Friday Tech Links: Startup double takes, Solar industry coming to town and More

In which we link out to the tech news from Philly and elsewhere (when it matters) that slips through the cracks and make it way fun. See others here.
We found some redundancy in technology startup news this week.
Remember back in April, we introduced you to Stealth Rowing, which was constructing indoor training equipment for crew teams? Remember how you thought that was a novel idea and then forgot about it because no sensible person gets up at four a.m. to splash in the Schuylkill?
Well, maybe it wasn’t all that novel an idea.
As Inquirer business columnist Mike Armstrong reported late last month, two Philadelphia University graduates are rolling out the Benson rower, a piece of machinery that, yup, simulates rowing on open water. This city is silly with those silly narrow boats.
That isn’t it.
Callowhill-based Avencia has released two data-heavy, online mapping displays in recent weeks: on legislative data and election data. Well, there are other wonks in town. Mikey Armstrong, of Philadelphia Business Today fame, again introduced us to a player in startup bizarro world.
Center City-based neighborhood revitalization group the Reinvestment Fund has won some praise of late for its PolicyMap.com, a freemium-model display that maps block-by-block statistics on things like household incomes, foreclosures and employment.
The more the merrier, I suppose.
After the jump, Geekadelphia talks horror films, sex addicted principals on MySpace, the solar world comes to Philly and four other regional tech stories you need to read, including our most trafficked story of the week.
The goods:

• Geekadelphia has an interesting interview with one of the four founders of Exhumed Films, which holds double feature screenings of 35mm vintage horror and cult films at the International House. The founders are apparently all South Jersey boys — like Sean Blanda, Salem County represent. Their next showing is July 10.
• NEast Philly shares an interview with graphic novelist and Frankford-native Duane Swierczynski. Did I write the story? Yes, but tech savvy Swierczynski, whom we’ve covered also, drops some details about his forthcoming, Philly-centric novel, and we share an adorable baby photo of his. What’s not to enjoy?
• Our friend and yours, Inquirer columnist Joseph Distefano reports that solar business big wigs are rolling through Philly next week. On Monday, Mayor Nutter, Gov. Rendell, U.S. Department of Energy solar chief JoAnn Millken and many many many other people we don’t know will address paid-attendees of this year’s PV America photo voltaic conference. Which means hosting my pro-oil rally on Market East Monday may be unwise.
• The Associated Press reports on a fun social media dispute coming out of our own Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A Schuylkill County eighth grader created a lewd MySpace page feiging to be her school’s principal in March 2007 — alluding to his purported pedophilia and sex addiction. The school suspended the girl, the ACLU, which has taken the case, says it sets a dangerous precedent, and all we can wonder is, do people still use MySpace?
• Peter Key of the Philadelphia Business Journal reports that Franklin Electronic Publishers, the New Jersey-based electronic hand held bookmaker, saw its stock more than double Monday morning after it was announced a possible private takeover.
• All Points Blog has an interview with Greg Bentley, the CEO of Exton-based infrastructure software firm Bentley Systems. We tried to get dirt on the four founding Bentley brothers in an interview we had with a company representative. Listen to APB’s interview below. Via PhillyTechNews.

[audio: http://www.directionsmag.com/images/podcasts/GregBentley_May09.mp3]

• Our Most Trafficked Story of the Week: Philadelphia Inquirer will launch a paid content model for Web
  

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