Category Archives: austin

Anything to do with Austin, Texas.

Tagging 2.0 panel at SXSW2006 now a podcast

The Tagging 2.0 panel I organized at South by SouthWest 2006 in March is now a Tagging 2.0 podcast among the many SXSW 2006 podcasts you can download.

Some highlight quotes from the panel you really shouldn’t miss:

How can you pass up quips like that?

The Tagging 2.0 panel was one of the “highly-rated panels” this year, tied for first place with a number of other entertaining and informative panels, so check out their podcasts as they become available as well.

Open Source Workshop at UT Austin, May 2, 2006

On May 2, in conjunction with the World Congress on IT 2006, The University of Texas at Austin will host panel discussions on “open source”, peer-based information sharing that was once only found in the software world. The free (yes free) workshop will cover the challenges and growing impact of open source.

I am both a (partial) organizer and speaker at this workshop. If you’re there, do stop by and say hello or introduce yourself.
For more information including directions and registration, please see the Open Source Workshop Web site

I have the two best jobs in America

According to this week’s MONEY Magazine’s Best Jobs listing, I have the two best jobs in America. I work as a (1) Software Engineer and (2) College Professor . Granted, I don’t do these two in that order of frequency, but as a professor (graduate students only) and software consultant (technical architecture, data mining and analysis, intellectual property development, information architecture and interface design) I’ve got it pretty good, certainly much better than those who have the dirtiest jobs.

Thanks to Tolva for pointing this out and making me feel so lucky because I don’t punch a clock, get to work (mostly) on only what is interesting to me and can wear shorts + Hawaiian shirts on days when the weather permits. Plus I’m in Austin!

You can start hating me now.

Unofficial Geek Guide to SxSW-Interactive 2006

It looks like Austin’s own David Nunez is up to it again, he’s updated his guide to getting the most out of SXSW for 2006 to motivate us all to be more friendly, less clique-ish and generally open to getting more out of SXSW. Heck, he’s even put his personal, mobile phone number up so you can call him for directions, a dinner invite or to get together and chat (but not for bail money I assume). (How about your instant message IDs too David?)Check it out and be sure and leave him a comment on his blog.

Let a thousand orange smileys bloom!

pre-SXSW Happy Hour this Thursday 6-8 at The Cedar Door

OK, this is the big one.

Come one, come all to the Annual pre-SXSW get together for anyone doing Web design, development, Information Architecture, and anything else SXSW “Interactive-y”.

Whether you live in Austin or are in town early for SXSW, do join us on this Thursday, March 9th from 6-8 at the Cedar Door at 201 Brazos Street in downtown Austin.

As always, this event is sponsored by the University of Texas at Austin School of Information, the UTASIS&T Student Chapter and the Information Architecture Institute.

Volunteer to help with the Hurricane Katrina PeopleFinder

If you’re reading this now, you have the skills to help out with the Katrina PeopleFinder Project.

From Rebecca McKinnon’s blog, RConversation:

After Katrina many friends and family members have been separated and left with no clear way to find each other. Hundreds of internet web sites are gathering hundreds, and probably thousands, of entries about missing persons or persons who want to let others know they’re okay.

The problem is: the data on these sites has no particular form or structure. So it’s almost impossible for people to search or match things up. Plus there are dozens of sites – making it hard for a person seeking lost loved ones to search them all.

The Katrina PeopleFinder Project NEEDS YOUR HELP to enter data about missing and found people from various online sources. We’re requesting as little as an hour of your time. All you need to do is help read unstructured posts about missing or found persons, and then add the relevant data to a database through a simple online form.

START HELPING NOW


Katrina

Thanks to Jon Lebkowsky for letting me know about this effort.