End of Silence

I just had this report forwarded to me by a bandmate. We played Tacoland a couple of months ago with Sons of Hercules and had a great time. It was immortalized by the Dead Milkmen almost 20 years ago and countless local bands have played there over the years.

Ram was a great old guy and didn’t deserve to be gunned down in his own place. Nobody deserves that. I hope they catch the bastards who did this and my sincere condolences go out to Ram’s family and friends. I don’t know what’ll happen to the bar in the aftermath, but I hope they can find a way to keep it open. It won’t be the same without him.

(I snagged the photo from here with credit to Mark Greenberg)

Update: Two people are in custody in connection with the shooting. Score one for the good guys.

Update 2: Another person has died as a result of this shooting.

ACTLab TV, born out of a division of UT’s RTF department, had a coming out day of sorts yesterday kicked off by a post on /. and then an article in the Daily Texan.

The site currently focuses on the technology behind its offerings. Alluvium, open source software which allows peer-to-peer streaming of video content, kind of like a cross between BitTorrent and RealPlayer. There isn’t much content yet, but the site hints at a June 20th launch date. There appears to be at least one sample here.

From what I can gather, in addition to the software being open sourced, much of the content will be Creative Commons or CopyLeft licensed, which can mean that you can remix or repurpose the content in your own works. The site hints at a blend of technology and activism. It’ll be interesting to see where they go with this.

Update: I just got news of yet another article about ACTLab TV on Tom’s Hardware.

Intel has released their third annual “Most Unwired Cities” survey and the Austin-San Marcos, Tex. area ranks number three behind Seattle-Bellevue-Everett-Tacoma and San Francisco-San Jose-Oakland.

Here’s how they arrived at the results:

Survey findings are based on the number of commercial and public or “free” wireless Internet access points (hotspots), airports with wireless Internet access, and broadband availability. The survey also included community wireless Internet access points, local wireless networks and wireless e-mail devices. The metro areas included in the survey were the 100 largest in the United States, and based on the definitions of Metropolitan Statistical Areas from the U.S. Census Bureau. The data was also calculated at the per-capita level to determine how many people share wireless Internet hotspots within a given city or region. Data was collected from a variety of industry sources between Jan. 1 and April 15, 2005, and weighted across a 100-point scale to allow comparison between categories.

I have no doubt that our high ranking is due mainly to the efforts of many local activists and groups like free wireless champion, Rich MacKinnon’s Wireless City Project and Less Networks. On the political front, Chip Rosenthal and Adina Levin’s Save Muni Wireless keeps tabs on legislation that threatens wireless growth and access. There’s also the Austin Wireless Alliance.

The next time you enjoy the benefits of free wi-fi at a local restaurant, bar or coffee shop, be sure to thank them and the many volunteers and businesses that support them.

I first met Buzz Moran roughly 9 years ago when I briefly filled in on drums for Lonesome Dave’s band, Heroes of the West (I think). I had one or two weeks to learn songs for an Emo’s gig opening for Old 97’s before they rode the “alt-country” wave to the big time. Anyway, all of the guys in the band were very cool people, but Buzz still sticks out in my mind. He has sort of a Weird Al Yankovic quality to him. I ran into him once doing sound at the Continental Club a few years later, but then lost track of him.

When I stumbled on this article in the Chronicle late last summer (the photo is from the article), I thought that his new project, Dionysium, sounded like a pretty cool idea. On first glance, it looks like something that could be a little too pretentious, succumbing to its own sense of self-satisfied hipness, but with Buzz at the helm, I don’t think it’s possible. Their next monthly meeting convenes this coming Tuesday, June 7 at a new location, Alamo South Lamar. The overarching topic this month is Juneteenth.

Admittedly, I haven’t yet been to a meeting myself, so somebody who doesn’t have kids go check this thing out and let me know how it goes. I’m guessing you won’t be disappointed.

I’ve alluded to this before, but now it’s official. Our neighborhood park, Mabel Davis, is getting a skatepark. The city council approved it yesterday. It should be finished this fall along with all of the “soil remediation” aka “cleanup of pesticides and lead from battery casings that were dumped there when the park was a landfill”. They’ve tentatively scheduled a visit to allow folks in the neighborhood to see how that cleanup is progressing on June 21st. If you’d like to keep up with the progress, check out the Yahoo Group that’s been set up. Note that despite what the City of Austin Summer 2005 Aquatic Brochure says, the pool will be closed this summer because of the cleanup.

Growing up in the late 70’s/early 80’s I would’ve given my right arm to have a skatepark within walking distance of my house. I still maintain that I would’ve beaten out that damn Tony Hawk if only suburban Dallas had anything remotely skate friendly. Hey, allow me my middle-aged delusions. I still remember walking around Valley View Mall and drooling at the skate shop that was at the center near the food court.

I’m hoping my 6-year-old son will appreciate what he’s about to get. I think I’m smart enough not to dig up my old Zorlac and relive old glories once the park opens, but if you see me walking around with a cast this winter, you’ll know what happened.