One of Philly’s most exciting tech companies is Old City’s appRenaissance. They recently made headlines with recen naming of Bob Moul as the company’s Chairman and CEO — an event that Mayor Nutter called “one more vote of confidence for this city as a growing hub for the tech economy.”

The founder and Chief Technology Officer of the company is Scott Wasserman, a man whose Japanese toy collection (glimpsed in the window of Gallery 309 which shares a space with appRenaissance) is nearly as impressive as his knowledge in all things tech. He’s this week’s Geek of the Week, and here’s what he has to say.

What were the origins of appRenaissance?

I founded appRenaissance in September 2010 after seeing the need for a one stop shop for mobile strategy, development, analytics and support. Previously, I was a partner at Transmogrify in Conshohocken and wanted to grow the new company in Old City. I love the tech and creative vibe in the neighborhood and I live 4 blocks from our office.

What is the company’s goal?

Our goal is to become the go-to company for mobile innovation in the region, and to extend our offerings globally.We also want to create a work environment that feels good to come to, fosters innovation and encourages learning. We believe in giving back to the community and our office is available for free to tech and design groups to use for their meet-ups and events.

In addition, we spend time in local universities and colleges to evangelize mobile and mentor the next generation of entrepreneurs. My personal involvement includes volunteering at the Temple Entrepreneur Institute and sitting on the board of the Wilmington University Game Design and Development program. I also recently had my first class pop-in visit at Drexel.

What are some of the biggest challenges you face in your work?

Right now mobile is has been widely adopted but the skills necessary to produce quality apps has lagged behind demand. Also the knowledge of how to apply mobile to the business sector is being invented as we speak. We’re doing our part to help educate the business leaders in the region on the transformational potential of mobile but some have been slow to adopt a mobile strategy. (more…)

Geeks need a place to be geeky, away from the prying eyes of normal people. Away from the people who don’t understand the importance of 3D scanning, laser engravers, and computer controlled machine tools. Geeks need a place to get giddy about expensive high-end design and engineering software without being judged.

NextFab Studio offers access to all these technical tools, giving geeks the perfect place to work on their personal projects. Just don’t make robots that become sentient and enslave the human race. That would be a bummer.

NextFab Studio is expanding with a new facility at 2025 Washington Avenue in the Southwest Center City area this summer. Dubbed NextFab 2, the facility will boast 21,000 square feet of space for cutting edge equipment, classrooms, and even a cafe. NextFab’s mission is to foster technical, artistic, and entrepreneurial innovation by putting sophisticated design, engineering, and fabrication technologies into their members’ geeky hands.

Here are some of the new resources detailed on NextFab’s press release.

• private studios with 24/7 facility access for round-the-clock innovation
• 14′ ceilings, numerous workbenches, private storage, and wide open spaces that invite ambitious projects
• a 5′x10′ 5-axis CNC water-jet cutter, a large 3-axis CNC machining center, a 5′x10′ CNC router, and more advanced 3D printers
• drive-in loading/unloading, a forklift and a crane for massive works
• dedicated painting and finishing rooms
• a chemistry and micro-fabrication lab
• a vehicle lift and facilities for car and motorcycle customization and electric-fuel conversion
• dedicated classroom spaces allowing larger, more extensive, and more frequent classes and in-depth workshops
• a large and fully equipped photo/video studio
• exhibits and sales of products and art produced by community members
• a cafe at street level with light fare and fine espresso, coffee and tea

Architecture and design firm inHabit will help reconfigure the old custom ironwork shop into a creative space.

The expansion will increase NextFab’s membership fees this spring, but all current members and members that join on or before April 1, 2012 will be honored with Founding Member status. This locks in current membership prices through March 31, 2013, unless membership lapses sooner. Being a Founding Member of anything is just like being OG.

Sign up and lock in your rate while you can. Then get started on building that T-1 Terminator.

The other day, Jeff Lyons and his crew over at Used Wigs invited me to be a special guest on their hilarious podcast. The show recorded live upstairs at L’Etage in Queen Village, featured celebrated local artist Yis Goodwin, and was an absolute blast.

Topics range from New Orleans prostitutes to horrible weight loss tips, tertiary Star Wars characters to disbelief in penguins. I chatted about my famed Master Chief armor and gave away a few Quirk titles. All in all, a fabulous evening.

Give it a listen! And thanks for having me on guys!

Used Wigs Podcast: 93
www.usedwigs.com/podcast-93

Tattooed Mom is one of Geekadelphia’s favorite spots in Philadelphia. Robert Perry, one of the owners and masterminds behind the bar, is a great asset to the art and geek community in Philadelphia. He’s a supporter of all things creative, and sat down with me to talk about the history and mission behind Tattooed Moms.

How long has Tattooed Mom’s been around?

This year will be our 15th year… so that’s a pretty exciting milestone for us.

I feel like this bar has become a staple of South Street. How does that make you feel?

It’s great. I’ve seen so many eras come through on the street. It’s nice to grow with it, but still be an anchor for the street. We’ve always been very fortunate to be a gathering place for creative people. We’re the place that you go to before the show. We’re the place that the band comes to after the show. It’s nice to have been lucky to create an atmosphere were creative people feel comfortable.

Did you always have the idea of this “Punk Rock Themed” bar?

We are who we are. Mom and myself come from that world. A lot of the people that work here came up through that world. It’s just a natural expression of our histories and the people that we work with. (more…)

When I hear the word extreme associated with sports, I usually think of snowboarding, rollerblading, the X Games or skateboarding. Chess is pretty far down the list of competitions that I would label as extreme, right down there with Magic: The Gathering or curling.

It turns out that a group of local talent is out to change that. The Xtreme Chess Championships, the brainchild of Philadelphia residents Jen Shahade, her brother Greg and Daniel Meirom, recently debuted on YouTube. The show takes 8 young chess players (including Alisa Melekhina, a law student at Penn) and pits them against each other in 20 minute, winner take all chess matches.

The show is a mixture of reality show and sports competition as each player is profiled and we get to know them as they prepare for battle. For those that don’t know a rook from a rake, the game is explained in simple terms and the play by play team makes everything easy to follow.

I’ll admit, as the show progresses and the match gets more heated, you do really start to get into it and before you know it your yelling at your monitor, saying things like “What are you doing!?! How can you move your knight to C5!? Dumb ass!!!”

While I don’t think we’ll see the Xtreme Chess Championships on ESPN any time soon, any fan of the game of chess or reality shows will get a real kick out of it. Episode 2 has just been uploaded and I highly recommend giving it a look. Who knew chess could be extreme?

Check it out on Youtube and Facebook.

The Xtreme Chess Championships
www.youtube.com/user/XChessChamps/videos

For this week’s Geek of the Week I got to spend of a few minutes with one of my favorite Philly film geeks, Lansing Sylvia the Director of Development over at the Philadelphia Film Society. I first got to know Lansie during the 20th Philadelphia Film Festival where she helped me co-ordinate some of the great content and contests for Geekadelphia.

For it being her first year she really brought a fresh passion and perspective that I feel was really missing from the festival, and I look forward to see what she brings to the Film Society in the years to come. I hope you enjoy our little chat about all things Philly film.

Most of our readers will probably know you as the voice of the Philadelphia Film Society’s Twitter, so what exactly do you do at the Film Society and how did you land that gig in the first place?

I haven’t been able to do the Twitter as much as before.

So what I do at the Film Society is I am the Director of Development, which is philanthropic foundational individual and corporate giving. So what that means is I am partially responsible for keeping the lights on.

How I got the gig is I got my masters in non profit leadership and one of my professors had just joined the board of the Film Society, so she knew they were looking for someone with development and marketing experience. She also knew I wanted to stay in Philly, so she recommended me to Andrew our executive director who met with me and I was hired about four or five weeks after I graduated.

What is it like working with an organization like the Philadelphia Film Society?

One of the things I am constantly amazed at is how tiny the Philadelphia Film Society is, the year round staff is like 6 people and we have a great seasonal staff that comes in as well.  Working in such a small environment, its like working in a family. It really honestly is.

Everyone plays a role and those roles always change.  That is the best thing but it is also the most challenging.

(more…)

Likes crepes? Drinks? Giveaways? Podcasts? Then stroll over to L’etage next week.

Our good friends Used Wigs are recording their annual live-podcast at L’etage, and have kindly asked Geekadelphia to be a special guest. I’ll hit the stage with celebrated local artist NoseGo, and chat about… well, whatever it is they want us to talk about. Video games, art, movies, generally geekery. Should be a good time.

Come on out! Oh and Jeff, I don’t wear the Master Chief suit to pick up bagels. Cheesesteaks only, please.

Used Wigs @ L’etage
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 – 8:00pm

L’etage
624 South 6th Street (19147)

Affording a comfortable lifestyle that you will not enjoy for 30 – 40 years can be difficult to envision and plan for. Given that most of us will not have pensions, as most companies have abandoned them, we need to invest as much as we can for our future. The first thing is to figure out how much you may need. A study published by Hewitt Associates in 2010 suggested that you will need to save 15.7 times your final pay to cover your expenses in retirement.

If you earn $60,000 today and will retire in 30 years (assuming 3.5% inflation each year), you would need to save $2.6M. If you retired in 20 years the figure would be around $1.9M. Assuming Social Security is still around, you can probably reduce these figures by 30% leaving you to save $1.8M for 30 years or $1.3M for 20 years.

So, how do you get there? You should start with your company’s retirement plan. Find out how much the company matches and contribute, if possible, the maximum amount you need to get the full match. Then (after consulting your tax advisor) consider opening a Roth IRA to round out your retirement savings. Roth IRAs offer the benefit of tax free savings and allow you to invest up to $5,000 per year if you are under 50 ($6,000 if you are over).

Finally, set yourself up on a budget. Evaluate all your expenses by charting them on Mint.com as discussed in my prior post. You will be surprised how much all those stops at Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts can add up to. Going through this exercise will be a valuable experience. (more…)

If you live in Philadelphia and you love sports, then you are probably a Philadelphia Flyers fan. While the Eagles may have the bigger fanbase, Flyers fans are more like a cult; they are devoted to their team to a fault and will follow them through good and bad, thick or thin.

If the above is a good description of you, then you are going to be jealous as hell of this week’s Geek of the Week, Sarah Baicker. In addition to being in charge of all Flyers content on CSNPhilly.com, she gets to go to every game, interview players and handles social media for the team.

I was lucky enough to interview Sarah about the Flyers, Philly sports fans and what any of this has to do with little green dinosaurs.

Have you always been a sports fan?

I’ve definitely been a hockey fan for as long as I can remember. The other sports … well, they were slower to come.

I have this memory of being maybe 11 years old or so, and my dad had promised to take me ice skating – something I was very excited for, as I’d really jumped on the hockey bandwagon by that point – and his friend called him up and offered him two really good free tickets to an Eagles game. He pitched the idea to me, and I immediately rejected it.

We were going ice skating, come hell, high water, or free Birds tickets. These days, though, I’m pretty sure I’d take the tickets … even though the team didn’t live up to expectations this season. (Ugh, that’s a whole other issue!)

You do a lot of Flyers coverage for Comcast Sportsnet. What’s a typical day like?

It probably sounds cliché, but there’s no such thing as a typical day for me. Technically, I’m a digital producer responsible primarily for overseeing the Flyers coverage on CSNPhilly.com, Comcast SportsNet’s home on the Web. But … it would take me three days (or about 300 pages) to list everything I do. (more…)

His name was Colin, these are his papers…

The dream of the ‘90s will be alive in Philly this Sunday when Portlandia: The Tour rolls into town. While there’s no word yet if show masterminds Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein will attempt to pickle a cheesesteak or the Liberty Bell, it’s a safe bet that they’ll be showcasing the offbeat humor that has made the IFC sketch series such a breakout hit.

What can attendees expect? Live tunes from Brownstein (cross your fingers for some Sleater-Kinney jams) and Armisen (who along with bringing the funny on Portlandia and Saturday Night Live is also an accomplished drummer whose indie cred was cemented when he performed with Les Savy Far a few years back), as well as performances from some surprise musical guests.

So far dates on the tour have included everything from full-band renditions of Portlandia’s signature tune, The Dream of the ‘90s is Alive in Portland, to a spirited cover of Salt-n-Pepa’s immortal classic “Push It.” In other words, anything goes.

Along with the music, there will be sketches featuring some of the series’ hipster-baiting characters and video clips aplenty. The 8pm show sold out so quickly that the Troc added a second performance later in the evening. If you go, just remember to save your ticket stub so you can take it home and make it all crafty like by putting a bird on it. Fred and Carrie would want it that way.

Portlandia: The Tour
Sunday, February 19th, 8 & 10:30pm $30

The Trocadero
1003 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA
www.thetroc.com

Don’t talk about “Puck Man’

Geeks and Valentines Day are two things that have never really gone together in most peoples’ eyes, kind of like geeks and anything that has to do with an athletic activity. But the truth is that a lot of us do date.

But what if you are in the extremely rare situation of dating a non-geek? What if the person you are going to spend Valentines Day with doesn’t know the X-Men from Mad Men? What if they couldn’t tell you the difference between Star Wars and Star Trek, neither of which they have seen because they just don’t “get it”?

This was the very situation I found myself in when I began dating the woman who would eventually become my wife. She is about as much of a non-geek as I am a geek, which if you have read my writing on Geekadelphia should tell you something.

I thought that with Valentines Day upon us I would share a few tips if you happen to find yourself dating a non-geek.

Your personal soundtrack t-shirt is a no go.

Tip 1: No ‘Geek Articles of Clothing

Yes, I know you are very proud of your Think Geek t-shirt collection and your G.I. Joe Destro tie and your Nintendo controller belt buckle. But Valentines Day is not the time for it. Leave that stuff in the closet and dress like you have no idea how many Gears of War games have been released. (more…)

Today we talk to Cory Anotado, a good friend of mine and a graduate of La Salle University’s Digital Art and Multimedia Design program. Sadly, since we did this interview, he’s moved down to Baltimore to be an Interactive Production Developer at GKV Communications. However, we’re being nice and posting it anyway.

Of all the geeks I know, Cory is hands-down the biggest game geek, and I’m not talking video games.

How did you get into loving game shows so much?

I blame my grandmother for keeping the TV on while she watched me when I was a kid. Family Feud was at 10, and then the Price is Right was at 11. Various cable game shows, like Press Your Luck, Debt and some USA originals were in the afternoon. Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune came on at 7. I suppose saturation breeds obsession.

Tell me about your favorite game show and why.

Narrowing my favorite game show down to one is an oft-requested, futile task. If it’s based on current consumption, then it would be the British game show QI: Quite Interesting. It’s a panel show flanked at the help by Stephen Fry. They ask seemingly simple questions like, “Who was the first President of the United States? And give the seemingly complex (and quite interesting) answer of “Peyton Randolph.” Other shows I enjoy are Pointless (a British game show best described as ‘Backwards Family Feud’), Jeopardy!, Press Your Luck and Family Feud.

(more…)