5 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Me

OK, Micki tagged me, so here’s my 5 things you probably didn’t know about me. This blog meme started with Jeff Pulver. Others who have been tagged are Irina Slutsky, Zadi Diaz, Steve Garfield, Chuck Olson and Bre Pettis.

— A first proud geek moment was when I created an animated version of the opening sequence of Monty Python’s Flying Circus on my Commodore VIC-20, in Commodore ASCII. If i ever find the data tape i saved it to, i’ll post it.

— I’m now working for my 5th San Francisco based Internet startup. In chronological order: Studio Verso, Phoenix-Pop Productions, Fast Forward Networks, Inktomi, PodTech.

— No, I didn’t cash out handsomely at any of the above, though I did turn down a job at Yahoo! in 1996.

— I once sold magic mushrooms to an undercover cop in college. That didn’t turn out so well.

— I’ve handled poisonous snakes and lived. This was when I was traveling through southeast Asia in 2002.

OK, my turn to tag 5 people. Paul Boutin, Jackson West, Ryanne Hodson, Schlomo Rabinowitz, David Pava, tell us your 5 things.

Roboexotica Going Well

Jake runs Vino-Viper
I’ve been here a week in Vienna, Austria for Roboexotica, the conference for cocktail robots. It’s been a blast hanging out with my new Austrian friends @ monochrom. Plenty of impressive drink serving bots abound. This photo is of the Kal Spelletich’s Vino-Viper, an articulated arm attached to a wall that is controlled by a glove and blow tube. You move the arm around by moving your fingers and then can serve wine by blowing into a tube. Only the hardy and ambidextrous are successful at getting a decent amount of intoxicant in their cup.

Other interesting bots include Anika and Daniel’s Digi Colada, the Cocktail-Katapult which launches maraschino cherries into a large transformer bot for delivery, the WERP-Bot which facially recognizes and launches a cigarette into a waiting smoker’s mouth. Much local SF representation here with David Calkins‘ drink serving Chapek & Tyler’s WaiterBot, Simone Davalos‘ El Espanol Borracho which makes a mean flaming spanish coffee. Also David Fine and Jonathan Moore’s External Combustion Engine which uses RFID cards to serve up various cocktail recipes. Pals Violet Blue, Jake Appelbaum, V. Vale & family are also here making mayhem. Much more I’m missing, though you can catch a bunch of it in these videos I shot. Also, Roboexotica GETV episode is up.

Josh Wolf Benefit this Thursday 12/7

Josh Wolf, free for now
FREE JOSH WOLF!

A night of speakers, film, spoken word, and music to benefit Josh Wolf’s legal fund

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7
7:30PM

BALAZO GALLERY
2183 Mission Street near 18th
San Francisco

SPEAKERS
MARK LENO California State Assemblyman
BRUCE BRUGMANN Publisher Bay Guardian
CHRIS DALY San Francisco Supervisor
ROSS MIRKARIMI, San Francisco Supervisor
DAVID GREENE Executive Director, First Amendment Project
JANE KIM School Board Comissioner Elect
SARAH OLSON Radio Producer and Independent Journalist

FILM PREMIERE
New short film about Josh by filmmakers
KEVIN EPPS and NJERI SIMS

PLUS SPOKEN WORD AND MUSICAL GUESTS

SPONSORED BY
The San Francisco Bay Guardian
The Free Josh Wolf Coalition
The League of Young Voters
Society of Professional Journalists NorCal Chapter
Reporters Without Borders
First Amendment Project
Youth Radio

Suggested donation $2 to $25
Cash bar available with ID
This event is ALL AGES

CONTACT
For more information and/or to participate in this event contact Andy
andy.blue(at)yahoo.com
www.joshwolf.net

JOSH WOLF is a San Francisco free-lance journalist being held for his refusal, based on journalistic principles, to turn over to a federal grand jury his news footage from a July 2005 protest. Free-press advocates from around the world have called his incarceration unjust and a grave violation of the freedom of the press. Josh is well on his way to becoming the longest-incarcerated journalist in US history. His case has prompted Reporters Without Borders to lower the United States’ ranking for press freedom nine points to 53rd in the world.

For his commitment to journalistic freedom Josh received the 2006 Journalist of the Year Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. On this occasion he was praised by Assemblyman Mark Leno who commended his “courageous dedication to protecting freedom of the press in our country.”

For more information on Josh’s case and to learn how you can help visit www.joshwolf.net

United Airlines, why do you fuck me so?

Inflexible Airline Experience #74: I have $400 in travel vouchers on United Airlines from last time I flew. I book a flight home for Christmas, SFO to Washington Dulles. Fare is $667 (insane!). I want to apply my $400 vouchers. OK, first try and book trip online at ual.com. Payment time and there is no input for vouchers. I have to call reservations. LAME. I call, go through automated voice response reservation system which takes forever, doesn’t understand my name. I eject to a human being dialing 0. Human has the reservation. She tells me I have to mail the vouchers in or take them to the airport within 24 hours. EXTREMELY LAME. Eject to a supervisor. I explain vouchers have a unique serial number. You should be able to verify they are valid and issued to me. I offer to give the serial number and bring the paper copies with me to the airport. No can do. It doesn’t work that way. WHY THE FUCK NOT?

United, why are you inconveniencing me with your archaic ways of doing business? How is it I can book a flight online and have nothing but my name and an ID when I show up at the airport? It’s obvious you understand unique serial numbers and ID verification. SO why can I not apply the vouchers the same way? Why must I trust the postal service or make a special trip to the airport to book this flight? Why United Airlines, do you fuck me so?

Off to Austria for Roboexotica



Vienna
Originally uploaded by ioerror.

I’m taking off on Sunday for a week in Austria, mostly in Vienna to attend and cover Roboexotica, “the festival for cocktail robots”. I’m super psyched to be hanging out with new and old friends as they compete with their robotic creations in areas of expertise such as ‘robots that mix and service cocktails’, ‘robots that light your cigarette for you’, and ‘robots that engage in bar conversation’.

Then I head to Graz to give videoblogging workshops to university students and give a multimedia slideshow presentation on weird techno-art San Francisco. Drop me a line if you’re also gonna be around in Vienna or Graz.

Ecobabes Save the Planet One Month at a Time

Ecobabe Lindsay Hassett

My good friend Lindsay aka Betty Biodisesel is featured on the front page of the SF Chronicle today, above the fold no less. The story? Her ecobabes calendar (she’s Miss August), a hot fundraising tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The online version of the article even has a poll, “Is the ecobabes calendar a respectable promotion for Sonoma County’s greenhouse gas reduction efforts?” Oh, the controversy!

I caught Lindsay on video explaining the ecobabes calendar in this GETV episode from the Bioneers conference last month.

Way Fucked Up


This is way disturbing and makes me grateful for the cushy life I live. What’s up with killing peaceful people in the snow? Link to it and make more people aware.