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I'm in Boston Saturday night hosting #Soozapalooza2 and #WhiskeyFriday at the Middle East

That's right, Boston. I'm baaaaack! For a few hours only. This Saturday night I'll be the MC and comedic guide to an evening of pretty incredible music organized by Sooz (aka Susan Kaup). It's known asSoozapalooza; it's at The Middle East downstairs, and it's gonna be great. 

We begin with a special, extended #WhiskeyFriday (48-hour edition) at 8pm upstairs at the Middle East. Consider this an office hours/meetup/drinkup. No charge for this part. Come by, say hi, stay for the show. As for the event itself...

 

Soozapalooza is the annual spectacle of awesome hosted by Sooz featuring music, bourbon and hashtags. This year's bands include a special reunion show by Mistle Thrush, the first band Sooz became a fan of when she moved from Nebraska to Boston in 1994. Kristen Ford Band, The Lights Out and The Candles will also perform. The Soozapalooza Supergroup, a big group of local rock heroes, ends the night with inspired performances of six cover songs selected by Sooz.

Advance tickets are available for $10 at the Middle East Box Office in Central Square, Cambridge and online through TIcketWeb. Tickets will cost $12 at the door. This is an 18+ show.

Twitter Hashtag: #Soozapalooza2

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In the mood for some Oscar D'León

Reminds me of a dear friend and great dancer. The first salsa album I ever owned was a gift in the form of an Oscar D'León CD in 1999, and I used to rock it constantly, especially driving to Sophia's latin dance club in Boston from about 2000 to 2004.

For the homies who ain't here...

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My Blog And Radio Appearance On @The_Takeaway Talking Skype And #FutureOf Voice

For approximately eight years, I financed my multi-threaded geek-powered, politico-comedy lifestyle by working as a strategy consultant to the communications and media industries. I worked for a small firm out of Boston called Altman Vilandrie & Company. While it wasn't the long term life for me, I've yet to work at a place with smarter people, and I have some great memories like going to Barcelona to learn about the convergence of landlines and mobile phones or to Washington D.C for a conference dedicated to hashing out bilateral international termination rates.

Yes. I know. It sounds too sexy to be true. Say it slowly to yourself. Imagine Barry White in the background. International. Termination. Rates.

So the link above will take you to a little post-segment writeup I did. The full segment with Cliff Kuang is available here

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Hey Boston, Check Out Comedian @HeatherFink This Weekend

Hey folks,

Starting this weekend one of my favorite funny people will be bringing the ruckus to various Boston comedy spots. I met Heather a few months back doin the Ultimate Gossip Girl Summit IV (hosted by the awesome Sara Benincasa), and she's hilarious. She does awesome characters and is just very unique.


So Boston, roll out and see her at one of the following spots


Sun 8/9 8pm @ The Comedy Studio in Harvard Square
Mon 8/10 8pm @ Underground Comedy at Cantab Lounge 738 Massachusetts Ave (also with Chris Coxen and Robby Roadsteamer. Hilarial!!)
Tues 8/11 9:30pm @ The Rob Crean Show - O’Briens, corner of Harvard and Cambridge, 3 Harvard Ave (with another favorite of mine, Josh Gondelman!)

Below is Heather's email signature. I just had to share it. I'm telling you, she's funny.
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Thank you for your time, I really feel like I have what it takes to be  an asset to you.  I feel that my leadership, quantitative, analytical  and communication skills will further your ability to share our  likeminded goals of making high quality hosiery targeted at the needs  of mature women  - the highest quality possible.  I look forward to meeting with you in person.

Sincerely,
Heather Fink

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www.HeatherFink.com

Posted via email from baratunde's posterous

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Harvard professor Gates arrested at Cambridge home #StillBlack #StayClassy

Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of the nation's pre-eminent African-American scholars, was arrested Thursday afternoon at his home by Cambridge police investigating a possible break-in. The incident raised concerns among some Harvard faculty that Gates was a victim of racial profiling.

gates072009.jpg Gates
Police arrived at Gates’s Ware Street home near Harvard Square at 12:44 p.m. to question him. Gates, director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard, had locked himself out of his house and was trying to get inside.

He was booked for disorderly conduct after “exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior,” according to the Cambridge police log.

Friends of Gates said he was already in his home when police arrived. He showed his driver’s license and Harvard identification card, but was handcuffed and taken into police custody for several hours last Thursday, they said.

Yep. my favorite part of the article? the closing line

"Friends said Gates is being represented by Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree, who has taken on previous cases with racial implications."

It's on.

Posted via web from baratunde's posterous

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My Acela Train Has Wifi Plus Fun Terms And Conditions

I'm on an Acela Amtrak train from Boston back to NYC, and for the first time I saw a wifi SSID that wasn't "Mr. Hackathon's Free Public Wifi For Theftification Of Your Identity." Instead, it read "Acela_Test_Channel_2" I was already online with my Sprint EVDO wireless data card but decided to test out this Acela wifi. Here's the page I got Picture 49.png The full text of the terms and conditions is:
Amtrak is testing onboard WiFi and offering free Internet access during the test period. There is no guarantee that you will be able to establish a connection. Amtrak does not provide technical assistance for connecting to the wireless network. Amtrak cannot guarantee Internet speed or quality of connection. Speed is dependent on the number of concurrent users and types of applications being run. As with any Internet connection, the speed may fluctuate due to heavy Internet traffic. When the wireless channel is fully loaded, access may be denied. Amtrak is not responsible for any damage to data files, alteration to file systems, the functionality of your computer, or any resulting losses relating to connecting to the wireless network. The wireless connection cannot be used for any illegal purposes. Downloads of large files or streaming video will cause the session to be terminated. Access to inappropriate sites is also prohibited.  Amtrak reserves the right to terminate the session of any user accessing sites found objectionable or offensive by other passengers.
That last paragraph of terms and conditions is gonna be fun.
  • The first sentence is false. The wireless connection can definitely be used for illegal purposes. I just did something illegal (no, I'm not telling you, but it wasn't legal!).
  • No streaming video? That sucks. I had a great business idea called TrainCam where people would watch me on the train, and I would watch other people on my same train streaming themselves on the train and we'd create an infinitely reflective tunnel of self-referential live web videos that would ultimately collapse in a black hole of narcissistic user generated media.
  • What's an "inappropriate site?"
  • And the last point, I'm just waiting to test that one out. Conceivably , if enough of us complain, we can get Amtrak to cut off the connection for folks who visit RushLimbaugh.com, which I think we can all agree is objectionable, offensive and highly inappropropriate.
I did a speed test of the Acela wifi test vs. my Sprint card came to two conclusions. First, Sprint is providing the data connection for this train's test. Second, I'm sticking with my own card. Here's the train: Picture 50.png Download is weak. Upload is awesome. Latency is wack. Here's my card: Picture 51.png My downloads were 3x that of the train (somewhat expected given the shared and test nature of trhe Acela connection). Surprisingly, the train's upload is better than my aircard. This I cannot explain. That's all for now. Obviously the Acela should have wifi, and obviously it should block access to RushLimbaugh.com

Posted via email from baratunde's posterous

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