The Silicon Bayou has been buzzing with tech and entrepreneurial news. Here are the most popular stories published on Silicon Bayou News in the past seven days:
Two-Day Codemkrs Hackathon Produces Amazing Apps, Announces Winners
The 48-hour Codemkrs Super Bowl challenge, a hackathon where 50 developers got together to create apps for the Super Bowl, ended last Sunday night at an awards ceremony at the Little Gem Saloon. The winner of the grand prize was Eat Now New Orleans, a team that developed an app to help citizens determine the wait time for any given restaurant in the city in ream time. Second place went to an app that helps people find venues for live music across the city. Third place went to a digital tip jar app for musicians and artists that lets music fans tip performers through electronic payments. The winner of a special prize for the top technical chops went to NOLA Parks, an app that lets users find park locations via GPS to see how close a certain park is, and see the different amenities across the parks. NOLA Parks won a $1,000 prize, donated by the New Orleans 3D computer marketplace TurboSquid.
New App Sooligan Impresses City Before Super Bowl Launch
Sooligan is a mobile app that makes it quick, easy and fun to ask questions, receive answers and get up-to-the-second tips on everything you need to know about a city from the people who know it best—the locals. The official launch date is February 1st, 2013, right before the Super Bowl, but there is a version live in the app store now! The name of the app derives from the combination of the words social and hooligan. Founders Nikka Umil and Natasia Malaihollo consider themselves Sooligans, not hipsters, and you will, “soon see them everywhere.”
Custom-Built Software Now Exempt from East Baton Rouge Sales Tax
Two weeks ago, a bill unanimously passed exempting custom-based software from sales taxes in East Baton Rouge city-parish. It received strong support from the city and the Baton Rouge Area Chamber of Commerce. It all started when Logan Leger found out the city of Baton Rouge was seeking sales tax from him. Leger is the CEO of mobile app development firm NewAperio and was the first to introduce the possibly legislation to the previous councilman Mike Walker.
Louisiana’s Online Lagniappe Covers Everything From Landmark Jazz to Fair-Trade Purses
Louisiana’s Online Lagniappe, a new column written by Flynn Zaiger, covers Preservation Hall, Marucci Sports, and IN Exchange. He believes these companies are doing incredible things online. Whether it means engaging fans on Facebook or providing a sleek website, these companies fit the bill.
All About You: Steve Peer
Steve Peer is a Canadian who now lives in New Orleans, working at his company, Peer Partners, a full-service interactive agency that services local and national brands. Steve’s favorite quote with regard to the digital revolution is, “Everything that can be digital, will be digital.” It’s his favorite quote because he wrote it. Click here to see how he answered our All About You questions.
VIDEO: Connect for a Cause Episode 1
Jason Nicosia and his tech co-founder and CTO, Matt Culpepper, have both been hustling to reach the national launch date of Connect for a Cause, currently set for January 22, 2013. For the next six months, Christa Rock Productions (which also shot the NOLA Bound documentary) will be following Jason and the team around to record the launch process, meetings, and a three week trip Jason has planned for New York. The first video is available for viewing now here.