Austin Metblogs » lauratex

Get Your Geek On

lauratex — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:33:04 +0000

The Austin scene of Web designers and usability experts, technologists, social media enthusiasts, game developers, and beyond seems to be thriving, with an almost overwhelming number of groups and corresponding events every week.

Refresh Austin - for Web designers and developers working to keep it fresh. The next meeting is Tuesday, May 13^th.
Geek Austin – their blog includes interviews with lots of tech industry and startup stars. Geek Austin and Refresh Austin are hosting a WordPress Fest on May 21^st to celebrate the release of the blogging software’s version 2.5.
Jelly Austin! – although not exclusive to tech workers, this co-working group meets currently every Friday at Café Caffeine.
Creative Commons Austin Salon - this group advocates for Creative Commons, which “provides free tools that let authors, scientists, artists, and educators easily mark their creative work with the freedoms they want it to carry.” They have a Google group and meet occasionally.
501c Tech Club - affiliated with NTEN, the Nonprofit Technology Network, this group meets monthly although I don’t see the next meeting date’s info on the site. (If you’re interested in the intersection of technology and nonprofits, check out the great blog FISpace.)
Austin High Tech Happy Hour – is just what it sounds like.
Social Media Club - a fairly nascent group of social media professionals and enthusiasts whose next meeting is May 15th.

Speaking of co-working, if you do freelance work, often work from home, or are starting your own business, you might be interested in the work of Conjunctured, a co-working company and the forthcoming LaunchPad, a co-working space (so you don’t have to go to your local coffeeshop all the time and you can have a place to meet, make copies, etc.)

Painting the Town

lauratex — Wed, 07 May 2008 16:42:09 +0000

Long-time Austin resident and former game developer Paul Stankiewicz (whose paintings of Seaholm Powerplant, a Shady Grove trailer, and Sandy’s are below) and Orange Mothers front man Ethan Azarian, along with other local artists, have an art opening this Friday evening at Art on 5th (which happens to have a collection of Dr. Seuss art!), at 1501 West 5th Street, from 6:30 to 8 pm. Other artists include Linda Dumont, Zita Raymond, John Hopkins, Dan Burns and up-and-coming figurative artist Anna Bleker. According to the announcement:

The variety of techniques range from palette knife to pastel to acrylic and oil and the variety of styles is even broader, with Linda Dumont creating her signature bold and bright cityscapes, and Anna Bleker’s contemplative figures.

If you can’t make it to the artists’ reception, the exhibit will be up until May 31st. Comment here if you know of other artists who are documenting Austin, its past, and changes.

Ride the bus to Keep Austin Weird

lauratex — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:56:31 +0000

As doublegood reported recently, not only is Capital Metro planning drastic changes to the Dillo service downtown, they are proposing schedule changes across the system. Although the public hearing on the issue was held last night, the only aspect of the changes that the local daily focused on was the proposed removal of the “Capitol transit center” which is really just a bus stop that happens to serve a large number of lines. Cap Metro is proposing moving this stop to 10^th Street (removing the stop from a couple of lines) because the Governor and State Preservation Board asked them to “for security reasons.”

Although I think the Guv is being silly, I don’t know if this one change should be the focus of news coverage. There is a huge list of changes. Strolling down South Congress this weekend, I spoke with one of the shop owners and she really didn’t understand why they were cutting off the Orange Dillo’s service down South Congress. Many tourists, locals, and students use it to get to SoCo, not only on the weekends and during SXSW, but regularly throughout the year. I am personally concerned as I’ll be moving to the area soon and am hoping to use the Dillo or the bus instead of clogging the road with one more car.

Again, there are a number of changes across the system that are being proposed. If you ever ride the bus or think you may start riding the bus because of rising gas prices, climate change, stress levels from driving, or a desire to keep or witness Austin at its weirdest (I was hoping to link to a post by a friend of mine of the guy stripping on her bus ride, but oh well), then you might take a few minutes to check out these proposed changes and e-mail your comments to planning@capmetro.org. Although I don’t know how good Cap Metro is at responding to public comment and actually incorporating it into their planning, they need to know that people are paying attention!

The smell of Hill Country and the wind in your hair

lauratex — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:19:00 +0000

The weather is just about perfect for riding a bicycle right now. Yesterday we took advantage of one of the profligate cycling clubs and joined the Circle C Ranch Cycling Club for their Sunday morning ride. There was a time when I would not have had too hard a time keeping up with them on the route chosen - down William Cannon to Barton Creek Boulevard, then Bee Cave Road to 360 and into the hills of Westlake - but whew! now I remember just how many hills Austin has.

So perhaps you’ve been thinking that getting on a bike would be a good way to get some exercise, but you’re not sure where to start? Maybe you’ve ridden around the neighborhood or participated in a charity ride like the Armadillo Hill Country Classic in Liberty Hill (coming up again on May 10th)? Or you read in today’s daily that May is Bike Month and maybe, just maybe, you’ll try biking to work on Friday, May 16th? Well, be sure to check out:

Austin Cycling Association - a cycling club for people of all levels and abilities. ACA organizes rides around Austin every weekend and sometimes during the week, as well as providing information and resources for cyclists. They have a full calendar of Bike Month events.
Austin Flyers - another cycling club that has a bit more of a focus on helping beginner racers. It is unusual in that it is led by women - but men are welcome.
City of Austin Bicycle Route Map - download a PDF of the bicycle routes or get info on ordering a copy.

See you on the road, hopefully on two wheels! Please be kind to cyclists when you’re out driving, too!

"The Unforeseen" Should be Required Viewing in Austin

lauratex — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 17:37:48 +0000

Ever wonder why Austin’s traffic has gotten so bad? Perhaps you don’t think it’s that bad if you’re from L.A., but it’s definitely much, much worse than it used to be. If you’re a central Austin inhabitant, you may not venture out to the ‘burbs much. Maybe you’ve been to Barton Springs Pool or hiked along Barton Creek? All of these things may not seem related, but to anyone who’s been in Austin awhile and cares about the natural environment - it’s definitely all related. And now there’s a film that starts to bring it all together - The Unforeseen. You now have another week to go see it at the Alamo Drafthouse South!