From Zillow today regarding Philly real estate:

According to the latest Zillow Real Estate Market Reports, home values in Philadelphia increased 1.7% in the second quarter of 2009, compared to the second quarter of 2008. Nationally, home values decreased 12.1% during this same period.

Some ramblings from the Philly Auto Show…

We visit the Philadelphia Auto Show every year. This year was a little bit different since I walk past the convention center every day and have been peeking in the windows to see everyone setting up.

My favorite car for the last three years has…

Steven Wells gets the cover of Philadelphia Weekly with Scene But Not Nerd. For anyone curious about the tech sector and a city with a thriving and rapidly growing geek community, it’s a must read. I’m honored to be quoted, especially amongst some of the most innovative and more→

I rent out a few apartments in Philadelphia. Each year around the holidays I try and do something to show appreciation to the tenants. They could have selected other properties, but they chose mine. They have treated the apartments with respect and have made them good homes. I am grateful.

This year I went…

The Philadelphia Corporation for Aging has an ad in Philly’s subway worth passing on…

The Senior Struggle
A little bit of you can pull them through the winter.
Pay a visit, run an errand, lend a hand. Your support means everything.

Call 215-765-9040 or visit pcaCARES.org for ideas and resources. You…

or

Found a funny little bug with Apple’s dashboard weather widget this week. It comes installed and running by default when you set up a new OS X installation or buy a new Mac. I just got a new MacBook Pro a…

Yesterday I openly whined about walking during a commute consuming precious time. I’ve been commuting from Malvern to the office and I want the shortest time, or at least the ability to do constructive work, between these points.

After looking around on Craigslist for some type of faster transportation I came upon an ad…

I’m writing this while walking from the Pattison subway stop to the Ingram Philadelphia office. It takes 12-15 minutes to complete this walk and it’s not easy to type on the iPhone while doing so.

It really feels like a waste of time, this “walking” thing. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not lazy, out of…

The September 3rd, 2008, Geek Dinner at Privé was an interesting and good time. We had a smaller crowd but were treated like kings (I botched the geek dinner invite by sending the venue announcement only a few days in advance, so it was low turnout – that’s what going on…

Useful links:

• Facebook Group
• Upcoming Event – RSVP
• Privé
• Inquirer’s Table Talk

I finally went for a bike ride to see Privé in person. What I found was better than imagined, even after reading Michael Klein’s enticing description and having high expectations.

During my drop-in visit I met Kevin…

Today’s video, shot on the way in to work at the falls behind the Philadelphia Art Museum. It’s one of the more beautiful locations in the city.

Geek Dinner:

• Upcoming
• Facebook

Today we went for some property tours close to Center City in the Callowhill area (between Spring Garden and the Vine Street Expressway and between Broad and Columbus).

If you think rents and purchase prices are tumbling everywhere, you might be mistaken. Philadelphia is still a good buy and has great rent vs. buy…

Last night was the first Philadelphia Geek Dinner. I went in with no expectations and would have labeled it a success if two people joined for a good meal and intelligent conversation.

But there were ten of us at our table. We shared in good drink, good food, intellectually stimulating conversation, and all of…

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A reminder to those with short memories – tomorrow is the Philly Geek Dinner. Look forward to good food and good drinks while meeting up with Philly’s tech community.

Put your name in on the Upcoming or Facebook group.

7pm at National Mechanics: 22 South 3rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106

If you haven’t been to National Mechanics, you need to go. In fact, you should go this Thursday at 7:00pm so you can join the Philadelphia Geek Dinner first meetup (RSVP on Upcoming). I got to spend some time hanging with Jason, an owner of the place, and I’m stoked this…

Had an awesome day – time to share!

• 12seconds.tv/channels/solyoung
• First 12second introduction
• TechCrunch link
• WCU post

Alvin Ashcraft (@alashcraft) put out the idea to create a Facebook group around the geek dinner concept; so I ran with it. The Facebook group is Philly Geek Dinner. Sign up there (or here, here, or just show…

The kick-off Philly Geek Dinner will be at National Mechanics. I haven’t been there before, so looking forward to checking it out. Post on Upcoming or Eventful so we get a feel for the number of people.

National Mechanics – 22 South 3rd Street – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – www.nationalmechanics.com

Having some fun with the iPod Nike+ and Nokia GPS at the same time while running down to the John Kelly statue along the Schuylkill. While stretching decided to shoot a quick video (didn’t Qik).

The results for the Nike+ are extremely accurate. Since the iPod measures pauses, I believe both devices were pretty…

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I picked up the Nokia N82 yesterday from Import GSM, a great hybrid brick-and-mortage / online store. Think Dynamism for phones. It was my first visit, right at closing, and despite trying to get stuff out the door…

I’m not in Philadelphia this weekend – got out of town! For those in the area and enjoying the city, here’s some links on how to take part in the biggest Independence Day celebration in America.

You read that right. Philadelphia has the biggest Independence Day celebration. It is the birthplace and we’ve…

Today was strange…

Image courtesy of Malingering on Flickr – it is not of either of the homeless men I met today.

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I started off the day by going for a great morning run. On my way home I realized my house key fell out of my shorts pocket, so I…

It’s been a while since I’ve posted on real estate – Lately been hearing a lot of people talking on the subject of short-sales, and I’m trying to digest some of the numbers. The NAR (National Association of Realtors) is describing 18% of homes on the market as being upside down (the owner owes…