You are invited to attend the Technology Bytes monthly gathering/meet-up. We’ll be descending upon at The Coffee Groundz, located 2503 Bagby, in Houston, TX.

The Coffee Groundz offers a diverse menu of coffees, teas, beers, wines and most important of all, FOOD AND FREE WI-FI!!!.

The event starts around 7:30 and goes until ?

You don’t have to be a geek to attend. Heck, you don’t even have to be a current listener of the show. This event is a casual meet-up for anyone interested in technology or social media in all its forms and a great opportunity to just hang out with like minded individuals.

There is no need to RSVP, but if you have a Facebook account you can let us know you’re coming at the Facebook Event Page

The Geek Gathering has been happening the first Friday of the month since February of 2002 and is always a good time.

We hope to see you there!

More in the gallery, just click here.

A FOTOFEST EXHIBITION
FotoFest
1113 Vine Street, Houston, Texas, USA

HOUSTON, TEXAS – June 23, 2009 - The increasingly pervasive, user-created content of online social media – tweets, confessional video, status updates, online gaming – are these subjects for art? In online parlance a poke is a virtual gesture intended as interaction without any specific purpose, usually interpreted as “hello.” POKE! is also a new FotoFest exhibition featuring six technologically savvy artists who explore online social media and its evolving relationship with the public, the media, and art.

On view September 10 – October 24, 2009, POKE! explores the inter-personal intentions of social media technology and the nature of modern internet-mediated relationships with work that references and uses source material from popular online social media websites such as Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Craigslist, and YouTube.

Curator, and FotoFest Exhibitions Coordinator, Jennifer Ward says, “It’s hard not to acknowledge the impact of web-based social media technology on contemporary life. Video and photos from demonstrations following this summer’s Iranian elections shaped global perception of the event. Cellphone video of Oakland, California police shooting a handcuffed man on a train platform was broadcast on television stations that downloaded it from the internet. An online campaign brought to light and eventually freed a young Chinese woman jailed after killing her rapist in self defense. These are three extraordinary examples plucked from a vast sea of content, most of which is far less spectacular.”

The cultural impact of unfiltered online content, created, accessed, and obsolete within the same moment, is not likely to be understood in the near future. What is clear is that social media, and the buzzwords and jargon surrounding it, have captured the imaginations of individuals and institutions alike. Political candidates update supporters from their Blackberries aboard campaign buses. News reporters cite online sources and micro-blog from warzones. Adolescents secure recording contracts based on the popularity of their viral videos.

“Contemporary artists are also turning to the online world for source material or inspiration,” says Ms. Ward. “Reaching into the stream of online information, artists are pulling out a great variety of content, from the profound to the mundane. The artists in this exhibition do not merely consume media. They take the disposable bits of electronic information – tourist photos, personal documents, status updates, instant messages, random confessions, viral videos, etc. – and process, rework, and re-contextualize it before throwing it back into the stream for others.”

The artists exhibited in POKE! work in both digital and analogue media, and the exhibition features two-dimensional framed works, video pieces, online projects, and installation works.

POKE! is on view at FotoFest, 1113 Vine Street, Houston, Texas 77002, Monday – Friday 10am – 5pm, Saturday noon-5pm. Admission to FotoFest exhibitions is free.

For more information on FotoFest Exhibitions and other programs, please visit www.fotofest.org.

For further information, interviews and visuals, please contact:
Vinod Hopson, FotoFest Press Officer, T: 713.223.5522 ext 26,
E: press3@fotofest.org

Click here to read the entire press release.

The Introduction to Arduino Class sponsored by TX Rx Labs will be held in the meeting room of the Caroline Collective, located at 4820 Caroline St., Houston, TX 77004 (map), on Sunday, July 26th from 2 to 6pm.

Cost of the class is $50 and seating is limited. Please sign up online if you wish to attend!

This is an introduction to the physical computing platform known as the Arduino. In this class we will be assembling our own Arduino clone on a standard hobby breadboard and doing several simple coding examples. Examples will include blinking LEDs, piezo speakers, Pulse Wave Modulation, switch debouncing and reading analog signals.

This is the first class in a series of classes using the Arduino platform. All students will receive a set of parts upon arrival that are theirs to keep. These parts, once assembled, will be a fully functional Arduino clone that will be used in future lessons such as motor/servo control and advanced programming.

A laptop is required for this course. In order to speed up the beginning of class, please make sure you have downloaded and installed the following item that pertains to your operating system

Windows

Linux

Mac OS X

Have a happy 4th of July!

These are some highlight photos. The rest are in the Technology Bytes Gallery.

Technology Bytes monthly gathering/meet-up. We’ll be decending upon at The Coffee Groundz, located 2503 Bagby, in Houston, TX.

The Coffee Groundz offers a diverse menu of coffees, teas, beers, wines and even well drinks and most important of all, FOOD AND FREE WI-FI!!!.

This is an all ages event, so please bring your family and friends and enjoy an evening hanging out with the hosts of Technology Bytes along with many of our friends and fans.

The event starts around 7:30 and goes until ?

You don’t have to be a geek to attend. Heck, you don’t even have to be a current listener of the show. This event is a casual meet-up for anyone interested in technology or social media in all its forms and a great opportunity to just hang out with like minded individuals.

The Geek Gathering has been happening the first Friday of the month since February of 2002 and is always a good time.

We hope to see you there!

Accepted items include:

Computer equipment
Servers/mainframes
Printers/plotters
Cables/cords
Copiers
Hard drives
Power dupplies
UPS
Audio visual equipment
TVs
Laptops
Hubs/routers/switches
Cellular phones equipment
Consumer electronics
Phone equipment
Memory chips/RAM
Point-of-sale devices
Tape drives
Communications equipment
Telephone equipment
Monitors/LCDs
Storage devices
Fax machines
Peripherals
Processor chips
Circuit boards
Projectors
PDAs
Cable TV boxes
Cameras

We also need volunteers! Please sign up to volunteer your time at this important event at: http://www.mysignup.com/jsc

For more information, please contact Courtney Lindberg

Many more pics in the 13th Anniversary Party Gallery