Caroline McCarthy from CNET has a terrific feature today about the EDC's efforts to bolster the tech industry here in New York. It covers some of the tension between the startup community and the EDC that the Observer highlighted a few weeks... MORE >
Rachel Sterne's major qualifications for her new job as New York City's digital chief seem to be her social media savvy. But apparently the attention her Facebook page received after her new gig was announced was either too much for Sterne, or didn't jibe with her position as a public official, because she greatly increased her privacy settings... MORE >
A day after New York City named Rachel Sterne as its first chief digital officer, advertising trade publication Adweek has posted an ostensibly hard-hitting look at the appointment that seems based in a misreading of what it is Ms. Sterne will actually be doing for the mayor's office. Says... MORE >
As Mayor Bloomberg worked through his state of the city address today, his office simultaneously announced a new software-based initiative to help foster communication among city employees and hopefully make it more responsive to the needs of the citizenry. It's also setting up a kind of digital suggestion box so employees can give their ideas to the city and make it better.... MORE >
Alex Bell, a native New Yorker and electrical engineering student at Columbia, was tired of waiting for the subway. So he invented Subway Arrival, an iPhone app that tracks users as they enter and exit the underground. It notices when they lose signal, then reappear somewhere far away. By matching cell phone base stations to subway stations, the app can figure out who is using what... MORE >
The New York Times has story today about New York's efforts to woo a top flight engineering school that could produce homegrown tech talent. Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert K. Steele spoke at the Googleplex, because Google is the kind of Silicon Alley powerhouse New York hopes will take root here during the coming decades. But something about the tone of the story seemed... MORE >
Coworking is a growing trend among New York's freelancers, especially for the tech set. Instead of plugging away in their pajamas or snagging a spot at the wi-fi cafe, coworker prefer a more organized, office atmosphere. But how much does it really save, or cost, to rent a desk in this kind of co-working space? According to a study from Deskwanted.com, a startup that helps users find coworking and shared office... MORE >
Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith sent out a new memo asking city employees to shut off their computers when they leave work for nights and weekends. If the city's 100,000 computers were powered down more often, it would save about $250,000 a year in power... MORE >
You can learn a lot about a person by going through his or her web search history. It's like picking through someone's trash, but less messy. A snapshot of the city's top search terms for 2010 reveals Gotham's character and preoccupations. We're still obsessed with take-out, prone to accumulate parking tickets and always on the lookout for a better... MORE >
In the parlance of the data-center crowd, 111 Eighth Avenue is New York's premier "CoHo", or "Carrier Hotel". The building's enormous size and position directly over an important fiber optic line make it one of the "world's choicest pieces of Internet real estate." Wall Street caught on to this early, moving electronic trading units in back in 2001 to gain millisecond speed advantages in high-frequency... MORE >
Update - Noon: 11,751 voters have checked in from 7,440 locations. Video of Crowley talking elections and astronauts below. Foursquare users who glance at their mobile apps this morning will notice something new: polling stations near them pushed to the top of the Places... MORE >
Brooklyn resident D.K. is tired of people telling him to shave his beard. "I don't want to curse or anything, but I feel like cursing that's how angry I am." Luckily D.K. now has an outlet, Rant Van, a mobile video studio that records Brooklynites complaints for the whole web to hear. According to the Brooklyn Paper the Rant Van was created by Christy and Johnny Sheehan, a Brooklyn couple with $3000 in savings and a... MORE >
Mayor Bloomberg was at Facebook headquarters talking about innovation today, and he shared more than a few stories of how to play hardball and stay ahead of the compeition. Bllomberg recalled a day he called his top deputies into his office and told them they were switching positions within the... MORE >
Mayor Bloomberg will be traveling to California tomorrow to endorse Meg Whitman for Governor. While he's over there, he'll be stopping by Facebook headquarters, where he'll do a live streaming chat. OMGeezy that's hip. That event starts at 1:45 EST, and you can watch it... MORE >
The Obsever broke the news yesterday that Microsoft will be powering New York City's transition to cloud computing. It's exciting to see Mayor Bloomberg pushing city government to adopt new technology, but a few details have emerged since then that make the partnership seem a little less... MORE >
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