Hurray, it’s Webstock Week!
So, we didn’t post in advance to tell you about Webstock, because it’s sold out.
We do think you should know though that if you’re seeing a large number of people around the Town Hall this week carrying these sexy-ass satchels, they’re Webstockites, and they’re all about the peace, love and internet. You may also be able to recognise them by the shiny gadgets they carry that feature pictures of apples prominently, the coffees they’ll be knocking back at an alarming rate, and the excited, enthusiastic and emphatic conversations they’ll be carrying out with people who were complete strangers an hour earlier.
So, if you’re not a Browncoat brownbag carrier, we suggest that you lock up your sons and daughters, unleash your networks and put some more beer in the fridge for us. Cheers!
Flickr: Wellington is more than just a Group
Huh? “Flickr … Group” … what are you blithering about man!?!? It’s okay, you’re not alone as I had to have the whipper-snappers sit me down in my bath-chair and explain what the jolly Moses they were talking about. It seems that using this newly fandangled Internet we don’t have to store all our photos in a cardboard box under the spare bed any more. No, we can “post” them up to the Web and let the world* see our holiday snaps.
Flickr is one such place that lets you post your photos.
And, you can tell the world where the pictures came from by either popping them onto a map or adding the place name as a tag/label.
You can even join up with like minded folks and share your photos in “community photo albums” (groups) on any subject you care to dream up.
Aha, you probably saw where this was going a lot quicker than I did when the young uns were explaining it to me with the use of short words, diagrams and plenty of naps in the sun to recover.
Bloggers Predict: 2008
So last night, the good people of Unlimited Potential held their annual Bloggers Predict event, in which they get a bunch of guys (emphasis on the all maleness of the event) to say what they think is going to happen over the year.
The Bloggers
- David Farrar, of Kiwiblog fame
- Mauricio Freitas, Geekzone Guru
- Hamish MacEwan, local visionary
- Philip Fierlinger, turntable technologist
- Tom Beard, Wellurbanite
No doubt those nice people will post about what their predictions were, so let me instead tell you what my predictions are, and then after the jump, I will share with you my thoughts on the night in note form.
My predictions
- Hopefully they’ll try harder to get a woman on the panel. “They’re all at the Linux Conference” is not good enough, because while I do love Brenda, turns out that there actually are other females interested in technology in Wellington. I suppose they could argue that no women approached them in 2007 about doing it, but meh.
- Face to face contact will make a comeback, facilitated by internet arrangements, like Facebook Events, etc. The stigma of meeting someone over the internet will be almost entirely gone.
- All new workplace Codes of Conduct will specifically mention blogging
After the jump, my nonsensical (did I mention there was free beer?) notes from the night.
Are we a modern city?
Case in point … why do we not have broadband access to everyone in the (wider) city?
This from Singapore:
Singapore gets free wireless connectivity with Wireless@SG while no one gets left behind in the digital revolution. Find out about how the Singapore Government is reaching out to more Singaporeans and equipping everyone to take full advantage of the digital opportunities that are opening up.
So why don’t we do that?
Is it a case, as some think (in the comments), that the Government should stay out of providing infrastructure and leave it to the private industry (to which I assume they are referring to Telecom or TelstraClear)?
To be fair the Council is doing something about it — read their broadband plan
Wellington City Councillors have agreed to a vision that could see affordable, high-speed broadband access throughout the city by 2012.
But we all know how fast technology moves (have you seen the just announced, 2cm deep Apple MacAir?) and so this promise for 2012 by our Council seems, at best, limited in vision and at worse, a huge missed opportunity. For instance, what we’re promised for 2012 South Korea has had for 3 years.
A possible solution for you after the jump …
The Wellingtonista events calendar — you know you want it
The Wellingtonista has a calendar of events that we think you really REALLY want to know about. We also know that you want this vital information delivered into your own calendar — easy peasy, just follow the instructions after the break …
best cities… wtf?
Usually website related pissing contests (Hot Or Not; Rate My, [er…] Kitteh etc etc ad infinitum) are inherently dull.
But maybe not so dull if you are former Wellingtonian, now Münchener mad-genius developer Ben Nolan.
His Best Cities Facebook application did, for a tiny golden moment, have Wellington in the top spot. Which means of course that this pissing contest is now of interest to us, too!
Unfortunately, Facebook being the kind of random, viral place that it is, the app has been seized upon by at least two distinct regional groups each competing within each other parochially for the title of best city.
The upshot of all this is that towns like Slavonski Brod, a no doubt quite lovely town with a rather pulchritudinous population but not much larger than Invercargill, is the world’s fifth best city, with Wellington relegated to 15th.
This is clearly not good enough. Get to it. peeps!
See The Darjeeling Limited for FREE
MySpace Black Curtain is holding a special screening of The Darjeeling Limited in Wellington at the Paramount Theatre on Tuesday 18th December at 8pm.
Come along to the screening and be in to win a pack of 5 DVDs including Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums, plus a Darjeeling Limited soundtrack and official movie poster!
The screening is FREE! Your MySpace profile is your ticket. It’s a first-come first- served basis so turn up early to avoid disappointment.
www.myspace.com/blackcurtainnz
An emotional comedy about three brothers who have not spoken to each other in a year who set off on a train voyage across India with a plan to find themselves and bond with each other. Their “spiritual quest”, however, veers rapidly off-course (due to events involving over-the-counter pain killers, Indian cough syrup, and pepper spray), and they eventually find themselves stranded alone in the middle of the desert with eleven suitcases, a printer, and a laminating machine. At this moment, a new, unplanned journey suddenly begins.
Directed by Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums) and starring Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman and Adrien Brody.
Ponoko make the Grey Lady
Local start-up and Friends-of-Wellingtonista Ponoko (among other connections to us they’re also part-sponsor of our awards this year) have their picture at the top of an interesting article in the tech section of today’s New York Times. The article talks about the rise of internet-aided design and making and describes Ponoko thus:
Ponoko, a company based in New Zealand, allows customers to upload designs for flat shapes that can then be snapped together like Ikea furniture. Making a prototype can be as simple as cutting shapes out of cardboard. Users then create a digital version and send it to Ponoko, which cuts the pattern out in metal or wood with a laser.
There’s a fair head of global buzz building up around Ponoko, whose potential extends far beyond the Times’ fairly neutral description of what can be achieved with them today.
And as for us: well, we were very excited to note what looks like a prototype of the highly sought after 2nd Annual Wellingtonista Award trophy visible on the table between Dave and Derek. So maybe this means we’ve made the Times as well?
Wellingtonista Celeb Vista: Figwit shops!
You know that we love Zoomin technology. And that we love talented people from and/or in Wellington. And that we love gossip. And that we love Gawker Stalker. Well, now we’ve gone all Web2.0 on you and brought all those elements together to create the Wellingtonista Celeb Vista. Join it and add your celeb sightings and stories to the map. To boost our search results for everyone looking for Flight of the Conchords get things started, find out where Bret McKenzie does his grocery shopping…
Easy instructions on how to participate follow after the jump
Events hand fed to you
As the interweb moves inexorably towards a “don’t make me come over there” attitude we are glad to report that two of Wellingtons most complete “What’s On …” guides are now available in glorious RSS
They are both providing explanations about what ‘RSS’ is and what they cover — Feeling Great | Wotzon
Wotzon has gone an extra step further and also provides:
- Customised RSS feed — sign-up required
- Wotzon widget — download required
Of course you have always been able to keep up-to-date with the real deal by subscribing to the fine Wellingtonista feed
Eat them all up in your reader of choice (which this author would surprised to discover isn’t Google Reader 🙂