- Exclusive: New Google+ Study Reveals Minimal Social Activity, Weak User Engagement [Fast Company] “Larry Page recently called Google+ the company’s “social spine.” If that’s the case, then Google‘s backbone might be much weaker than Page has been letting on, at least according to a new report from RJ Metrics. This week, the data analytics firm provided Fast Company with exclusive new insights on Google+. The findings paint a very poor picture of the search giant’s social network–a picture of waning interest, weak user engagement, and minimal social activity. Google calls the study flawed–we’ll explain why in a second–and has boasted that more than 170 million people have “upgraded” to the network. RJ Metrics’ report, on the other hand, is yet another indicator that Google+ might indeed just be a “virtual ghost town,” as some have argued.”
- Piercing insight: Man wears future on his wrist [Daily News] “When did technology go too far? Was it the Flowbee that pushed the edge? Did George Lucas invent some 5-D laser beam that replaced our memories with “Star Wars”? Or was it the guy from Gloucester County, N.J., who punched a few holes in his wrist last month and inserted some magnets so that he could hold his iPod Nano without some ugly-looking strap getting in the way? Yes, Earth, Dave Hurban did that to himself and it worked, and he has sharp metal objects and more elaborate plans in the works.”
- Introducing Denver’s Beautiful Streets [Place Matters Blog/Code for America tumblr] “We saw an opportunity to take an experiment done in Philadelphia and apply it in Denver ahead of our summer hackathonto generate a test case for simple engagement methods and generate a large amount of data.”
- Why a 2500-seat theater dropped Ticketmaster, hired TicketLeap [Philly Deals] “Last year the group used Ticketmaster to sell seats. “But this year we recommended TicketLeap,” of Philadelphia, to operator Mount Productions, said Dan Mita, project manager for O’Neill. Brian O’Neill himself suggested the switch (and no, he’s not an investor.) Why? “Ticketmaster’s markup is 3 to 4 percent of the ticket price,” in some cases; “TicketLeap fixes it at a flat rate,” $2 or $4, for tickets ranging R$30 up to $100, Mita told me. “It’s cheaper for us, easier for the consumer.”
- Together Turning the Page, in 3 Acts [Dangerously Awesome] “With the decision to grow Indy Hall comes the difficult decision to end my time on the Wildbit team. It goes without saying that there’s been nothing but support and love from the Wildbit team as we made the decision for me to transition away from my daily role on the team. We will continue collaborating on ThinkStrapped, though, and I’m looking forward to meeting the founders and teams of the 10 companies we recruit early this summer.”
- Philadelphia is a hotbed of robotic frames that help paralysis victims walk [Inquirer]
- SEER Interactive is Phila.’s only Inner City 100 firm [Philly.com]
- Scientist was cheated out of recognition, book says [Inquirer]
- Bentley Acquires InspectTech [Citybizlist]
- Dell Boomi Wins 2012 CODiE Award for “Best Web Services Solution” [Dell Boomi]
- With protesters nearby, Corbett sticks to message for Phila. Chamber [Inquirer]
- News from SAP’s SAPPHIRE NOW 5/16/2012: SAP demos huge HANA setup; launching QlikTech-like product? [Philly Tech News] — A wrap up of SAP news
- The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School Appoints Michael Conti as Interim CEO [Citybizlist]
- Growing e-commerce firm O3 World hiring, moving to Fishtown [Flying Kite]
- Qspex Technologies, with James Grootegoed on Board, Closes $1 Million Offering [Citybizlist]
- USciences to Sign MOU with Korea’s Far East University [USciences]
- Neat Wins Technology Company of the Year Award [Neat]
Companies:
Bentley Systems / Boomi / Indy Hall / Neat Company / O3 World / RJMetrics / SEER Interactive / Ticketleap / University of the Sciences
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