Pittsburgh had a buzz all week. The New York Yankees were in town, and had lost big in their first game. While the Pirates and Yanks fought on the three rivers, some of Pittsburgh finest new minds converged on the Alpha Lab in the south side. Alpha Lab is the culmination of lots of hard work by too many people to mention, and a grass roots effort to incubate idea engineers of all digital disciplines. The real “at-a-boy” goes to Innovation Works for continuing to sew the seeds of success.

The overall feel of the Alpha Lab space is open and free. The kind of place you can develop, network or develop a network. Lavations and hors-devours provided fuel for conversation. 

The recent influx of incubators and (early stage) start-up support is much overdue. The potential of Pittsburgh and their digital community, to provide the next advancements in technology can now be realized and pursued. Groups like Alpha Lab, DevHouse Pittsburgh and many others will continue to support the growth of our regions techno-talented and provide opportunity for those who dare to dream. 

Tags: Development by mike
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You’ve heard about predatory lending. Sub-prime loans were often originated by brokers and other originators whose responsibility ended when the loan was booked and sold. It was somebody else’s problem when the borrower couldn’t make the payments. These loans involved high fees and high interest rates, some of which were disguised. Much of this chicanery occurred during refinance, home equity or home improvement transactions. Sometimes the properties were appraised at values far in excess of any reasonable sales price. Sometimes the borrower’s income was fraudulently inflated without the borrower’s knowledge. Many of the worst cases combined inflated fees, inflated rates and inflated income statements. Loans underwritten in this fashion have created high delinquency and default rates, and in turn, a foreclosure crisis.

But that’s not the whole story. A bad situation has been made much worse by [Read more →]

Tags: Punch Lines by mike
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A recent networking event I attended,DevHouse Pittsburgh , proved to be more than just food and drink. The group was comprised of tech gurus of all specialties. The keynote speakers layed out parameters for taking ideas as well as concepts to market.

While the topics during the Lightning Round proved to be more advanced than my personal repertoire, they were well presented and very keen. Information and opportunity seemed to be the guest of honor. There was a 100k indecent proposal, to conjure some advanced Iphone applications during a DevHouse event.

Thanks to Karl and Olga for being such gracious Hosts’ . Thanks to Jeff for making his flight in San Francisco. “No Fate But What we Make”, and the entire DevHouse Posse.

Tags: Punch Lines by mike
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