Never heard of Primer Magazine until a few days ago when a contributing editor contacted Techburgher about a really interesting story it published detailing two local tech companies: Electric Owl Studios and deeplocal. Both Techburgher and TEQ magazine have profiled these companies and it’s great to see them getting even more exposure. Primer is a pretty rad read, sort of a techy GQ.

Anyhow, read the “Entrepreneur 2.0 or How Does an Artist Become a CEO?” article right here.

The world’s greatest bike race kicks off this weekend and Pittsburgh tech company deeplocal is making it more interactive with its Chalkbot.

Yes, the Tour de France starts on July 4 and now you can text a  message to be written on the roads of the Tour’s many stages. It’s all part of Nike LIVESTRONG and Lance Armstrong’s on-going cancer awareness campaign.

Click here to see how it works. deeplocal CEO Nathan Martin says the Chalkbot is receiving about 200 texts a day so far. The road is open. What will you say?

The 2009 Annual Art + Technology Exhibition Opening Event is upon us. Partnering this year with The Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University and Pittsburgh’s exclusive James Gallery, the event promises to be one like never before.

To celebrate Pittsburgh’s status as one of the foremost Robotic centers on the globe, the 15 Minutes Gallery has collaborated with CREATE Lab  to present The BURGHBot Project — a collection of ten robotic, interactive art pieces, designed by selected artists throughout the East Coast.

In addition, the exhibition features work from 36 of the region’s finest artists in both traditional and new media, as well as presentations from tech companies including: Etcetera Edutainment’s Crowdplay; deeplocal’s artist-in-residence T. Foley’s Locally Toned; and Art Energy Design’s Power Flower, the region’s first 12’ tall sustainable energy technology public art sculpture.

To add to the excitement the Council is giving away two “Essential Pittsburgh Arts Prize Packages” to folks who register in advance for the event. This raffle prize  includes complimentary tickets to Pittsburgh’s most illustrious Arts venues including — Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, The Mattress Factory, The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Quantum Theatre, The Pittsburgh Ballet, Pittsburgh Filmmakers and the Pittsburgh Public Theatre — a package valued at over $300!

Add that all up and mix it together with live Jazz music, drinks and hors d’oeuvres, and you have all the makings for a great night of creativity and innovation in Pittsburgh.

EVENT DETAILS:
Thursday, June 18, 2009
5:30 – 7:30 PM
Pittsburgh Technology Council’s 15 Minutes Gallery
2000 Technology Drive, Pittsburgh PA 15219

COST: $10 for Council Members / $15 for Non-Members [Free Parking]

Click Here to Register
and Be Eligible to Win an
“Essential Pittsburgh Arts Prize Package”!

www.15minutesgallery.org.

Be sure to catch today’s TechVibe Radio show on Pittsburgh Business Radio 1360 WMNY from 3 to 6 p.m.

It’s going to be an action-packed show as hosts Audrey Russo and Jonathan Kersting put local tech companies in the spotlight. This week’s guests include:

Barbara VanKirk of IQ Inc.

Sam Sarnicke and Gary Giegrich of Wavecam

Mike Woycheck of IW AlphaLab

Dave Patti of the PA Business Council

Nathan Martin of DeepLocal

Tune in or stream it live at Talkshoe.com (search “Pittsburgh Business Radio) or Pittsburgh Business Radio.

RouteShout, a free service that allows Port Authority bus riders to access bus arrival times from their mobile phones, is being tested at selected bus stops around the City of Pittsburgh.

RouteShout, launched in Pittsburgh by deeplocal, a CMU spin-off mobile technology company, is currently being beta tested by the Port Authority of Allegheny County at 22 stops located in areas that service primarily college students. The RouteShout service enables public transit companies to make their timetable data accessible over text message and mobile phone.

Passengers simply text in a stop ID printed on a bus stop sign near them, and they receive information about the next buses scheduled to come their way.  The Port Authority created and installed orange signs at 22 select stops around the city each labeled with a unique code. The service uses these codes to pull timetable and location data of bus stops from the Port Authority’s database.

A bus rider simply texts in the unique bus stop code to receive arrival times for the next buses scheduled to arrive at that stop. Additional features are being developed by deeplocal that improve the accessibility of the RouteShout service. Since preliminary testing began in late December, several thousand passengers have used RouteShout to retrieve information about upcoming buses.

This system marks the beginning of a set of opportunities to provide information to transit riders about where they are and what is available around them. Bus stops can become living kiosks of information, requiring no physical maintenance at a low cost. Pending the success of this beta testing period, the Port Authority may expand the service to additional stops throughout the county.

RouteShout is one of several text message based applications built on deeplocal’s proprietary Gumband platform. Early support for this platform’s development came from the Sprout Fund’s Engage Pittsburgh Award.

We all know Pittsburgh needs more young folks and what better way to lure them back than with cool jobs in the technology sector?

DeepLocal, a Pittsburgh based start-up that has been building a reputation for innovation in design and new media technology has added another bright young star, Dimitry Bentsionov, to its team of designers and developers in East Liberty. Dimitry, a native of Ukraine and Pittsburgh transplant, was lured back from the San Francisco bay area where he had been working as a developer at Yahoo!. For DeepLocal, being able to attract Dimitry back to Pittsburgh illustrates the allure of their unique business model to its clients and employees. DeepLocal considers themselves a rarity in Pittsburgh – an art group turned research team, turned innovators for hire. The company works closely with clients to solve complex technology and media challenges, and to design, develop and deploy new technology, all from their loft office in East Liberty.

DeepLocal only recruits passionate people with strong creative backgrounds. Dimitry joins other notable DeepLocal new hires including Ayça Akin, a Visual and Interaction Designer who recently graduated from CMU’s Graduate School of Design, and Stanley Shivell, who joined the company as a Software Engineer specializing in online advertisement systems. These hires mark what DeepLocal CEO Nathan Martin believes is an increasing trend in high quality employees who demand workplaces that operate more like an art studio with open dialogue, quick turnaround, and highly visible real-world impact.

DeepLocal, spun out of CMU’s College of Fine Art in 2006, prides itself on it’s arts background, exemplifying this with a CEO that holds a Mater’s in Fine Arts degree rather than the traditional MBA. In fact the company has no sales or business team whatsoever. DeepLocal continues its love for invention by bucking old business models and working closely with its clients from concept through to deployment, continually building their knowledge of domains and related problems. They also build a laundry list of proprietary technology primarily in the areas of geospatial intelligence, mobile communication, and real-world urban gaming. Locally, they have worked for The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and Kennywood Entertainment.

DeepLocal was named one of the nation’s ‘Top 40 Under 40’ startups of 2006, was a semifinalist for the Peoria Prize for Creativity that same year, and its CEO Nathan Martin has recently had several notable appearances, including testifying to the FCC in August on the monopolistic behaviors of wireless carriers, and appearing on popular BBC game show ‘Beat the Boss’ as one of three local ‘Big Shots.’