Flash has long since held a near-total domination of graphics-based online apps – however, with the advent of the iPhone and now with the anticipated release of the iPad, a major sector of mobile and possibly tablet market share cannot make use of the widespread Flash and Flash-based applications. Canvas is an HTML5 element allows for the dynamic painting of web-pages, and thus a way for developers to create visual elements for web-pages and apps independent of Flash. Is Canvas a viable alternative or even a threat to Flash's ubiquitous hold on the market? This is the question I wanted to discuss with Gregory Veen (@gregveen), of San Francisco's Small Batch Inc, who organized the Is Canvas the End of Flash? panel at SXSWi 2010.

Jana Thompson: Why did you want to do this panel at SXSWi?

Most people do not associate Africa with tech – but in the last ten years, Rwanda has struggled with developing a nascent IT industry and the advent of the mobile phone has begun to have a profound impact on day-to-day life in rural African villages. (see article in Business Week) After a discussion with a friend in San Francisco who works on txteagle, a project that allows for Kenyans to make money or cell-phone credit for work on their cell phones, I saw the Africa 3.0 panel on the table for SXSW and was interested, not only due to the conversation with my friend, but also from first-hand experience of life in Sierra Leone when I traveled there in 2008. LinearB and I contacted TMS Ruge, who agreed to be interviewed just in time for SXSWi this year. - Jana

Jana Thompson: This is drawn from your panel questions, but for the readers here at GeekAustin, what is Africa 3.0? How do you define it?

Thursday, March 4
Nerd Movie Night : 7pm - midnight
Double Feature
* Blade Runner, Director's Cut ( 7-9pm )
* INTERMISSION ( 30 min )
* Real Genius ( 9:30-11:30pm )

Saturday, March 13
Fun with Duck(duct) TAPE : : 7pm-9pm
Bring yourself, your imagination, and of course – a full roll of your favorite color of Duct(Duck) tape. We'll be making anything from wallets to shot glasses with The World's Most Useful Stuff.

Sunday, March 14
Austin DevHouse : : noon-midnight
An open software and hacking event running from noon to midnight! Bring your laptops, hardware, ideas, and creativity. Meet and greet other people in the spirit of open collaboration, and bring your idea to life. In the same tradition as Super Happy Dev House in San Francisco. We provide the open tables, internet access, snacks and drinks.

For more details, visit: http://www.austinhackerspace.org/events

Austin was a hotbed of pioneering Internet activity in the early 1990s, and one event that put us on the Internet map was the March 1, 1990 Secret Service raid at Steve Jackson Games (wikipedia), an Austin company that produced role playing games with science fiction themes. All the company's computers were confiscated, and as a result Steve Jackson sued the U.S. Secret Service, and won. The raid and court case made Steve a focus of the nascent cyber liberties movement - it was the first major case for the national Electronic Frontier Foundation (wikipedia), and subject of a bestselling book by Bruce Sterling, called The Hacker Crackdown (text, wikipedia).

Why did the Secret Service raid Steve Jackson Games? Why did Steve retaliate with a law suit, and how did he win a case against the U.S. government? On this 20th anniversary of the raid, EFF-Austin invites you to gather at Independence Brewing in Austin to get the answers. We'll have a rousing panel discussion of the case, and its place in history, featuring Steve Jackson, Bruce Sterling, and attorney Pete Kennedy. You can also sample locally-brewed Independence beer!

The Raid on Steve Jackson Games: 20th Anniversary Event
Date: Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Time: 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: Independence Brewing
Street: 3913 Todd Lane #607
City/Town: Austin, TX
Register here.

Sponsored by EFF-Austin and Plutopia Productions. This event is FREE (as in beer), but we strongly encourage donations to EFF-Austin.

Mona Kasra is a media artist / educator / PhD student in Arts & Technology / New Media enthusiast concerned with issues around Gender & Identity. You can follow her on:
* twitter: @monaism
* 12seconds.tv: monaism
* Flickr: _monaism
* vimeo: monaism

Jana Thompson: On your website, you mention complexities and paradoxes when cultures meet -- what is an example of one of those in your own life?

Mona Kasra: I grew up in Iran and my childhood was intertwined with an Islamic revolution and a war. I relocated to the United State when I was in my early 20s and immediately encountered a culture shock. My art is about this encounter: an Iranian women living in the United States able to express her femininity and sexuality but inspired by questioning cultural and traditional assumptions that she grew up with.