.@catchfiremedia The only thing catching fire at the bags tournament will be @bitmethod's winning streak. #bbbdsm http://j.mp/aOFlWu
#bbbdsm photos of the @raygunshirts vs BitMethod Mario Kart Wii battle up on our Tumblr/Flickr: http://bit.ly/cFi4fb. More coming.
OH: "I want to look like we work on the fucking Death Star!"
I love re-imagining the workplace. Work doesn't have to suck.
I was just called a photoshop monkey. I don't know how I feel about this.
Hey, I turned off my cell phone, can you turn off your baby. Kthx.
This is one of my favorite articles ever and I read it again from time to time: http://www.brucemaudesign.com/#112942
Wives of the world: answer your phones, ever. Love, husbands.
Is the Apple Store ever empty?
Favorite photo from the #bbbdsm against Raygun: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bitmethod/4866058177/in/set-72157624667062734/
Vanilla Ice has very strong feelings directed towards water. Not sure if it's love or hate, though
Steps to most modern application development projects: 1) Hire someone you feel might be good 2) Hire someone you know is good to fix it
BitMethod is looking forward to the 2011 SXSW Interactive festival. SXSW is a multi-day, multi-industry conference held in March in Austin, Texas. There are Music, Film and Interactive components. The speakers, panels, and presentations of SXSW are submitted and selected via something called the PanelPicker. We have three team members with presentations up for voting, and voting just started today!
If you already know what SXSW is, love BitMethod and have a PanelPicker account, you can vote for our proposals here, here, and here. Otherwise, read on!
From the SXSW website:
SXSW is a community-driven event. So, knowing what kinds of topics you want to hear at the event next March is extremely important to us. Your voting accounts for about 30% of the decision-making process for any given programming slot.
Applicants are encouraged to tap their networks and ask friends and colleagues to vote for their presentation via the PanelPicker.
BitMethod has three team members on deck for SXSW Interactive and we need your votes to help get them there! Check out our presentation descriptions below as well as some HAQs (Highly Anticipated Questions) that you might have about the PanelPicker.
I’m not going to SXSW, should I still vote?
Your votes are still valuable and appreciated! Applicants are encouraged to tap their network to solicit votes. Organizing a strong showing in the PanelPicker helps show SXSW that we’re connected, well-organized, and will pull together a good presentation.
How do I vote in the PanelPicker?
Unfortunately, you have to make an account. Luckily, it’s very simple! Follow the links to our presentations and look for this at the bottom:

Create an account and log-in. Once you’re signed in, you have to click this big thumbs-up button:

Why don’t I see your names listed on the panel?
We’ve opted to submit Dual Presentations for each of our applications. Unfortunately, the SXSW system only allows one speaker to be listed. We’re adding information on additional speakers to the comments area.
Following are the three presentations we have up for voting.
Real-Time Streams Need Real-Time Feedback
Our CEO Dan Shipton and Marshall Kirkpatrick of ReadWriteWeb will co-present on the topic of feedback and filtering systems for real-time streams. Here’s a choice bit from the description:
This presentation will explore what the future of Real-Time information filtering, curation and feedback will look like for developers, publishers, and consumers. We will examine where real-time distribution is now, where it’s going, and how consumers can give “Real-Time Feedback” to passively and intelligently customize the data streams they receive – no settings required.
Rich Browser-Based Templating Through Open Source Collaboration
BitMethod’s senior software engineer Neil Roberts along with Shane O’Sullivan will lead a technical presentation about using open-source collaboration to develop a browser-based templating solution.
Implementating a browser-based rich templating language requires solving many problems: identifying the most flexible syntax, turning a template into a set of instructions for modifying the document, and drawing and redrawing the template blazingly fast. This presentation will demonstrate how two programmers used the open source community to develop solutions for browser-based templating.
How Can Artists Turn Web Hits Into Dollars?
Finally, our Creative Strategist Scott Kubie and his wife Cat Rocketship, representing their business make\break, have proposed a dual presentation exploring how analog artists can monetize their work in a digital world.
We want to move past The Threadless Problem: most existing web services build brand equity for the service provider, not the artist. It might be a great way to make a few bucks, but is not a reliable way to build a career. This presentation will explore using web products and services to build a NEW arts industry, leveraging tools that techies use best: UX, iteration and experimentation.
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Thanks for taking the time to check this out and a huge thank you if you’ve voted. We’ll be sharing links to other great panels and presentations via this blog, our Twitter, and our Tumblr as the weeks go on. Voting continues until Friday, August 27.
The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less by Barry Schwartz
Recommended by Dan
This book discusses how choices have side-effects and implications such as simply shifting responsibility by offering choices instead of doing "what is best" for others.
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks
Recommended by Igor
As COO, I find this book useful in dealing with mindless zombies who only want to consume resources.
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver, Camille Kingsolver and Steven L. Hopp.
Recommended by Neil
I found this book after wondering how people in the northern U.S. were able to eat year-round before refrigeration and the availability of "fresh" vegetables in supermarkets during winter. A family challenges themselves to eat locally for a full year and, though the family didn't stick entirely to plan, I learned a lot about how people ate before convenience.
Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing
Recommended by Josh
This book discusses the ins and outs of sales and marketing, and offers different perspectives on how to approach a potential customer from a service sales point of view. It provides readers with an idea of how customers view their product and is great for anyone looking to develop their client base.
Free by Chris Anderson
Recommended by Scott
I really love books like "Free" because they break down concepts you've probably learned through osmosis and observation, but haven't ever looked at critically. Wonderful read for anyone building digital products.
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall
Recommended by Amanda
I'm not a huge fan of running, but that's what this book is about and I still LOVED it. The narrative follows amazing endurance athletes, who are all a little crazy, and also explores the history and physiology of running while trying to answer the question, "Are humans naturally runners?"
OH: "I'm more famous than he is. Besides, he isn't working for Facebook yet."
@JuliaThompson AR can be useful. Currently, it is an overused gimmick. The IKEA App actually looks like a good application of AR though!
Birthdays are a weird phenomenon in social spaces. Does netiquette dictate individual responses to the 50 happy b-days on FB & Twitter?
I declare our new company name BiteMethod, this means we are now professional eaters or . . . vampires.
How do you get everyone at @bitmethod to dance? Just play some Ting Tings "That's Not My Name." http://bit.ly/dvinKt
Employee productivity! http://twitpic.com/25llul
Thanks to @scottrocketship just discovered the LAN sync option in Dropbox, which completely blew my mind. Best web service, period.
Do you get bonus points for writing your whole #sxsw proposal on your iPhone and submitting through a roadside McD's wifi signal?
Interactive. Music. Film. What would a SXSW: Art look like?
Spoon. Modest mouse. Downtown. Been at it for five fucking years. Finally happening. Enjoy it Des Moines. #8035
This VIP area is awesome. They have veggies, and free beer, and Gatorade, and all my stuff! Wait nm this is my apartment. #8035
Great view of downtown behind the bridge within the bridge http://twitpic.com/20v4rc
Sitting behind a young kid on this flight. Tempted to kick the back of his seat. #sweetrevenge
I absolutely LOVE the @dowhatitellyou twitter account. Not for what is tweeted, but for the smiling llama pic. Always helps my day :)
This is by far the coolest photo I've ever seen. You're welcome. http://bit.ly/dtBnWO



SXSW is a community-driven event. So, knowing what kinds of topics you want to hear at the event next March is extremely important to us. Your voting accounts for about 30% of the decision-making process for any given programming slot.




