Blog Posts Across RGV New Media

Congratulations to Melissa Zamora

Melissa did a great job keeping everybody informed during Hurricane Dolly. She was on the web, on the radio, and on TV. I want to congratulate her on a job well done during the disaster recovery. I will be helping out the residents of the island by going out there this weekend to spend some money. I hope it helps with the recovery. Continue

Posted by Shaine Mata on August 2, 2008 at 6:33pm — No Comments

Morning Show: Post Hurricane Dolly Drive

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Posted by Shaine Mata on July 24, 2008 at 8:01pm — No Comments

Visit to La Lomita Park

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Posted by Shaine Mata on July 5, 2008 at 4:35pm — No Comments

Legal Private Access At The Shores?

Recently, Surfrider Foundation South Texas Chapter received a request for "private property" beach access pictures from the Coastal Bend Chapter. They are working on a Texas Open Beaches Act public service announcement and wanted evidence… Continue

Posted by Rob Nixon on July 1, 2008 at 1:08pm — No Comments

International Surfing Day; Surf, Turtles & Inkfish!

To celebrate the first day of summer and International Surfing Day, Surfrider Foundation South Texas Chapter held our Second Annual Free Children's Surf Clinic. It was an outstanding success again this year with 60 or so children getting the chance to hit the water with their own instructor and catch some waves. The very flat Gulf of Mexico even cooperated by giving us one day of 1-2' surf which was perfect for the k… Continue

Posted by Surfrider Foundation South Texas Chapter on June 22, 2008 at 8:00am — No Comments

ASR, Ltd.: Great Salesmen, Bad Project Managers

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It seems as if New Zealand's ASR, Ltd. (Almagates Solutions and Research) are much better sales people than project planners and managers. Since Dr. Kerry Black, then with the University of Waikato and now managing director of ASR,Ltd., participated in the development of the first constructed artifi… Continue

Posted by Rob Nixon on June 19, 2008 at 11:30pm — No Comments

Baby Slide Show

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Posted by Shaine Mata on May 8, 2008 at 10:13am — No Comments

INBLEW - HERE TODAY GONE TOMORROW ( RAMONES COVER )

I want to record this oneday, it's my arrangement of "Here Today Gone Tomorrow".. added intro, solo and little extras.. of course at the time I didn't know all the words, hence the paper on the mic..lol I had a cold that day so i didnt give it my all, but I still played with feelings cause at the time I was going thru an emotional time.. which actually i am again which is why i guess i dug this up.. Music always helps and heals..

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Posted by INBLEW on April 28, 2008 at 5:51am — 1 Comment

Worrying about the Presidential Election

Clinton soundly beat Obama in a large state again last night. The “rub” that is unfolding is not a good one. As the race continues, the options facing the Democrats get dicey. May 6 holds the two of the last of the major scheduled primaries. It is likely that Obama… Continue

Posted by David Cowen on April 23, 2008 at 10:03am — No Comments

paradise lost -- or at least for sale

This photo pretty much speaks for itself. Progress is great. Money is great, but when the dunes go up for sale, you have to wonder. These strips of land down at the north end of Padre are so narrow, not much can be built on them. But, here's the sign. It is just a… Continue

Posted by David Cowen on April 16, 2008 at 1:09pm — 2 Comments

Revisting

I went back to the RGV this past weekend to attend the wedding of one of my nephews. It was the first time all 9 of my brothers and sisters (the one remaining sister who is mentally impaired excluded unfortunately) have been in the same place in decades -- perh… Continue

Posted by David Cowen on April 15, 2008 at 2:23pm — 1 Comment

Hung out with Christie (PICS)

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Posted by INBLEW on April 13, 2008 at 12:46pm — No Comments

JOHN CORABI (PICS & VIDEO)

ATTENDED A GUITAR CLINIC IN SAN ANTONIO with performances by BART WALSH & MY FAVORITE SINGER - MISTER JOHN MOTHERFUCKIN’ CORABI :)

CHECK OUT THIS GUITAR MEDLEY BY BART WALSH, CAN YOU NAME ALL THE SONGS?
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Posted by INBLEW on April 10, 2008 at 4:22pm — No Comments

Ahhh.....Nothing like being in one's natural habitat !

Ok, since many here are *not* political junkies, what did you like or dislike about the comedy posts I did on April 1st. I ask because I might do a few commercially for a shekel or two. Since it will most likely be a mixed audience of poli-junkies and general info folks, I wondered if some of the references were too obscure for the general public. Port Stolen !!!… Continue

Posted by The Merovingian on April 3, 2008 at 11:00pm — 1 Comment

Did you know that Brownsville even has a Wikipedia entry at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownsville…

Did you know that Brownsville even has a Wikipedia entry at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownsville,_Texas. It reflects the population of Brownsville, according to the latest census as 172,437. Can you imagine that. Little ol' Brownsville is HUGE. To put it in perspective, Here is a list of the populations of the capitals of the 50 US States: States (A to Z) Description Alabama Montgomery - 200,983 Alaska Juneau - 31,118 Arizona Phoenix - 1,418,041 Arkansas Little Rock - 184,081 California Sa… Continue

Posted by David Cowen on March 27, 2008 at 10:42am — No Comments

Back to the Island from the Island

Back home again. Since I work in Galveston and visited Padre while down there, I literally went back to the Island from the Island. I am sometimes struck by the similarities of Galveston and Brownsville. Both went years basking in a sense of isolation and separateness. In Brownsville, we were hundreds of miles from the rest of the world and we rightfully considered ourselves at the true heart of the world. Galveston has the same notions with the old timers here. They even go so far as to have w… Continue

Posted by David Cowen on March 25, 2008 at 1:40pm — No Comments

Happy Easter

For those of you who celebrate, most I imagine, have a great Easter Sunday. I hope you spend it with friends and family. Enjoy watching the kids on their Easter egg hunts. They grow up, you know; before you know it they are too old to hunt for eggs. Have fun! Oh, one more thing. Whip out your cameras and record those family moments. Continue

Posted by Shaine Mata on March 23, 2008 at 8:30am — No Comments

More Visiting and Notes on Seeing the Changes

More visits to family. One of my nephews owns the Icehouse on 511. Cool place. You see a lot of ice houses in East Texas but they always give a rough honky tonk appearance. The Icehouse is really a family venue during the day, and probably has some fun at night with pool tables, karoake and the like. A billion neon signs -- just what a icehouse should have. Except, they keep the walls closed due to the heat an humidity. Traditional icehouses are really like garages with garage doors on three sid… Continue

Posted by David Cowen on March 21, 2008 at 11:19am — 5 Comments

Visiting RGV

down to visit my mother, who's 89 now and living in Harlingen. Used to be easy to visit the familia -- they all lived in Brownsville. Now they have scattered quite a bit, many still in the RGV, but the majority now elsewhere. That fire is giving my sinuses fits. I fell for the people in Willacy and Hidalgo having to evacuate. I hope the wind dies down and they can contain it. I was told years ago by a fire fighter that they do not "put out" those kind of fires. There is no real way to do it. It… Continue

Posted by David Cowen on March 20, 2008 at 9:08am — 1 Comment

Iwo Jima Memorial Deuce

I have seen the one in Washington (Arlington really) and the one in Harlingen, and I have to say it is an amazing piece of work. After recently watching the movie Flags of Our Fathers the whole story is so pardoxical and ironic. Such inspiration from both fact a… Continue

Posted by David Cowen on March 20, 2008 at 12:01am — No Comments

the weariness of vision

sighted mind struggles to eat the food of light burning into the lens of the eye what is there to see but old images of old men sitting at tables chess pieces fallen as they wait for the weather to turn what is there to see but children mocking children in sharp words harsh words words of pain words of anger words learned from their parents what is there to see but the rusting of old seams of lives held… Continue

Posted by David Cowen on March 18, 2008 at 11:04am — No Comments

An American Street

here is the dawn of dreams when the dogs wake to the stretch of light reddening lazily in swelling clouds this is the empty lane waiting for the oil dust cars to stir their rubber feet and prod into the painted asphalt stretching beyond view here is the dawn of dreams the bank of America cash card dreams the playstation, xbox and HDTV dreams the dreams of pools and chrome steel BBQs dreams worth the dried… Continue

Posted by David Cowen on March 18, 2008 at 11:01am — No Comments

My NPR Essay Featured on their This I Believe Website

National Public Radio has published the following essay written by me on their 2007 Thanksgiving page for their essay program "This I believe" -- at http://www.thisibelieve.org/dsp_ShowEssay.php?uid=14571&topessays=3 I BELIEVE IN SUNSHINE SALAD I believe in Sunshine Salad. Sunshine Salad is my mother’s recipe for a simple mixture of orange gelatin, shredded carrots and pineapple chunks with its juice substituted for one cup of the water. It’s a recipe common to many families, but spec… Continue

Posted by David Cowen on March 18, 2008 at 10:55am — No Comments

LECHE QUEMADA(BURNT MILK CANDY)

mama burns the milk in the black pan as she stirs brown sugar in by hand bringing it to a simmer humming a wordless tune which echoes through the room in rhythm with the stirrings of the wooden spoon adding in droplets of water like tears in the mixture to keep the pan from scalding when she feels the thickening she pours the steaming liquid into rows of iron molds scorching her fingers as the steam comes back upon her like words in retribution but she continues in her motions until the… Continue

Posted by David Cowen on March 18, 2008 at 10:15am — No Comments

First Post

Besides what I do for my day job, I am a poet and a very amateur photographer. I have published a book of poems centering on my childhood in Brownsville, called Sixth and Adams. I will be posting poetry and photos here from time to time. I hope you enjoy them. Continue

Posted by David Cowen on March 18, 2008 at 10:10am — 1 Comment

Cynthia Bliss Slideshow :)

Uploaded some pics, but I'd rather show you the Slideshow with all the pics... Check it!

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Posted by INBLEW on March 4, 2008 at 1:00pm — 4 Comments

Listen to me on KURV for election night coverage

I'll be at KURV studios tonight with Sergio Sanchez to cover election night news as the results come in from local and statewide races. We'll also talk about the presidential primaries. Be sure to join us. Continue

Posted by Shaine Mata on March 4, 2008 at 12:24pm — No Comments

Tre & Koi with Dii & Cynthia :)

This is my new model Cindy G. whom I've know dubbed "Cynthia Bliss." My awesome makeup artist Dii was on hand! Actually everyone was helping each other out for portfolio & project works. Today I'll let the pictures do the talking.. will re-edit with some comment later on :)

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Posted by INBLEW on March 3, 2008 at 3:30am — No Comments

INBLEW IN HOUSTON PART II (PICS GALORE)

http://www.hotelderek.com

I decided to stay @ Hotel Derek cause it was right in the smack middle of every place I needed to go to. I found this place by accident online looking for hotels near Club Rich. I fell in love as soon as I saw the decor on the website.

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Posted by INBLEW on February 20, 2008 at 9:18pm — No Comments

INBLEW IN HOUSTON PART I

Twas in Houston this past week and I thought I'd start off with some mild pics, rants and raves..

I was in the mood for Greek food, I really wanted to go to this place called Yia Yia Mary's, but I was heading the other direction and found this other place called "Aladdin Mediterranean Cuisine."

http://www.aladdinhousto… Continue

Posted by INBLEW on February 20, 2008 at 4:14am — No Comments

Life is just a bowl of cherries

LIfe is just a bowl of cherries (or one mushroom cake ..lol)

You know this is kinda hard to write because I'm torn with mixed feelings.. because on one hand.. I had a great wonderful unexpected day.. on the other hand.. concerning the news i wrote about earlier.. well I'll get to it in just a bit.

Life is unscripted and 100% real.. and I wish this entry had it's own bulletin and theme.. but I think it's better if I combine what i have to say.

Today Iris came by… Continue

Posted by INBLEW on February 14, 2008 at 1:04am — 2 Comments

Horrible news (Family & Friends Please Read)

I write this publicly because it's easier for me to express myself when there's people who read what you have to say and absorb your expressions with a much better understanding. You know I'm not good at talking and much less facing people. I'm sure you probably still won't understand me or think I'm naively stupid.. but that's ok. Tonight I got horrible news.. Earlier today I knew something did not feel right. My computer wasn't working because of an corrupt apple update that I installed in t… Continue

Posted by INBLEW on February 13, 2008 at 7:01am — 1 Comment

LadyBugs, Ashlee Simpson, and My Pop....

Earlier today, Well actually yesterday... I was sitting at my car just thinking how I should arrange the new song I'm working on called "You Had Me, But You Don't Have Me", when 3 lady bugs kinda just came out of nowhere. Two of them landed on me, and one on my car.I was thinking that's odd considering it's been years since I've seen a ladybug, let alone three! 1 orange and 2 red n' black.
Weird things happen when i hang outside my home..lol Last time that Frog was on my front door… Continue

Posted by INBLEW on February 11, 2008 at 3:47am — No Comments

Having the confidence to try

Some time back, I did some business as a computer guy. I did some work for the City of Mission. I had clients who would call me regularly. Things were going well, but not to the point where I could make a living off the business. I still needed a day job. With that and taking classes, it was increasingly difficult to find new business and keep up with my clients. Then, my main supplier went bankrupt, and folded altogether.

Since then, I've been gun shy about doing business. Lately, how…

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Posted by Shaine Mata on February 9, 2008 at 8:43pm — 3 Comments

HAVING FUN... WARDROBE TRY OUT.. MOCK SHOOT

Haven't shown my face around in 2008... so I thought I'd let everyone know I'm alive n' well. Understanding Iris is about as hard as understanding myself.. Never the Less.. Things have been fun. We want to do a real shoot but the weather hasn't been in our favor.. and Iris is currently in the hospital recovering from an operation as I type this. I touched up the pics we took last week cause I know it would make her happy. I also got her the complete series of "Freaks N Geeks" that she wa… Continue

Posted by INBLEW on January 22, 2008 at 8:10am — 1 Comment

New year new beginnings..

Well, it's been a cool week.. I checked on a certain section of the Travel Channel and noticed my "Parraquia picture (CHURCH)" was #1 most pupular.. I don't know how long it will stay up there but I'm pretty happy about that.. because I really want to get noticed by the travel channel.. and I'm trying my best to save money for the Travel Channel Academy. You can go here to check it out: http://yourtrip.travelchannel.com/ what picture are you lo… Continue

Posted by INBLEW on January 12, 2008 at 11:28pm — 2 Comments

The Exaflood

Here is a video that was shown at the…

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Posted by Shaine Mata on December 5, 2007 at 2:44pm — No Comments

Building an Alumni community

One thing that I have been trying to build for a while, and fell on my face a couple times, was an alumni website for people from Mission High School. My first attempts involved paying for hosting and a CMS like phpNuke or PostNuke. There were some problems inherent with those CMSs, like being crackable. So, I parked the project for a while in the Yahoo Groups. I am afraid that I lost a lot of members due to the separation of all the members into distinct classes.

Then, along comes Nin…

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Posted by Shaine Mata on December 4, 2007 at 9:40pm — No Comments

Monetizing Your Blog

Is anybody having any success at monetizing their blog? What are you doing or have you done to make your blog a source of income?

Can you share any ideas?

I tried, out of curiosity, putting ads into a text box on RGV Life through google ads. It didn't work. I guess there was some sort of conflict between my ad and the Ning ad. The result was ugly. I guess I'll need to pay the $20/month to put ads on RGV-Life.com without problems.

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Posted by Shaine Mata on November 28, 2007 at 2:49pm — 4 Comments

I am starting to see a difference between being a geek and being a new media type

Although it is an asset to be geeky, I am starting to think that you don't necessarily have to be a geek to be a new media type of person. When it comes down to it, new media is mostly about creation. It is creativity. One has to sit down and write a blog post, put together a podcast, edit some video, reply to forum posts, or whatever. So, geeky skills are helpful, but not required. It takes a certain love of writing, editing, or to some extent performing to be into the use of new media. …
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Posted by Shaine Mata on November 21, 2007 at 7:20am — 1 Comment

Having fun with mogulus

In the previous post, I wrote about how I created a lifecast using mogulus. The service lets you upload your videos and will passively loop them for you continuously. You can also actively add overlays, full screens, and a ticker at the bottom. If you do a live show, you can add an over the shoulder graphic like they do on newscasts. Mogulus is great for producing your own live content, although my current setup doesn't support that.

Over the weekend, I set up a channel for RGV-Life an…

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Posted by Shaine Mata on November 19, 2007 at 2:41pm — No Comments

You Can Create Your Own Channel on Mogulus

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Posted by Shaine Mata on November 16, 2007 at 11:34pm — No Comments

Don't Forget This Weekend's Meeting

We meet at Renee's of Sharyland at 2 PM. Visit http://www.… Continue

Posted by Shaine Mata on November 15, 2007 at 10:12pm — No Comments

RGV New Media Domain Moved to Ning

I finally got around to moving rgvnewmedia.org domain over to this site. I'm going to dump the WordPress blog. WP is fine for sharing information, but it's not community-ish like Ning is. So, to help make this a better place, you can now type rgvnewmedia.org and end up here. I hope you find this change useful. Continue

Posted by Shaine Mata on November 12, 2007 at 2:32pm — No Comments

Ze Frank on the Writers Guild Stike

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Posted by Shaine Mata on November 5, 2007 at 9:36pm — No Comments

Next RGV New Media Meeting

The next meeting for the RGV New Media Group is on November 17, 2007 at 2 PM. We will default to Renee's of Sharyland unless members select a new location to meet.

Start thinking up topics for discussion at the meeting. There is a lot that happens in tech in the span of a month.
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Posted by Shaine Mata on November 4, 2007 at 7:43am — No Comments

NaBloPoMo and NaPodPoMo

I got invited to join NaBloPoMo.ning.com, and for those of you fellow bloggers, you may be interested. It is for National Blog Post Month, which starts November 1st. What you do, essentially, is take on the challenge to post at least once daily for 30 days. Yes, I know it's short notice given that tomorrow is Nov. 1st. But, you can post at least once a day for a month, right?

As a result of NaBloPoMo, some of my San Antonio friends thought up NaPodPoMo, National Podcast Post Month. Thi…

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Posted by Shaine Mata on October 31, 2007 at 5:30pm — No Comments

Cameron County Sees Flurry of Bloggers

Blogging has suddenly become a epidemic of sorts for the Lower Rio Grande Valley with a new blog joining the so-called political operatives of the local blogosphere almost monthly.

Cameron County's bloggers are providing a supplemental news source giving mainstream media some much-needed competition.

However, some readers question the legitimacy of blogger content when half of our blogger force utilizing a non de plume.

Shaine had previously suggested t… Continue

Posted by Melissa Zamora on October 24, 2007 at 8:45pm — 6 Comments

Chris Brogan at Blogtoberfest 2007

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Posted by Shaine Mata on October 20, 2007 at 8:03am — No Comments

Busy being dumb

I'm still working on dumb little videos. It's just a bunch of corny jokes. The idea is to produce a bunch of short videos that people can watch and move on to the next. This serves two purposes. First, I can make a little bit of change here and there from every click of the ad at the end. The other purpose is to illustrate that you don't have to have big budgets and grand ideas to produce content for the web. Just create. With practice, you'll get better. Continue

Posted by Shaine Mata on October 19, 2007 at 7:19pm — No Comments

An Example of Content

Your content does not have to be brilliant. It just has to be content. It's easy. You just have to go out and do it.

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Posted by Shaine Mata on October 16, 2007 at 6:44pm — 1 Comment

Go Out and Create Content

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Posted by Shaine Mata on October 12, 2007 at 6:06pm — 1 Comment

RGV New Media October Meeting

Don't forget to stop by Cafe Renee in Sharyland on Saturday at 2 for our October meeting.
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Posted by Shaine Mata on October 12, 2007 at 12:05am — No Comments

San Marcos is looking for geeks

As you may have read, I made it out to BarCamp San Marcos and Blogtoberfest this weekend. I gained a valuable piece of information from this trip. It turns out that San Marcos is looking for technology experts. They want to attract that kind of workforce to the area. The advantage of living in San Marco is that they are right in between Austin and San Antonio. In addition, they are the headquarters of Grande Communications. Let me stress that the San Marcos Chamber of Commerce is really looking… Continue

Posted by Shaine Mata on October 9, 2007 at 11:57pm — 1 Comment

Blogtoberfest Video

I am adding some videos to the group of Blogtoberfest. I'm adding what I've got thus far. I forgot my charger and one tape in San Antonio, so I'll have to post the first part later this week. Check out the video section to watch. I'll add more Blogtoberfest later. All I have for now is BarCamp San Antonio.
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Posted by Shaine Mata on October 7, 2007 at 2:28pm — No Comments

Conversation with Alan Levy of BlogTalkRadio.com

I like to listen to Alan Levy's show on Blog Talk Radio, but don't often get the opportunity to listen live. Today, I listened to a live show and got in on the chat. By the way, BTR has done a great job of adding socnet tools to their site. It is truly becoming a community with all the improvements. In any case, he asked if I could call in to the show; so I did.

You can listen to the show here. I'm in the la… Continue

Posted by Shaine Mata on October 4, 2007 at 11:08pm — No Comments

The Future of High Speed Internet

I had a friend from AT&T call me up today. He is helping organize an event here in the RGV. It will cover the future of high speed internet. It's geared towards the economics, but it should still be interesting for us to attend. Nothing is firm yet, but it should be in late November or early December. As soon as I have specific details, I'll inform the group so that you can attend.
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Posted by Shaine Mata on October 3, 2007 at 10:05pm — No Comments

Are you on Twitter?

One of the best ways to keep up with what your online friends are doing is to add them to your Twitter friends. This works well if your friends are on Twitter and have the inclination to update their profiles. Another good reason to have Twitter is that it is a self-promotional tool to some extent. Many people update their Twitter profile whenever they have a new blog post. This usually gets you instant traffic. I wrote about this back… Continue

Posted by Shaine Mata on October 3, 2007 at 8:11am — No Comments

Proof that you need a tripod for video

Here is a terrible video I made of an event this weekend. The thing is that I considered possibly taking a tripod to record the event. I decided against it. In a way, I was right as the tripod would not have been tall enough to record over the crowd. But, freehand recording is crappy. In another occasion, I may just have to take my own platform that will allow me to stand above the crowd, and a tripod to ensure a steady shot.

The event is HESTEC and the guests are the Mythbusters. It's… Continue

Posted by Shaine Mata on September 30, 2007 at 10:49pm — No Comments

Heading to Blogtoberfest

I will be going to Blogtoberfest at the end of the week to meet up with other bloggers, podcasters, and new media stars. I'm not just going to go to Blogtoberfest for the sake of it, the big draw is BarCamp San Marcos. Blogtoberfest is the pre-party before the big event. I already sent in my registration fee. As an up and coming New Media geek in the Rio Grande Valley, it's important for you to s… Continue

Posted by Shaine Mata on September 30, 2007 at 4:54pm — 2 Comments

Audio from the Halo 3 Prelaunch Party in Irvine Texas

You can listen to my chat with some of the San Antonio Podcasters and New Media group at the Halo 3 Prelaunch Party in Dallas tonight. I appreciate their sharing the experience with me. We'll make it to the next big launch.

http://blogtalkradio.edgeboss.net/download/blogtalkradio/show_100029.mp3

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Posted by Shaine Mata on September 24, 2007 at 8:35pm — No Comments

An Upcoming Company that May Change Podcasts

I recently learned about foneshow.com, a site that lets you listen to your favorite podcasts over your phone's voice line. This is different from downloading the show to your mp3 player. It's different from listening to a download on your smartphone. Foneshow text messages you a phone number to call when there is a new episode of a show. You can then call that number and listen to the podcast as a phone call. Yes, it does use your minutes, but you can listen… Continue

Posted by Shaine Mata on September 24, 2007 at 12:25am — 1 Comment

Job Postings

There is a posting at Craig's List for a web designer. Any of you looking for work should check it out.

http://mcallen.craigslist.org/web/388137195.html

Here is a listing looking for somebody to do part-time ebay listings.

You know what? Never mind. I'll put the RSS feeds on the side bar so we can all see the postings as they are put up.