Are You GEL-ing?

Today marks the second annual GEL Conference, produced by Creative Good. http://www.goodexperience.com/gel/. Creative Good founder and president Mark Hurst has been crusading to make users experiences better on the web. And his efforts have been paying off! Today the conference is sold out—but check out the website for all the juicy info. Also take note of the “This Is Broken” website where people log in real and virtual “broken” items: http://broken.typepad.com/

Even The Worm Blogs

Blogging is nothing new, but it was news to me that a former Silicon Alley Reporter has now wormed his way into the Blogging world as, once again, his own self-professed expert. Please! At least Madonna *creates* trends, not just show up and all-of-a-sudden be in the midst of one. If you’re still a fan of this fellow, check out the next New York Bloggers event.

Cocky Bastard is a Hunk!

It's official! John Halcyon Styn IS a hunk! We know this from fellow concerned netizen Jodi L. Sax, who is raising money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
http://www.lawgirl.com/laf.shtml
http://www.lawgirl.com/webhunk.shtml

Good Links

Places I’ve been surfing this week (that you should too!):
- A link compliments of Jon Staenberg, the Superman of Venture Capital on the West Coast! www.subservientchicken.com/
- freshaddress.com
- fotki.com
- meetup.com
- fotolog.com
- honestea.com
- explodingdog.com
- gmail.google.com
- gothamist.com
- gawker.com – with personals!
- and the last day of judging for the 8th Annual Webby Awards: www.webbys.com
- Put a store with your logoed items on your website: http://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/storeref.aspx?refby=staenberg
- and the last day of judging for the 8th Annual Webby Awards: www.webbys.com

Happy Birthday to Steve Masur!

Happy Birthday to Steve Masur! Our favorite punk- rock- motorcycling- groovy-
attorney-to-the-entertainment, gaming and tech-hipsters turned..., well we won't spill the beans. But we can say that the Masur Entourage supported Downtown NY in style at three (count 'em - 3) spots ranging from Tribeca Grand to Bulgaria! http://www.masurlaw.com/

ITP ~ Innovation To Prosper

The sun was shining, folks were fettering on folksie projects and performance artists were letting all their creative juices flow (Flavor: Bordeaux). It was NYU's Alumni weekend and I stopped by to visit several departments. First I peeked into the Experimental Theater Wing's studio to see department chair Kevin Kuhlke, who actually reminds me a lot of Kevin Kline, and updated him on my acting career (there's none).

Then I sauntered over to the ITP department, geek-girl at I am. The lovely department chair, Red Burns, oversaw their celebration with a massive Cupcake Café cake. Vica Vinogradova (http://www.ladno.com/) was beaming as she arrived and Master Teacher of Communications Marianne Petit (http://fargo.itp.tsoa.nyu.edu/~mrpetit/) was gathered around a table with Matthew Belanger and ECHOnyc's founder Stacy Horn, who told me about her next book project. (Stay tuned-www.echonyc.com).

Two projects of note:
- A flat-screen panel that you could "paint" on. When you dipped one of three paintbrushes into a clear "test-tube" it would paint a different video image (in brushstrokes) of captured images from a cam.
- ITP 03 grad Jake Barton's www.storycorps.net. A nationwide project to instruct and inspire people to record each others store. Record in grand central and in the library of congress.

http://itp.nyu.edu/

Back-to-Iraq.com

Iraq has been a hotbed of controversy since the start and we've been inundated with reports from major (and minor) media throughout. If you really want a ground-level view on life and the pursuit of liberty there, read Christopher Allbritton's daily newsletter-blog for some true "new new journalism."

Highlights include information on:
- Chris's background, which is very interesting
- His first trip to Iraq as the Web's first fully reader-funded journalist-blogger
- The benefits you receive when you donate to the cause (his!)
- His book proposal
- His next (and perhaps permanent) trip to Iraq

[From his inspired-design and content website:] His goal is to be based in Baghdad, freelancing for major organizations and continuing running Back-to-Iraq.com. Chris will be "your man in Baghdad, bringing his voice and experience that he gained during the war back to you." Iraqi people will be front and center.

Please donate to help Chris get Back-to-Iraq and give us the wonderful reporting and insight that he does! https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr

More info:
http://www.back-to-iraq.com
and http://www.back-to-iraq.com/archives/000490.php#000490

Publishers Note ~ April 16, 2004

Well darling subscribed-citizens, I’m back! I am happy to report that this month marks the beginning of the good ol’ newsletter you’ve come to know and love and its revival. Spring has broken through the bitter, cold, damp rainy days and (nearly) everyone in New York City is rejoicing.

When all your friends are telling you that you should do something, it probably means you should. This was the good advice from my new friend Brian (see below). And I’d heard a similar sentiment from a few other fine folks this week including Michael Terpin (http://www.terpin.com). It won’t be a long tome, just a fresh breezy snapshot on all the who’s who you know and what’s what. And without further delay.

I’ve spent the day (Friday, April 16, 2004) exploring the new and fascinating world of FOAF. Alex Santic (www.nysia.org) invited me to join, http://www.dodgeball.com/social/index.php

Which in turn lead me to learn about the FOAF project (http://www.foaf-project.org/) and set up my own FOAF page (http://www.pulitzer.com/foaf.rdf) and also learn about http://www.theyrule.net/. Very cool!

Joe Torre's Hitting Hard AGAINST Domestic Violence

Spring is in the air and a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of….Baseball! Yes Yankee fans, the season is in full swing. But manager Joe Torre isn’t just struggling with hits versus misses, he has devoted his own website to help combat domestic violence. Stemming from his own childhood experience, he has created the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation to help end the cycle of domestic violence and save lives. I, too, know from personal experience how devastating and deep the pain can run from this insidious behavior. This social problem is a national tragedy that sadly still remains mostly hidden behind closed doors. Help Joe make a difference—visit his website AND/OR purchase something from Circuit City! They will make a donation to the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation with the purchase of any Samsung product from April 4 to May 1, 2004. http://www.joetorre.net/