InTheCapital

The view from inside DC. Tech/Startups. Politics/Media. City Life. The Inspiration, and random thoughts of the InTheCapital.com team.

[bijan]

six years ago today.

thanks @jack, @biz, @ev and @goldman.

[inthecapital-blog]

hell yeah.

[think-progress]

FACT: The federal government is just about the same size today as it was in 1983. 

[nerdydc]

The Internet has changed the way the world works. A culture of sharing has risen around its creation. In fact, that was what it was initially designed for sharing information and research between universities. The Internet = mass sharing. They just go together.

Before the...

[peterlamotte]

I think the best BBQ in the district! (Taken with Instagram at Rocklands Real Barbeque)

[inthecapital-blog]

We will hold Peter to that.  

[intheempire-blog]

By Sam Dwyer

As startup numbers boom and venture capital funding pours into creative industries, not everyone is certain that the United States will continue to produce such exceptional innovators. One of these doubters is President Barack Obama.

In his State of the Union address earlier in...

[diadoumenos-blog]

[inthecapital-blog]

Wow. Just Wow. InTheCapital breaks it down.

[shortformblog]

Just in time for the Oscars, a Mitt Romney parody of “The Artist”

The Chris Matthews Show has a pretty interesting take on Romney’s campaign, based on this amusing parody of the perceived Oscars frontrunner. The silence from the audience is more deafening than Mitt’s own silence. Chew on this, internet. (ht Charlie Warzel of InTheCapital) 

[shortformblog]

knudgeme asks: so how do you build your network out in a way to make it viral?

» SFB says: Great question. It’s a game of influence in some ways. Let’s say you’re at a party, and you’re meeting someone for the first time. However, you get to pick the person you meet. If you’re thinking in...

[inthecapital-blog]

Good advice!

[nerdydc]

On Wednesday night, DC entrepreneurs and developers were celebrated at the DCTech Meetup. Many of the tools and ideas presented were solutions to problems that every organization faces.

Email was a big topic of the night. Contactually wants to be your email personal assistant. It reminds...

[shortformblog]

[inthecapital-blog]

And the award for best-timed film release goes to … Premiering in Canada today (and the U.S. later this Spring, though they may want to bump that release date up) is a film called “Pink Ribbons, Inc.,” a Canadian film which purports to show the dark side of the Komen for the Cure breast cancer movement along with the “pinkwashing” movement. Seriously. It comes out this weekend in Canada. Of all weekends. So, on top of a PR disaster that strongly damaged their brand is a movie whose release has been planned for months that shows the hypocrisy of said brand. Talk about good timing.

shortformblog:

[inthecapital-blog]

@cwarzel is having a case of the Fridays.  Putting together a bourbon tasting, writing about Meth lab explosions and companies dropping $500M; can take it's toll on a writer.

Fridays are a slow news days in general.  We thought this would be a great opportunity to continue to reach out to our followers and ask them what we should be covering.  This isn't one of those speak now or forever hold your peace scenarios.  We always want to keep the door open for your input.  But for the moment, you would be coming in clutch for Charlie.

Help Charlie turn that frown upside down.   Will post Follow up pic when Charlie is smiling again.

[inthecapital-blog]

Entrepreneurship Ad To Air During Super Bowl [Video]

by Charlie Warzel

If this Kauffman Foundation Super Bowl ad is any indicator, entrepreneurship is on the rise. Normally, Super Bowl advertisements are dominated by major commercial players, Coke, Pepsi and Budweiser. You know, the big dogs. But this year, people around the world will see a different kind of 30-second spot, geared toward encouraging people to take the startup plunge with the invocation, “the next great entrepreneur is out there.” If anything, this sort of play only illustrates how the government and thought leaders everywhere are doubling down on the entrepreneurship to galvanize the economy and usher in a new age of prosperity for innovation and small business. You don’t get much bigger than Super Bowl ads, folks.

Here’s some color from the Foundation’s press release:

“As jobs and the economy take center stage this election year, the Kauffman Foundation wants both policymakers and the public to be aware of the importance of entrepreneurs to solving our economic crisis,” said Wendy Guillies, Kauffman”s vice president of communications.”

You can check out the ad below and, if you’re looking to do a little more research, head over towillitbeyou to see if you’ll be the next great entrepreneur.

[inthecapital-blog]

Meth Lab Explosion Rocks Luxury Dupont Apartment. Yeah, You Read That Right.

 Carl Pierre

It seems as if the show Breaking Bad has gained some traction with some residents of Dupont Circle, as DCPD and the fire department were called out last night to put out a fire caused by a meth lab explosion in a luxury apartment building on the 1600 block of R Street. The explosion startled several of the residents in the surrounding units of the apartment, and the following fire alarm woke up any slumbering residents that weren’t jolted by the explosion.

A building resident shared the tumultuous experience, detailing what happened

I was getting ready to go to bed in my apartment when I heard the fire alarm.  At first, I thought somebody might have pulled it as a joke so I took my time getting out of the building.  I just grabbed my keys and cell phone.  I exited down the stairs and out the front of the building.  I crossed R street and could see smoke and a red glow coming from the 4th floor window.  The sprinklers were also running at the time.

Safe to say that a meth lab explosion is something most people don’t experience or mentally prepare for, so it’s understandable that it took many residents by surprise. The real shocker is that the supposed “meth cookers” were  some of the friendliest residents in the building, and there were no warning signs that would indicate something as elaborate as a meth lab would be occurring in their unit. One building resident described them as

…very friendly/outgoing and have been living in the building for several years.  I would chat with them in the gym on various occasions.  I would never suspect they would be cooking meth in their apartment.

So far residents of the building have been asked to refrain from reentering their apartments due to the ongoing police investigation. They have not heard anything regarding details on fire damage to their apartments or possible dangerous chemical leaks. What makes the experience all the more surreal is the quality of the apartments; the building is considered to be one of the nicer luxury apartments one can find in Dupont. A meth lab is probably the last thing you would imagine to find in the building. For the displaced residents forced to leave their apartments, they have been kept in the dark as to the status of what will happen regarding housing and their belongings. Many residents have been forced to stay in hotels and friend’s apartments, some even staying at the Red Cross for the night. There has been no comments made yet from the building’s owners, Borger Management.

I will update this story more as it develops, I am deeply curious to see what the meth lab’s occupants have to say.

UPDATE: Residents have been allowed back into their apartments.

[inthecapital-blog]

4 Solid Pictures of Last Evening’s Wild Sunset

by Charlie Warzel

Maybe it’s the unseasonably warm weather or the impending Mayan apocalypse, but we’ve been having some pretty outrageous sunsets in the DC-metro area recently. Here’s a few gems we found on the ‘information super highway’ from just this evening:

[inthecapital-blog]

Taiwan Doesn’t Think It’s ‘Too Soon’ To Mock Dead Steve Jobs [Video]

 by Charlie Warzel

File this one under ‘Things You Don’t Do’. Apparently in Taiwan, it’s not ‘too soon’ to make light of Steve Jobs’ death. In a short commercial that debuted this week for and Android tablet, the ad agency decided to take an alternative approach to generating buzz. That approach, just happened to be depicting a turtleneck-clad Steve Jobs with wings and a halo demonstrating and thoroughly enjoying the Android hardware.

Now, we’re not saying we are humorless, we just think it may be a little soon to lampoon a guy who died after a nearly decade long bout with cancer. Steve, himself probably wouldn’t have minded the parody, but according to some info Mashable dug up, he would have been absolutely furious about having his likeness shill for Android and Google. Like, he would’ve been pissed:

In Walter Isaacson’s authorized biography of the Apple cofounder, Jobs is quoted as saying he effectively “declared war” on Android and that he felt “personally betrayed” by Google

Offensive or Not? Decide for yourself here:

[inthecapital-blog]

Woah: LivingSocial Lost Over Half a Billion In 2011

 by Charlie Warzel