GeekSouth » meetup

GeekSouth April – 720p, 1080i/p, h.264, HD, Oh My!

Austin — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:29:19 +0000

The end of the analog television era has been years in the making, but enough uncertainty abounds that Congress has pushed off the transition date, requiring broadcast companies to justify their switch to digital on the original February 2009 date.

Tim Siglin, contributing editor for Streaming Media magazine will separate fact from fiction on the television switch as well as provide details on the various standard- and high-definition formats that many broadcasters are moving to. We’ll talk about 720p, 1080i/p, H.264 and the potential for web delivery of live HD content.

Also on hand will be Dave Sieg of ZFx to comment about the issues we are facing here in the Tri-Cities with receiving Over The Air HDTV.

The April 2009 GeekSouth meeting will happen on April 30th at 7:00pm at Kingsport Grocery in Kingsport, TN. Kingsport Grocery is located at 453 East Main Street in Kingsport, TN (google map). Look for us on the 2nd floor.

February Meetup – Where’s our stuff?

Austin — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 12:44:07 +0000

Where’s our stuff?

Adventures of a corporate digital librarian

In the 1990’s, most organizations thought that a search engine like Google would allow employees to find everything on their networks. Now, a growing number recognize that search is only part of the solution. Jean Graef, of The Montague Institute, will discuss how she helps cross-functional corporate teams create and customize systems that make documents and human experts quickly and easily accessible.

Please come one, come all to the February 2009 GeekSouth meetup. This meetup will be held on Tuesday, February 24th at Pepper Jack Grille in Bristol, VA (click here for directions). Start time is the normal 7:00pm.

As normal, click here to go to the signup page and add your name if you are coming and be sure to tell all your friends, neighbors, cousins, pets, and enemies.

Update: It’s the end of the year as we know it (and I feel fine)

Austin — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:30:39 +0000

2008 is nearly fading away, so it is once again time for our year-end GeekSouth meetup. No topics, no speeches, just time to hang out with old friends and make new ones.

Several people requested it, so we are booked for Ole Chile in Johnson City at 7:00pm on December 16th. Ole Chile is located right next door to Bailey’s at 2102 North Roan Street.

Please head over to this link and add your name to the list so I can tell the guys at Ole Chile how many to expect. Hope to see everyone out, bring someone new!

Are You Secure? The 2008 edition…

Austin — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:27:27 +0000

One of the most talked about GeekSouth meetups from last year was Eric Rolf’s presentation on security. So we are proud to announce that Erik is back again to give us the lowdown in all the latest InfoSec goodness.

Erik Rolf, CISA, CISSP, is the president of Deliberare, Inc. “Dependable Dynamic Defense”

The meetup will be this Thursday, the 21st, at 7pm. The location will be the Mid City Grill in Johnson City. Please Note: Mid City is B.Y.O.B. So keep that in mind if you wish to ingest.

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July 2008 Meetup

Austin — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 03:08:00 +0000

Linux/Open Source programs for Windows
A Cost Effective Business Alternative

At this GeekSouth meeting (July 23, 2008) we will be discussing Linux, Open Source programs, Open Source programs that have been ported for windows, and how the these programs can be used as a cost effective alternative to windows and windows based programs. The presentation will be given by Ben of Benzi Computers (www.benzicomputers.com).

Meeting location: Cootie Browns 1919 N Eastman Rd, Kingsport, TN (google map)
Date: Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
Time: 6:00pm to whenever – presentation will start around 6:30pm to 7:00pm. So come early and mingle!

This even on the social web:

High End VS Low End–Tech Gadgets.

wildchild — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:02:06 +0000

Do you have a smoking fast or uber-cool system or tech gadget you would like to show the Geeks? On Saturday June 21, 2008 at noon, come for a Geek South Lunch time event. We want to see computer equipment, cell phones, GPS, PDA, calculators or some other tech gadget you could bring. Be prepared to demonstrate it, show it off, and answer questions about it. You know us Geek, we want all the details!! Or perhaps in a closet, attic or garage you have some old tech gadgets that we can reminisce about. Pull it out and bring the ancient stuff also. This Geek South is all about the High End vs. Low End, Old vs. New in techie items. Join us at Noon at Russo’s in Johnson City. We wanted to have plenty of time to setup and show the gadgets so please plan to be ready for action no later than 12:30. This should be an exciting event so definitely tell all your fellow Geeks!

For those who are going to participate please be sure to bring an extension cord and surge protector if you need to plug in.

Don’t forget while you are surfing and shopping be sure to pick up a Geek South T-Shirt to show your Geek South Pride!

See you there!! Geek South

GeekSouth Cookout This Saturday!

Austin — Wed, 21 May 2008 12:40:09 +0000

This Saturday, May 24th, Geeks with Grills! We are planning to have a LOW-TECH GeekSouth meeting this time, so your laptops and mobile phones won’t be necessary¹. Just bring yourself and an item from our punchbowl list (you’ll be getting an e-mail soon) to the cookout! We will be meeting at Jose’s house which you can find here.

The menu will be Hamburgers, hotdogs, veggie burgers, maybe even some shish kabobs etc. All of that will be provited, but we need you to bring sides and drinks. Chips, coleslaw, baked beans, dessert, whatever you want to bring! Alcohol is allowed… Austin drinks yeungling btw

It is important that we get a headcount for this event. If you haven’t gotten an e-mail from mypunchbowl.com by 05/22/08 shoot an e-mail to geeksouth05@gmail.com if you are going to attend.

Kids are welcome!

Be prepared to relax and chat with your fellow Geeks! Hopefully we will see some people sporting their Geek South Shirts which you can find here.

¹ → Don’t worry! You can still bring your laptops and mobiles. There will be wifi (this IS Jose’s house after all), but the point is to get outside away from our screens for a bit.

Leveraging Flash – April’s Fun GeekSouth Dinner

Austin — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:09:04 +0000

Come out this Thursday, April 17th at 7pm our monthly GeekSouth Dinner. This month Lee Trout will give a presentation on Flash:

Leveraging Flash as a desktop development platform great for startups and mature businesses who need graphical interactive experiences at a fraction of the cost of custom developments. I’ll be showcasing the software I managed (computer games for speech language pathologists) and how I helped start the company with accompanying business services including printing and disc manufacturing.

We will be meeting at Fun Expedition in Johnson City. That’s right. Fun Expedition. Batting cages, Go-Carts, the whole works. Make sure you come ready for some Geek Laser Tag.

Fun Expedition is located at 2805 North Roan Street in Johnson City (Google Map).

Update: Eric McCarty has added a set of photos to Flickr from our time at Fun Expedition. You can see those here. It was an awesome presentation and an awesome time.

All about Video

wildchild — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 20:22:01 +0000

Don’t forget to join us this Thursday March 20, 2008 for a presentation given by Nathan King. Nathan is the CEO/Chief Architect at JETPAC.tv, LLC.

He will be telling us Geeks all about sites like Quik, Seesmic, and currentTV. I am sure we will also hear a little something about JETPAC!

Topic for this Geek South dinner will be application of video into media companies at large. We will explore Nathan’s thoughts on the future of video and where it’s headed (more mobile, more interactive, desktop oriented, and more niches).

The Geek South Dinner will be held on a THURSDAY this month. Be sure to make note of this as Geeks tend to keep habits and we have been meeting on Tuesdays for the past two years. We will be meeting at StirFry in Johnson City, TN. @ 7pm. Click here if you need directions. Hope to see you all there!!

Put Google To Work For You – February 2008 GeekSouth Dinner

Austin — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:24:16 +0000

This month’s GeekSouth dinner will be held at the Brooklyn Grill in Bristol, VA on February 19th at 7pm. Come out and join us all for a presentation on Google Apps by Ben & Cam of The Bliss Agency.

From Ben:

A lot of people are familiar with Gmail and quite a few have caught on to the iGoogle stuff that allows you to create a home page portal like Yahoo, etc. What many may not know is the “Google Apps” suite that includse Gmail, Calendar, your Start Page and a whole lot more is an amazing FREE resource available to businesses and organizations. This was all made possible when Google opened up these tools to ANY domain. So now, instead of just having a @gmail account, you can create yourdomain.com Google Apps account and start setting up email and more for your business quickly and easily.

The collaborative power and web-based simplicity (although POP, iMAP, blackberry, iPhone mail is supported), Google Apps is a legitimate contender for businesses and organizations who are considering ways to improve software effectiveness while reducing costs.

Google Apps Links: