entrepreneurship : Innovation + Job News

Let's say you're a particularly nosy busybody and want to keep tabs on an entire city: Full surveillance, 24/7, 30 images per second. It won't be long before all that data adds up to a whole lot of server space. TimeSight Systems has developed a clever solution. TimeSight's next generation surveillance technology is based on time sensitivity.

Chuck Foley, CEO of Mt. Laurel NJ based TimeSight, says, "What we've realized in the world of surveillance is that there is a natural time value to video." He explains that surveillance video is most valuable in the minutes and hours after it's shot. Time mitigates risk, says Foley. The older the video gets, the less value it holds, so there are declining levels of risk. "We've developed technology that allows you to literally shrink video over time by setting rules," says Foley of his company's Video Lifecycle Management software. "A company can keep video for a day or two at the highest quality; afterward, they can compress that video to half its original size, and keep it for 30 days. They may compress it again, so the life cycle refers to how that video declines in value over time." This compression schedule allows a company to get back precious server space. TimeSight can slash the amount of storage required by about 90 percent, translating into far smaller investments and footprints, and the method makes sense to a lot of major concerns, including cities, schools, and casinos across North America. TimeSight counts The City of Philadelphia and Paramount Pictures as customers.

TimeSight has attracted the attention of major venture capitalists, including New Venture Partners and Contour Venture Partners. "We've been able to do in software what others have done in hardware," says Foley, who says the Video Lifecycle Management program can process massive amounts of video from both legacy cameras as well as newer IP-networked cameras in a standard off-the-shelf server, making storage of high resolution images economically viable for a wide range of clients. TimeSight has been selected as a Technology Startup Company finalist at The Greater Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies (PACT) Enterprise Awards. Winners will be announced at a ceremony on May 4.

Source: Chuck Foley, TimeSight Systems
Writer: Sue Spolan

The Mark Group, a UK company with recently opened North American headquarters at The Philadelphia Navy Yard, is hiring big time. And training, too. The Mark Group is looking for 60 to 70 new hires who can be trained to go out in the field as energy efficiency experts. The company, which concentrates on the residential market, recommends and completes refitting and repairs to make homes more comfortable and cheaper to run. Chief Operating Officer Dave Hopkins says Mark Group's average fee is $2,500, which will be returned in cost savings in two to three years.

Last week, The Mark Group graduated its first class of students at its North American Energy Efficiency Training Academy. The facility, developed with the support of a $192,000 grant from the Philadelphia Workforce Development Corporation, is sending out workers who can enter a home and go places even the homeowner may never have gone, like attics and crawl spaces, to identify and fix problems like leaks and drafts. Hopkins says the company is training and hiring two types of employees: assessors and technicians.

Since The Mark Group's US launch in November 2010, 40 people have been hired, and by year's end, The Mark Group will have over 100 employees out and about in the Delaware Valley, including New Jersey and Delaware. The parent company has a presence in 20 countries worldwide, and chose Philadelphia as its first stop in the US, thanks to assistance at the state level from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, and locally from Select Greater Philadelphia. "We have plans to expand to the Pittsburgh market, Newark, New Jersey and Baltimore," says Hopkins.

So far, The Mark Group has relied on word of mouth referrals and a favorable article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, and next month expects to launch a marketing campaign. The company has also signed an exclusive deal with Prudential Fox & Roach Realtors to provide energy efficiency services to the agency's clients.

Source: Dave Hopkins, The Mark Group
Writer: Sue Spolan

Top style and ideas for fledgling clothing brand Philadelphia Printworks come from the lovely and talented minds of April Pugh and Ruth Paloma Rivera-Perez. Headquartered at North Philly's Emerald Arts Studios at 9th and Dauphin, Pugh and Rivera-Perez are using T-shirt fronts to spread the word about issues and people they care about. "If people don't listen to NPR, or do their own research, there's a void, and that's what we're trying to fill," says Rivera-Perez, who cites a design based on concerns over fracking for Marcellus Shale natural gas.

And the message is more than just political. Some of the designs celebrate the contributions of lesser known cultural figures, like Nina Simone and Jean-Michel Basquiat. On top of the duo's designs, says April, PPW will take custom orders.

Rivera-Perez, who grew up in Cherry Hill, N.J., is also Political Science/Urban Studies student at Rutgers-Camden, graduating in the spring. Pugh also writes the April's Flowers tumblr. Both have been working about 36 hours a week at PPW as well, and report that starting up the new business feels like a full time job. On a recent Saturday night, the ladies were up past midnight building inventory.

When asked about sales targets for the coming year, Pugh and Rivera-Perez respond that it's less about sales and more about accomplishing the mission of providing a place for the community to speak through wearable art. PPW plans on opening up the studio for community workshops, where people can come print their own designs. They're also planning an artist residency program, with a resulting collection that will be on sale this summer.

Check the PPW blog and Facebook page for updates, or look for Pugh and Rivera-Perez selling shirts on First Friday at the corner of 2nd and Market.

Source: Ruth Paloma Rivera-Perez, April Pugh, PPW
Writer: Sue Spolan

University of Pennsylvania alum Larry Schoenberg has been collecting manuscripts for decades, and over the past twenty years has been sharing parts of his collection with scholars at his alma mater. This week, Penn Libraries announced the acquisition of 280 medieval and Renaissance manuscripts from Schoenberg, valued at $20 million, and part of the agreement is the creation of The Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies.

Philadelphia is an international mecca for rare books, with world class collections at The Free Library of Philadelphia (the largest with over 2,000 manuscripts), The Library Company of Philadelphia, The Rosenbach Museum, and Bryn Mawr College. The Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries lists 35 members.

Back at Penn, the goal with the Schoenberg Collection is to digitize the whole thing so that anyone in the world can access these historic documents without having to come to Philadelphia. Right now, the online collection is scattered among several sites, and with the exception of the recently launched Penn in Hand, many of the manuscript indexing pages are difficult to navigate.

"What we've done is made a commitment to the Schoenbergs to recatalog all the manuscripts according to the library standard," says Joe Zucca, Director for Planning and Communication for Penn Libraries.

The goal is to have all items scanned by 2012 to meld with Schoenberg's philosophy of combining rare and unique material with digital technology. Meanwhile, says David McKnight, the Director of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, the 6th floor of Penn's Van Pelt is now undergoing an estimated $18 million renovation of the 6th floor, the Special Collections Center, to serve as home for the new institute, which will include classrooms and a digital media lab. McKnight is actively looking to hire a curator for The Schoenberg Institute, and is optimistic that the library can fill the position by the beginning of the new academic year. McKnight says that in addition to digital access, the Institute and its holdings will also be open to the public.

Source: Joe Zucca, David McKnight, Penn Libraries
Writer: Sue Spolan

Steven Levy is coming home to Philadelphia to talk about his new book, In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives. Levy, who grew up in West Oak Lane and wrote for Philadelphia's early alternative weeklies in the 1970s, is now a senior writer for Wired Magazine and former chief technology writer and senior editor for Newsweek. He will be a guest of the World Affairs Council this Thursday, April 14, as part of a speaker series that draws international talent to Philadelphia. The event begins with a reception at 6:15 p.m., and Levy will sit down with Philadelphia Daily News music and technology writer Jonathan Takiff at the Arden Theater Company starting at 7.

Levy was given unprecedented access to the inner workings of Google's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters, also known as the Googleplex, where employees are treated to 3 meals a day, massages, haircuts and laundry service. Levy also traveled with young company managers on a world tour that provided an intimate view of cultural and technological thinking at the top.

While there are already several well regarded bestsellers on the business of Google, Levy says his perspective is a new one. "The honeymoon's over. No question about that. The halo has a few dents in it. It's an interesting time to be immersed in Google," says Levy, who sees the company having to come to grips with its immense power. "David has become Goliath. It's attractive and feisty when the little guy wants to do something audacious, but when the big guy wants to achieve the same things, it's a different story." Levy cites the company's longtime desire to digitize every book in the world, and how the initiative has sparked court battles, drawing opposition from unlikely corners, including Arlo Guthrie's lawyer.

Levy addresses the future of the massive company, which started out revolutionizing search but has expanded everywhere, even developing self driving cars. "Google has to do what no company in the technological arena has done," says Levy, who terms it the innovator's dilemma. "If some company leads and dominates by technological advance in one period, they are at a disadvantage to lead in the next period. They are so successful at what they do that they have a vested interest in maintaining their dominance. What's next will topple the current leader."

After all that intimacy, Levy still respects Google in the morning. "It's still an amazing company. As a company gets big, it changes. Google knew I'd come out writing about a few warts. By and large, I use the products myself." As far as Google's early creed of "Don't Be Evil," Levy says executives don't say it anymore, but it is still very much a part of the company's DNA.

Levy's Thursday evening talk will also address recent management shakeups at Google, as well as the company's influence on global political issues, such as the controversy in China.

Source: Steven Levy, Wired Magazine
Writer: Sue Spolan
Photo: Marion Ettlinger

Eyeglasses are about to change dramatically, thanks to a major investment by Safeguard Scientifics. The Wayne-based holding company, in an effort to expand its footprint in life sciences investments, announced that it has provided $25 million plus an additional $10 million in venture debt to PixelOptics, a medical technology company in Roanoke, Va., for its emPower! line of chip-enabled glasses aimed at bifocal and progressive lens wearers, of which there are a total of 100 million in the US alone. Safeguard's Senior Vice President and Managing Director in the Life Sciences Group, Gary Kurtzman MD, notes that investment in life sciences start ups is shrinking, and Safeguard is seeking new opportunities by getting into consumer-driven companies like PixelOptics.

Rather than divide eyeglasses so that the top section is corrective and the bottom section is for reading, emPower! glasses rely on a chip embedded in the frame which electronically transforms the focus of the entire lens from corrective to reading power at a touch. The chip is powered by a battery which lasts at least two years and requires recharging every three days.

Kurtzman says the new eyeglass technology has significant near term potential both as a product and for revenue, citing a low regulatory bar, a big market, and the fact that the product is ready to go to market. "We think it has all the features of an ideal investment," says Kurtzman of PixelOptics' new product, the result of 12 years of research.

Kurtzman, who is already wearing a pair of the glasses, is impressed that he can use the entire lens for either purpose. "There is a small liquid crystal embedded in the glass of the lens. If I need it, I turn it on and it's there." He reports that the glasses are the same weight as their conventional counterparts, and the company is initially rolling out 36 different frames, competitively priced, in a variety of shapes and colors. Kurtzman says emPower! frames will be available in the Philadelphia area within six months.

Source: Gary Kurtzman MD, Safeguard Scientifics
Writer: Sue Spolan

Wallquest has China covered. Dubai, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and India, too. The Wayne-based wallcoverings firm was just named Small Business Exporter of the Year by the Export-Import Bank, and received an award this week in Washington, DC. Wallquest's exports rose 76 percent to more than $17 million since 2008, thanks to robust sales overseas. Jack Collins is Vice President of the family-run company, which he runs along with his brother and father, who acquired Wallquest in 1985.

While the original customer base was domestic, big box retailers and toll free sales left no one to sell to in the United States, and Collins says Wallquest had to go overseas around 2005, now selling environmentally-friendly products in more than 50 foreign markets. With a good brand name in America, the company has had great success in emerging markets in Asia and the Middle East, and the trend is toward American design.

"You wouldn't think someone in Saudi Arabia or China would want American country style, but they do," says Collins, who explains that among affluent Chinese homeowners, a big wooden kitchen table is a sign of wealth, and American design dovetails with that table.

While Wallquest is a relatively small company, says Collins, its line is more extensive than competitors', with around 35 collections coming out this year.

"Our business used to be more seasonal, and now it's not because of our international clients. When the US market is strong in winter and spring, it's Chinese New Year, and in the summer, when the US market is down, the Chinese and Middle East markets are coming up."

Collins is grateful to both Ex-Im Bank and PNC Bank for playing an essential role in the company's global growth. Wallquest wallcoverings are made with water based inks and the highest quality printing technology in the main manufacturing facility in Wayne; recently, the company acquired and retooled two other factories in New York and New Jersey, bringing the total number of employees to 150. Later this year, Wallquest plans on opening another facility in King of Prussia, hiring an additional 30 to 40 employees.

Source: Jack Collins, Wallquest
Writer: Sue Spolan

Clean technology is a big draw for potential investors. Several hundred people gathered at the Academy of Natural Sciences on March 31 for the 3rd Annual Mid-Atlantic Cleantech Investment Forum. Sponsored by Blank Rome Counselors at Law, the Academy and Cleantech Alliance Mid-Atlantic, investor panels discussing the future of renewable energy, clean water, recycling and waste disposal were followed by presentations from area entrepreneurs.

On hand were members of the Greater Philadelphia Innovation Cluster for Energy Efficient Buildings. Williams J. Agate leads the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, developing and managing the Philadelphia Navy Yard, which is now in the process of creating a smart grid energy master plan.

The Fostering Cleantech Investment Panel included Kevin Brophy, of Meidlinger Partners, who talked about the future of clean water investment, and said that while innovation in the field came from the middle cap, the greatest opportunity for future investments is in the huge lower cap market. Also on the panel were Gary Golding, from Edison Ventures, who addressed rapidly improving awareness of water issues, Arun Kapoor of SJF Ventures, who mentioned 100 percent Pennsylvania wind provider Community Energy, and Josh Wolfe, the founding partner of Lux Capital. Wolfe described Lux as an early stage high risk venture fund valued at $100 million, and had a different take on the market than his fellow panelists, explaining that Lux focuses on companies that are long on human ingenuity and short on government rationality. Passing on biofuel, nuclear and natural gas investments, Lux is instead investing in nuclear waste management, calling it the energy industry's biggest unsolved problem.

The only presenting entrepreneur based in the immediate Philadelphia area is solar power conversion company Alencon Systems, Inc. Now in the research and development stage, Alencon addresses the problem of energy efficiency with large scale photovoltaic systems, which are currently created by aggregating multiple small systems. Alencon, which was borne of research at Rowan University, aims to simplify solar and wind power systems from distributed harvesting to centralized conversion. With a prototype already built and tested, Alencon slates projected sales of its streamlined systems at $45 million by 2014.

Source: 3rd Annual Mid-Atlantic Cleantech Investment Forum
Writer: Sue Spolan

You've walked past the kiosk on your way to a flight. You've paused at the entry in the SkyMall magazine. The Neat Company, based in Philadelphia, makes products to organize the avalanche of paperwork that accumulates if you travel for work or are a small business owner. Receipts, business cards, invoices, and other scraps can pile up into an unwieldy stack very quickly, and if you are out on the road, keeping track of these little white bits is not exactly a top priority. Neat makes two versions of its product, which combines a scanner with software to create a digital filing cabinet. NeatDesk and its traveling companion NeatReceipts scan paper, automatically classify and organize documents for easy reference and retrieval with included NeatWorks software.

"The world of paper is the last world to go digital," says Kevin Garton, Neat's Chief Marketing Officer. "Think of it like iTunes and the iPod, but for paperwork." Garton says that the Neat line of products is also useful on the home front, where parents can scan children's medical records as well as personal paperwork, and Neat makes tax time much easier for home and business users. Garton also points out that scanned documents are fully searchable.

Neat, which got initial funding from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, reports that it experienced 536 percent revenue growth in 2010. Neat began as a father and son business, after the pair got fed up with an expense reporting process that more closely resembled an arts and crafts project involving scissors, tape and more paper. Garton says that from that first kiosk at Philadelphia International Airport, Neat products are now available at major retailers nationwide both online and in-store, as well as on the Neat website. The expanding company will be moving its headquarters to 16th and Market Streets in April.

This week, Neat rolled out an upgrade for Mac users, and announced a contest to award ten people $1,000 each. Contestants enter by posting a comment on Neat's blog or Facebook page, by retweeting, or by mentioning the contest on a blog.

Source: Kevin Garton, The Neat Company
Writer: Sue Spolan

Imagine cancer treatment without debilitating chemotherapy and damaging radiation. Researchers in the field of fighting cancer and infectious diseases have recently come up with a way to remove, edit and replace patients' own cells to turn them into cancer and HIV super soldiers in the body. Adaptimmune LLC, one of University City Science Center's newest tenants, is the first company of its kind to develop a methodology for generating high affinity T cell receptors. Dr. Gwen Binder-Scholl, the Vice President of Operations at Adaptimmune, says that this powerful approach is a major departure from previous forms of cancer and infectious disease treatment, offering the advantage of much higher potency with far fewer side effects.

Traditional chemotherapy attacks any rapidly dividing cell in the body, knocking out cancerous tumors, but also killing cells that generate hair and mucous membranes. In this new treatment paradigm, T cells, which are the body's immune soldiers, are harvested from the patient, modified and placed in cell factories to grow, and then returned to the patient via vaccine. The whole process takes only three weeks from manufacture to release, according to Binder-Scholl, so that cancer and HIV can be treated fairly quickly.

"We are really the only company taking the next step towards commercialization of adoptive T cell therapy with high affinity TCRs," says Binder-Scholl, who has been working on T cell receptor research at the University of Pennsylvania's Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute for about three years at the June Laboratory under the guidance of professor Carl June, MD. Binder-Scholl explains that Adaptimmune, a subsidiary of a UK company, approached her to manage and carry forth U.S. clinical trials. While Adaptimmune already has a close relationship with Penn, its overseas leadership qualifies it for the SciCenter's Global Soft Landing Program.

This month, Adaptimmune is opening three new oncology indications: a trial for melanoma, which is very common, and trials for the less frequently occurring cancers synovial sarcoma and multiple myeloma. Depending on how the clinical trials go, Binder-Scholl expects to see data emerge within 12 months and hopes to get approval for the experimental treatment with the decade.

Source: Gwen Binder-Scholl, Adaptimmune LLC
Writer: Sue Spolan

Jessie Hemmons embraces the city, literally. You've probably walked past this new form of public art and wondered who's behind the colorful knit webs that wrap trees, bike racks, and recently, subway seats on the Market-Frankford Line.

Hemmons is a yarn bomber, a growing network that subverts the old fashioned craft of knitting to put a feminist stamp on underground street art. When she's not riding her bike, Hemmons goes by the handle "ishknits" and spends hours working big needles and skeins of acrylic yarn on public transit. Hemmons, who's also a therapist for families facing drug and alcohol addiction, is not the first person to engage in yarn bombing nationally. The practice originated in Austin, when a failing yarn shop's overstock became fodder for public art. Hemmons says she is the only yarn bomber in Philadelphia, with 30 installations to date, including one commissioned by Urban Outfitters for the company's Navy Yard headquarters. She's also selling knits on etsy.

Consider the masculine spray of graffiti, as opposed to the warm womanly embrace of knitwork. "I am feminizing street art," says Hemmons, who is now entering talks with the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. "My whole goal is to empower communities. The ideal yarn bomb would be to wrap an abandoned house." Public knitting is passive intervention, and a way for Hemmons to communicate that someone is paying attention to blighted neighborhoods.

Source: Jessie Hemmons, ishknits
Writer: Sue Spolan

In the spirit of Philly's other well-known celebrations like Beer Week and Restaurant Week, one of the main goals for Philly Tech Week, happening April 25 to 30 in locations across the city, is to have fun. Organized by Technically Philly, the week is meant to connect the many different segments of the Philly technology community, from hackers to Comcast and everyone in between, according to TP co-founder Chris Wink.

At this point, there are about 35 events on the schedule, with more to come. WHYY will serve as headquarters. Wink says the media outlet will host a daily lunchtime speaker series throughout the week, as well as the final big event Friday night. Tech Week coincides with two other major citywide happenings: The Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA) and The Philadelphia Science Festival. As a result, says Wink, some gatherings will carry all three labels, such as Augmented Reality Check: Seeing The Future Now, looking at the intersection of art, technology and science, to be held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 26.

Another exciting Tech Week gathering is The Future of Music featuring musician and producer RJD2, coordinated by Tayyib Smith, owner of Little Giant Media, which publishes two.one.five magazine. Smith hopes to draw like minded people actively engaged in creating, promoting and distributing music to envision the role technology will play in the future of music. "I am an analog person who is fronting like I am digital," says Smith, who hopes to get as much out of the discussion as any of the other attendees.

Local firm Azavea, which builds geographic analysis software, happens to be rolling out several projects that same week, and plans to show off the brand new goods. "One is Philly Tree Map," says President and CEO Robert Cheetham, whose goal is to create a crowdsourced urban tree inventory. Two other Azavea projects, Open Data Philly and PhillyHistory.org, will be showcased during Tech Week.

For those who have ever fantasized about going ballistic on your devices, be sure to attend the Office Space Printer Smash, co-sponsored by Nonprofit Technology Resources and The Hacktory. As the title indicates, participants will be encouraged to turn unrecyclable printers into a pile of mangled plastic and metal.

Source: Christopher Wink, Technically Philly, Tayyib Smith, Little Giant Media, Robert Cheetham, Azavea
Writer: Sue Spolan

It's one minuscule step for molecules, one giant leap for mankind. Nanotechnology startup Optofluidics, Inc. has established offices at the University City Science Center's Port Business Incubator. The company aims to develop optical devices that keep biomolecules in place in their physiological state, says Optofluidic's Chief Technology Officer and co-founder, Bernardo Cordovez. "The product will be an instrument that houses and reads the chips that we make."

As the company name implies, Optofluidics uses the combination of fluids and light to detect, identify and manipulate biomolecules and nanomaterials. The idea of adding fluids to scientific optical devices is not a new one. Back in the 18th century, rotating pools of mercury were used to create smooth mirrors in reflecting telescopes. According to Cornell University's Erikson Lab, where Optofluidics co-founder David Erikson initiated research concepts for Optofluidics, new biosensing technologies follow advances in the identification of biomarkers associated with specific diseases and injuries. Two examples are the neurodegenerative diseases Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, which have eluded early detection. The kind of non-invasive nanotechnology that Optofluidics is developing, which will diagnose and detect biomarkers at very low levels, could enable diagnosis even before symptoms appear.

The National Science Foundation recently gave Optofluidics nearly $150,000 in a Small Business Innovation Research award. "The market opportunity is tremendous because most single molecule instrumentation is made for DNA, while nano-instrumentation for handling and studying proteins is still a bit behind," says Cordovez, who adds that Optofluidics' family of technologies has very strong commercial appeal.
Making the move to the Science Center was the easy part. Cordovez cites the University of Pennsylvania's strong biosciences department which will provide "a terrific future employee candidate pool." Philadelphia is slated to become a world leader in nanotechnology research, says Cordovez, with a planned world class nanofabrication center at Penn, scheduled for completion in the next few years.

Source: Bernard Cordovez, Optofluidics, Inc.
Writer: Sue Spolan

A three dimensional rendering of a human heart is beating atop a card you hold in your hand. It's not reality, it's Augmented Reality, the latest method of bringing two dimensional images into a 3D world. Augmented Reality images exist only on the screen of a computer or mobile device, but with the addition of a live camera feed, viewing the virtual sculptures feels astoundingly real.

Perfect Prototype describes itself as an interactives company, "telling stories with innovative technology to create engaging, educational experiences for people," says Matthew Browning, company president. Located in the Crane Arts building, Perfect Prototype flies under local radar but is creating a national splash with projects for educational and corporate clients, such as a museum exhibit that lets you hold a virtual brain in your hands, a locomotive simulator that provides the virtual experience of operating a train, and a presentation to a corporate audience that integrates 3D animations. And if you are in the mood for some new fashioned hand to hand combat, Browning says Perfect Prototype has come up with a device that allows people across the country to arm-wrestle.

Browning, who is working overtime along with ten independent professionals to meet customer need, says clients range from museums such as Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, to corporations including Norfolk Southern and Hyundai, along with the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins.

Perfect Prototype is at the forefront of a rapidly growing technology that has implications across many sectors. Browning says of the technology that is still in its infancy, "There is so much untapped potential in Augmented Reality. It's a joy to push the limits and create new and innovative uses." And, he adds, with increased computing power on mobile and stationary devices, Perfect Protoype continues to give people a new experience, and a new way of looking at the world around them.

Source: Matthew Browning, Perfect Prototype
Writer: Sue Spolan

What does an urban planner do while looking for a job? If you're Dan Casey, you create a dense daily digest of news with a focus on what people are not reading. The Front Section, says Casey, "is a byproduct of being direly underemployed and spending too much time online. I got tired of reading about America and American debates, and realized that I was following a lot of international news that my friends weren't." The Front Section is a densely packed and far more graphically pleasing alternative to web pages like The Drudge Report. Casey drew his inspiration from "a venerable site called Arts & Letters Daily that has a pleasantly tweedy high-culture tone and is all about Big Serious Ideas. When you load up the page, you start smelling pipe smoke and leather patches grow on your elbows.

"A faint taste of port creeps into your mouth; it's uncanny," says Casey, who felt he could fill a niche for a younger audience that is "decidedly to the left" of the Arts & Letters readership, but is still interested in good writing about the rest of the world. Casey says he took off from the overall A&L concept, but shifted its center of gravity. And added rap videos.

The site, based in Philadelphia and updated daily, attracts about a hundred visitors on an average day, but can draw thousands when it's linked from another site. Casey says the site is hosted by a generous friend, and is more of a community service than a money making proposition. Casey says his state of being underemployed may be about to change: "If I get one of these 'jobs' that I've heard so much about, maybe I'll have the chance to slow down and focus my reading, and rebuild my attention span, so the blog will probably change too. Stay tuned."

Source: Dan Casey, The Front Section
Writer: Sue Spolan