The Internet Serfer

Hello. My name is Brian Combs, and I'm a Netaholic.

Seriously, I spend countless hours a day on the Internet. I can't help myself. Fortunately, I've been lucky for the last few years and have managed to talk my way into jobs that require me to use the Net.

What do I do now, you ask? Well, you didn't ask, but I'm going to tell you anyway. Currently, I am president and lead WWW designer at Austin Web Publishing, the parent company of Austin Axis Monthly. So, when I was deciding on a column, the Internet was the obvious choice.

The next issue to resolve was what to call my column. Considering the number of hours I spend on the Internet, The Internet Serfer seemed apropos. I plan to write about topics of interest to those who work and play in Cyberspace. This means I shouldn't run out of topics until, oh, 2050 or so.

So, if you have a question or if you're doing something interesting in Cyberspace, let me know. Maybe I'll write about it.

For this first column, I want to tell you about two Austin organizations in which I am involved.

First is EFF-Austin, a computer civil advocacy group formed in response to the Secret Services illegal raid on the offices of an Austin game publisher, Steve Jackson Games. Among other things, EFF-Austin is one of the best ways to get in touch with Austin's cyberelite. Well-known members include Bruce Sterling, author of The Hacker Crackdown and numerous other books; Steve Jackson of Steve Jackson Games and Illuminati Online; and Jon Lebkowsky of FringeWare. EFF-Austin's fearless leader is David Smith, one of the hardest working men in the online community.

EFF-Austin's mission is to be an information conduit to the public. Meeting on the third Monday of every month, recent topics addressed have included the GIF tax, racism online, and anarchy files. The discussions are always lively and interesting.

Advocacy groups such as EFF-Austin are critically important to the future of Cyberspace. Our beloved federal government is taking disturbing steps towards controlling the Information Superhighway. This is not a battle we can afford to lose. Your membership will help.

More information on EFF-Austin can be found at:

http://www.io.com/~efaustin/

Another important organization is Austin Web User's Group (AWUG). Founded a little over a year ago by Mark Gaither and myself, AWUG's mission is to:

The purpose of AWUG is to provide a forum for information, support, and sharing among its members; to help members improve their knowledge of WWW and expertise in its technology and standards; to foster communication and cooperation with other WWW organizations; and to promote the interests of the WWW community.

Ostensibly, AWUG meets on the third Tuesday of each month, but at the moment AWUG is facing a crisis. Both Mark and myself are too busy to effectively run the organization. As a result, meetings have been rare as of late. We need help. If you are interested in helping keep this group together, please let me know.

More information on AWUG can be found at:

http://www.quadralay.com/awug.html

As a bonus, here are pointers to Web sites about two of my favorite topics: beer and Austin music.

Beer Sites

alt.beer Site
Eric's Beer and Homebrewing Page
The Real Beer Page
Spencer's Beer Page

Austin Music Sites

Austin Axis Music Page
The Chris Duarte Group
The Fabulous Thunderbirds
The Naughty Ones
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble

If you know of a Web site about beer or Austin music, be sure to email me about it. Maybe I'll mention it in a future column. And feel free to send me CD's of your favorite Austin musician and six-packs of your favorite beer. That guarantees you'll be mentioned.