-profits and nerds of all stripes alike. Non-profits register by June 30, volunteers by July 15.
Playing at the Unicode Center
Two current trends come together: Twitter sparklines and the Bulls. [via]
The Robot Librarians
Wired thinks University of Chicago's new Mansueto Library is pretty cool -- especially the robot cranes that fetch the books.
Odd Dish
Dishtip is meant to be a guide to the best food in a city, but some of the results are a little odd. Is the salad bar at Fogo de Chao really the second best dish in Chicago? And since when does Lou Malnatti's serve New York-style pizza? [via]
TL;DR? Here's the Gist
GISTRr is a people-driven site providing 200-word overviews of articles, blog posts, webpages, etc. for folks who don't have time to read the long version.
That's Awesome
Chicago now has a local chapter of the Awesome Foundation. The foundation offers monthly $1,000 grants, no strings attached, for ideas they deem worthy -- and the call for May submissions is on now.
Innovating Between Diaper Changes
It's tough starting a business with little ones at home. Naptime Entrepreneurs aims to be a support group for parents in that situation.
Fighting the Battle of the Bag
A scientist at Argonne National Laboratory has studied ways to turn plastic grocery bags into materials that can produce printer ink and batteries.
CPL on Your Kindle
The Chicago Public Library (and other area libraries using Overdrive) will soon offer the ability to borrow books via Kindle. Whet Moser notes you can already do the same on your iOS or Android device.
Crowdfunding Fun
Kickstarter isn't the only site out there for crowd-funding projects. There are a number of local projects looking for help on IndieGoGo, too. [via]
C-level Slots Fill Up in Emanuel's Administration
Former RR Donnelly CEO Mark Angelson was named deputy mayor, Lois Scott was named CFO and FoGB John Tolva was named CTO in the latest round of appointments from Rahm Emanuel's administration.
Build the Next Portal
If you've ever been interested in designing a video game, head over to the downtown Dave & Buster's tonight for the IGDA Chicago meetup.
11th Peg is Free
Startup Pegmo hopes to replace the loyalty cards at local businesses with a technological one, in which interactions earn you "pegs" toward a reward.
Flipping Past Oprah
Oprah is getting top billing in the latest version of Flipboard, a reader app for the iPad.
Uncommon Design
If you thought the TikTok and LunaTik were cool, you might also be into Uncommon's iPhone cases. Both originated from the design studio MINIMAL.
Deal Site for Deals
Daily deal site YouSwoop is launching SwooperMarket, a place to swap deals you can't or don't want to use for some reason. It'll also offer some "expired" deals at slightly higher prices for people who miss out on the first round.
High Fee Fighter
As a consumer, you've probably shopped for a credit card and you know it is a pain. But it is even more of a pain for people who want to accept credit cards. Thanks to FeeFighters.com, that process is now a lot simpler. Which makes it possible for business owners without a degree in economics to get the best deal.
Insulting the Future
Chances are you've seen Smart Alex's greeting cards in area shops. You can also get their Insult-O-Scope horoscope app on your iPhone.
Another Billionaire You Might Know
The Sun-Times profiles Mark Pincus, Chicago native and founder of Zynga. You may not know the company by name, but you probably know some of its products, like FarmVille and Mafia Wars.
Regenstein Romances
Apparently not satisfied with LikeALittle (previously), UofC students have created UChicago Hookups, "where fun comes to thrive." [via]
Lawsuit Alleges Discrimination in Google Apps for Education
Northwestern and its partnership with Google to provide email and other services for its students is targeted in a lawsuit alleging the applications are inaccessible to students with vision impairments and constitute discrimination.
Yes, Dispatcher, I'll Send You a Photo of the Scene
Chicago is the first city actively accepting digital photographs and video via 911. The city has received 40 images so far, mainly of property damage.
How's That for Good Timing?
Just as the world is getting pretty nervous about nuclear energy, the World Nuclear Fuel Cycle annual meeting will be held in Chicago at the beginning of April.
YouTubeniversity
Columbia College and USC have teamed up with YouTube to create "Creator Institutes" to train students in digital media. To be one of the 10 students in the YouTube-Columbia College Creator Institute this summer, apply here.
Startup News: Buttons for Groupon, Money for GrubHub
Groupon is in talks with cash register manufacturers to add a Groupon button, making it easier for retailers to handle groupons. Meanwhile, GrubHub raised $20 million in funding in its quest to be "the next OpenTable."
Share This
Edelman Digital shares some social media milestones.
Mirrored Marketing
There's a new high-tech frontier for advertising at O'Hare: animated video ads on the bathroom mirrors. [via]
The $12,500 Groupon
Rolling Meadows-based Ajilitee offered $25,000 worth of IT consulting for half off on Groupon; it sold out this morning. Fast Company gets the backstory.
Watch in Perpetual Beta
Life in Perpetual Beta, a documentary about "the ways in which technology has/is/will change the ways in which we think about ourselves as individuals and a society," is now streaming online, on demand.
Chicago Makes Google Transparent
Brad Spirrison notes that the Google Transparency Report is produced out of Chicago by a team led by Brian Fitzpatrick, who also created the Data Liberation Front.
What is "I got lucky"?
And speaking of John Tolva, he got to play a round of Jeopardy against Watson, and even won a round.
Planning Going Forward
CityForward, which we've posted about before, gets some attention from WSJ's Digits blog.
More or Fewer Neighbors?
The Tribune Apps team created a Google map overlay showing the percentage rise or drop in population for Chicago and the region. They launched another one tracking mayoral votes by precinct today.
The F*cking Mayor
@MayorEmanuel was none other than Dan Sinker, Columbia College professor, creator of the Chicago Mayoral Scorecard and founder of Punk Planet. He'll be on Eight Forty-Eight tomorrow to discuss the project.
Getting Indie Gaming Growing
A.V. Club Chicago talks with Erin Robinson about the city's growing indie game industry. We covered similar ground with her in December.
Land Grant
Deal site BloomSpot is holding a contest to win dinner for two to Alinea if you sign up for its email newsletter.
Taking Groupon Cloning to Another Level
In China, Groupon faces competition ...from Groupon.
iPhone Carrier Cage Match
Ars Technica performed extensive tests comparing Verizon and AT&T's iPhone performance in neighborhoods from Andersonville to Hyde Park.
Bike Crash Map
Urban planner Steve Vance mapped all the bike accidents in Chicago reported to IDOT from 2007 to 2009. More about his process and why he decided to do it. [via, via]
Feel the Heat
Heat Tracker purports to show you the hottest locales around the city at a given time, based on Foursquare check-ins. It was developed by Draftfcb Chicago.
Raise a Mitzvah
Mitzfunder is a proposed Jewish-oriented fund-raising site along the lines of Kickstarter. Leah Jones explains how it'd work, and asks for your help getting it off the ground.
T-Shirts & Code
Threadless gives a peek at how they developed the mobile version of their site. [via]
Aldermania in the Reader
Ben Joravsky takes a hard look at some of the more interesting aldermanic races around town.
Talk About UX
FoGB Nick "nickd" Disabato discusses his book, Cadence & Slang, at tonight's UX Book Club meeting. Details in Slowdown.
GiveForward Gets Life Support
GiveForward, a startup that helps people raise money for out-of-pocket medical expenses, raised $500k in venture capital.
Sharpie Your iPad
That's the idea with Don Lehman's new More/Real stylus caps, currently raising funds on Kickstarter.
37smileys
37signals has launched an interesting presentation of its customer support ratings. More here.
Bookshelves Get Technical
Shelfluv fills a virtual bookshelf with recommendations as you search; click through and buy what you find on Amazon.
Print Goes Digital
ReadOz is a local startup that lets you read print media, such as the Red Eye or TribLocal, online in the original print format.
Your Own Deal
Urban Offer takes a different tack from the many group deal sites popping up: make an offer for how much you're willing to pay for a service (currently limited to salons and body care businesses, it seems) and see which business takes you up on it.
Groupon's Ad Campaign: Now a Third Off!
Bowing to pressure, Groupon has pulled its Tibet ad from television, although it still appears on the SaveTheMoney website -- and you can still donate to The Tibet Fund.
Epic Swarm
If you have foursquare on your phone, don't forget to check into the Snowpocalypse 2011: Chicago Edition.
Grubwithus: Never Dine Alone
Mashable profiles startup Grubwithus, a social-networky site about dining out with new people.
Behind the Scenes at Groupon
An anonymous employee of Groupon took questions on Reddit last week. [via]
Frequent Flyer Miles for the Internet
You may have spotted a little icon down in our footer: Frequent Browser is a rewards program that gives you points for, well, browsing the web.
Let Mom Play Online Yenta
If you're Jewish and single, you may have complicated feelings about TheJMom.com, a new dating site that lets Jewish mothers connect their adult children.
TikTok Doesn't Stop
TikTok and LunaTik, the iPod nano watch kits we linked to awhile back, won the Kickstarter award for "Most... Everything?" after raising nearly $1million.
Chime In
Startup OpenChime lets users field quotes for things like home repairs. They're holding a Twitter contest for the best idea for beautifying Chicago; the winning idea gets $1,000.
Decelerating Particles
In other suburban science news, Fermilab received the (not entirely unexpected) news that the federal government is cutting off funding for its Tevatron collider.
Simple Circuits and a Magnet
The Vulnerability Assessment Team at the Argonne National Laboratory is up to creative white hat hacking.
How to Start Up
If you've been thinking about starting a business, lawyer Coco Soodek's Profit & Laws blog might help you decide what type of business to form. And her new book, Birth to Buyout, gives you pointers on every step of the life cycle of your business.
Sears Alphalines Video
Sears is getting into the streaming video business with Alphaline Entertainment, which is apparently named after sister store Kmart's house brand electronics cables.
Another Chicago Tech Blog
From the folks behind Chicago Art Magazine comes TINCmag, an online magazine about Chicago's technology industry.
No, Groupon isn't #1
Flyover Geeks picks their top 30 in Tech for 2010.
Your Mac Helper
Keymote is an app that turns your iPhone/iPod Touch into a keypad for all your shortcut key commands.
Get Home Safe
Bluelight is a safety app for iPhones that alerts a contact if you don't make it to a destination by a certain time.
City Submerged
Craig Shimala turns Chicago into a water wonderland with a digital camera strapped to his windshield (and a nice ambient soundtrack).
Mapmaking Fun
The New York Times has an interactive map for searching distribution of ethnicity and race all over the country based on American Community Survey data from 2005-2009. Chicago's maps are, uh...just as I thought.
Scale Up Your Idea
Got a good idea for a tech project? ScaleWell's has opened up its third grant round for applications.
Chicago Forward
CityForward, a new site built by John Tolva and a team at IBM's Chicago offices, provides platform for exploring city data. Check out the first couple data sets in Chicago.
Unload from Your Phone
Mapding is location-based mobile app for buying and selling items, such as concert tickets. It's available free on iPhone and Android.
Find a Desk
Looking for a place to work? Desktime gives you a hand.
Kickstart Cold Fusion
137 Films is trying to finish a film about cold fusion, and has just a couple more days to go to raise the funds on Kickstarter. If you're into science, lend a hand.
You're Brewing it Wrong
Intelligentsia has come out with an iPhone/iPad app that teaches you the proper way to make your coffee. (Thanks, Roderick!)
I Want My $2
Did Comcast internet service go out for you on Sunday night? Comcast wants to give you a couple bucks for the inconvenience.
Coding Elves
Jelly Chicago is hosting Tech the Halls, its third annual holiday party for the Chicago startup community, Saturday night at Noble Tree.
Further Groupon News
While Google awaits an answer, Groupon has announced a couple new services: Groupon Stores and Deal Feed. Time Out has a bit more, and a peek inside Groupon HQ.
How Google Can Keep Groupon
Groupon's board is meeting today to discuss Google's purchase offer, which is officially official now, I guess. Should the deal go down, Henry Blodget has some suggestions for Google on how not to screw it up.
Groupon is Google's Deal of the Day?
Rumors are swirling that Google has purchased Groupon for $2.5 billion. No official announcements so far, but vague Twitter exchanges are being pointed to as evidence. UPDATE 11/30: Google's offer is reportedly $5.3 billion. Still no official word from either company.
"...and Point it at Boehner's House"
You can now see a little preview of President Obama asking the MythBusters team to figure out the Archimedes Death Ray; the full episode airs December 8th on the Discovery Channel.
The Fireball Effect
As of yesterday, Scott Wilson of MINIMAL's Kickstarter for an iPod Nano multitouch watch kits had raised $17,000. Then it got linked on Daring Fireball, and now it's at $97,000 and climbing.
Powering Computers Without Power Lines
A student-faculty collaboration at IIT has designed a "replicable, low-cost, durable, practical laptop charging" device for Haitian primary schools, 95% of which do not have electricity. They just won an award for their work and are raising money to implement the project.
Check-In On the Fly
Booking domestic holiday air travel? Now, through the end of 2010, if you check in for your United flight on your mobile phone, you'll get 1,000 bonus miles.
Geeks Unite for Good
The next local one is the first weekend in December.
20 Feet of Electronic Canvas
Researchers at UIC have gone way past the iPad.
No Eraser Needed
If you've got an iPad, 37signals's new Chalk app might be for you.
Excellence, Digital
The easiest way to get involved in Chicago's grassroots Neighborhood Technology movement is to attend the 1st Annual Chicago Neighborhood Digital Excellence Conference at DePaul University on 10/29. Details in Slowdown.
Robot Hands & Coffee Grounds
Not phrases usually found near each other. And yet there it is: a coffee ground-filled robotic "gripper" hand that wraps around an object and stiffens to pick it up, developed by a team led by led by Eric Brown of the University of Chicago.
We're Not Flyovers
FlyoverGeeks.com is the latest effort to bring Chicago's tech scene to national prominence. [via]
From the Smallest Seeds
Out at Argonne, they're watching nanoparticles grow in real time for the first time. [via]
Data Center to the World
Serious geekery: Of the top 10 largest data centers, three are in Chicagoland. The largest is close enough to the Loop to visit it on your lunch break.
Connecting the Tech Scene
Built in Chicago is a new social network "promoting technology companies in the world's greatest city."
No Need to Chase that Taxi?
City Council may soon consider the recommendation of the Inspector General to require all Chicago taxis be trackable by an integrated GPS network.
Social Bookmarking
Currently in soft launch mode, Shelfworthy is a social network built around consuming media -- a lot like Delicious Library, but online and social.
Sudo Make Me a Sandwich
Ever wish someone would just make you something to eat? Or maybe you'd really like to cook for someone. CookItFor.Us, a new site, er, cooked up at a hackathon last week, can help party A find party B.
The Relative Cost of Getting There
How much do you spend on transportation? Abogo from the Center for Neighborhood Technology shows you what the monthly average is for your neighborhood.
Bringing Coders & Designers Together
Sometimes developers have trouble finding designers to make their projects pretty; likewise, designers sometimes need help making what they create work. Just-launched Interhoods helps them find each other based on which neighborhood they live in, here as well as in SF and NYC.
#newtwitterceo is from #chicago
Dick Costolo, cofounder of Feedburner, was named CEO of Twitter today, after spending a year as the company's COO.
37signals Get New Digs
Our friends at 37signals recently moved into a new office, and they'd like you to be a part of it. (They've got a nice new front page, too.)
Weird Science
This year's Ig Nobel Prize winners have been announced. One of last year's winners, the locally produced Ebbra, a bra that can be used as two emergency protective face masks, is now on sale.
The Foursquarian Candidate
"Check in. Become mayor. Become Mayor." (By these guys.)
The Unsocial Network
Kiyoshi Martinez wrote a satirical article on The Wacky Deli about Mark Zuckerberg threatening to shut down Facebook if The Social Network is a hit. As a result, links to The Wacky Deli were blocked as "abusive" for a couple days.
The Invention Store
Inventables for the first time sells some of its amazing materials directly to consumers. Squishy magnet, anyone?
$33billionsignals
David Heinemeier Hansson doesn't believe that Facebook is worth $33 billion. Quite a few people disagree. [via]
Another CTA App
How many are there now? Anyway, TreKing Chicago is one for Android users, available in free and $3 versions.
The Perils of Geocaching, Part 3,052
A suburban Menards was evacuated on Saturday when an employee saw a man placing a box in a parking lot light post. Apparently the item had been cached there since January.
Good Geeks
You've heard of Doctors Without Borders, right? There's also Geeks Without Borders, and they're coming to Pumping Station: One in a couple weeks.
LAUNCH in a Month
The cumbersomely named tech startup conference midVenturesLAUNCH is a month away, and just announced that Groupon's Andrew Mason will be the keynote. There's still a little time to submit your startup concept to compete for $100,000.
Garage Tries to be "Green"
Greenway Parking Garage, at Clark and Kinzie, is seeking LEED certification. The parking garage features twelve helical wind turbines, but might still have trouble shaking the irony of their slogan "Chicago's first earth friendly parking garage."
Fundraise It Forward
Speaking of fundraisers, Chicago-based GiveForward provides the ability to create a fundraising page for anyone or -thing.
Lolla.me And Everyone You Know
If you're headed to the vast empire of Lollapalooza, stay up to date with your friends' schedules and where to find them in the throngs of thousands with a new free app for smart phones called Lolla.me. Details in Transmission.
Online Presents
The federal government has granted two Chicago groups a cumulative $16 million to expand broadband Internet access in the city. Maybe that'll put a dent in the gaping one-fourth share of Chicago without Internet.
Gli.tc/h Pops
Gli.tc/h is "an international gathering of noise & new media practitioners, and it's coming to Chicago Sept. 29 through Oct. 3.
This Is Why You Should Work For Argonne
The folks at Argonne National Laboratory wanted to know how a caterpillar moves. So they built a tiny, custom-built caterpillar treadmill and blasted it with fancy x-rays, discovering that at least one species of caterpillar precedes each step with a thrust of its gut. According to NPR, the finding points to an entirely new mode of animal locomotion and could lead researchers to develop new robotic tools for exploration and medicine.
Silicon Coast
How could Chicago be more like Silicon Valley? Groupon's Andrew Mason has some suggestions.
Making iPhones Work Better
AT&T will soon be rolling out free wifi in an as-yet unconfirmed "Chicago area" hotspot to help alleviate traffic congestion on its cellular network. The service is already in Times Square and the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, NC.
Text Mess
37signals points out a really dumb bug on Motorola's new Droid X.
Tweeting the National Mood
Geeks at Northeastern University have plotted more than 300 million tweets over three years. The results is a series of neat cartograms that map the mood of twitter users across America. Using a psychological word-rating system, the tweets suggest that the west coast is happier than the east coast, and that national happiness peaks each Sunday morning and crashes Thursday evenings. Roger Ebert couldn't wait to tweet this!
Interviews are Death
Over at Bad at Sports, Nicholas O'Brien interviews Jason Rohrer, creator of the online game Sleep is Death, from within the game.
D Timer 3 Anniversary
Speaking of anniversaries, it's the third for @timer, a simple reminder-via-Twitter service built by FoGB Scott Robbin
Threadless on Your Laptop
Dell has tapped Threadless to provide case designs for its Design Studio line of laptops. (They're also on your feet, thanks to a deal with Havaianas.)
37signals' Next Draft
37signals just introduced Draft [opens in iTunes], a sketching program for the iPad.
It'd Be a ChicagoCrime not to Apply
EveryBlock is hiring a community manager.
Tasting Chicago on Your iPhone
Before you head to the Taste of Chicago this year, you may want to download its pretty darned good official app [opens in iTunes].
IPhone Attacks Chicago
In addition to the authors living in Chicago, Ars Technica's review of Apple's iOS 4 has another local connection: the cool iphone wallpaper featuring the skyline under attack.
Star Bright
IT training program i.c.stars gets some attention from tech publisher O'Reilly.
WindyCitizen Founder Wins Knight News Challenge
Brad Flora, founder of WindyCitizen, is one of this year's Knight News Challenge winners. He received $250,000 to develop his Twitter-connected "real-time ads" into a full-fledged ad platform, NowSpots.
Start It Up
Got an idea for a startup? Take it to Startup Weekend June 25-27 and you might see it launch.
Adding to the Trasit Apps Pile
Another transit app for your consideration: ChiTransit. (
As mentioned in the recent Fuel thread, Buster is one of the best CTA bus tracker apps out there -- and if you ride Metra, you'll be interested to hear about Metrack, its sister rail schedule app.Buster & Metrack Get You There
Foursquare Ferris
Get a little creative with your best Ferris Beuller movie reenactment ideas, and you could win a couple of tickets to fly friends into town to have a great "day off." Explore Chicago is sponsoring this Ferris Foursquare mission today and tomorrow. Leave your ideas on this Foursquare Facebook wall post to enter.
Turning Pages from Afar
Local startup Readeo helps parents (or others) read with their children wherever they are, online.
Groupon Raids Crain's
Brandon Copple, managing editor of Crain's Chicago Business, is leaving to work for Groupon. Interesting timing, in light of the magazine's front page story and video profile of the service last week.
Lights, Action, Design
Lightology, the locally based largest contemporary lighting showroom in North America, is having a design contest. The concept must feature at least one foot of Lightology's LED Soft Strip, and prizes include a $2,000 Lightology gift card and a feature in i4 design magazine. More details here.
What's the Buzz?
Buzzd offers a look at what places around the city are "buzzing" on Twitter and other social media sites.
Strange Intruments
Speaking of Scalewell, its first beneficiary, Unatronics, has released the product it used its grant to develop: Seeq-it.
Scalewell's 2nd Round Winners
Tech fund Scalewell announced its two latest grant winners last night: WinkVid, an online video-based speed-dating service, and CommuniTeach, a social network that helps people teach each other new skills.
Time to Get Organized
Orggit is a locally based web app that helps organize important documents (like health records) while keeping them secure.
Tweet About The First Amendment, Win An iPad
All you need to do is write insightful tweets about the First Amendment and if they're good enough, you'll win an iPad. Time Out Chicago's TOC Blog has the details.
Correcting Travel Times with Your Phone
The removal of many of the Eisenhower's traffic travel sensors has caused IDOT to seek a new way of measuring traffic speed: Bluetooth.
Get in the Middle
The Tech in the Middle conference will help tech folk get up to speed on mobile technologies; if you're interested in delving into that space, this might be the place to start.
Welcome to College, Here's Your iPad
All incoming IIT students will be receiving iPads when they arrive in the fall.
Seed Money for Sprout Social
Sprout Social, a social networking tool suite for businesses, just raised some seed capital.
Information Wants to be Free
The City just launched a data portal as part of its new transparency push. So far, it's all FOIA requests.
Your Facebook Privacy Primer
Wondering whether to delete your Facebook account? Dan Sinker has a collection of links to help you evaluate the decision.
Foursquare Meals
Foursquare has made an unlikely alliance with Crain's Chicago Business to deliver restaurant recommendations for your next business lunch, based on your location.
Go Go GDGT
Tech blog GDGT is coming to Chicago May 12.
Tales of Early Computing
How I Met Your Motherboard is the latest project by Found Magazine co-founder Jason Bitner, collecting stories of people's first computers -- including, er, mine. Share your own tales in Fuel.
Head of NIH @ Northwestern Tomorrow
Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, will be lecturing at the Thorne Auditorium at Northwestern tomorrow (375 E. Chicago) at 2pm to discuss the NIH and its role in scientific advancements. If you can't make the event, it will be webcasted live as well.
Start your Registrations
Registration for Chicago Startup Weekend is now open. Now to figure out what your startup is.
United States of Apple
On the map of Apple product concentration, we come in #6, with 2.1 million adults and eight stores.
Videogames Ain't Art?
Roger Ebert doesn't think videogames can be art. Disagree? Let him know.
Just Columbia's Type
Want your document to look like it was part of Columbia College's old marketing campaign? Set it in Sansarah.
Track Those Expenses
Apparently Chicago is a hotbed for mobile web expense trackers. Joining TextHog in that market is ProOnGo, which lets you auto-fill your expense reports.
Date Roulette
New locally developed dating site WinkVid lets you speed-date via your computer's camera.
Talking Content
The Web Content conference is in Chicago this June if you're into that sort of thing.
Nothing at All Like Chatroulette
Reel Roulette is a new site aimed at making it easy to find motion graphics pros (you know, the people who make animations and stuff). Local motion graphics pros Nick Campbell and Trevor Turk teamed up with web developer Joshua Schaible and built it in less than two weeks.
Nokia Buys Novarra
Nokia is buying Itasca-based mobile browser company Novarra.
Get Your Building STACKD
The Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) gives a nod to new global resource STACKD which lets people connect via their workplace. It's a great opportunity to "Act Local" and connect with others outside of that excruciatingly silent morning elevator ride.
Chalking the Neighborhood
BlogChalk is a service meant to let you leave virtual messages around your neighborhood via your cellphone. Check out the ones left so far in Chicago.
Famous Followers
So you follow Roger Ebert on Twitter, but why doesn't he follow you?
Behind The Scenes: Follow Mayor Daley and Not Get Arrested
Back in 2008, Daniel X. O'Neil thought it would be a good idea for Mayor Daley to have a Twitter account, so he made one and tried to give it to him.
A Google Guide to Cycling in Chicago
The newest feature on Google Maps provides bicycle directions for many US cities, including Chicago. While some features like helping cyclists avoid steep inclines may not be particularly useful here, an instructional video does point out some helpful tidbits.
Hack(er) Journalists
Tech and journalism meet with Hacks and Hackers, a merger of two near-identically named organizations here, New York and in the Bay Area.
Even More Surveillance
Now that criminals have learned to operate around the perimeters of blue light cameras, Chicago police plan to deploy smaller undetectable cameras around the city.
Pick a Fight
REWORK, the new book by 37signals founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson about the company's contrarian business philosophies, is out in stores and online today.
The Original Online Community
Before the Web, there was the Bulletin Board System, or BBS. The first public one was CBBS, launched in Chicago during the Blizzard of 1978. You might think they're a thing of the past, but at least one is still up and going strong.
No More Information At This Time
What's the 411? It's the end of an era.
Musical Waveforms
Beep-it is an optical theramin built by hand by Michael Una, recipient of Scalewell's first $1,000 grant.
Chicago Tech Support
Is support for Chicagoland tech startups on the rise? Yes, Crain's says, through new funding sources including Excelerate, Lightbank and Scalewell.
Live in Chicago? There's an App for That
Explore Chicago has just launched an online gallery of free and cheap Chicago-oriented smartphone apps (mostly geared to you iPhone users, though some work on Blackberry and the like). You can keep track of shows at Broadway in Chicago, menus on GrubHub, get the latest Bears rumors, or locate nearby LGBT businesses through the Gay Cities Guide.
Mobilizing in March
Interested in developing software for cellphones? The Day of Mobile on March 6 may be for you.
A Token Message
Lifetokens are sort of like Webkinz for messages: real life tokens sent by snail mail, with a code to enter on a website for a multimedia message from a friend.
Going to the Auto Show?
Look out for worldcarshows.com's top five cars at the Chicago Auto Show.
Online Community Before the Web
The first online bulletin board launched 32 years ago today. Its programmer-inventors founded it during the Chicago blizzard of 1978, paving the way for the snowed-in Twitter hordes of today.
Never See "Loading..." Again
Google is launching a pilot program to bring 1 Gbps internet into the homes of a few thousand lucky users. That's about 250 times faster than the national average broadband speed. They will select communities based on nominations submitted by regular folks and local governments. Tell Google why your neighborhood is a good candidate for a chance to be an internet pioneer and stick it to the cable lobby at the same time.
Introducing the iBap
OhNo!Doom has the jeans to go with your new iPad.
I've Unlocked the Celery Salt!
If you use the social mapping app Foursquare on your phone, you can now get exclusive Chicago-themed badges -- Chicago blues, Chicago-style hot dogs and Chicago film locations -- if you visit certain places.
TAL in Graphic, iPhone Form
This American Infographic is a collection of graphic representations of data from episodes of "This American Life." A good companion to the new TAL iPhone app launched this week.
Hob Nob for a Job
Looking for work -- or looking for someone to work for you? Jobnob Chicago is holding a job networking event for start-ups Feb. 24.
CPD Ups Its Social Media Game
The department unveiled a new public safety alert system today, designed to deliver urgent, location-specific email and text messages to registered subscribers. CPD says Nixle will help citizens "stay more safe and aware" while increasing community engagement.
Mobile App Battle Royale
The Gothamist network, MenuPages and BlackBook all released mobile apps recently, each putting Chicago-specific info at your fingertips. They all join Yelp, UrbanSpoon and Not For Tourists.
Localizing the Apple Story
If you're getting ready to tune in for Apple's big tablet announcement, Chicago-based Ars Technica has you covered with a liveblog from SF.
Tomorrow's Other Big Speech
Obama's first State of the Union Address will have some major competition tomorrow: Steve Jobs will present what is assumed to be Apple's new tablet computer. Threadless co-founder Jacob DeHart has an interesting theory that the announcement may be even bigger than that.
Sticker Your Bus Stop
Here's some productive tagging for you: CTA Stop ID is crowdsourcing the placement of informational stickers or signs on all the CTA bus stops, to help people take better advantage of the SMS-based Bus Tracker service.
Tweet Resists Libel Claim
The libel lawsuit against a woman who tweeted a complaint about her landlord, Horizon Group Management, has been dismissed with prejudice.
But Will it Scale?
Got an interesting idea for a tech start-up? Scale Well wants to give you $1000 and some co-working space to help get you traction.
He Was the Nazz
Nikola Tesla was a brilliant Serbo-American scientist and inventor whose alternating current equipment powered the electric lights of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. According to the thumbnail portrait in the Wall Street Journal, he also recorded the seminal albums The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and Lodger.
Tech in the City
Chicago.TechScene.us is the latest site attempting to cover ...well, you can probably guess.
You Damn Dirty Apps
Doejo's Texthog was featured last night on CNBC's special "Planet of the Apps: A Handheld Revolution" about smartphone apps. The episode runs again Sunday, Jan. 10 at 11pm.
Human Powered
GoHuman is a startup attempting to create "a marketplace for local services," ranging from computer consulting to auto repair to knitting classes.
"Star of Wonder" Darkening
After more than 70 years of projections, the Adler Planetarium will be closing its "Star of Wonder" show for the last time on January 3.
Finding a Way to Find Your Way
City-Go-Round is a site that collects transportation maps and apps for Chicago and other cities to help you get from here to there. [via]
Life, Liberty and a Gb/s
In a couple of months the FCC presents congress with the National Broadband Plan; a road map for delivering high-speed internet to all Americans and closing the speed gap between the US and much of the developed world. So far the plan has received "mixed reviews." Get your two cents in during a public hearing [pdf] Monday at the Gleacher Center.
Architecture Tours by iPhone
The folks behind PrairieMod have created FanGuide Tours, offering printed Prairie School architectural guides to Oak Park and River Forest -- and now iPhone tours of Chicago's architectural wonders.
Swooping In with a Discount
Groupon competitor YouSwoop officially launches Thursday. Crain's Enterprise City has an interview with founder Alexander Lurie.
Naperville's Full of Ideas Worth Spreading
You've heard of TED, right? Well, next March you're invited to TEDx Naperville.
Get it Tgethr
Web2.0 spelling aside, Tgethr is an "anti-fancy" email collaboration app developed by the local folks behind Inkling Markets.
There Wasn't an App for That
The NYTimes covers cellphones and the industry's drive to keep people chatting on them when they shouldn't. Interestingly, the piece shows a photo of a 1983 event at Soldier's Field, when Ameritech executives (huge trench-coat fans, apparently) gathered to watch the first cellphone call.
CivicNet, Wifi, WiMax & Beyond
For those with a long memory, the mayor's plans to bridge the digital divide sound awfully familiar.
Find A Bike Rack
The Chicago Department of Transportation has created a bike rack finder, sortable by zip codes. (h/t: Julia Thiel)
4G Is The New 3G
Hey all of you 3G slugs, step aside. Comcast launched its new 4G highspeed internet service today in the city today, joining Philadelphia, Atlanta and Portlant, Oregon. Just think of it...porn delivered at blazing speed!
The Bean, No Hancock
Gowalla is an app on your iPhone that lets you share places you've been, and features lots of neat icons for landmarks. Chicago's one of its popular cities, so you'd think they'd a custom icon for the Hancock Building like they do for the Bean and Sears Tower.
Questionable Automation
GB flickr pool contributor mick.chicago demonstrates why automated news aggregators still have a ways to go with this unfortunate placing of a St. Patrick's Day photograph of the Chicago River next to articles about the Michael Scott death.
Windy City Times Gets App'd
It's been a tough week for LGBT media, just ask the now closed Washington Blade (or don't). But like all print media, it's time to evolve. Chicago's oldest LGBT weekly, Windy City Times just released a new iPhone app, providing local, national and world LGBT news and entertainment pieces to join its Facebook and Twitter social networks.
A Dress to be Seen In
With 24,000 LEDs and 4,000 Swarovski crystals, it'd be hard not to be seen in CuteCircuit's Galaxy dress, commissioned by the Museum of Science and Industry for its current exhibition, Fast Forward: Inventing the Future.
A Place to Eat Socially
Culinary Culture is a new social network for "serious and aspiring foodies" launched today by Threadless cofounder Jakob DeHart and his wife, Mischa.
Tweeting in Chicago
Tweet Home Chicago is a site intended to help you find other Chicagoans worth following on Twitter.
Locally Produced Web Tools
37signals is far from the only developer putting together useful web-based tools in Chicago. ThinkLink produces Thinklinkr, a collaborative outliner, and Mocklinkr for clickable design mockups.
872, Represent?
The new area code 872 goes live on Saturday, so don't forget you'll need to dial an area code for any Chicago number -- even if it's in the same area code as your phone.
ChicagoBreakingStuff.com
The Trib launched ChicagoBreakingSports.com on Sunday, pushing Tribune property sports content out throughout the day like they do on ChicagoBreakingNews.com. Which got me wondering: what other "breaking" domains do they own?
Finding the Needle
37signals just (pre)launched Haystack, a site to help you find a web designer for your project. More background here.
Sports Reporting by Robots
Stats Monkey is a project at Northwestern's Intelligent Information Laboratory that might one day make sports reporting obsolete. Of course, that'd just mean more time for sportwriters to be columnists. [via]
What Would You Like to See on Google Street View?
Google is accepting suggestions for off-of-the-street places for its Street View trike to document. Do you have a Chicago location to suggest? Perhaps the Lakefront Path or your favorite park?
Learn to Tweet
Wondering how to best use Twitter for your business? Go to TweetCamp Chicago this Saturday, presented by the AWJ Chicago.
New Feature at Windy Citizen
The Windy Citizen just got a little more democratic with the ability to vote comments up and down.
Digging into .Gov
Stump Connolly of The Week Behind profiles the various ways people are data-mining the government.
A New Mode of Data Storage
Microsoft's suburban data center is experimenting with shipping containers as modular units to be added or subtracted with computing demands.
Calling All iPhones
Listening to a police scanner can be really interesting -- and a bit scary at times. A new app for the iPhone/iPod Touch lets you put all 13 CPD dispatch zones in your pocket. (Thanks, Dan!)
Talkin' About Design
Local designer Ryan McGovern hosts DesignChat, a live streaming video discussion for creative professionals. Check the site's blog for past wisdom from design luminaries or catch this week's discussion with the award-winning creatives behind Big Space Ship at 5:30pm on Wednesday, in the Mashable chatroom.
Cut Rate Condos
Looking to snap up some cheap property? Or maybe just get a glimpse of just how much of a discount nearby units are going for? CondoShark has your answer.
Some Help Turning Off the Bus
CTA employees who clean busses typically need to turn on bus engines to provide light, temperature controls and other power while they work in them. That will change for 80 busses thanks to a new $1.5 million federal Recovery Act grant.
Goodbye, Google
For the past four years, developers in Google's Chicago office have been working on a way for you to take your data (contacts, files, etc.) with you if you leave Google's products, like gmail. Their work has paid off in the form of the Data Liberation Front. [via]
Online Ordering Diversifies
Chicago's own GrubHub, which has been expanding into other cities, recently got a competitor on its home turf: Eat24Hours.
Cadence & Slang
Chicago-based interaction designer Nick Disabato has launched a Kickstarter project to help fund his new book, Cadence & Slang. Simply put, Cadence & Slang is a book about interaction design. Help make it a reality.
Hold Off on that Jailbreak
If you're annoyed with your iPhone dropping calls right and left, you may be heartened to hear AT&T is rolling out improved network technology in Chicago later this year.
Surfing the Municipal Web
Chicago's website may not be the best, but at least it's not Rosemont's. More.
Twitter Burner
Longtime Chicago tech guru and Feedburner founder Dick Costolo is becoming Twitter's chief operating officer, according to TechCrunch. [via]
Outfitting Your iPhone
Appolicious is a Chicago-based social networking-ish site that helps you find the right app for your iPhone -- or whatever phone you have.
Giddyup, Internet!
A national report for Internet speeds in 2009 demonstrates our fine state is falling behind in Internet performance.
MSNEveryBloCk
EveryBlock, the Chicago-based news and public information aggregator, has been acquired by MSNBC.com. Crain's has some more detail.
New Number for Tattoos
As we mentioned back in 2007, November will be the roll out time for our new overlay area code: 872.
This One Goes to 11 155
New Chicago-based microblogging service Wooxie allows 155 characters instead of 140, and offers a photo gallery. We're testing it out.
25% of the City Won't Read This
A quarter of Chicago doesn't use the Internet, a new study finds. The number is more like 39 percent in the Spanish-speaking community. [via]
Hackers Get Free Parking
Apparently the "smart" electronic parking meters used in Chicago and other cities are fairly easy to exploit by hackers. [via]
Yet Another Googlemap - Cycling Edition
CitySpokes maps out the city's bike paths, with a convenient trip planner to help you take advantage of them.
PayPal Alternative
Not a fan of PayPal or Google Checkout? Local startup mPayy might be your solution.
Lolla by Touch
Headed to Lollapalooza? There's an iPhone app for that.
CTA Tweet Gets Better
The CTA Tattler is working to improve CTA Tweet, its Twitter-based alert system.
EveryBlock for Any Block
EveryBlock's Knight grant ran out yesterday, and on that momentous occasion, they released the source code for the platform, allowing anyone to produce a similar site for their town. Read my profile of the company and their future plans in Chicago magazine.
Tipping Through Twitter
OK, so we're going to try a little experiment. We now have a Twitter tip line at @GBtips in addition to our main account. It's powered by Spotd, the retweet system behind the popular Tamale Guy Tracker. Learn how it works after the jump...
If you've got a Twitter account, you can send us story tips -- breaking news, interesting links, events, whatever -- to that account in the form of an "@ reply" and it'll be retweeted in the GBtips stream. We'll keep an eye on what comes in and possibly use your tip in posts on GB! And of course, we'll give you credit.
This is highly experimental -- it could become a huge mess, or die from disuse. We'll block anyone who gets abusive, vulgar or spammy with it. If you've got any feedback for us, DM us on that account or the main GB account or send us an email.
Find My iPhone Works
In one instance, at least. [via]
Hot or Not for the Twittering Masses
Locally produced Hot Tweeters should eat up some of your time on a rainy afternoon.
iPhonin' at Grand
AT&T service will soon be available in CTA subways. Gmail in the station!
Chicago's Still Got Game
Though times may be tough for local video game developer Midway Games, Chicago-based upstart Robomodo has been tapped to develop Ride, the latest entry in the highly successful Tony Hawk franchise. Tony showed off the game and its unique skateboard-shaped controller during the Xbox 360 press conference at E3 last week.
Bringing the Funny, 140 Characters at a Time
Is Twitter the new improv class? The Trib's @RexHuppke talks one-liners with a couple of Chicago's funniest tweeps.
Springfield is Atwitter
The Illinois Policy Institute has created Tweet Illinois, a service that allows you to track what your twittering state legislators are talking about. More details in Mechanics.
EveryBlock in Your Pocket
EveryBlock now has an iPhone app, so you can check on crime stats of the very corner you're standing on. (And restaurants nearby, too.)
Musicians Go to Band Camp, Designers Go to...
There are a couple good opportunities for Chicago designers and coders ahead. Camp Firebelly is coming up May 1, 2009 Innovation Summit is coming up at the end of May, FITC brings its Flash conference here mid-June, and you can already register for An Event Apart in October.
Broadway To Go
Yesterday, Broadway in Chicago became the first theater organization to offer an official iPhone application. Way to get the show on the road, guys! [via]
Still Fast
Once again, Chicago has made Fast Company's list of cities of the year. This time, the magazine highlights the I-Go + CTA Smart Card program.
Fighting Crime with T9
Remember the CPD/CPS TXT2TIP [pdf] program? Yeah, no one else did either. The program received 70 text messages since September 10, 2008, and, um, "some were hoaxes." Given its tremendous success, Huberman is reviving the program.
News on Hyperlocal News
Local startup EveryBlock was part of a story on hyperlocal news sites in the New York Times this weekend. (Thanks, Elizabeth!)
Will This Be On The iTest?
Loyola University here in Chicago is using something called iclickers to track and increase students' involvement in class.
Reach Out and Bump Someone
The latest cool iPhone app comes from our very own University of Chicago where two business school students have come up with a clever way to exchange info between users.
Get Started This Weekend
Got an idea for a new tech project? Bring it to Startup Weekend this weekend, and it might become a reality.
A Life in Layers
Can't make it down to the Oriental Institute but want to learn more about mummies? The University of Chicago Magazine created an interactive mummy dissection that combines photographs, CT scans and interviews with researchers to examine the Institute's 2,800-year-old dummy -- without cracking the seal.
CraigsList Erotic Services Drop
A week after Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart sued CraigsList to stop allowing "erotic services" ads on its site, CL reports that its listings of that type are down 90 percent. We already knew they were lower than elsewhere in the country.
Cross-reference That Cookbook
Recipe Comparison is a local site that allows you to search for recipes and compare them across several major recipe sites. Great for dishes where there's no one way to do it.
"Commissioner Tweetie"
Cook County Commissioner Tony Paraica has been live-tweeting board meetings.
The Increasing Significance of Surveillance Cameras
Thanks to a $6 million Homeland Security grant, the city of Chicago has integrated the 911 emergency response center with video feeds from the city's cameras, as well as those from 20 private institutions. An additional 17 organizations are expected to sign on shortly.
The Great Silent Lake
According to this somewhat confusing graph, Chicago is the world's third most innovative hub, behind only Silicon Valley and Tokyo, in terms of the number diversity of separate companies developing new patents. [via]
Where've You Been?
Where I've Been is a new site that allows you to track and share your travels on a variety of social networks. They're hosting a Facebook Developers Garage tonight if you're interested.
File Your Receipt in Your Phone
TextHog is a new service that allows you to keep track of receipts and other expenses by text or email.
Two-Facebook
Compare and contrast: The possibly overreaching changes to Facebook's terms of service, and the sweet simplicity of the current "25 things" meme.
They're Heeeeerre....
At the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference here in Chicago over the weekend, cosmologist Paul Davies of Arizona State University says that alien life, in one form or another, does indeed exist and may already be living here on Earth! (I thought that guy at 7-11 looked a little weird.)
Bad Economy Wins!
Chicago-based video game developer Midway Games filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today after a nearly five-year battle with their finances. The Mortal Kombat creator recently laid off 25% of their local workforce in an unsuccessful attempt to stay afloat.
Who's Representing You?
Newly launched RepSheet lists which elected officials serve you, and also shows you the latest news mentioning any of them.
Radio You
Local web firm Mightybytes spiced up its holiday party by creating an internal radio station that played in every room of its office. Here's how they did it. Bonus: listen to their very own groove-tastic playlist.
Not Encyclowikia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica's new user-generated version of its online encyclopedia debuted today, but it's nothing like Wikipedia.
Super Bowl Tickets Don't Come That Cheap
Chicago-based ticket-brokering site FirstDIBZ.com says got caught up in a Super Bowl ticket scam, in which "hackers" allegedly posted sales of tickets they didn't own.
Every Single Block
EveryBlock has introduced a feature that allows you to see neighborhood trends right down to individual blocks. Still no pothole data, though -- not that they're not trying.
Play Secretary
MiniMtg is a simple conference call collaborative note-taking service, developed by Brent Sordyl.
Listen to Your Neck
Tired of earbuds? Maybe necksets are for you. The "bizarre" headphone alternatives are made by suburban S1 Audio.
Another Mobile CTA Bus Tracker, Though Prettier
Michael Simmons releases his iPhone-ified CTA Bus Tracker. If you're looking for a more native looking app, this is it. Just point your iPhone here.
Crowdsourcing a Winner
Chicago crowdsourcing startup crowdSPRING won Wired's Small Biz Program contest.
Chicago Best 3G Coverage
Gizmodo does a citywide road test of AT&T, Sprint and Verizon. Compare to the rest of the country.
Less Mortal Kombat, More Mortal Combat
Midway Games' Chicago office laid off 130 full-time employees just in time for the holidays.
Jellified Holidays
In between all the other holiday parties this weekend, here's a freebie for you: Jelly Chicago and other local tech folks (including Gapes Block) are hosting a free holiday party at Noble Tree Coffee & Tea, 2444 N. Clark St., Saturday night at 10pm. It's free; just RSVP.
Your Daily Commute
Commuting.in prettifies the CTA Bus Tracker for your mobile device, but also allows you to save favorite bus routes and stops.
ROBOTS!
If you're already thinking about the weekend, here's something a little different: IIT will be hosting a Midwest robotics tournament.
CTA Rolls Out Hybrid Buses
The CTA unveiled new hybrid buses today that plug into an electrical outlet at night and run on battery power for most of the day. The move is estimated to save the CTA almost $7 million annually in maintenance, labor and fuel costs by retiring aging buses.
Spirit of Competition
Chicago-based crowdSPRING is the front-runner in Wired's small business competiton. Watch their video and vote for the local team.
High Tech & Created in Chicago
Callpod is a local company producing some very cutting edge gadgets, including multi-device chargers and extra-strength bluetooth headsets.
Perfect Power at IIT
Yesterday, IIT announced it will build the first smart microgrid electricity system in the United States. The system promises to "virtually eliminate" power outages and allow the university to sell excess electricity, all the while saving at least $2 million a year.
Be Obama
Local artist and programmer Dubi Kaufmann created a plugin for Apple's Photo Booth called "Obamafy." The plugin is based on Shepard Fairey's amazingly popular Obama poster.
CTA Gets Smart
Looks like the trusty Chicago Card may become obsolete in the near future. The CTA is claiming that a new "smart" version of credit and debit cards will be accepted for payment of bus and train fares in about a year. Seems like a rather bold prediction, but it could mean more money for other improvements if it pans out.
Better Living Through 'Slurpees'
Scientists at Argonne National Laboratory have developed a "life-saving, Slurpee-like slurry" which "rapidly cools the body from the inside out, giving doctors more time to treat patients while staving off harmful complications, saving lives." [via]
Twitter H8ter Twitter
For every trend, there's an anti-trend. Twitter has blown up ...and spawned h8ter, created by local webfolk. Sign up for a h8ter account and h8te on all sorts of stuff. Not only that, but your h8tes will be tweeted (anonymously) on Twitter.
A 'Cell' Of A Deal
A new cell phone carrier, Cricket, is coming to town, bringing $45-a-month service and unlimited texting. Just in time for the latest economic downturn.
Colorful Music
Flash artist and past GB staffer Felix Jung has created Colourful Echo, which creates a color-paletted visualizer for songs you upload. Here's an example.
The Twittering Masses
Keep your finger on pulse of the city with Chicago Tweets.
Tech Cocktailing
Chicago tech scenesters: the next Tech Cocktail will be Nov. 6. RSVP now.
Cause for Cell-ebration
Today marks the 25th anniversary of the first commercial cellular call, made to the grandson of Alexander Graham Bell from a ceremony just outside of Soldier Field. Making the call was a Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, also known as the "brick" phone. It cost $3,995, which converts to $8,787.64 in 2008.
As the Tech World Turns
Valleywag claims Google wants to buy Chicago-based EveryBlock and/or hire its founder, Adrian Holovaty. However, Holovaty himself appeared in the comments to say that it was news to him. [via] UPDATE: Valleywag follows up with more speculation.
Better Late Than...
Admitting he never thought he'd win one, University of Chicago Professor Yoichiro Nambu, 87, was awarded a 2008 Nobel Prize for his work in subatomic physics and notified via an early Tuesday phone call from Stockholm. And how did your day start?
Four Bars, No Signal
Ever wonder why sometimes your cellphone seems to be in service but you can't make a call? Here's your answer.
Crowdfunded Shirts
Cameesa has a lot in common with Threadless: it's based in Chicago, makes user-submitted designer t-shirts and all web2.0-y. The difference is, Cameesa's shirts only get printed if they're pre-sold above a certain threshold within 31 days.
Things You Don't See Every Day
Mayor Daley in a floating chair. (Check out the magnetically levitating chaise lounge and other interesting stuff at Wired NextFest in Millennium Park for the next two weeks.
The CTA is All Atwitter
If you use Twitter, you can now follow your favorite El line, buses or the CTA as a whole, and send updates to the group thanks to CTA Tweet, created ex-GB staffer Dan O'Neil, who also created the cellular CTA Alert System and works at Everyblock. More details on CTA Tattler.
Six-Ring Domain
Have you visited Chicago2016.com, when you meant to go to Chicago2016.org? The former is owned by a Northwestern grad student, and features a "fair and balanced discussion" of Chicago's Olympic bid -- and the bid committee wants to use it for their own purposes. Both sides are now suing for control of the domain.
Look Closely
In its neverending quest to save lost souls around the globe, Google Maps offered up a new version of its mobile software today (available here) that includes Street View, walking directions and local business reviews. They also recently updated their standard maps to include some building numbers if you zoom in reeeally close.
Like YouTube for Non-Profits
DoGooderTV doesn't have hot coeds behaving badly, but it does feature some pretty good videos.
Viewing the Stars from the U of C
NASA named another telescope after a U of C researcher, and this time it's Enrico Fermi. The article also provides a list of other U of C affiliates similarly immortalized, from Chandrasekhar to Hubble.
Like American Idol, But With Science
MAKE: Magazine is coming to Chicago to debut a new event: American Maker, a day-long program that will highlight innovation in the community. American Make will happen at the MSI as part of the upcoming Science Chicago celebration. If you're a local area maker and want more information about how to participate in American Maker, the full details are at the MAKE: blog.
Holovaty's Star Rising
The Tribune profiled Adrian Holovaty of EveryBlock in the Sunday Magazine.
Always Beta
Life in Perpetual Beta is a new video interview series talking with people working on the web, including a bunch of names you already know: Fried, Coudal, Skinnycorp...
37signals Gets Real Live
At 3pm today, tune to this URL for a little live discussion with the 37signals team.
Shop Talk for Chefs & Servers
If you're in the restaurant or hospitality industry, check out FohBoh, a new social network.
Bike Socially
The Chain Link is a new social network for the city's bicyclists.
Chicago: Cuil vs. Google
Cuil.com, a new search engine created by ex-Google engineers, launched today. Compare Chicago on Cuil to Chicago on Google. Better?
Now Digg This
Local members of Digg.com got together at smartbar last night; WindyCitizen has the wrap-up.
Smile, You're On Red Light Camera
The city has 104 red light cameras. They plan on installing 25 more. They expect to collect more than $50 million in fines because of them. If gas prices weren't enough to make you ditch the car, this might do it.
CTA + Fail Whale + ??? = Profit!
Introducing Where the El?, twitter-driven live tracking of CTA trains.
Hanging with Your Internet Friends
Two ways to meet your invisible friends next week: the Digg Meetup on the 23rd and Yelp Around the World party on the 24th. If you're a member of either (or both), don't forget to RSVP.
People You May Know: Barack Obama
The New York Times tells the story of one of the founders of Facebook who left it all behind to move to Chicago and work for Barack Obama.
Life on the Silicon Prairie
As a good number of our readers know, Chicago's a fine tech city, ranking seventh for the third straight year.
Super Computing
Argonne National Laboratory now has the third most powerful supercomputer in the world.
Pedal to the Tech Metal
Got an idea for a tech startup? You've got till Friday to apply for IL-Celerate, a 12-week program to get you up and running. You don't even need a business plan.
Hybrid Owners Still Being Charged
Unlike other cities, Chicago is showing no special preferences to owners of hybrid cars by giving them a break on feeding the meter and providing them with free parking spaces to encourage their use. Should we really be surprised?
CME MMC 2008
The Community Media Workshop's Making Media Connections Conference takes place next week, so don't forget to register if you're planning on going. For an outside perspective on the conference, check out Nonprofiteer's assessment.
New Local Social Network
It's called Soceeo (pronounced like "socio-economic"), and it went live today.
Yet Another Googlemap - Ancestry Edition
Chicago Ancestors helps you track down historical and genealogical info based on street address.
Video Game Inclusion = Bank
Chicago band Greenskeepers is royally reaping the benefits of inclusion in GTA IV and its advertisements.
New Blog on Chicago Tech
The newly launched Windy Wire picks up where WindyBits left off, posting up-to-the-minute news on Chicago's tech scene.
Wi-Fi? Yawn.
The "Jetsonian" WiMAX is reportedly coming to Chicago by year's end.
Not David Lightman
A New Trier Township High School senior got caught hacking into the school's computer system. How did he get caught? Staff walked around the school and looked at students' screens.
Taking the Wind Out of the May Report
WindyBits has morphed into a tech event calendar, but it does offer one bonus: a cleaned up and reader-friendly version of the May Report.
Another Conference for Your Docket
Interested in Perl but can't pay the big bucks to attend a conference? Check out YAPC, coming to Chicago in June. It'll only set you back a $100.
Cleaning Up In More Ways Than One
Chicago is on track to become the first city to have a street sweeper-mounted camera system. As the sweeper moves down the street it will take a take a photo of any illegally-parked vehicle and a second image of the license plate, relaying both automatically to the Department of Revenue. Strictly for traffic flow purposes, you understand.
A Wireless(on) at U of C Law School
The buzz is growing over The University of Chicago Law School's recent decision to cut off wireless Internet access in classrooms. Something about students chatting, checking email or playing solitare during class...
Used Electronics Recycling Made Easy
Chicago is set to be a pilot city in a new USPS electronics recycling program.
Internet Via Text Message
If you're out on the town and don't have a web-enabled phone, you can still access the Internet via a service that doesn't require calling that friend who's always online. ChaCha is a new human search service you can text with any question. So if you're wondering when the Chicago Diner closes or curious about the middle name of your alderman, they'll text the answer back to you. Also, if you don't already know, you can text GOOGL (46645) for business addresses and phone numbers.
There's a Social Network for Everything
Introducing MyCampFriends.
Commodity Exchanges, A Timeline
Starting with the establishment of the Chicago Board of Trade in 1848, Reuters walks us through commodity exchange history.
The Podcasters Are Coming
Interested in learning more about audio and video podcasting and other social media? You might want to sign up for PodCamp Chicago, an "unconference" scheduled for early June. [
Keep it Simple, Stupid
37signals was profiled in the latest issue of Wired, and were described variously as "brash" "arrogant" "demigods." Jason Fried posted a response to some of the "myths" described in the story.
Each and Every One
Everyblock, a hyper-local news aggregator from the creators of ChicagoCrime.org, has now launched.
Suburban Wi-Fi Woes
Just a few months after Chicago abandoned its effort to provide free city-wide wi-fi to residents, Naperville and Aurora have followed suit. While Chicago was just in the planning stages, the network in Aurora was 20 percent complete.
