Event for geeks and tech lovers

Geek and tech lovers unite!

Ignite Seattle is a geek event that combines on-site geekery, sharing, and innovation (and drinking). The next one will be held upstairs at the CHAC on Tuesday, February 13th. The Make Contest will begin at 6:30; the Ask Later talks will begin at 8:30.

First Set of Talks (8:30 PM)

• Brady Forrest (O’Reilly Radar, Ignite!) - Greetings & Salutations
• Matthew Maclaurin - (Microsoft Research) - Programming for Fun/Children/Hobbyists/Hackers
• Elisabeth Freeman (Author in the Head First Series, Works at Disney Internet Group) -The Science Behind the Head First Books: or how to write a technical book that doesn’t put your readers to sleep
• Scott Kveton (JanRain) - OpenID
• Avi Geiger (Hardware Architect,Microsoft) - “Power Consumption of Home Computers and Incandescent Lightbulbs” (Brady’s note - trust me this is going to be an eye-opening talk)
• Ryan Stewart (ZDNet’s Universal Desktop;Threecast) - The Rich Internet Application Space: Everything from where AJAX fits to Apollo to WPF to the Flash Platform
• Nancy White (Full Circle Associates) - What the Bleep is a Community Technology Steward?

Second Set of Talks (9:30 PM)

• Hans Omli (Shoestring Ventures)- Elevator Pitches and Parallel Entrepreneurship
• Sarah Davies (Freedom For IP) - Share and share alike: GPL, Creative Commons, and the future of digital freedom
• Lars Liden (Teachtown) - Utilizing Web Technology to Help Children with Autism
• Kurt Brockett (Identity Mine) - A Look at Windows Presentation Foundation
• Marcelo Calbucci (Sampa) - Dr. Watson for AJAX
• Lee Lefever (The World Is Not Flat) - Adventures from a Year of Multimedia Travel Blogging: A few inspiring stories from a year of travel blogging across 29 countries that produced 500+ blog posts, 24 original videos and 14,000 photos.
• Barry Brumitt (Google) - MapReduce: Simplified Data Processing on Large Clusters

Third Set of Talks (10:30 PM)

• Ellie Lum (R.E.Load Bags) - “How R.E.Load Makes Their Bags”
• Leo Dirac (Rhapsody) - Transhuman technology trends and their implications for a theory of morality
• Deepak Singh (business|bytes|genes|molecules) - An Open Scientific Future
• Mike Acuri (Ontela) - Escaping the Empire: how to leave a big company
• Heater Ralph - Art or science? A multi-person pogo stick
• Jordan Mitchell (CEO, OthersOnline) - Distributed Social Networking and a New Metaphor for Search
• Corprew Reed (American Society for Information Science & Technology) - What the heck is the Pacific Northwest Chapter of ASIS&T?For more into check outIgnite Seattle's website, here

For more information about Ignite Seattle or their events, visit www.igniteseattle.com.

Seattle role in astronaut toilet technology?

From the L.A. Times:

The sordid saga of a love-struck, diaper-clad astronaut has transformed a somewhat obscure NASA undergarment into a cultural phenomenon. 

...

According to a 1998 Associated Press article, astronauts were outfitted with Depend adult diapers and an inserted pad called Rejoice, made by a Seattlecompany. 

But a spokesman for Kimberly-Clark, which makes Depends, insisted the product isn't used in space. And the Seattlecompany apparently went out of business. 

... 

A NASA spokeswoman said the official brand used now is Absorbencies, manufactured by a company that has folded. 

Fortunately, NASA owns a huge stockpile. The agency snapped up 3,200 of the diapers about 15 years ago, the spokeswoman said, and "we still have about a third of the supply left." 

On space shuttle missions, each crew member receives three diapers — for launch, reentry and a spare in case reentry has to be waved off and tried later.

Windows VISTA humor

Windows VISTA humor...

I'm more of a PC guy myself, but this cartoon has some truth to it. Courtesy of  JoyofTech.com.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays Seattle!

SEABlogger is unpatriotic, relative claims

I received an e-mail last night (below) from a close relative. Apparently, he/she didn't like what I had to say on this blog.

I find it odd when people question my patriotism. One of the greatest freedoms we enjoy as Americans is the right to speak our minds. The same right applies to the person who sent me the e-mail.

I think the most patriotic thing an American can do -- when he disagree with a position, direction, or action -- is share their opinion. If I say nothing, than I am contributing to the problem or -- through my silence -- am complicit in their actions.

People who know me, know that I listen to all sides before forming my opinion and usually accept the will of the group. However, on moral questions, I do not waver. I cannot and will not.

Oddly, the e-mail writer assumes that I would enjoy living in China or Russian. However, I could not enjoy the same liberty I am exercising right now, here on this blog.

Further, if this relative truly loved me, he/she would accept me for who I am and not ask me to change to fit his/her ideal model or America.

Here's the e-mail I received last night:

I know you have issues but you are going to have to work thru them in your own mind. 

Of all things, be an American. That is the only thing that really counts. I spent over 20 years giving and sacrificing to this country. What have you given except for your different views on life? 

To be blunt: If you hate this country and it's lifestyle so much, why don't you leave? China will accept you. Russia will accept you. 

I am sure both countries have an attitude towards taking care of those who won't help themselves.

Here's a second e-mail I received today:

Maybe I was a little bit hard on you last night. Didn't mean to be. Love you like my own flesh and blood. 

Just wish you weren't so far away from mainstream in your views. Our views couldn't be further apart. That will keep us from ever being real close. 

That's a shame, but it's the way it is.

Support police civilian review board

We are all better off when our government operates under checks-and-balances. A three-member civilian review board of the OPA is an important check on local police actions.

When the civilian review board refuses to issue reports because they have been denied access to information or have no assurance of legal protection, as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has reported, it does a disservice to the citizens of Seattle.

I encourage everyone to support the civilian review board by attending the following public meeting and speaking in support of them:

PUBLIC HEARING

The Seattle City Council's Public Safety, Governmental Relations and Arts Committee will hold a public hearing on police accountability at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 600 Fourth Ave., in the City Council chambers.

Computer hijacked state poll

I certainly hope there will be an investigation.

The integrity of online polls has never been scientific nor reliable, but when people use unethical methods to influence government entities, they aught to account for their actions.

However, in this case, governor makes the final decision.

From the Seattle Times:

The online poll for the state's new quarter will start anew after robotic computer programs hijacked the voting system over the weekend.