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The Austin Business Journal reports that online giant Amazon has purchased Lexcycle, a company with Austin ties and the creators of Stanza, a popular e-book application. more ›

Four Longhorns, led by defensive end Brian Orakpo, were selected in this weekend's NFL Draft. Orakpo went to the Washington Redskins as the 13th player selected in the first round. Defensive tackle Roy Miller was picked by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third round, while the Chicago Bears chose defensive end Henry Melton in the fourth round and the St. Louis Rams selected running back Chris Ogbonnaya in the seventh. more ›

The other night, I drove past a young woman walking in the dark up my street, a busy thoroughfare in the ‘hood. I sized her up—maybe seventeen, probably less than a hundred pounds. I didn’t get three blocks before I circled back around, pulled up near her, rolled down my window, and mustered what I hope would be a no-really-I-am-a-safe-person-to-talk-to tone. Are you going far? I asked. She told me her destination, a couple of miles away, which would involve her walking along Airport Boulevard. If you feel safe letting me give you a ride, I could do that, I said. more ›

Former Texas defensive end Brian Orakpo is one of four players featured on the cover of NCAA Football 10. EA Sports put a different player on each version of the game (PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, XBox360) and selected players who helped "shape the competitive landscape of college football in 2008". more ›

Dell has found itself pulled into a legal battle over security camera purchases by the city of New Orleans. more ›

Four Austin companies and one California company were chosen Wednesday to participate in a summer startup program run by local technology incubator Capital Factory. more ›

It’s rather strange how expectations are built up. More often than not, they’re based in some alternate reality where everything and everyone’s interests revolve around the single individual (or group) who is building those expectations. In the case of absinthe: ME. As if their (my) needs trump those of the entire universe. Folly (genius). more ›

Every weekday morning we'll be featuring a photo (or two) from our readers. Please feel free to submit your photos (min 600px width) by adding them to the Austinist Flickr Group. more ›

Every weekday morning we'll be featuring a photo (or two) from our readers. Please feel free to submit your photos (min 600px width) by adding them to the Austinist Flickr Group. more ›

Now you can show off your knowledge of "Hunting, Fishing and Drinking: The Three Dude Groups" or "Top 40 Songs Butchered by David Hasslehoff" every weeknight in Austin. Geeks Who Drink hosts live pub quizzes at 60 locations throughout Texas, New Mexico and Colorado. This month, they're expanding the lineup to run Monday through Friday in Austin and adding a night in San Marcos as well. more ›

I’ve been a loudmouth for a very long time. As with other dominant traits, I trace this one straight back to my childhood where, having to compete with eight siblings for food, clothing, and parental attention, I instinctively knew I had to differentiate myself somehow. The quest for attention was, quite possibly, also fed by the fact that I was born at the tippy tail end of the Baby Boom. It is precisely my age group that seized upon Punk Rock, shaved our heads, and lashed out in our own fashion back in the late seventies and early eighties. By the time I made it to the University of South Florida in the early eighties, I was an expert at leading with my chin and, not long into my stint at that place, I was afforded a weekly opportunity to spout my thoughts via a column, dubbed Bloody Monday, that ran in the student daily, The Oracle. I wielded my pen mightily, taking on the frats, the Catholic Church, and any other organization that spurred my ire. Letters poured in in response—some supported me, many condemned me, and at least once someone said I was being prayed for. I left that beloved writing gig in a huff, after an editor refused to run a particular column he deemed inappropriate. more ›

University of Texas junior swingman Damion James will declare himself eligible for the 2009 NBA Draft but does not plan to hire an agent, he announced today. more ›

Every weekday morning we'll be featuring a photo (or two) from our readers. Please feel free to submit your photos (min 600px width) by adding them to the Austinist Flickr Group. more ›

A University of Texas team travels to Sweden this week for the world's most prestigious computer programming competition, the Battle of the Brains. more ›

The city of Round Rock has been selected to host the USSSA's national championship soccer tournament in December. more ›

Every weekday morning we'll be featuring a photo (or two) from our readers. Please feel free to submit your photos (min 600px width) by adding them to the Austinist Flickr Group. more ›

Every weekday morning we'll be featuring a photo (or two) from our readers. Please feel free to submit your photos (min 600px width) by adding them to the Austinist Flickr Group. more ›

How much do you project onto a person you have not met yet? more ›

The other day I was on the phone with some refinance guy at the company that holds the mortgage for my house. Just writing “mortgage” and “my house” makes me feel sort of grown up in a bad, scary way. Because I grew up in a hand-to-mouth family, never enough money to go around and I followed that model myself for a very long time, until I was in my forties. Until then it seemed that as far as the American dream of home ownership went, I was fucked. Which was fine—I actually do have a special place in my heart for rundown rentals and keeping it light enough to travel without being tied down to property. But four years ago, just about to the day, I was one of the odd ducks that benefited from those mortgages they were handing out like porno fliers on street corners in Vegas. Even though my financial life was about as tidy as the Odd Couple’s Oscar, and despite a bankruptcy just two years before, I scored a loan that landed me in an adorable house in Central Austin. Was it a crappy, interest only, albatross of a home loan? Hell yes. But it was my crappy home loan and I was thrilled. more ›

Every weekday morning we'll be featuring a photo (or two) from our readers. Please feel free to submit your photos (min 600px width) by adding them to the Austinist Flickr Group. more ›

Every weekday morning we'll be featuring a photo (or two) from our readers. Please feel free to submit your photos (min 600px width) by adding them to the Austinist Flickr Group. more ›

It was no accident that Time Warner Cable included Austin in its plans to roll out tiered pricing plans for Internet access. In fact, the city's concentration of tech-savvy customers is the very thing that attracted the company's efforts. more ›

After the Longhorns wrap up off-season workouts Saturday with the Texas Football Spring Jamboree, fans can take a piece of the action home. more ›

A few months ago, back when I was in my Recovering-from-Surgery-with-the-Aid-of-Netflix-and-Vicodin routine, my darling son, Henry, came to me and spoketh (slowly, so my drug-addled ears would understand). “Mom,” he said, “Get Kung-Fu Panda, you’ll love it.” My child has been one of those humiliated Children of the Corny Parent for a long time, the sort of kid who has had to sit next to the loudest laugher in the theater his whole life. We nearly got kicked out of Dobie the first time we saw Napoleon Dynamite—which I insisted on seeing about forty times— because I could not get a grip on myself, so loudly was I guffawing. So when my child recommends a flick, I can be pretty sure it’s going to be a winner by my standards, even without the aid of narcotics, and that it will be extremely goofy and induce much pant wetting. more ›

This week's Bill and Erik comic. more ›

State agencies would need special approval to update their computers to Microsoft's Vista operating system under the terms of a proposed budget provision. more ›

People flying out of Austin-Bergstrom on American Airlines will likely be able to send email, update their Facebook status, and watch YouTube following the airline's announcement yesterday that it is expanding its in-flight wifi program. more ›

Every weekday morning we'll be featuring a photo (or two) from our readers. Please feel free to submit your photos (min 600px width) by adding them to the Austinist Flickr Group. more ›