The weather here in Austin is scheduled(like I set it up that way) to be sunny, cool – in the high 60’s and low 70’s and just about perfect.  I hope everyone enjoys the outdoors this weekend – and remember to turn your clocks forward Sunday.

Entire Echelon(click for street view)  9420 Research Blvd. building is on fire (Echelon I building) – entire front structure of the building is gone.  The building is a 7 story building. People have been evacuated and traffic has been re-routed. A Piper 150 Cherokee apparently hit the building. The location is across from the Best Buy/Container Store/Whole Foods etc in the Arboretum area.

Tucker Thurman was driving to work on the U.S. 183 flyover near MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) when he said he saw a small plane, very low, flying over the highway. He said he saw it then bank heavily to the right before heading into the building.

“There was a huge fireball. It went right into the building,” Thurman said.

Live streaming cameras:

http://www.statesman.com/news/traffic-cameras-119369.html

Update: FBI has an office in the building according to @breakingnews (This is incorrect)

Update: Ustream link live

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/northwest-austin-plane-crash

Update: IRS may have a building in there

Update (10:48am) : Fox News Streaming Video:

http://www.myfoxaustin.com/generic/news/live_news/myfoxaustin_livestream_index

Update: The AFD is looking for victims -IRS, CIA have offices but FBI states they don’t believe they have an office in that building – but near the complex or buildings.

Update (1054am): Officials say Austin plane crash appears accidental; early reports are injuries, but no initial word of any fatalities.

Update: 10:59 more on location:

Update: 11:02 – eye witness states pilot dipped the left wing – was 100 yards or less away from the building – he noticed that the plane was too low – he was coming north to south and it was coming east to west. Still two people unaccounted for in the building.

Update:11:10: Fire Chief(Assistant Chief) 2 individuals have been transported and 1 is unaccounted for now- power is out so crews can work.  Crews are currently trying to put the fire out.  Heavy fire/destruction is on the 2nd floor – impact appears to be on the 2nd floor.  Police: streets in the area – jollyville, research closed. No electricity in immediate area.  Streets and power will be shut until they get more control. Police state there are Federal offices in the building hit – but are not confirming any.

Update: 11:17 the plane *could* be a private plane traveling from Waco. Plane appears to have come down from the north and was paralleling 183 and made erratic turns before going into the building.

Update 11:26: FoxNews: Pilot set fire to his home before crashing the plane into the office building.

National News picking up the story feed. The IRS has 199 employees in the building

Update: From the bad ad placement department CNN did this.  http://www.awholelotofnothin.com/?p=250

Update: Bad comments from chat channel: : Kevin Smith was on the plane. It was too heavy to pull up.

Update 12:49 – manifesto left by Joe Stack who flew the plane into the building. Here is the actual website that has the manifesto by Joe Stack.

Here isthe whois information for that site:

Registrant:
Embedded Art
925 E Hwy 80
287
San Marcos, TX 78666
US

Domain name: EMBEDDEDART.COM

Administrative Contact:
Stack, Joe  
925 E Hwy 80
287
San Marcos, TX 78666
US
1.3215649879
Technical Contact:
Stack, Joe  
925 E Hwy 80
287
San Marcos, TX 78666
US
1.3215649879

Registration Service Provider:
Everyones Internet, 

http://www.ev1servers.net

Registrar of Record: TUCOWS, INC.
Record last updated on 16-Sep-2006.
Record expires on 05-Jun-2010.
Record created on 05-Jun-2003.

Registrar Domain Name Help Center:

http://domainhelp.tucows.com

Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.T35.NET
NS2.T35.NET

Domain status: ok

Wow.

Update 1:15 his house was in Scofield Farms. Georgetown airport officials say federal officials have sealed the airport. A plane departed at 9:40am this morning from that airport.

Update: 2:15pm Some media is trying to pin this guy as a Tea-Party-Tea-Bag Right wing nut job.  If they bothered to read the manifesto they’ll see very anti-government and anti-religion hate speech and pro-communisit anti-capitolistic speech.  He was not some right-wing nut.

Update (2/19/10 8am) Reports coming in that everyone is accounted for now in the building.

Today at Fort Hood Texas (Killeen TX)a shooter killed 13 and wounded 30 –  utilizing 2 hand guns.

3 Shooters, 1 Killed, 2 in custody.  The primary shooter that was killed – confirmed Major Malik Nadal Hasan.  He was an Islamic convert in his 30’s.

The shooting took place at 1:30 Thursday at the soldier readiness center.  According to officials, the soldier used handguns in the attack.

According to Lt General Bob Cone, the shooter was a soldier and was killed.  Two additional soldiers were also taken into custody.  Authorities have said they are just suspects at this time.

Representative Carter asked for a moment of Silence in the House of Representatives.

On twitter follow #fthood and #FtHoodShootings

Update: CBS has learned Ft. Hood shooter Maj. Hasan was licensed psychiatrist from Maryland

Update: news conference at 5:30 CST at main gates of Ft. Hood.

Update: Possible Domestic Terrorism now discussed

Update: 4th suspect at large per tx congressman john carter

Update: 32 wounded at Scott & White Hospital – donation of blood desperately needed!

Update: Malik Hasan’s Facebook Page here.

Update: Picture of Malik Hassan – screenshot

Update:  .S. Rep. John Carter says two others who were detained have been released

Update 5:41pm: Brian Ross reports Hasan was just promoted in May; recently transfered to Fort Hood.

Update 5:43pm: another picture of shooter

Update 5:52pm: two victims flown to Seton Williamson County with multiple gun shot wounds.

Update 5:57pm: U.S. rep. McCaul says shooter had special training in shooting.

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, who has been briefed on the shootings at Fort Hood, said one suspect, Nadal Malik Hasan, was a physician who was born in Virginia to parents who hailed from Jordan.

The suspect, McCaul said, “took a lot of advanced training in shooting.”

He said Hassan, with others, acted at Fort Hood using handguns.

McCaul said he also has been told that Hasan had undergone alcohol counseling.

“Whether it was domestic or foreign, clearly when a U.S. military base is attacked in this fashion, that is an act of terror in my book,” McCaul said.

Update 6:00pm: Medical Profile of shooter.

Update 6:06pm: Rep. McCaul also said he’s been told suspected shooter Hasan had undergone alcohol counseling.

Update 6:12pm: Hasan’s records.

Update 6:21pm: More information on shooter

Update 6:24pm: Video from inside fort hood.

Update 6:27pm: Not a recent convert. Hasan was always Muslim. Cousin tells Shep on Fox

Update 9:09pm: Shooter not dead.

(CNN )A solider suspected of fatally shooting 12 and wounding 31 at Fort Hood in Texas on Thursday is not dead as previously reported, Army Lt. Gen. Robert Cone said Thursday evening.

..wish he was dead…

Update 7:30am: CNN has surveillance video

Update 8:05am: Shooter reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” while shooting.

FORT HOOD, Texas – Soldiers who witnessed the shooting rampage at Fort Hood that left 13 people dead reported that the gunman shouted “Allahu Akbar!” before opening fire, the base commander said Friday.

Lt. Gen. Robert Cone said officials had not yet confirmed that the suspected shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, made the comment, which is Arabic for “God is great!” before the rampage Thursday, which left 30 people wounded, including the gunman.

Yeah, all the people who were on the jump to conclusions map were right this time.

Related:

KXAN’s Site

Fox News Austin

KXXV

Doing Race for the cure this morning at the domain and will snap some shots on the way.

quote from dav1x “bumper to bumper for the cure”

our timed runner just got out of the car to walk to the starting line.

packed shoulder to shoulder

Mile 2? You gotta be kidding me it’s been 10!

I need fluids, get me an IV…

I’m glad the conservatives are finally coming to political rally’s.  The funny thing now is – the liberals are calling the conservatives the “crazy wackos”.  I think its pretty obvious that after reading many parts of the health care bill people don’t want this type of government controlled health-care.

Also – from Michelle Malkins site. People in Philadelphia give Kathleen Sebelius and Arlen Spector an earful.  The question she asks is “How can you manage healthcare when you can’t even manage this cash for clunkers?”

This type of thing is happening in many parts of the country.  The politicians are voting on what they think is good for you – because you obviously don’t know well enough.

Yeah that’s right, a Cessna landed on 130 today.

Here is the information from KXAN’s site:

I’ll sum this up after you review it.  Seriously, I know its legaleeze but you lazy people need to work through it.. but if you’re still that lazy just skip to the bottom.

81R5789 MMS-F

By:  Creighton, Hughes, Berman, Gattis,    H.C.R. No. 50
Guillen, et al.

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads as follows:  “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people”; and
WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being that specifically granted by the Constitution of the United States and no more; and
WHEREAS, The scope of power defined by the Tenth Amendment means that the federal government was created by the states specifically to be an agent of the states; and
WHEREAS, Today, in 2009, the states are demonstrably treated as agents of the federal government; and
WHEREAS, Many federal laws are directly in violation of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and
WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment assures that we, the people of the United States of America and each sovereign state in the Union of States, now have, and have always had, rights the federal government may not usurp; and
WHEREAS, Section 4, Article IV, of the Constitution says, “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,” and the Ninth Amendment states that “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people”; and
WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court has ruled in New York v. United States, 112 S. Ct. 2408 (1992), that congress may not simply commandeer the legislative and regulatory processes of the states; and
WHEREAS, A number of proposals from previous administrations and some now pending from the present administration and from congress may further violate the Constitution of the United States; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 81st Legislature of the State of Texas hereby claim sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That this serve as notice and demand to the federal government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That all compulsory federal legislation that directs states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties or sanctions or that requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding be prohibited or repealed; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.

The jist of it, is it’s a reminder to the Federal Government that as a state, Texas will only abide by the laws it creates and not abide with Federal laws,  with the exception of the laws and  power granted to the Federal Government by the Constitution; and the Federal Government has no right to with hold Federal money because Texas fails to comply with a law that the Federal government mandates.

Want an example?  How about drinking age? I am originally from Louisiana and it was one of the last holdout states that said if you’re old enough to serve in the military and vote, you’re old enough to drink. Guess who withheld money for programs until Louisiana changed the state drinking age to 21?  That’s right, the Federal Government.  Well Texas is getting the balls to say, nope, not on our watch.  (Lets hope that our legislators stand behind this and don’t cave to pressure).

We’ve heard the rumors lately that Time Warner Austin is going to start capping bandwidth around 40GB because they tested in Beaumont Texas and only 14% went over the usage limit.  Yeah, that’s Beaumont, you can’t say that usage of high bandwidth HD streams is exactly pervasive throughout that demographic.  Austin on the other hand is filled with technoweenies like me.  I used 95GB of bandwidth last night downloading streaming media, working, HD quality stuff (hulu, itunes, etc).  That was just for half a month.  Personally as soon as they do this, I’m not in a contract, I’m canceling internet through them and going with ATT or Grande (even if they are a bit slower than TWC Turbo).

The interesting thing to note is Time Warner is doing this only in the markets where Verizon’s FIOS service is not available (dslreports).  So with no speed competition they plan on raping the consumers.

More info from Austin 360 Blog here.

Highlights:

• No plans for rollover bandwidth from month to month. Use it or lose it.
• “86 percent of our customers at least have nothing to worry about,” Dudley said, “That’s the percentage of customers that will be left unaffected by the trial.” I asked if that’s in comparison to Beaumont and whether that’s a very different market. He replied, “Internet usage is a lot like television viewing. It doesn’t vary from geographic area to geographic area.”
• While this will affect customers in real dollars in San Antonio/Austin, this is still considered a trial in terms of whether it will continue to other TWC markets.
• The three-month grace period will begin in early summer.
• A gas-gauge-like Internet usage monitor will be on the TWC Web site. Customers will also get info on their usage in their monthly bills.
• The 100-Gigagyte “super-tier” will be “significantly more expensive” than the $55/40 GB a month tier mentioned in the BusinessWeek article. However, “We haven’t settled on a price yet,” he said.
• I’m waiting to hear back about customers under contract and how this will affect their terms.
• Dudley cited bandwidth-hogging things like HD video and BitTorrent as reasons for the change. “It’s not about trying to limit anyone from doing anything. It’s trying to provide a business model that allows them to do what they want to do for the foreseeable future,” he said.
• Final thoughts from Dudley: “We know we’re going to learn a lot in this trial. We will listen to feedback from our customers. We’ll make decisions based on what we learned.”

Yeah, telling us that Beaumont is not different from Austin is an insult to our intelligence.  So basically because I watch HD video that is provided to me over the internet I’m a bandwidth hog?  Sounds pretty insulting to me, you calling me fat too?

Update:  check out the local Austin Broadband site for updates.

That’s right, we’re heading downtown to check out the Office Space 10 Year Reunion Movie/Cast Party thing. Finley, Prax, Mimzi, and I are all heading down shortly and we’ll be doing two things:

1. Updating this post with pictures and info.

2. Updating the twitter feed on the right.

Stay Tuned:

We’re here at the Paramount Theatre in Austin Texas (Home)

Media ariving red carpet about to come out

More pre-star interview

G4 Personality

Lumberg: Gary Cole

Mike Judge (he plays the boss of Jennifer Aniston in the movie in case you didn’t know.  Mike is also writer/director of the movie, King of the Hill, Bevis and Butthead, etc..)

Mike Judge again

Michael Bolton: David Herman, who does a good amount of voice work now as well as TV.

Milton: Stephen Root

Samir: Ajay Naidu

Bob Slidell: John C. McGinley..you might also know him from Scrubs as Dr. Cox.

TPS report comes from Mike Judges engineer day Test project set

The cast gathering after the movie shows for a q&a – including “Payable Nina Speaking”

The squirels they were married was improvised line by Stephen “Milton”

Lumbergs coffee cup was pepsi or water.

Bobs “I celebrate the entire collection” was improv from John C. McGinley

Ha miginley is like dr cox in real life same personality.

Sequal ? No

There were 4 staplers, Mike Judge has the burnt one.

David Herman stated the whole movie is a blur, apparently he was “medicated”.  He later stated that he was the only member of the cast that was not on drugs at the time.

Gary Cole stated he hadn’t seen the movie in 10 years.

Diedrich Bader said his most interesting memory was of Stephen Root coming to his hotel room at 3 in the morning and asking him if he was really his friend several times – Deidrich assured him that he was and Stephen then said, “ok well I killed the prostitute, help me with the body.”

Hitting the printer/fax with bats

More destruction

The aftermath

Guy in front of us got his DVD signed by most of the actors and Mike Judge.

Lawrence : Diedrich Bader “Look out for your corn-hole”

Samir looking at the machine.

All in all, a lot of fun, we got to shake hands and meet most of the cast that was there – John C. McGinley is freaking tall.  Ajay (Smair) is pretty short.  Mike Judge does have a new movie coming out we were going to see a clip of it but due to technical difficulties we didn’t.  We may see a premier here though… cross your fingers.

When we were taking pictures, the Local Fox 7 news was standing next to me when he was recording the beating of fax/copier machine and interviewing Gary Cole. Check out the video of that happening here.

Welp, by now if you have not made your run to the grocery store to pick up the essentials, it may be too late. Ok maybe not, but seriously, do you want to fight that fat lady over the last slab of velveta? With the day around the corner those of us who are diligent planned out what is on the artery-clogging menu weeks in advance.

Yesterday Srrav1981 went out and picked up some of the essentials, the velveta, the dogs, the buns, and this morning I braved the early early morning crowd (there was none) to pick up the last bit needed for our game day festivities. I went to the local Super HEB (yeah they make those) and watched the early morning setup, as the store manager rubbed his hands together greedily. He knows that today and early tomorrow will make his store insane amounts of money on high fat, products that he has overstocked for the occasion.

HEB had setup stands strategically placed througout the store for all of the necessity’s, chips, dips, sausages, velvetas, and folding chairs. Sneaky bastards with their good marketing. I suspect by days end those stands will be picked clean by crazy soccer moms, while they argue about the last can of rotel.

This year I’ve decided to go rotel free and throw my own vegetables into my cheesy goodness queso dip so here is my current plan:

Green Bell Pepper
Red Bell Pepper
Yellow Bell pepper
Jalapeno
Onion
Garlic
Ground Sausage
Condensed Milk 1/4 can or evaporated
Milk 1/4 cup
Chili Powder
Tony’s
Pepper
Salt

Update 2/1/09

Throw the block of velveta into the crockpot and crank it up to high.

Velveta, Condensed Milk

Dice up all the vegetables and sautee them in real butter or a bit of olive oil (but serioulsy why be healthy?). Brown up your sausage, good it well since.. you know, its pork.

Sautee'd VegetablesAdd Ground Sausage

Throw the cooked sausage, vegetables, condensed milk into the crockpot and let it sit for 30min to an hour and BAMN! Cheesy goodness.

Mix in Sausage and Vegetables

Tomorrow I’ll post the top spots for the Miller High Life Caption Contest, and I’ll have some commentary on some of the commercials as we watch the Cardinals get a beat down by the Steelers.

Right now no announcements for tomorrow.  Will update as information becomes available.  It will freeze tonight so I’m sure we’ll see some closings.

Update Wed 6am: Georgetown and Leander ISD’s will be running 2 hours behind, all Austin schools are
running on time.

Update Wed 7:45am: Accident on Parmer near McNeil heading towards mopac – car flipped over on the bridge.

Have you managed to trek out to the Cedar Park area and been to the new expansion of business/community/outdoor mall/movie theaters?  If you head down 183A towards 1431 or you take 35 to 1431 you’ll come across this huge area that has been recently developed over the past year and is still being worked on.  Seton just finished another hospital/medical center and there is a movie theater that was put in.  The only thing so far that has opened and closed was a Circuit City.  Heck it seems like as soon as they opened it they turned around and closed it.   The expansion in this area has been phenomenal,  in part to the addition of the new Metro Rail Train that is going in  – the whole Leander and Cedar Park area are very excited at the growth and the ability to create these Transit Oriented Developments (TODs).

Anyway 2 new places have recently opened that are not native to Texas.  One is Carl’s Jr which comes from California.   The other is a bit closer to home so to speak and that’s Freddy’s Frozen Custard.  Freddy’s comes from Wichita Kansas.    I’ve put the video about Freddy’s below – its pretty cool.

As far as how both these new places are:  Very good. The  custard at Freddy’s was excellent and I tried a Western Burger at Carl’s and it too was very good(not as good as Mighty Fine or Huts mind you).   Freddy’s directly competes with Steak and Shake but I find both Carls and Freddy’s to taste better than Steak and Shake.  (Which, in case your wondering, is also located on 1431 – but near the IKEA.)

Now what sets these places apart is the great service.  I think we’ll continue to see more “in-store” service and more friendly “Hi Welcome to ‘X’ location” as studies have shown that people are more likely to return if you treat them nice.. wow, who would have thought about that?  The key is offering decent wages and teaching your employees to learn to respect the customers regardless if they are flipping burgers or not.  Both Freddy’s and Carl’s Jr. have “Staff” that walk around and bring you your food order and then even pick up your tray and trash it for you.   Not bad for fast food.  Both places have friendly, trying hard to keep smiling employees (we’ll see how long it lasts),  that are excited about the new locations.

If you’re in the area and make the trek out to Cedar Park I suggest you check out both places you might be in for a surprise.

Follow up, if you’re interseted in checking out the higher-class places check out the Blog “This is Life in Austin” with a review of Hayashi which is located in the same area.  Lyssa is a bit more critical of the Cedar Park area than I am..but ya’ know it’ll all be “Austin” one day.

Update – if you’re coming here to see pics of the event – go here.  Google seems to be sending traffic here instead of the post of the actual event. 

That’s right, it’s been 10 years since Office Space was released. Filmed on many locations here in Austin and back for the reunion, Mike Judge and a cast of characters will come back to the Paramount Theater next month. It’s presented in collaboration by our favorite local theater the Alamo Drafthouse, Fantastic Fest and South by Southwest Film Conference.

We at Wetwired have all picked up tickets and will be taking pictures and doing some live blogging as well so we’ll post more information as it becomes available.  Tickets went on sale yesturday so you better hurry to grab yours, the event happens on Sunday the 8th of February.

In celebration of the film’s 10th anniversary, Fox Home Entertainment will be releasing the film on Blu-Ray DVD on Tuesday, February 3rd. That following Sunday, February 8th, South by Southwest Film Conference & Festival (SXSW) and Fantastic Fest will co-present the ultimate OFFICE SPACE screening at the legendary Paramount Theater in Austin, TX, where OFFICE SPACE was filmed. This one-time only screening event will take place at 8:00 PM and will include special appearances by writer/director Mike Judge and members of the cast and crew to be announced. Additionally, there will be exclusive giveaways courtesy of Fox Home Entertainment, and co-presenters SXSW and Fantastic Fest have promised special OFFICE SPACE activities before and after the screening. If you are a poorly functioning office fax machine, however, you may want to avoid the festivities entirely.

Mike Judge (Mastermind, manager of Chotchskie’s)
Gary Cole (Bill Lumbergh)
David Herman (Michael Bolten)
Ajay Naidu (Samir Nagheenanajar)
Tim Shurstedt (Director of Photography)
David Rennie (Editor)
And many more just a stone’s throw from confirmed- check back here for updates.

Nice, I’m hoping to see some more people show up for this as well.  There is a special VIP going on at Chotchkies but I didn’t shell out the extra denaro to head to that.

Wetwired is not a finalist in the 2008 Blog Awards. Which means… we’ll have to work double hard in 2009 to improve the site.   Part of that I think will come with getting some help on the coding side to make sure that the site actually does work on every browser correctly.

In retrospect I think I need to go back to the drawing board on the site and come up with something truly unique and graphically pleasing. But As I have discussed with others, what good is a great design if you don’t have great content so we’ll also have to double our efforts in the content side of Wetwired.   The design of the site has been with a central theme for the past couple of years and we all agree that the theme is pretty unique.   I think its most likely usability.

2008 Wetwired in Review

This year has been an interesting year.  Considering the previous year was a do-nothing year.  Meaning we really didn’t do a damn thing.  I didn’t update the site, we hardly posted, we kind of took the year off.  2008 on the other hand had major changes.

We switched from Movable Type to Wordpress.

We switched hosts to go-daddy (saving a ton of money at the sacrifice of speed).

We contracted a new artist to re-do the artwork that had previously got us into the finals of best blog design of 2005.

We finalized the new design(mostly).  Aside from the footer part taking until November to get complete…

We started, for the fist time in the 8 year history of Wetwired, to put up advertisements.  Google Adsense, and a few products that we’ve tested ourselves.  While stylistically it goes against everything  I hate; it made sense.  Believe it or not Wetwired is just about paying for itself (cost of domain and monthly hosting).   That in itself is something I really didn’t expect.

Wetwired has seen the most traffic it has ever seen this year.  And we’ve doubled our daily traffic from last year.

We have had a semi-regular podcast for the first time ever and it has been fairly successful.  Including being on itunes.

We’ve had the re-appearance of Beerslinger from his 2 year hiatus.  And we’ve had a couple new writers come on board (prax and larkynm) who unfortunately post infrequently, but are a welcome addition none the less.

We have been interviewed by the Daily Texan (UT paper) and we recorded the interview and offered it up as a podcast.

And lastly I think I’ve updated wordpress versions 6 times this year with some major changes on the back end.  It’s been a pretty good year for them as they (wordpress) have added some great functionality and some great user options in an overhaul of the administration side.

Wetwired in 2009

I think 2009 will be a continued rebuilding year as we look for more local Austin writers who are interested in contributing (for free).   When I look at the amount of money pumped into the site it will be a while before we regain it through advertisement etc but I do see the site fully paying for itself, the operating costs so to speak, and I think we can look forward to having some surprises for our few loyal readers with anything we have left over.

When it comes to traffic, we’ll be working hard to continue to optimize wetwired and post more original content and/or commentary that is of interest and that continues to add readership.  I suspect that if we actually get on the ball this year we could potentially finally break out of the small blog arena.  You would think that after 8 years of being a website/blog that we’d have more traffic.. but Finley, Beerslinger and I all atribute the slowness to 3 potential things.  1. Laziness.  2. Alcohol.  3. Waking up in the morning in the front yard and realizing that those are not our flamingos…

Lastly, Austin has a booming local blogging scene.  With freaking monthly meet-ups!  I’ve personally been in Austin since late 2000 and never been to one, yet we’ve been posting here for quite some time.  I have met (albeit briefly) one other local austin blogger.  She was doing an imprav with Cold-Towne Theatre.   So at some point I suspect that we’ll come out of our holes and make an appearance at one of the local Austin meetings.

As the 2009 looks fairly bleak when it comes to the economy, I think Wetwired will do just fine.

Postscript

If you are interested in contributing articles to wetwired or interested in just getting involved in a project let us know by commenting.  We’ll be on the lookout for new talent, and/or we wouldn’t mind showing someone the administration side if you just want to learn.

In December of 2001 I bought my first premium only car.  A Subaru WRX.  911 had happened, the dotcom burst had come and gone and gas prices had been at record lows.  I was able to buy a gallon of gas for the first time in 10 years give or take for under a dollar.  Not only that I was buying premium gas for around .94 cents a gallon. Gas continued to stay low all the way through late 2003 peaking slightly to $1.50 a gallon until 2004 when we started the real upward push of the cost of gas.

In late 2004 I remeber filling up at a Randals and paying just under $2 a gallon and telling my room mate at the time that I couldn’t beleive we’d get much more above $2 gasoline.  Not only that I hated the fact then that it was so high and that I was having to put in premium because of my turbo engine.

Fast forward to October 2006 I decided that I wanted to trade in my Subaru WRX for something a bit larger that still got good gas milage.  I bought my VW Passat.. which… unfortunatly also takes premium.  I will preface the rest by stating the Passat gets much better milage than the Subaru.  The Passat gets about 31MPG on the hwy and 22MPG in town.  The WRX got about 28hwy and 18 city – most of it cause I drove it like it was stolen.

Gas prices were around $2.25 a gallon at that point and I was pretty certain there was no way it was going to get worse.

February 2007 hit and I was paying $3 a gallon.  All the way through 2007 I continued to get stuck with $3+ gasoline and then when I thought I wasn’t going to get screwed any more with having a premium only car, July 2008 came about and I paid $4.25 a gallon.  $70 bucks to fill up my tank.

This week marks the first week that I’ve managed to fill up my car for less than $30, not only that its the first in 5 years that I’ve paid for gas so cheap.  So in thinking about this crazy run over the past 5 years, we’re pulling out of Iraq, things are stablizing, the economy is shot, and crude oil is now at $33 dollars a barrel.  I suspect that if we break the $30 dollar mark we might just see gas prices drop down much closer to a dollar a gallon.  And that my friends is something that I sure as heck didn’t see coming.