TARGET ACQUIRED.

In the Venn diagram between techies and Terminator 2 fans, we're guessing the overlap is oh, let's say 100.00 percent. But a new iPhone app built by Silicon Alley's Rich Cameron and Haris Amin might be the first time the two have officially merged.

Cyborg Vision, which made its App Store debut for the iPhone and iPad 2 this morning, uses the Face.com API and Facebook to let see the world around you like a cyborg assassin sent from the future. Its best trick is actually recognizing your Facebook friends and returning a red-screen in real time with their Facebook data that would make Skynet proud. Mr. Cameron and Mr. Amin, who both work at the health and fitness app DailyBurn, first developed the concept at the video hack day, where the app took first prize. They then spent weekends getting it Apple-ready.

On the phone with Betabeat last week, Mr. Amin explained how it works: When a user opens Cyborg Vision, the app requests permission to sign in with Facebook, after which it downloads info about your friends into its database. Through the phone's camera function, you scan a friend's picture or, if they're sitting across from you, the actual friend. A request is sent to Facebook to "so it trains against your friends." The image is then run through Face.com's API, and info from the database is pushed out in real time onto your screen.

Mr. Cameron came up with the idea after the two collaborate on a slide-synching app at TechCrunch Disrupt. "I just wanted to do something that was more fun than presentation sharing—something a little less enterprise-y! We were just kind of throwing out ideas, and I threw out the idea that what if we made Terminator-vision, like it can look at somebody and recognize them and it will look like the movie and everything," Mr. Cameron said on the phone. "We love the movies. I obviously didn’t care for the third one, I don’t think anyone does. [Ed. Agreed!] That was the event of my childhood, I feel like. It was the biggest movie of any summer."

The two developers embedded some surprises in the app. "We hid some Easter eggs in the app, which I think you’re the only person who knows about besides me and Haris," said Mr. Cameron. "It recognizes Arnold Schwarzenegger, even if you’re not signed into Facebook. It will recognize certain people, maybe tied to the movies, or technology. It recognizes Steve Jobs."

Neither developer plans on quitting their day jobs, though they figure $0.99 is a fair price to pay for impressing your friends. "We’re viewing it as a parlor trick or this is a fun thing you can pull out on your friends at the bar. At the same time, it feels like the first time where facial recognition has been handed off to the consumer world where—for a dollar—you can get this on your phone and it will actually do facial recognition and identity people. It’s kind of neat," said Mr. Cameron, whose app already has a couple 5-star reviews.

"If we make millions, that’s another story."

Cyborg Vision from Rich Cameron on Vimeo.

via LaughingSquid

FUNDING FUN. Who is surviving the seed stage slaughter? General Assembly, obviously, which raised $4.25 million from some Russian billionaire and other folks. Crowdtap, the on-demand user testing service, just raised a $7 million Series A financing round led by the Foundry Group. "The funds will be used to help continue the rapid growth we have experienced in our first couple years and continue to build a world class platform to help brands connect to, manage and market with their influential consumers." AppFirst, the "next generation application problem resolution system for the application performance management market," announced it closed its Series A for $4 million, led by Javelin Venture Partners. "FirstMark Capital and First Round Capital, original backers of AppFirst, also participated in the financing agreement."

STEALTH RUMBLINGS. Philip Kaplan, a.k.a. Pud of FuckedCompany.com, just sold his startup TinyLetter to MailChimp and is banging away at another, Fandalism, which is some kind of tool for musicians of all types. Fandalism has 197 fans on Facebook, but when's it coming out? "Within the next 4 weeks-ish, hopefully. Sorry for the delay."

FEATUREFUL. Onepager, the About.me for businesses, is now freezy. As the startup announced last night at New York Tech Meetup, among other features: "We got rid of the 14 day free trial.  Users now can make their own Onepager site for free and keep it indefinitely. We now have a dashboard for users that will allow them to see their visitor analytics. These analytics include views, sources, and keywords. Small business owners now have the ability to add a 'subscribe' area on their website to collect email addresses.  The owners may then send newsletters out directly to their subscribers from the Onepager dashboard."

RESTART. Reddit became a startup again, spinning out from under Conde Nast, and has some big things planned.

STILL HERE. KeyWifi, the bootstrapped wifi-sharing startup, continues to send newsletters, which seems like a good sign for an extremely ambitious startup. And they have some news: "We're providing wireless services for the Contact Summit in October. We're also supporting the efforts of a new collaborative community, NYC Shared Squared."

TO DO. New Work City is ramping up on events. Check out the Instagram meetup tonight, aided by new NWC member Snapr. "Five up-and-coming Instagramers on the NYC scene (mostly street photography, architecture, cityscapes) will be presenting 5 photos, discuss the story behind them, technique, etc, then have a Q&A." Then, of course, head to a bar. That's how NWC does. Don't forget Video Hack Day at General Assembly on Saturday.

This is a guest post from Gary Sharma (aka "The Guy with the Red Tie"), founder of GarysGuide, mentor at ER Accelerator and proud owner of a whole bunch of black suits, white shirts and, at last count, over forty red ties. You can reach him at gary [at] garysguide.org.

Hot Girl in Conde Nast elevator: "Gary! Will I be seeing u and ur red tie at any FNO events this week?"
Me: "Ummm, what is FNO?"
Girl: "Omg, srsly?? FNO is Fashion's Night Out!"
Me: "And that is...?"
Girl: "Only the coolest night ever! Designers, models, fashion editors, celebrities and shoppers flock to their fave stores for an extravagant night of shopping, champagne and fun events!"
Me: Uhh, it does sound cool.
Girl: You bet it is! It was conceived by Anna Wintour.
Me: Anna who?
Girl: She's the editor-in-chief of ... oh never mind. But u better tell your readers all about it. Or else...
Me: I will, I will.
Me: (nervously looking at elevator doors and wondering why this thing isn't moving faster)

Ahem. Fashion's Night Out.

And now onto whats happening in the tech parts of town this week...September 2011 NY Tech Meetup
Who would have thunk that a tech event would become so popular that scalpers would be selling tickets to it on the black market for FIVE times the list price?
Tuesday, 7 p.m. @ NYU Skirball Center For The Performing Arts, 566 Laguardia Place

NYC Independent Fashion Bloggers Conference
Consumed by fashion? Obsessed with blogging (or Tumbling)? Then this should really be a no-brainer. Come hang out with Joe Zee (Creative Director, Elle), Christen Rochon (Divas & Dorks), Yuli Ziv (Style Coalition), Leandra Medine (Man Repeller), Vahni Georgoulakos (Grit and Glamour), Sammy Davis (Sammy Davis Vintage), Erica Chan Coffman & Lauren Kolodny (Honestly WTF), Alisa Gould Simon (Pose.com) and more.
Wednesday, 9 a.m. @ Milk Studios, 450 West 15th Street

An Insiders Guide to Angel Investing
Angel Investor Thomas Wisniewski will teach you how to take his money. It really doesn't get any easier than this.
Wednesday, 6 p.m. @ General Assembly, 902 Broadway 4th Floor

How To Be Black: An Interactive Case Study in Digital Branding with Baratunde Thurston
#crazytunde #outrageoustunde #hilarioustunde #brandatunde #amazingtunde #thelistgoesonandontunde
Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. @ The Onion HQ, 536 Broadway 10th Floor

Startups Unplugged: Structure for your Startup
Struggling with getting your startup on the right track? Need some structure? You, my friend, need Chatfe founder Paul Orlando.
Wednesday, 7 p.m. @ Conference Room, 31 West 26th Street 3rd Floor

Silicon Dragon New York 2011: China Deals, IPOs & Returns
You know what they say. Every startup needs a China strategy. And yeah, that means you too. Panelists include Bob McCooey (NASDAQ), Peter Lighte (JPMorgan Chase Bank China), David Chao (DCM), Barry Silbert (SecondMarket), James Robinson IV (RRE Ventures), Porter Bibb (Mediatech Capital Partners) and others. Moderated by Rebecca Fannin (Silicon Dragon, Forbes)
Thursday, 4 p.m. @ NASDAQ, 4 Times Square

The Future of Mobile Marketing: Where Are We Headed?
You know the best way to learn about the future of mobile marketing? While sipping cocktails and nibbling on hors d'oeuvres of course. And did I mention its free? What are you waiting for again?
Thursday, 6 p.m. @ Morris + King, 101 5th Avenue 8th Floor

#Techdrinkup: Tech Takeover of Fashions Night Out
Did you really think tech peeps were going to let Fashions Night Out pass by without throwing a shindig? Hellz no.
Thursday, 6 p.m. @ G 50 Bar and Grill, 208 East 50th Street

Social TV Meetup, hosted by GetGlue & SecondScreen Networks
Come learn how to check in and gleek at the same time.
Thursday, 6:30 p.m. @ GetGlue, 22 West 19th Street 9th Floor

Investor Feedback Forum and Pitch Showdown
Graham Lawlor is back with another ultra-awesome edition of Ultralight Startups. On deck will be Gil Beyda (Managing Partner, Genacast Ventures), Brad Harrison (Partner, Point Capital), Edward Reitler (Founder, ARC Angel Fund) and Michael Yavonditte (CEO, Hashable). Startup pitches include Lior Messinger (Medicasting), Ankur Jain (Gift Side Story), Derek Webster (LocalBonus), Edward Valentini (Nelbee), John Federico (Qrious), James Saadi (Automato), Phaedra Chrousos (Daily Secret), Satjot Sawhney (ShareRebate) and Gene DeRose (Want.it).
Thursday, 6:30 p.m. @ Microsoft, 1290 6th Avenue 6th Floor

Negotiating: Essential Skills for Entrepreneurs
Okay, time to put down your dog-eared, worn out copy of Sun Tzu's Art of War and hop on over to New Work City to learn some ninja moves on how to deal with "hard-bargaining tactics and dirty tricks." VCs and building landlords everywhere are already starting to sweat.
Thursday, 7 p.m. @ New Work City, 412 Broadway 2nd Floor

NY CSS Meetup - Rounded Corners
Cuz rounded corners are just nicer.
Thursday, 7 p.m. @ Rokkan, 176 Grand Street

How To Launch your Startup Idea for Less than $5,000
Recent USV investment Skillshare founder Michael Karnjanaprakorn returns to teach the class that entrepreneurs everywhere have been salivating to attend. Sold out again but add urself to the watchlist and I promise u won't miss it the next time around.
Thursday, 7 p.m. @ SkillShare HQ, 407 Broome Street Suite 5A

Video Hack Day with Shelby.tv
Reece Pacheco had a dream. That one day, we would all come together and video-hack the night away. Putting their awesome APIs at your disposal alongwith Shelby.tv will be Youtube, Boxee, Mashery, Framesocket, Ordr.in, Vid.ly, Moovatom, Aviary, Opentok, VHX, ZenCoder, Twilio and Sharethrough.
Saturday, 9 a.m. @ General Assembly, 902 Broadway 4th Floor

Open Video Conference
Care about promoting free expression and innovation in online video? Well, of course, you do! So you won't wanna miss this one. Speakers and panelists include Jillian York (EFF), Cindy Gallop (Make Love, Not Porn), Brewster Kahle (Internet Archive), Greg Schechter (YouTube), Anna Cavender (Google), Mark Watson (Netflix), Jonathan Askin (Brooklyn Law), Mehan Jayasuriya (NYU ITP), Elizabeth Stark (Stanford), Eric Mueller (TED), Ashish Kumar (UN), Heather Ford (Ushahidi), Blake Whitman (Vimeo), Jane Park (Creative Commons) and more.
Saturday, 9 a.m. @ New York Law School, 185 West Broadway

Iconathon NYC
Come help design new public domain symbols for transportation. Whats that you say? Can't draw to save your life? Well luckily for you I talked to the organizers and they said you can come "even if you still draw like a 5 year old." Huzzah!
Saturday, 11 a.m. @ School of Visual Arts, 136 West 21st Street 3rd Floor

More on the horizon...
Founders@Fail: Ted Morgan (Skyhook Wireless) on Sep 12 @ General Assembly
New Work City Third Anniversary Party on Sep 16 @ New Work City
Mashable Social Good Summit 2011 on Sep 19 @ 92 Street Y
TechCocktail NYC Mixer on Sep 21 @ General Assembly

Until next week. Stay thirsty social, my friends!