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I’m very exited about this Summit. It will be held at Monkey Town HQ, a lounge with four (yes 4) 15ft. high projection screens on their walls! Say it with me… SICK! They also have a great menu, drink service, etc ;). Capacity is much better than last time - the lounge provides a comfy setup for 40 people. During this Summit, we will utilize Monkey Town's unique space to explore:

Interactive Music Videos – Years ago, Gregg Zinn landed a band on Apple's Quicktime homepage by creating an Interactive Video. Gregg will talk about the technology, process and why, with the emergence of YouTube and other video sharing sites, interactive video may rise to be the next must do thing on the net.

MAX/MSP - John Reading, who goes under the guise of "Satellite Beach" and "The Reeds," will walk us through building simple sound-generating patches using MAX/MSP, the heavy hitter of experimental computer music. This will be a high level discussion and a basic introduction to to the environment. He’ll also be showing us some popular patches, including reverse-engineered Authechre songs, as well as a few clips of renowned artists discussing their work In MAX/MSP.

Video Game Modding – Jim Blackwelder introduces us to the world of modding. He will explore this topic from the home grown apps/authoring your own apps prospective and how that ties into Microsoft’s XBox, Windows Media Center and forthcoming Vista Operating System.

Gallerama.com – This Summit's product spotlight will focus on Gallerama.com. Aleksandar Kolundzjia and Sasha Krsulj will walk us through their paradigm to digital photo management as well as other thoughts about the emergence of remote storage of personal digital collateral.

Dewanatron meets The Flathand - Dewanatrons are modern solid-state analog instruments that grow music live in collaboration with the operators who guide them. The Flathand is a universal controller that incorporates both relative and infinite data input and can be used to control any electronic device that can be controlled by a mouse, trackball or even a keyboard. In tonight’s performance, Leon Dewan, Zach Layton and Leif Krinkle will integrate the Flathand’s video control capabilities with a Melody Gin/Swarmatron recital to create a full-on manually controlled semi-automatic context-sensitive multimedia extravaganza.

Intermittent background beats and audio ambience provided by DJ Survivor.

Each presentation will be 15 minutes long and followed by an informal 10 minute Q&A discussion.

The Geek Out Summit is an event where individuals who are obsessively fascinated by specific areas of knowledge share their passion with others. It provides a context for like minded people to get together, network, invite coincidences, and discuss the things they geek out about but may be otherwise shy to openly discuss.

Ironically, this GOS was scheduled during the same week that Time Out NY did a cover feature on "New Dork City". Many of the things they highlighted are akin to the GOS. Too bad we didn't make it on their list, maybe next time. It's kinda interesting, take a look at some of their coverage here: New Dork City. (for those of you who did the Ididirod, it' listed, woot woot!)

Back to the real point here, the Summit was a success! Everyone gave a phenominal presentation and there was something to be taken away from each presentation. I found it really cool that each presentation built naturally on the previous one and opened to the next in a rather organic fashion.

Pictures have been published to Gallerama :) as well as to Matt's personal site:
- GOS pics on Gallerama
- GOS pics on icebrrrg.com

Again, thanks to all those that came and a big thank you to all the presenters. You guys rock!

Some links for info on the people, products, tools, etc that were presented:
- Gregg's Firm
- Gallerama: Special offer for the Geek Out Summit - 1 GB of space for $14.99 a year when you signup with promotion code: "GEEKOUT" Limited time offer so act quick!
- MAX/MSP
- The Flathand
- Dewanatron
- Monkey Town

Click the link below to see some videos...

I’m very much looking forward to the next Geek Out Summit /slash/ self birthday gathering at Monkey Town HQ later this month. What better way to close out the 4-day Thanksgiving weekend than to indulge yourself in some geeky mental stimulus?

The Details:

Date/Time: Sunday, November 26th at 8PM
RSVP: recommended but not necessary; send me an Email; Please forward onto friends!
Place: MonkeyTownHQ; 53 N 3rd St (Wythe & Kent); Williamsburg, Brooklyn; Great dinner menu & drink selection
Map | About the GOS

Itinerary:

Silvio – Aging Agents and how to slow them down

Over the past three generations life expectancy in the US has grown a stunning 20%. Will this keep rising? Will our grandchildren live to be 100+ on average? Silvio will discuss efforts & research in the academic medical industry that are identifying aging agents (say that fast three times) and how to slow them down.

Jonathan - Online Identity Aggregation , Misdirection & Sleight of Hand - FindMeOn.com

Internet users increasingly collect 'identities': online accounts, social network / forum profiles, blogs, email addresses and the like... On their own, these identities are disparate entities- but when cross-referenced against one another, multi-dimensioned personalities and complex webs of chained friendships emerge. The talk is planned to compare and contrast the new project FindMeOn ( which was originally developed to link indie rock band websites together ) with open source and commercial identity management / aggregation tools-- stressing the importance of Open Standards , Identity Abstraction / Privacy , and Verifiability / Reputation.

Matt – HIV Immunology & Medications

Think you know HIV and AIDS? Where did HIV came from, and how does it actually work? We'll take a look at the immunology of HIV, and what programs are out there currently (and why they work and don't work). Come find out more!

Greg – A tour of the Universe

Greg will give us a guided tour of the cosmos using some very cool astronomy software. During this presentation, we will plunge deeply into our seats and use Monkey Town HQ’s amazing projection capabilities to take a tour of the cosmos. Greg will guide us though the tour giving us interesting tidbits along the way.

Hope to see you all there!!!

It’s interesting the way information propagates around the internet. After registering geekoutsummit.com with Google and the “other” search engines, I did some searching to see if anything actually comes up and was I surprised! In addition to the following three mentions, a friend of mine left me a voicemail telling me that the GOS is featured in Paper Mag’s “pm (NYC)” Tips for Today section. I must admit that I admire the concise write-up done by the Editor so much that I will be lifting the approach for the next summit  Here it is in brief:

“Indulge your nerdiest impulses tonight at MonkeyTown, where the obsessive dissection of random topics is deemed positively hip. This week, brush up on your knowledge of the rising life expectancy in America, internet personalities, HIV immunology, and the cosmic universe. A DJ and red velvet cake will follow the four short presentations. Polish your pocket protectors people!”

The other honorable mentions as found on google:

http://www.uncoolkids.com/2006/11/26/geek-out-summit/
http://shitparade.blogspot.com/
http://brooklyn.untilmonday.com/event/the_geek_out_summit

And ofcourse, the MonkeyTownHQ entry:

http://monkeytownhq.com/geekout2.html

It's been awhile, and I'm stoked about this next GOS, especially the Multimedia & Interactive aspect of this installment; we're going to really utilize Monkey Town's AV offering. This time around, 5 inspiring individuals each hold court for 15 minutes with a 5 minute Q&A as they GeekOut over the following...

Geo-Aware Mobile Web Applications
By Allan Benamer
Authors: www.nonprofittechblog.org, Founder: www.socialmarkets.org
Allan brings with him from the Left Coast many new URLs that he'll demo for our enjoyment. He will show us the beauty of Geo-Aware applications, what's coming down the pipe in mobile computing, puzzle us with why one of these apps is valued at over ten million dollars, and will discuss his startup -- Beeble.

From Bombs to Twinkies: The fascinating history of the modern food industry in 15 minutes or less
By Michelle Zassenhaus
Authors: www.themindfuleater.com, Wellness Consultant: www.zhauswellness.com
We're just now starting to awake, as a culture, from the 50-year whirlwind that resulted in the industrial food industry - in which most of our food is produced today. But what were the dizzying chain of events that created a thriving market for less-than-a-dollar food products such as twinkies? If the "Omnivore's Dilemma" is on your reading list but it just isn't happening for you, attend this entertaining 15-minute rundown instead.

Product Spotlight: MLB.TV 's Mosiac
By Roger Williams
Pan 'n scan, encapsulation, composite streaming, new levels of video quality, and click 'n drag are just some of the concepts that make the second release of MLB.TV's Mosaic one of the most compelling media experience online. During this interactive session, we'll see how Mosaic is changing the ways in which fans of any sport consume rich content going forward.

Creative Commons Licensing as Viral Marketing
By Chad Allen
Creator: http://nyc2123.com, Is: www.chadallen.net
When Chad and his brother decided to write a graphic novel, they knew it would be a blast, but they also wanted people to read it. So they wrote a sci-fi comic for the PSP and tapped into a ready audience of geeks looking for original content. By giving away the comic under a Creative Commons (CC) License, they allowed fans to create a wave of translations, remixes and mash-ups. There's no movie deal yet, but the viral effect of the CC license allowed two guys in a garage to find over a million readers and a Hollywood agent. If this sounds boring don't worry: the presentation also includes illustrations of cyborg ninjas fighting and stuff.

Get there!
Monkey Town
58 N. 3rd St (btw Whyte & Kent) Brooklyn, NY, 11211
718.384.1369
(7:30pm) Free | $10 Minimum
GOS Monkey Town Page

The GeekOut Summit is hosted by Silvio Galea

Thanks to all those who came out to the July 22nd GOS. The presenters rocked given the circumstances of no internet access due to a Verizon blunder; we pre-loaded as much info as they could off a slow shabby open wireless connection.

Pictures can be seen here: http://silvio.gallerama.com/gallery/719

Here are some URLs and resources that were discussed during the summit:

Allan:
http://www.geocommons.com/workspace/show/1892
http://labs.live.com/photosynth/video3.htm
http://www.swivel.com/graphs/show/13333462
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS8030785497.html
http://www.google.com/search?q=nokia+n95

Michelle:
http://www.themindfuleater.com/
http://www.zhauswellness.com/

Roger:
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/subscriptions/mosaic.jsp

Chad:
http://www.nyc2123.com/

Thanks again, and see you all next time!