Sam Levin

From left to right, Google CEO Larry Page, Cornell President David Skorton, Technion's Director Craig Gotsman, and Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

Move aside, Silicon Valley! Or, you know, watch your back. New York City is trying to compete with the tech-y town to be the tech center of the universe -- and Google is helping.

(FYI: New York City is still second to Silicon Valley, but it's trying!)

Today, Mayor Mike Bloomberg joined Google CEO Larry Page and Cornell President David Skorton to announce that Google will be doing something outside of its typical scope of activities: providing space for a temporary university campus in New York City.

As a central part of its Applied Sciences initiative -- aimed at attracting industry jobs and startups and expanding the Big Apple as a tech hub -- the city is building a campus on Roosevelt Island for CornellNYC Tech, an engineering and applied science campus that will be run by Cornell University and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.

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The art of resume-writing is exaggeration; we are all taught to transform "filing" into "transferral of paper entities" and "job" into "duties and responsibilities." Our listed activities and interests are always hobbies we dream of doing on our free time ("fly-fishing," "biking up mountains," etc.). And everyone knows you aren't proficient in MS Excel because no one really is. They're not lies - just simple abstractions to mete out a conversation come interview time.More >>

Should we be penalizing people like this or just accept that it's a (sometimes hilarious) side-effect of the Information  Age? The authorities in Fort Lee, New Jersey, are choosing the former.

In a recent quasi-legal move, police officers in the village have shifted their position on "twexting" (worst technological lexicon combination ever) and will begin to hit these messengers with a summons ticket if spotted. According to the police chief of the town, 23 accidents have occurred due to the twexting "epidemic," giving his force enough reason to penalize the activity all together. Except one thing: is that legal?

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@cxcart

When Facebook bought Instagram, the photo app that makes images look vintage yet picture perfect, for $1 billion, the tech world was stunned. Not because Instagram is a two-year-old startup, but because no one realized that this young app—which simply consists of taking pictures and that surely anyone with a smartphone has downloaded—had that much power.

Now, the W Times Square, in partnership with Instagram NYC, will exhibit images from some of the most talented Instagram photographers in the first-ever Instagram photo exhibition, which opens tomorrow. We couldn't help but wonder whether an Instagram image qualifies as art. But we caught up with Brian DiFeo, curator and founder of Instagram NYC, who hand-selected photographers ranging from professionals to multimedia artists and asked him what an Instagram exhibition actually entails. He says artists were asked to capture New York's most fascinating structures and urban creativity. From what we've seen, the images themselves are pretty remarkable, considering they were taken with a phone. No wonder Kodak went bankrupt. More >>

Sam Levin

Mayor Bloomberg at the new offices of start-up company called Efficiency 2.0.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer did not miss an opportunity to criticize the mayor's office this afternoon -- but not before the mayor preemptively brushed aside negative comments from Stringer, who hopes to replace Mike Bloomberg as mayor in 2013.

The back and forth between the two elected officials -- who clash on a fairly regular basis -- was about solar energy.

Bloomberg, standing in the new offices of a tech start-up called Efficiency 2.0, announced today that the city has tripled its production of solar power with new panels on ten buildings. These projects throughout the five boroughs, Bloomberg said, increase the city's total solar production to 648 kilowatts, which is enough to power 143 households and will cut 205 metric tons of carbon emissions as well as save money on annual energy costs. The efforts are part of the city's larger sustainability initiatives under the umbrella of its PlaNYC agenda.

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To be honest, we can't remember the last time we consciously noticed a pay phone in the city (that is, save for ones used in the episodes of Felicity we've been watching on Netflix). But the New York Post reports today that 250 phone booths will get high tech updates within the next month. Now-obsolete phones will be replaced by 32-inch "smart screens," which will provide users with neighborhood information and connect them to 311. The screens could indeed eventually sub in for all of the 12,800 outdoor pay phones throughout the city -- their franchise contracts will be done come October 2014.

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Sam Levin

Mayor Mike Bloomberg at a senior center in Flushing where seniors were talking on Skype.

Mayor Mike Bloomberg toured one of the city's senior centers in Flushing, Queens yesterday as part of a press event to promote his administration's efforts in launching eight new "innovative" senior centers throughout New York City.

Innovation, in this case, means Skype!

With a tail of reporters and camera crews shoving each other behind him, Bloomberg arrived at the Selfhelp Ben Rosenthal Prince Street Senior Center in Queens yesterday morning, and was given a brief tour of the facilities; he shook hands with seniors, watched them sing, peeked in on a tai chi class, and, you betcha, even participated in a Skype chat (crazy 21st century world we live in, eh?)

In one room, he joined participants who were in the middle of a sing-a-long Skype session.

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Sam Levin

Mayor Mike Bloomberg touring the NYU-Poly Varick Street Incubator this morning.

​In today's New-York-City-is-the-best-place-in-the-universe news, Mike Bloomberg has for us the latest success story for the Big Apple: its small business start-ups.

In line with the theme of many of the mayor's events so far this year -- promoting innovation in fashion, in film and television (with Gossip Girl!), in the Bronx , and, you know, just in general, innovation all the time -- Bloomberg held a news conference this morning to pat himself on the back for all he and his city agencies have done to help small businesses get their start, create jobs, and attract entrepreneurs to New York City.

Speaking at the NYU-Poly Varick Street Incubator this morning, Bloomberg, standing in front of a backdrop with the words "City of Innovation" written all over it (HE LIKES INNOVATION, GUYS!), Bloomberg -- after briefly touring the incubator's swanky offices -- told reporters that the city's efforts over the last three years have paid off.

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Sam Levin

Mayor Bloomberg and DOT Commissioner Sadik-Khan watch the "Python" fill a pothole in Queens.

Outdoor press conference!

Taking a break from his typical indoor news conferences, Mayor Mike Bloomberg today took advantage of the absurdly beautiful March weather outside to unveil a new pothole filling machine and to launch "road paving season," when the city resurfaces streets across the five boroughs. (Fixing roads, i.e. totally the best part about spring).

Reporters gathered around the "Python" on a blocked-off street in Flushing, Queens this morning to watch as a Department of Transportation worker demonstrated how this new piece of technology fills in potholes. The Python, a truck that basically unloads fresh material over a hole in the street and flattens it out, is designed to fill holes with fewer crew members and only block one lane of traffic during repairs.

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The days of having to carry around cash in order to take cabs are so long gone. Now, in addition to taxi's ubiquitous credit card machines, the Taxi & Limousine Commission is soliciting proposals for an app that will allow people to pay for their ride on their smartphone. It's just the next step in the inevitable progression to being beamed to our destination through our iPhone. In all seriousness, though, according to a notice from the TLC a payment app will serve functions beyond simply the exchange of funds. An app can allow riders to get emailed receipts that could help them find property that might have gotten lost or file a "compliment/complaint." (There already is an app just for complaints.)

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