O’Reilly and TechWeb are organizing the first ever Web 2.0 Expo in New York which is taking place September 16-19 at The Javits Center. The conference features a full schedule of keynotes, speakers and workshops, as well as Web2Open which is free with an Expo Hall pass. They are offering Laughing Squid readers a $100 discount off for the conference, just enter the code “webny08bd28″ when you register.

Web 2.0 Expo is for the builders of the next generation web: designers, developers, entrepreneurs, marketers, business strategists, and venture capitalists, people who have experiences to share and a passion for learning - the hot new thing, lessons from failures, innovations and inspirations, and the practical applications of all of the above.

I’ll be in NYC for Web 2.0 Expo and I’m organizing a Drinkup for the Saturday before the conference on September 13th. If you are in town early, please join us.

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Web 2.0 Expo New York 2008

The Cat House on the Kings, is no-cage, no-kill, lifetime cat sanctuary and adoption center run by Lynea Lattanzia in Parlier, California. There are currently over 700 cats living on the 12 acre sanctuary and all of them are up for adoption. Here’s more info on how you help out by making a donation, sponsoring a cat or volunteering.

Our mission is to place rescued cats and kittens into loving, permanent homes; to provide a safe, happy and healthy home for unwanted cats and kittens in a unique, no-cage facility; to prevent pet overpopulation through spaying and neutering; and to educate the public about responsible pet ownership.

Jack Perez made a really great mini-documentary about The Cat House on the Kings.

via Neatorama

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The Cat House on the Kings: A Lifetime, Cage-Free Cat Sanctuary

For those of you not making the trek out to Burning Man this year, Camp Riverton is organizing Balsa Man this Saturday, August 30th at Baker Beach (the location of the original Burning Man events) where they will be burning a tiny man made out of, yes you guessed it, balsa wood. Here’s more information on Balsa Man.

Balsa Man is a 3’ tall replica of Burning Man. Here are some photos of it being built.

See Also: How To Experience Burning Man 2008 Remotely

photo by Colin Fahrion

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Balsa Man, A Diminute Effigy For A Reduced Community

Legendary Sci-Fi author Ray Bradbury shows us his vision of 2001 in a commercial for Sunsweet Prunes.

via Boing Boing

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Ray Bradbury Sunsweet Prunes Commercial

Can’t make it to Burning Man 2008 this year? Here are a few ways you can experience the event remotely through the wonders of the Interweb.

The Burning Blog

John Curley has been doing a fantastic job writing updates and posting photos to The Burning Blog, documenting the construction of Black Rock City this year. Hopefully he will continue his excellent coverage throughout the event.

Photos

Throughout the week people will be uploading photos from the Playa. Here are all the photos tagged “burningman2008” on Flickr sorted by interestingness.

Danger Ranger has been uploading some great photos documenting the building of Black Rock City.

Make sure to check out the great DPW Mug Shots series by Serra.

Current & TV Free Burning Man

Current will be covering Burning Man again for the third straight year with TV Free Burning Man, uploading videos from the playa and streaming the burn live on Saturday, August 30th at 9pm EST/PST. This year they are encouraging Burning Man participants to come to the Current camp and make their own videos as part of their “Postcards From The Playa” program.

Twitter

With the combination of the wi-fi cloud and proliferation of iPhones, there many updates on Twitter from Burning Man this year. Twitter Search will bring up all of the mentions of “burningman” and we recommend following our Burning Man friends @danger_ranger, @sfslim, @actiongrl, @tomprice, @spanktar and of course @theburningman.

Black Rock City Webcam

HyperJohnGraham is running his live video stream of Burning Man from center camp and Burning Man has also mounted a live webcam on the top of the Burning Man office in Gerlach, where you can watch as people come and go from the event.

Burning Man Information Radio (BMIR)

You can listen to a live audio stream of Burning Man Information Radio (BMIR).

IRC

The Burning Man IRC channel is located at #burningman on irc.freenode.net.

See Previously:

- Burning Man 2008: Building Black Rock City

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How To Experience Burning Man 2008 Remotely

MetaFliter has a great round-up of US Presidential campaign ads starting with Dwight D. Eisenhower vs. Adlai Stevenson in 1952 all the way through the 1996 election.

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The Evolution of US Presidential Campaign Ads (1952-1996)

Here’s a hilarious video of elements having various “reactions” at a “Chemical Party”. It was produced by the European Commission to help promote research careers at Marie Curie Actions.

See Previously: The Periodic Table of Videos by The University of Nottingham

via Nick Douglas

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Chemical Party Promo Video For EU Research Careers

Flickr has just added a new fullscreen photo sideshow feature that can be embedded on websites and blogs. The slideshows also have the ablity to include videos.

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Flickr Adds Fullscreen Photo Slideshow With Embed Option

“Citizen’s Cry” is a PSA produced for Palm’s Mobilize the Vote 2008 campagin to help inspire the youth of America to vote. The video was directed by Corey Rosen, with executive producers Hooman Khalili and Adam Ottley.

This video is a call to the American millennial generation, and the rest of the country, to speak now with our vote, so that our silence will not echo for generations to come. The “Citizen’s Cry” makers are targeting the millennial generation specifically because less than 50% of them have ever voted in a presidential election.

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Citizen’s Cry, A PSA For Mobilize the Vote 2008

So not everyone is exited about the FaceYourManga avatar craze that has been sweeping the tubes recently, especially on Twitter. A group of anti-FaceYourManga vigilantes have formed StopTheManga to reverse the “Mangagtar” trend and help convince people to use real photos as their avatars.

See Previously: FaceYourManga, Create Your Own Custom Avatar

Thanks to Ron Richards for the tip!

image via StopTheManga

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StopTheManga Wants You To Use Real Avatars

The new Samsung Omnia (i900) Windows Mobile PocketPC comes with a very unique unboxing experience.

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Samsung Omnia (i900) Unboxing Video

Several American activists have been arrested and detained in China for promoting pro-Tibet messages in Beijing during the 2008 Olympic Games. The protests were organized by Students for a Free Tibet and among those being held are Graffitti Research Lab founder James Powderly and Alive in Baghdad videoblogger Brian Conley.

More Coverage:

- Boing Boing
- New York Times
- Associated Press
- Free Tibet 2008

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China Detains American Pro-Tibet Activists at Beijing Olympics

Engrish Funny, the latest website from the guys behind I Can Has Cheezburger?, features photos of humorous English translations from around the world.

Michael Arrington recently did a TechCrunch interview with I Can Has Cheezburger? CEO Ben Huh about his LOL empire.

See Previously: Totally Looks Like, Famous People & Their Look-Alikes

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Engrish Funny, Photos of Humorous English Translations

“Everything That Happens Will Happen Today” is the new album by David Byrne and Brian Eno. The album is available to purchase as a download or or can be pre-ordered on CD. David and Brian will be touring the US starting in September.

Brian Eno and I recently finished our first collaboration in about 30 years. The name of the new record is Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. For the most part, Brian did the music and I wrote some tunes, words and sang. It’s familiar but completely new as well. We’re pretty excited.

The album is available exclusively from this Web site. You can stream all of the songs for free and purchase it in a variety of digital and physical formats, including a limited edition Deluxe Package designed by Sagmeister Inc. All formats can be downloaded immediately and physical CDs will be shipped in the Fall. [David Byrne]

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Hillman Curtis made a short film about the album, here’s a teaser video for it.

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Everything That Happens Will Happen Today: David Byrne+Brian Eno

Penny Arcade Expo 2008 (PAX), the annual gaming festival organized by the online comic Penny Arcade, takes place August 29th-31st in Seattle. This year’s keynote speaker is game designer Ken Levine and both MC Frontalot and Jonathan Coulton are returning again this year as part of PAX’s music line-up.

Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) is a three-day celebration of games and gamer culture. The festival includes an exhibition floor filled with playable builds of upcoming tabletop, console, and computer games; a conference program of game industry speakers; music concerts; freeplay areas; industry parties; an independent games showcase; game tournaments and more. Since its inception in 2004 the show has doubled in size year-over-year, growing from 4,500 attendees to 37,000 in 2007, making it the largest gaming festival in North America.

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Penny Arcade Expo 2008 (PAX)

John Curley has been posting a bunch of great write-ups and beautiful photos to The Burning Blog documenting the birth of Black Rock City as it is being built by BRC-DPW for Burning Man 2008. John’s recent posts include Saturday’s Little Man Burn and the evolution of center camp.

photos by John Curley

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Burning Man 2008: Building Black Rock City

John Battelle and Federated Media Publishing recently launched the website CrowdFire, a platform for uploading, sharing, remixing and archiving photos, video and blog posts from live music events. CrowdFire will be making its big debut this weekend at San Francisco’s Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, a three day event taking place in Golden Gate Park on August 22, 23 and 24.

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CrowdFire at San Francisco’s Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival