BarCamp Nashville is happening on August 18, so I’ve added some links over on the right-hand column of this blog and at the bottom of this post. What’s a BarCamp? It’s a tech developer (translation: geek) unconference. If you attend, you’re the expert. It’s free to attend, but there are no spectators, only participants. It’s a place to share ideas and projects. It’s for people who want to learn and contribute. There are rules, but they are easy to follow. BarCamp Nashville will be held at The Exit/In. In his autobiography, Steve Martin claims that he honed his comedy act in Nashville during his frequent dates in the mid-70s at the Exit/In. According to legend, he would march the audience out of the club to create havoc on Elliston Place. “He did all kinds of crazy stuff and people just loved it,” one of the clubs owners at the time, Liz Thiels, told the Nashville Scene a few years ago. That sort of sums up what the organizers hope for BarCamp Nashville: All kinds of crazy stuff — then march out and create havoc.

BarCamp Nashville
8/18/07 | The Exit/In

What’s a BarCamp?
Blog | Wiki | Google group
Meetup.com | del.icio.us
Facebook | MySpace
Tag: barcampnashville

Technorati Tags: barcampnashville, nashville, barcamp

I just posted a short video on Facebook and YouTube. On Facebook, I named it “If old people put videos on Facebook.” It’s a very brief video of this year’s version of my “square foot garden,” which is about a month ahead of last year’s because I figured out that if plants have more sun, they grow faster. I shot it with a Canon Powershot TX1, the new pocket camera/HD camcorder.

Speaking of gardening, for father’s day, I was given a copy of Barbara Kingsolver’s “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life.” [Amazon.com link]. Having a garden — even one as small as mine — and reading her book, reminds me of how little most people (me included) know about the food we eat. Where it comes from and the resources it takes to get the food to our tables. Kingsolver makes a convincing argument that eating food in season from ones own area is not only healthy, but it could cut down dramatically on the consumption of oil. Other than loving the taste of vine-ripened tomatoes, I can’t recall my reason for planting my 48-square-foot garden last year. However, I’ve learned a lot from the experience. As Kingsolver says in her book, seeing the food ripen throughout the growing season also adds greatly to the anticipation — and flavor — of the vegetables.

Technorati Tags: garden

Earlier today, on the Google Maps blog, I learned a “user” can write a review about a business on Google Maps — For example, here’s a link to the map entry for Hammock Publishing. Some reviewer/user named Rex says they’re awesome.

However, there’s even more, here’s another link to a Hammock Publishing map I created with Google’s “My Maps” feature. Click on the red marker.

But wait, there’s more. Without me even asking them to, Google has integrated my map — created several months ago — with the new review feature. Unfortunately, they labeled it “user-created-content” in the search results (see above). At least they didn’t say it was “generated.”

Granted, it’s no Facebook.

Later: Scott Karp says the service Yelp.com kicks Google in the “getting social” aspect of review-map mashups.

Technorati Tags: google, google maps

If you live in the 22-state AT&T service region (including Nashville and other former BellSouth areas) and you’ve never had AT&T or BellSouth broadband, there is a “cheaper than advertised plan” that allows you to obtain a DSL plan for $10 a month. Local phone service and a one-year contract are required. The modem is free.

According to the linked-to AP story, “the plan was not mentioned in a Friday news release about AT&T’s DSL plans, and is slightly hidden on the AT&T Web site. A page describing DSL options doesn’t mention it, but clicking a link for “Term contract plans” reveals it.

So why aren’t they touting the plan? According to AP, “(the plan) is part of the concessions made by AT&T to the Federal Communications Commission to get its $86 billion acquisition of BellSouth Corp. approved last December.” If that is true, it’s a deal they hope no one notices.