The red plush velvet curtains and sconces couldn't keep the throngs away. Just a short few weeks ago Jonathan Sarno and his Webcinema organization had its first party to drum up interest and financial support for the upcoming soon-to-be-in-a-theater-near-you "Silicon Alley." Held at Club Chaos on Tuesday, Oct. 28th, there were models, there were actresses, there were producers, there were new media people! Perched near the door, puffing away at big ol' stogies, were Arnold Bruck (President, A.H.B. Financial Group) and Stuart Goldman (K-Tel International). They were there to show support for Jonathan, who was busy being host and getting actresses service numbers and biz cards from backers. David Kidder and Lesley Pinkney (Think New Ideas) filled me in on the whole "Jackass" label they sent co-worker Vernon Steward out with last week at a party. Derived from an error Lesley made when she rented cars for staff members for an HBO event in Miami but forgot maps, this term conveys affection around the Think offices. Larry Nagel (E-Pub) and Michael Diamante (T3 Media) came by a bit later and joined Anton Self (Telephant), Manos Megagiannis (TeKnowledge Industries, Inc.), Stephen C. Filler (Attorney), Tery Spataro and Alec Pollack (Stir Associates) up in the VIP lounge. David Johnson of the Filmmakers Collaborative spoke enthusiastically of the 3D renderation (rendering rercreation) of the Acropolis. Block by block this historical monument will be restored digitally for virtual tourists throughout the world. Mark Chackerian (Programmer, Reuters) and I made some interesting observations about people who observe each other. His conversation was most amusing, as we were subjects of an impromptu portrait artist at the last WWWAC meeting. He also is the webmaster for one of the more useful sites on the web. Coming from a family of scientists he wanted to do something useful that no one else had done before on the web. Imagine that! Something *useful* on the web. The New York City Street Cleaning Rules Suspension Calendar for 1997 has gotten 200 hits a day (http://www.users.interport.net/~ark/parking.html).
(Appeared originally in @The Scene in the @NY newsletter)
A chronicle of the people and events in technology, internet and media since 1997, mixed in with snapshots of musings and observations.
