Recent Entries in News
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Redistricting "Compromise" Collapses [Politics]
Monday's federal court-dictated deadline for compromise on redrawn Congressional maps has come and gone with no agreement in sight. Among those still treading water is state Senator Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, who must be seriously questioning the power of prayer right now.
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Unveiled: Yiying Lu's 2012 SXSW Interactive Big Bag Design
No interactive festival is complete without a swag bag or two, and the SXSW Interactive tote has always been up to the task in being equal parts necessary and adorable. This year they will up the stakes in both regards, as the festival grows to staggering heights and the Big Bag wears a design from the reigning Queen of cute, Yiying Lu. The designer of the Twitter fail whale (which she originally made for a dearly missed friend overseas)came to the festival for the first time last year where the amazement kept her up for days and said the experience to her "felt like [being] one of those whack-a-moles." And so here it is, artistic angle and all: the 2012 SXSW Interactive Big Bag.
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Perry Spent 16 Mil on Campaign, Now Less Popular Than Ever
The Associated Press reports that “Rick Perry about as popular in Texas as Obama after failed bid for GOP presidential nom,” and the Tribune says that Perry's campaign cost all of $16 million, with most of that money going toward “TV ad buys." Which, in turn, means a whole lot of cash going toward what is pretty clearly the most “...the fuck?” ad of this campaign season.
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Ron Paul Wants You To Know He Is Still Not a Bigot
Everyone’s favorite perennial Republican dark horse, Ron Paul, may have made some odd friends on the road to marginal relevance.
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Stratfor, One Month After Total Meltdown, Faces Lawsuit
The bad news for Austin-based security intelligence company Stratfor began on Christmas Eve, when the hacker collective Anonymous hacked their servers and posted 4,000 stolen credit card numbers. And now, a suit has surfaced against Stratfor for $50 million, directed to the 2.7 million customers whose information was hijacked. Stratfor has, in return, offered the plaintiff a firm $349, the cost of Stratfor's services. This huge dismissal may have something to do with the fact that the lawsuit was filed in New York, something Stratfor disagrees strongly with (we assume because they make terrible salsa?). They filed a countersuit Monday to have all hearings moved to Texas where the hack "occurred."
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We Think The Travis County Tax Office Is Almost Unreasonably Pleasant
Austin residents have many occasions to visit the Travis County Tax Office, most of them related to various painful monetary procedures. The bloodletting starts at property taxes, expands to vehicle registration (where you are charged $3.00 extra for using your credit card) and veers into more benign (if dull) territories with services related to vehicle titles, voter registration, and other hallmarks of democracy that are nonetheless stultifying.
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Susan G. Komen: Some Dollars are Pinker Than Others
Susan G. Komen for the Cure argues that the reason for cutting ties with Planned Parenthood is in response to a new rule that does not allow them to provide grants to associations under investigation... If this is true, then when will Komen part ways with Bank of America?
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Republicans Order Filmmaker Arrested at Public Hearing on Fracking [Politics]
Republicans controlling the U.S. House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment ordered the arrest this morning of Academy Award-nominated Gasland director Josh Fox who was attempting to film a public hearing on natural gas fracturing techniques, or "Fracking" as the practice has come to be known. Fox won widespread critical acclaim for his 2010 film documentary examining the oil and gas industry practice of injecting millions of gallons of water and chemicals deep into the...
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SXSW Accelerator Invites Six Austin Startups to Compete
The fourth annual SXSW Accelerator brought to you by Microsoft Bizspark is going down on March 12-14. So what the hell is it? This year, 670 different companies submitted a pitch for their new app, social media tool, entertainment technology, etc. just for a chance to go to the March Madness of startups at the Hilton Hotel this year. Once there, these 48 finalists will give a live pitch and demonstration (think TED meets America's Got Talent) in front of a live audience and a panel of (non-celebrity) judges.
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Beef Prices On The Rise, Waistlines And Wallets Expected To Shrink
Because of the lack of rain, grazing lands for cattle have dried up and the cost of feed has skyrocketed necessitating the sale of over 600,000 cows. With fewer cows in Texas today, that means fewer calves tomorrow. According to the Agrilife Extension, there was a 12% decline in beef cattle nationally with next year's decline being forecast at 4%.
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KUT's John Aielli Back in the Hospital
Longtime Eklektikos DJ John Aielli recently recovered from a heart attack earlier this month, but we received news that Aielli is in the hospital this morning. Our contact at KUT says, "We are in touch with John and he is alert and in typical good spirits...The main thing is he’s OK, we’re in contact with him and we hope he returns soon." Jody Denberg will fill in until Aielli's back. As we learn more, we'll...
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Texas Abortion Opponents Have Something to Cheer About
Abortion opponents marked the 39th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade this past Saturday with a march on the Capitol. Many of the attendees had something to celebrate: namely, the recent decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that Texas’ controversial mandatory sonogram law must be enforced even as it continues to be appealed.
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Get a Job, Then Celebrate at SXSWi This Year
Though getting a job at the interactive festival used to involve a little luck and more legwork than it was often worth (sort of like being a Private Eye at the circus), the grooming and handshakes can now be saved for the first ever Tech Career Expo at SXSW. The official expo will be held at Austin Music Hall on March 9th and 10th and will be available to the 20,000 plus attendees as well as any locals who won't be throwing down for a badge this year, but are looking for work nonetheless. Engage Digital, who is putting on the event (they also do the excellent GDC) has confirmed 24 companies have joined so far and expect 10 to 20 more by the curtain. There's a boatload of jobs on their already (that's MR. Data Scientist to you) and only two companies have posted so far.
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“Serial Predator” Linked To New Years Attacks, Barrera Murder is Dead
On January 12th, the APD investigated a deceased persons call at the 3000 block of Guadalupe. James Loren Brown was found dead by his roommate after coming back from the holidays, and APD linked the composite sketch of the Barerra suspect with Brown while also taking into account the proximity of Brown's residence and the attacks that took place on New Year's. FOX is reporting that DNA taken from a New Year's Day attack matched Brown's, and that it also matches four other unsolved cases. No word on whether DNA has been matched to Esme Barrera's case, though police are confirming Brown is the prime suspect in her case as well. Brown was considered a suspect in attacks in "South Austin early July 1, on joggers on July 8, and an attack on Sept. 11 around 8:30 a.m. at Comal and Haskell streets in East Austin," according to the Statesman.
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UT Math Professor Luis Caffarelli Wins Wolf Prize For Something That Has To Be Explained To Us
The Buenos Aires-born Luis Caffarelli, a math professor at UT, will share this year's Wolf Prize in mathematics with Michael Aschbacher. Caffarelli's work includes "nonlinear analysis, partial differential equations and their applications, calculus of variations and optimization."
