I do not usually do a re-post, however I figured you all might want to see what the geeks have been up to:
“So along with Nick and Luke of Dorkbot, I helped throw together an ACTLab/Dorkbot event. It was very successful. We had around 100 people show up to the ACTLab and rock out with our group. The discussion and presentations were top notch. The two projects in the video are just an examples. We also had Brooke Bennet show off his twitter chatroom application off, as well as had our infamous Tattoo shown off. I would like to thank everyone who came out and participated, it is meetings like this that make Austin’s Geek Scene so cool!”
So the ACTLab is hosting the latest Dorkbot event. There will be all sorts of folks there, tech, artists, everyone. Here is an interview by Dorkbot’s Luke Iseman of myself and Brandon Wiley.
So yeah, come by if you can. As you all might have noticed we have not been posting much. It seems things have slowed down, Kristine’s weekly updates have been covering the regular events, however we have not seen any big break through’s lately. If you think we are missing something, please drop us a line and let us know. We are always happy to recieve feedback.
It may sound like a broken record, but where did <<insert month>> go?
We’re officially into the first week of November and the holidays are closer than ever. But first, it’s time to get over the much anticipated political hump. No, we won’t bombard you with additional political banter - just thought it would make a logical lead into this week’s events:
Tuesday:
Vote! *duh*
Cheering and/or crying your president elect vote isn’t as fun alone. So, come join the group at Conjunctured as they ring in the new president. BYOB and BYODinner.
Wednesday:
After almost a year of hacking, testing, and web design, Brandon’s ready to release a Ringlight beta to the public. Come join in the celebration from 6-9 pm at Conjunctured. Check out the FB invite for more info.
Thursday:
It’s First Thursday, which means S. Congress will be overrun by showmen, craft peddlers, townies and visitors-in-the-know. Make sure to check out the West End Gallery Night for something a bit off the beaten path.
Robert Quigley and Daniel Honigman look at the ever evolving media space in their new blog Old Media, New Tricks. Following last week’s Christian Science Monitor news to move completely online coupled with the decreasing circulation, @mediatricks captures the first-hand experience of those still in the business.
A day late - we know. Hope it doesn’t throw too many of you off. To be safe, it’s Monday.
Any feedback from last week’s events? Know that it was quite packed with events, but beyond my twitter stream, didn’t see too much feedback. Although, Maker Faire seemed to be a big hit! Congrats to those guys.
In any case, here’s this week’s listings. Find me?
Monday:
With Halloween quickly approaching, there a number of frightening films (hehe couldn’t resist) for your viewing pleasure. And, if you’re broke, like me - here’s a free one at the Belmont.
Bike to coworking day is Thursday. So hop on your bike, get some exercise and save the planet?! You know I would if 1) I coworked 2) knew how to ride a bike =/
Let’s take a moment to pay homage to an amazing game this past weekend and for the new standings in the AP poll. Too early to dream for another National Championship?
Well, coming off an exciting weekend outside the city limits, Austin returns to the spotlight with a plethora of happenings this week. Brace yourself - it’s going to be a busy week:
Sunday:
Today kicks off restaurant week. Know this isn’t really tech related, but figured even geeks need to eat, right?
Have you seen the news from Conjunctured?! Think it is a great decision. Hopefully the community responds positively as well.
Saturday:
One of the largest events of the weekend - especially since Mizzou fell on Saturday - is Maker Faire 2008. I believe Joey and the ActLab kids will be onsite, so make sure to swing by and say hello!
We’re well into half of October - who’s excited about Halloween?
It is great to see that in the mist of a financial melt down everyone seems to be chugging along here in town. I hear good things are happening over at Conjunctured! I went to Jelly last Friday and met some great people. I also went to Monkey Wrench Book’s TechNight, that was also very awesome and fun, the topic for the night was the singularity and trans-humanism. Great Stuff!
I would also like to give a shout out to GeekAustin for celebrating 8 years in Austin, you guyz rock! It is great to know there are other people here making Austin a fun place for geeks:)
You all may or may not have noticed my lack of posting here. I have been knee deep working on my dissertation for my PhD. I am doing it on online and offline car culture in central Texas. Things are going great. I am working with hypermilers, drag racers, street racers, road racers and all the folks in between. It has been a trip to say the least. I am also rodding my car out. Here is a video of the instructor over at DriveWay Austin taking my car for a spin. I am hoping to take their road course class, so I had him drive my car to let me know what I should upgrade before enlisting.
If you’re a true geek, you must be a Heroes fan - and since we no longer have KXAN on the dial - feel free hit the Alamo Drafthouse Village at 9:30 pm. Oh, and it’s free!
Check out the Reset/Play exhibit at the ArtHouse! It’s completely free and goes through November 2. If anyone wants to get me a copy of Katamari Damacy, I’d love you forever.
Rumor has it there might be Startup Drinks this Sunday (10/12)?! yeah, I’m starting the rumor =)
Once again, nods to door64 and the Austinist for their awesome listings!
Last but not least, thanks to all those that flag events for us throughout the week. Love the suggestions, so keep them coming.
So from 7-11pm tomorrow night the ACTLab will be hosting an arduino night. For those of you who are wondering what I am referring to, here is a little description:
“Arduino is a tool for making computers that can sense and control more of the physical world than your desktop computer. It’s an open-source physical computing platform based on a simple microcontroller board, and a development environment for writing software for the board.
Arduino can be used to develop interactive objects, taking inputs from a variety of switches or sensors, and controlling a variety of lights, motors, and other physical outputs. Arduino projects can be stand-alone, or they can be communicate with software running on your computer (e.g. Flash, Processing, MaxMSP.) The boards can be assembled by hand or purchased preassembled; the open-source IDE can be downloaded for free.
The Arduino programming language is an implementation of Wiring, a similar physical computing platform, which is based on the Processing multimedia programming environment.”
So yeah come by the CMB 4.110 (the ACTLab) tomorrow from 7-11pm, whether you are a novice or a pro, bring an open mind and if you have some hardware come show it off.
After a week chalk full of anticipation for the Austin Ventures/TechCrunch meet-up and the Moximity launch event, the weekend has finally kicked-off. And, with that, comes a much needed tech break.
It was great to meet a ton of new people, while catching-up with some old acquaintances at both events. From Dallas to San Francisco, quite a few imports made their way to the party as well.
As always, it’s great to see the Austin start-up scene really vibe. Did you spot the new Startup District t-shirt?
UPDATE: Great post from the Statesman’s very own Omar Gallaga (@omarg) highlighting the good, the bad and the ugly from this week’s TechCrunch event. Think it’s pretty spot on. Why do people insist on having events at Pangea, I have no idea.
Personally, I’ve been running non-stop from tech/social media event to the next. So, with ACL and the UT football game this weekend, I’m looking forward to taking a breather (even if it’s a bit dusty outside).
Conveniently and despite the fact that AT&T has sponsored ACL for the past +five years, the network connection crawls slower than a snail. You would think AT&T would have the two-cents to install boosters or something? In any case, there’s a 30min to 3 hour delay on text messages - and forget checking Twitter.
If you’re out at ACL this weekend - or any of the other fabulous events around town - come find me! I <3 chatting it up with everyone. Only this time around, we’ll have to do it face to face.
