Austin

Last week, I momentarily overcame my fear and trepidation and submitted my registration application for JournalCon Austin. Shortly thereafter I returned to my senses, and ever since I've been saying, "My god, what have I done?"

The Web Writers' Weekend brings together journal writers from across the country. Austin was selected to host the event this year.

This is all fine except for one thing. I ain't no journaler. I'm a blogger.

I know that we are all supposed to hold hands and sing kumbaya, because it's all one big, happy web. That's crap. Journaling and blogging are two different things.

Sure, there are some people that blur the line. Maybe it's hard to articulate the differences. Nonetheless, if I threw up a web page and asked, "Blog or not," nine out of ten dentists would agree. (Memo to self: register amiblogornot.com.)

So, I feel a bit like a spy infiltrating the enemy camp. Or the ugly American visiting a foreign land. It's a bit scary, but it could be an exciting trip. Who knows, I might even run into a few fellow bloggers along the way.

Since this spring, Celis Pale Bock has been available on draft at selected fine establishments around town, such as The Gingerman. Tonight, while visiting Central Market, I saw it in bottles on a store shelf for the very first time. To that, I say: woo hoo!

For those just coming into the story, Celis Brewing Company was a small craft brewery in the Austin area that made a number of Belgian styled beers. Their beers were distinctive, which meant folks tended to either love them or hate them. I, actually, was not a fan of their stuff, except for the Pale Bock, which I went nuts over.

Let's back up, because you need to know about the relation between bock beer and Austin. Bock beer is a pungent almost skunky brew that's been a local favorite. I couldn't stand the stuff when I first moved to town, but after a while it grew on me.

Shiner Bock used to be the local benchmark, but their recipe got pretty bad over the years, leaving a gaping void in the bock universe. Then Celis popped up, started brewing their own bock, and all was right with the world again.

Every good story needs a villain, and the villain in this one is Miller Brewing Company. They bought the Celis brewery, only to abandon it a few years later. I guess they didn't know what to do with a beer that didn't have rice in it.

But the story has a happy ending. The Michigan Brewing Company acquired the Celis recipes. They started with the white (ehhh....not a wheat beer fan) and the bock soon followed. It's still a bit hard to find, but it's out there and that makes me happy.

Last night's Austin Bloggers Get-Together was a blast. Our biggest so far. It also was the third time in three months we had to abandon the site selected by meetup.com. Given the recurring unsatisfactory results of their site selection procedure, plus the lack of new attendees coming to us through them, we are in the process of going out on our own to coordinate monthly get-togethers.

News of future get-togethers should be posted to the Austin Bloggers web site. Even better, consider joining our mailing list to participate in the discussion.

Link: Blogging it with Xlent.

David E. Hollingsworth left a comment in another thread pointing out that the local monopoly daily newspaper has started up a blog. There is only one posting there, but already things are looking pretty bleak.

Let me count the ways.

1. No recognition that there even exists a blogging scene in Austin. In fact, Austin is blessed with multiple vibrant scenes. I'm thinking: Austin Bloggers, Austin Journal Writers, the bizarrely arbitrary Koax list, the Live Journal alternate reality. That's a few that come to mind. Yeah, Statesman, here's a big fat sloppy thank you for discovering weblogging and introducing it to Austin. Jeesh, now I know how the Indians must have felt when Columbus "discovered" America.
2. For their example of weblogs, they trot out a small list of the old hoary warblogs we all know and ignore. You probably can guess the list even without visiting the article.
3. No permalinks. Sorry Chuckles, that's not a weblog. It's just a periodically updated web page.
4. And the clincher: no comments. This is so very wrong. Man, talk about dead tree media not getting it. Journalist blogs can have comments, you know.

Guys, this is not a blog. This isn't even a bad doppelganger of a blog. It's like, "Woo hoo! We discovered the Interweb!"

Nonetheless, there is hope. All blogs suck, at first. The problems I listed can be fixed. The question is, are the authors of the Statesman's blog willing to change and adapt to what works and what people want? I suspect that may be one of the greatest difficulties of business blogs. Have the authors been empowered to make the changes necessary for the blog to work and thrive?

As fun as it is to slag the Statesman, I'd prefer to see this work. In the aforementioned thread, I was expressing my frustration with the paper's local news coverage. This blog could be a solution to that problem. For instance, let the Business/Tech section remain the Chamber of Commerce mouthpiece that it is, and use the blog to cover some of the interesting developments that matter to the local community.

So let's all welcome our local monopoly daily newspaper to the (cringe) blogosphere. And let's pray they never post an article that actually uses the term "blogosphere".

I noticed at the GTOPS press conference that our local monopoly newspaper didn't bother sending anybody to cover the event, even though this was the only media event by the City today.

I often get frustrated about the really cool hometown technology stuff that our local daily newspaper fails to cover. I made a snide comment to somebody that we should have printed the GTOPS press release on letterhead from Austin Ventures (motto: Official Financier of the Austin Technology Bubble). Then the newspaper would have been sure to run it. But I was only kidding!

I've been keeping an eye on the paper, watching to see if they'd at least run a mention from the press release. I was checking this afternoon and almost choked on my lunch when I saw no GTOPS news, but sure enough they ran yet another Austin Ventures story. What is this world coming to when my most bitter, cynical rantings come true?

So, here's what I'm thinking: it's clear that the local paper's technology coverage has, is and will evermore suck. The Statesman hasn't even gotten around to doing their "Blogging is the Next Big Thing!!!" article, and most every paper has done that one by now. (An archives search returns only two mentions of the word blogger, one about that CNN dude and another from SXSW.)

So, let's start a pool. When do you think the Statesman will discovering blogging and run their "next big thing" article? I'll put a buck on September or October of this year. I've got a hunch the buzz around (Presidential candidate) Howard Dean is going to spur them into finally doing it.

Link: Telecommunications Commission picks technology grant recipients. (City of Austin press release)

The Austin Grant for Technology Opportunities (GTOPS) awards for 2003 were announced today. The GTOPS program, now in its third year, provides funds for local technology and media programs that serve the community. The grants are small (up to $20,000) and must be matched by donated funds or services raised from the community.

The program is supervised by the City of Austin Telecommunications Commission, on which I serve. In the two prior years, I served on the GTOPS selection committee. So, it's been exciting watching the program thrive, and all the good things that have been done by the award recipients.

One of the reasons why I like GTOPS so much is that the organizations are able to take the modest awards from the City and use them as leverage for their own fundraising and publicity efforts. The GTOPS program requires a 1:1 match on the grants, but the groups usually parlay their grants into a much more significant stake.

We were able to maintain GTOPS through one tough budget cycle. The next one is going to be even worse. I hope the council and residents think the program is valuable, and worth continued funding.

I noted back in April when the Austin Public Library lit up its first wireless public access point. A second wave of lightings has been done, and a bunch of branches now offer wireless Internet access. They are:

• Milwood Branch
• Pleasant Hill Branch
• Yarborough Branch
• Spicewood Springs Branch
• Hampton Branch at Oak Hill

More are on the way. You can follow the status in the Wireless Node Database.

Link: UT Singles Out Site that Seeks Single Longhorns.

White Buffalo spammed 57,000 email users at the University of Texas. UT responded by blocking them. White Buffalo sued, but lost.

I gave my three cheers for the good guys winning, but there are some aspects of this story that trouble me.

First, blocking a source that's generating spam can be justified to protect your users or facilities. According to the story, UT went beyond that and blocked email in the other direction: from their users outbound to the spammers. A block such as that cannot be supported on either grounds: protecting users or protecting resources. It sounds like the intent was punitive. Now, I enjoy spanking spammers as much as the next guy (maybe more so), but not at the expense of disrupting users' email.

Another thing that bothers me is the implication that UT allows some organizations to spam. The article cites Dell and MasterCard. What isn't clear, however, is whether the email from those companies is solicited. Or, maybe the email was just sent to people with whom they have an existing business relationship. In either case, that's not spam, and White Buffalo would be barking up the wrong tree.

Finally, I find it disturbing that White Buffalo believes that UT email addresses are public information and subject to spam. That information ought to be able to be kept private, and it should not be repurposed into marketing fodder.

These are some of the big red flags that went up when I read the article. I wish the reporter had spoken with somebody familiar with spam issues so that they may have been clarified. (via spamNEWS)

Today is the runoff election that will determine who holds Place 5 on the Austin City Council. Polls are open until 7p.m., so there is plenty of time to vote today. The candidates are Margot Clarke and Brewster McCraken.

Brewster has attracted support from the moneyed interests and suburban voters, while Margot has been getting most of her support from central city voters. Truth is, on most issues they aren't really that far apart.

There is, however, one issue that separates them: the new smoking ban.

If Brewster is elected, the ordinance probably will fall. There is a good chance the council will re-examine the issue once Mayor Garcia leaves office. Brewster has indicated he's against the ordinance, which means if he's elected the opposition would have a 4-3 majority, and the ban would be rescinded.

Margot, on the other hand, supports the smoking ban. So, if she's elected there is a greater chance it will survive. It's one of the reasons why I voted for her.

If the smoking ban is an issue you feel strongly about, you probably want to participate in today's election.

Yesterday, the new Austin Smoking ordinance passed its third and final reading. There was some question whether the majority would hold together, but they did, and so as of September 1 our bars and clubs will be smoke free.

Here is information from the message just sent out by Smoke-Free Austin:

On Thursday, June 5th the Austin City council voted for a third and final time on the smoke-free ordinance and passed it by a vote of 4-3. The ordinance will now make all bars and all restaurants throughout Austin SMOKE-FREE! The distance from an opening of a building where smoking is permitted was set at 15 feet.

The implementation date for the ordinance will be Sept. 1st, 2003. This will allow for education in the community regarding the new ordinance.

Bingo halls, fraternal organizations, outdoor patios and billiard halls were exempted as expected.

I think this is great news. I hope the non-smokers will make a special effort to go out and help ease the transition to a smoke-free environment.