Niall Kennedy is organizing the third annual Widget Summit 2008, a two-day conference that explores widgets and content syndication. The event takes place on November 3rd and 4th at the Hotel Nikko in San Francisco. Niall is offering Laughing Squid readers a special 10% discount on the conference, just enter the discount code “laughingsquid” when you register.

The widget industry is full of hype, with new platforms and magic widget potions released every month. Once a year we bring together the top widget platforms in the space to educate content publishers on new ways to syndicate content beyond their own websites and into the hubs of activity on MySpace, WordPress, iPhone, and more. Presentations come straight from the experts building the platforms so you get the best information straight from the source. We take good care of our attendees, providing double-sided name badges, power and a table for your laptop, and WiFi in the air.

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Widget Summit 2008, Exploring Widgets & Content Syndication

24 Hour Comics Day takes place this Saturday, October 18th and to meet the local challenge Comic Outpost and Cartoonist Conspiracy have joined forces to present 24 Hour Comics Day San Francisco starting at 11am at Comic Outpost.

On August 31st, 1990, Scott McCloud (Understanding Comics), originator of the 24 Hour comic concept, completed his first creative marathon. On April 24th, 2004 Nat Gertler organized the first 24HCD bringing together legions of participants all over the world in this annual event. In the years since, thousands have tried and many have succeeded in creating their own 24 hour comics.

They still have room for 5 more artists, if interested, contact Doctor Popular.

Doc Pop will also be live streaming the event on Ustream.

See Previously: Understanding Comics - The Books Of Scott McCloud

illustration by Mike Hales

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24 Hour Comics Book Day San Francisco

Four months ago we started using the hosted help desk service Zendesk to provide support for our Laughing Squid Web Hosting customers. The service has been really great so far. It’s easy to configure and use, has a nice clean interface and they are always adding new features. In fact we’ve been working with the Zendesk founders to push through a few feature requests of our own and they’ve been really responsive.

Michael Folmer Hansen, Zendesk’s VP of Evangelism, is in San Francisco this week and is hosting a Zendesk Meetup on Thursday, October 16th at 21st Amendment.

photo by Scott Beale

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Zendesk, An Elegant & Easy To Use Hosted Help Desk Service

After 25 1/2 years, the Survival Research Labs shop has moved out of San Francisco, relocating 32 miles north to a new, larger shop in Petaluma. SRL director Mark Pauline mentions four reasons for the move on the SRL blog. Mark is looking for volunteers and interns in the North Bay to help out with the new shop, if interested contact him.

For years we knew that the SRL shop’s days were numbered, so back in 2006 I shot a bunch of photos of the shop, capturing it as it was before the inevitable move.

Here are some more photos of the SRL shop from the San Jose Show After Party (2006), July 4th Party (2006), LA Show After Party (2006) and a BBQ in 2002.

photos by Scott Beale

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The Survival Research Labs Shop Moves To Petaluma

guest post by Doctor Popular

A few days ago I had the privilege of performing at Obama-Rama, an Obama fundraiser at the Rickshaw Stop. The event featured numerous talented musicians and oddballs, but one of the night’s highlights was catching Mark Growden’s haunting set. Mark, a Laughing Squid friend and Monster of the Accordion, opened his set by playing an improvised song on a an ordinary pair of bicycle handlebars. The eerie sounds the instrument made were versatile and expressive. In the video above, Mark explains how he produces such complex sounds from a simple instrument.

See more Obama-Rama performances on my YouTubes.

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Mark Growden Plays The Handlebars

Tweedlebop has created a really cool illustrated series “Star Wars ABC”.

via Jason Kottke

illustration by Tweedlebop

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Star Wars ABC by Tweedlebop

A Paper Airplane Contest :: at the New York Hall of Science!

My good friend and fellow photographer Margot Duane is organizing Equalipalooza this Wednesday, October 15th at Broadway Studios in San Francisco. Hosted by Margaret Cho, the event features comedy and creativity to raise funds for Marriage Equality USA to help defeat California Proposition 8, which if passed eliminates the right of same-sex couples to marry. Advance tickets are now on sale.

Margaret Cho will be joined by fellow comedians Johnny Steele, Heather Gold and Ali Mafi for an evening of comedy and creativity with a conscience. In addition, Assemblyman Mark Leno, District Attorney Kamala Harris, City Attorney Dennis Herrera, Deputy City Attorney Therese Stewart and her wife, Carole Scagnetti, will be acknowledged for their contributions to the marriage equality movement, Janice Mirikitani, San Francisco’s Poet Laureate, will read her poetry and Margot Duane, the producer of Equalipalooza, will exhibit her photographs of the same-sex wedding movement.

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Equalipalooza, Margaret Cho Hosts A Benefit To Defeat Proposition 8

SanFran MusicTech Summit 3, a conference on the convergence of music, business and technology, takes place on Monday, October 20th at the Hotel Kabuki in San Francisco. The conference is offering Laughing Squid readers a 20% discount, just use the discount code “laughingsquid” when you register.

The SanFran MusicTech Summit will bring together the best and brightest developers in the Music/Technology Space, along with the musicians, entrepreneurial business people, and organizations who work with them at the convergence of culture and commerce. We will meet to discuss the evolving music/business/technology ecosystem in a proactive, conducive to dealmaking environment.

We’ve got panels, presentations, schmoozing, and partying, and dozens of music/tech rockstars ranging from Tim Westergren of Pandora to Ethan Kaplan of Warner Music to Martin Luther, Singer/Songwriter/guitartist for The Roots to Lege ndary Producer Narada Michael Walden and more. The audience is just as impresive as the panelists. We will be working long term to help enable a sustainable, ongoing, Northern California based music and related technology market.

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SanFran MusicTech Summit 3 - Music, Business & Technology

SF Indiefest presents the 7th San Francisco International Documentary Festival (SF Docfest 2008) which takes place October 17th through 30th at the Roxie Cinema in San Francisco and October 30th through November 6th at the Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley. Here’s the full list of films & events and ticket information.

Legalized cat-shooting, The Price is Right, competitive balloon-twisting and Bigfoot—these are only a few of the subjects you’ll find explored at this year’s San Francisco International Documentary Festival (”DocFest”). Last year’s event was such a phenomenal success (over 5,000 tickets sold), they’ve expanded this year’s edition from two weeks to three—a fortnight’s run at the Roxie Theater (Oct. 17-30) followed by a one-week debut engagement at the Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley (Oct. 30-Nov. 6). Now in its seventh year, DocFest 2008 will spotlight over 60 non-fiction films from around the world, encompassing a tremendous range of interests and issues.

SF Docfest 2008 will also be having an opening night Roller Disco Costume Party on October 24th at CELLspace in San Francisco.

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7th San Francisco International Documentary Festival (SF Docfest)