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.

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 been the Audi R8. The Philadelphia High School / UPenn Engineering team is a very close second with their Attack supercar).

There was disappointment around not seeing a plug-in electric at the show. Lots, and lots, of hybrids, but no plug-ins. The meaty exhaust note from 600 raw horsepower is freakin’ exhilarating, but a car that outperforms those 600 horses, while whisper quiet, and plugs in to the outlet in my garage… That’s what I want to own.

The show is on until February 8th. If you’re in Philadelphia you should drop in and see it… It’s not often you get to walk through a hall full of Bentleys, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Austin-Martins, etc.

You can also see the Ford booth using OS X and VLC Media Player to demonstrate their Microsoft Sync integration :)

Visit the Flickr set here.

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 to the movie theater and picked up tickets. It’s a simple gesture. A way to say thanks. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

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 can do a lot of good.

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 month ago and have been using the weather widget religiously. As John Gruber of Daring Fireball described, it’s one of the favorite widgets (and he has a good old how-to on how to make it better).

But rather than validating by zip code, the weather widget validates by city name only. It grabs the first city name, alphabetically, and plugs that in as your local weather default.

There are five cities in the USA with the name Philadelphia. In alphabetical order, they are Philadelphia MO (Missouri), Philadelphia MS (Mississippi), Philadelphia NY (New York), Philadelphia PA (Pennsylvania), and Philadelphia TN (Tennessee).

Apple’s widget grabs Philadelphia, MO for Philadelphia, PA (and MS, NY, TN). Until this week the weather patterns for MO vs. PA were the same for precipitation and within a few degrees on temperature. It took a month before the cities were different enough to notice the discrepancy.

For all you’z Philadelphians buying Macs, remember to plug in your 191xx zip codes :) To see this in action if you’re in another city, add a weather widget to the dashboard and search for “Philadelphia”. The same occurs This does not occur on an iPhone’s weather app.

Population data on the Philadelphias:

• Philadelphia, MO: 643
• Philadelphia, MS: 22,606
• Philadelphia, NY: 2,349
• Philadelphia, PA: 1,517,550
• Philadelphia, TN: 4,407

After looking around on Craigslist for some type of faster transportation I came upon an ad for the Subzero skate shop – liquidating their inventory. So I dropped by and met the owner, a dude about my age (low 30s) clearing out his stuff before remodeling.

Now, I’m not a skater. I did 1/2 pipes and crazy stair jumps on rollerblades as a teen, but I haven’t touched a skateboard since I was seven and did a faceplant on a 1980s’ish Santa Cruz shorty. I’m a two-planker on snow and snowboarded a handful of times.

But with such a good sale, I grabbed a longboard for a song and walked it back to the train (I was too embarrassed to give it a kick in public).

The previously 15 minute walk home from the station (downhill) was turned in to a carving session… Making turns on this thing was like snowboarding and a downright blast. And it was only 5 minutes.

We’ll see where this leads. So far it’s fun and shaves at least 15 minutes each way.

It really feels like a waste of time, this “walking” thing. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not lazy, out of shape, or otherwise averse to exercise. I run a 6:30 mile, rock climb a couple times a week, and love the outdoors.

But right now I’m bored. I’m not able to efficiently respond to email, trees continue to jump in front of me, and my mind is racing about while thinking of the code I want to write. I’m an inefficient human right now.

The commute for me starts in Malvern. Most days I get a lift to the train station. A walk from the train to the subway at City Hall takes 5-10 minutes (walking). Then the walk from the subway to office is 12-15. Back from the office to the subway, 12-15 again. A walk through city hall, 5-10. And finally a walk home from Malvern station, 15 minutes.

My walking math is shaky, but I think that’s 49-120 minutes of walk time. I do very little for myself or others during that time.

I mentioned yesterday on Twitter that I need some rocket shoes or a long board. I’ve seen the Roth Motors scooter and Go Motorboards. Might be a good option. I haven’t seen these around Philly though.

There’s my 15 minute rant. I’m at the office and whipping out the laptop.

–written with the iPhone WordPress app.

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 vacation and unplugging from geekdom gets me!)

The folks at Privé set us up in our own room. It was unintentional, but to me it was amusingly appropriate - privé translates to private.

The chefs are budding, potential future superstars. Table Talk describes prior Buddakan and Brasserie Perrier experience. While dining we learned of Le Bec-Fin experience as well. The foods here are exotic and fun just to hear described – influenced by countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, with inspiration from chef Peter Karapanagiotis.

Steven Wells of Philadelphia Weekly accompanied us, camera in tow, and geeked right in. While we typically geek out on the latest technology and Internet trends, Steven added new topics everyone ate up. Some of the things I remember Steven bringing up: geneology, HD video, security and anonymity (on the Internet), the value of Twitter, and implants (not those kind) for human enhancement (not that kind)… Honestly, it was us who brought up Twitter – Steven raised the question of it having any value. Good challenge!

Breakdown of what we consumed, mostly on recommendation from Mr. Edwards, our water – everything was fantastic…

• Karpouzi
• Shrimp Orzo
• Lollipop Lamb Chop
• Rabbit Risotto
• Exotic Mushrooms
• Cheese Boureki
• Lobster Makaronia (pictured)
• Beet Salata
• Walnut Puff (pictured)
• Octopus Duet
• Potelle (wine) – Kevin selected a couple wines that went along nicely with the menu.
• Fiano (wine) – same as above.

• 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 Landon, who abandoned a staff meeting to give me a tour (the video below doesn’t do the restaurant any justice, the place is fabulous). From talking with Kevin I learned Privé opened only two weeks ago and has been doing wonderful.

We’ll be one of the first groups there, and probably the first blog-heavy group. He showed me around and I got to see the impeccable cut white stone walls, attractive furniture, sleek lines and spotlit mural. He promises the food to be as good or better than the looks.

And he’s probably right. They’ve hired the young Peter Karapanagiotis, 23, who performed as saute-saucier at Buddakan as well as Brasserie Perrier. It’s going to be a real treat to experience his work while he’s fresh and the restaurant is brand-spankin’-new.

Here’s the cam video of the insides (warning: shaky)…

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 ratios (coming from my Californian perspective).

A video tour of a property…

431 N. 7th Street – Incredible views and close proximity to Market Street East. Clean and attractive lobby. Shared location with The Electric Factory.

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 us were given the chance to make friends with new people in the industry. That’s what meetups are about.

The night’s crowd was diverse. Ten people. Four Philadelphians. Four imports (to Philadelphia). Two in-for-a-short-while-and-leaving-within-hours. A comp-sci teacher. Wireless expert. A few company owners. Developers (.NET, Mac, Linux). Project managers. Videographer. Pilots (four out of ten!?). Photographers. Security experts… In just ten people.

Favorite topics from the evening: Introductions, aviation (being pilots), the story of National Mechanics, wireless (T-Mobile 3G), blogging and video blogging, drive and aspirations between small and large companies.

By the way – National Mechanics feels like the quintessential starting point for intelligent people in Philadelphia to meet up. I’ve only been here twice, but I keep hearing that this is where those of us in the tech field (and beyond) can find smart people. When I was listening in on other conversations around us I overheard lots of great stuff. Bottom line, this is a must-visit-repeatedly location in Philadelphia (if you’re smart).

Anyway, couldn’t ask for anything more. So glad to have everyone in the mix.

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 is the kick-off location.

For starters, Jason isn’t a restaurateur by trade. He’s a developer and entrepreneur who has helped build WebLinc. While you’re here you’re right under a star Philadelphia company.

When I dropped by, Philadelphia’s Fox News was filming a 1-year follow-up to National Mechanics winning the “Trendiest Bar” award.

• Facebook Group
• Upcoming
• National Mechanics
• @natmechanics
• Review of National Mechanics
• Google Map

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 up here).

A quick additional tidbit. Jason Hill from National Mechanics dropped me a DM and they’re looking forward to our being there. They’ve got a Twitter account for the restaurant itself. Pretty slick.

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 much in sync.

Results:

• Nike+
• Nokia SportsTracker

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 for the evening shipment the guys helped out with descriptions and subtle nuances between the N95 and N82 (special thanks to Eric – good guy).

Anyway, so why the heck would someone get a Nokia N82 when the iPhone 3G is getting released tomorrow? There are five reasons, one for each megapixel, and a lot of backup arguments. The iPhone 3G doesn’t hold a candle to the image sensor quality, flash, or lens quality.

This wasn’t meant to be an N82 vs. iPhone 3G post. They’re both the best mobile equipment one can get (imo).

The N82 is going to be my net enabled camera and broadcast machine. No more notebook + Canon SD-1000 combo!

The iPhone 3G is for everything else. I had the iPhone (1.0 / original / whatever). iPhones are the best for usability and communication. I gave it to my wife and she’s gone from check-email-and-browse-at-home to check-email-send-texts-and-monitor-weather-while-away. The wife-o-meter was pegged.

The Nokia’s OS, after 30 hours of tweaking, is finally usable for me. Very steep appreciation curve. I would only recommend such a phone to a power user needing the best tool for quality images… I can’t wait to start posting and qik’ing them.

• sol on Qik
• solyoung on Viddler
• sol on Twitter

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 got Independence Hall. Fireworks are launched behind the Philadelphia Art Museum over the Schuylkill River.

This year the concert on the Ben Franklin Parkway, at the base of the Art Museum steps, is headlined by five time Grammy winner, John Legend.

- Best links to help you today -

America’s Birthday – Sunoco’s sponsor page

GoPhila – Best resource, especially for fireworks and evening concert details

Philly dot com – Events Schedule for 4th of July

City Search – Additional resource with links to restaurants and shops

Enjoy!

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

 .

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 was looking around on the ground for it.

A homeless man asked if I lost something, and immediately followed up asking if it was a water bottle before I could respond. After telling him it was a key he informed me the water bottle he saw earlier was very nice.

I walked away cursing the fact I would have to break in to my house, but also thinking about a man with concern over my loss who didn’t have keys of his own to lose.

Breaking in requires scaling a tall wall, jumping through a window a-la Trinity escaping in The Matrix, and finally possessing the key to our inside apartment (which I still had).

At the end of the day I hit the bank for a friend and locked my keys in the car in the process… Two key losses in a single day. It would have been my first key loss in years if it were only once.

As I waited for my wife, bringing the spare key, a homeless man with a harshly weathered and flushed face approached. The conversation went like this:

• Homeless man: Hello, sir?
• I kept silent, posting to del.icio.us.
• Man: Sir, is that your car?
• Me: Yep?
• Man: <upbeat> Where are you from?
• Me: Here, Philadelphia…
• Man: Sir, I could use a cup ‘a coffee, could ya spare some change?
• Me: …
• Man: <poorly rehearsed> Sir, I’m homeless, hungry, scared, and need something to eat. Anything you can offer will help.
• Me: I’m sorry, but I won’t give cash, but I’ll get us cups of coffee.
• Man: <confused, back pedaling> But I’m hungry. I have 55-cents <jingles pockets> and only need a little more for coffee.
• I twittered
• Man: Sir, pay attention to me. I need some help.
• Me: I’ll buy us cups of coffee and a snack then.
• Man: <pausing again> But… I’m hungry.
• Me: <Genuine smile> Let’s go get a cup of coffee, Starbucks is two doors down.

He turned his back to me and walked off without another word. His “hello, sir?” introduction was repeated to each passerby.

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 more on the property than he or she could sell it for). I feel for the those in this situation.

A big curiosity is how the upside down sales are distributed. 18% is the average, which means there are big swings around the country. Along the Central Coast of California (San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, Morro Bay, etc), it’s roughly 50%… But in many locations that are still undervalued, prices still rise.

This is what I’ve been thinking and talking to people about when the topic of real estate comes up. Not many dinner conversations go by without hitting on this topic.

Anyway, the reason I’m on the topic of real estate in this post is because I spent all weekend remodeling… Well, thinking about Facebook applications, Google Social, and other apps while remodeling… Phew!

We gutted the 2nd bedroom of our apartment. First we tore it down to the studs, and then tore out the studs themselves. The plan was to leave a beautiful exposed brick wall.

Unfortunately, the bricks are starting to powder up and refinishing them would have involved amounts of muriatic acid I don’t want to think about (my wife had to run and dive out a window to escape the fumes last time – aweful stuff!)

The decision for covering the bricks was made easier by being able to shrink our heating and cooling bill with some rolls of insulation. So I framed away.

I should note that Galina and I are nearly drooling at the thought of being done with the remodel. Having Summer weekends free for outdoor (and computing) activities will be heaven on earth.

By the time the sun was setting, we called it a day and went for nice walk (some decent sunset pics).