Currently about 6 bucks and worth every penny. Find some decent light, drop the card on a flat surface, snap a shot and let the app do the rest.

track the wackiness at posterous.

animated gif by threeframes

It is my last week at Tsavo Media in Santa Monica. From the beginning, my plan was to create a publishing team and set of key products and then resume life in Northern California once some key goals were met. In my ten months with Tsavo we created a dream team of product, content and design all stars. Over the past 3.5 intense months, our efforts have resulted in going from zero to nearly 3 million visitors per month (based on 5.15.09 to 6.15.09) within a profitable business.

When we launched the network, we had a site for guys called Manolith, one for women called Twirlit and another for Parents called Kidglue. We also had the beginning stages of our network portal called Daymix. Not long after we acquired a site called opensourcefood and renamed it Nibbledish. Our new little publishing network started on the foundation of universality – topics that had mass appeal. Within these broad categories lived a world where we could experiment with different types of content to see what kind of audiences would emerge and then continue to feed them heavy doses of what they love. While the network is still young, it has generated significant traction in a short time frame.

I’ll obviously miss working alongside the team in Santa Monica and know they’ll continue to kick ass. I’ll now be focusing my sights back on product innovation and user experience design for a few interesting companies in the short term. Although moving to LA didn’t happen while at Tsavo, the idea is still alive, so let me know if you need a house sitter for the summer!

OK this might be the coolest Twitter stream ever. Michael J. Massimino (@astro_mike) is on Mission STS-125: Final Shuttle Mission to Hubble Space Telescope. Massimino, from Franklin Square, N.Y., will be making his second trip to Hubble and his second space flight. He performed two spacewalks to service the telescope during the STS-109 mission in 2002. This time around he’s tweeting and you can follow here.

(@astro_mike’s on the far left)

Thanks @JustineBateman for the tip!

Twiistup was created to showoff innovative creations, share new opportunities and above all else, have some fun. Since Twiistup 1 in February, 2007 we have experienced five exciting events that have served as a catalyst for even more growth in SoCal. I’m proud to say that we’ve participated in a grassroots movement that has unified some highly original bits and pieces, attracted a global audience and redefined the mid-week mixer.

Through Twiistup, I personally have had the privilege of connecting with some seriously talented individuals. My initial intent was to connect with designers and developers in the LA area, but the community that I was introduced to far surpassed my craziest dreams. Throughout tech, media and entertainment, the entrepreneurship and energy that exists in SoCal is off the charts. So much so, that I ditched my Silicon Valley gig for a startup in the heart of Santa Monica.

After the initial experiment, and success, of Twiistup 1, my intention was to grow it into something much bigger and brighter. And grow it did! Our first event had a capacity of 200 people, our fifth event had over 1000 attendees. While I’ve had great support of some key people in LA, I’ve now realized Twiistup has grown beyond my own capacity limitations (aka, my day job).

So, I am really excited to announce that Twiistup will take on new ownership and expand beyond its trademark “Showoff” competition, and signature evening event, to include a full conference agenda. There are also plans to help seed similar event models in other cities. This is huge for the LA tech community and the Twiistup brand, and seems to be the logical next step in it’s evolution. No worries, Twiistup will remain “an alternative to traditional networking events” and continue to serve up the unique, creative and unexpected.

[quote from the new boss] “Twiistup had expanded from a small grassroots local event to one of the most well regarded regional showcases for tech and media. This investment allows us to carry out Mike’s vision of adding a full conference agenda to the famed evening event and making it more of a national draw,” said new Twiistup Producer, Francisco Dao, a LA-based entrepreneur who will be taking over day-to-day management. [end of quote]

I will still be involved with Twiistup as a creative advisor and will continue to participate in all of the excitement that’s happening in SoCal. I’ll still be in the area focusing more attention to another company I helped start called Tsavo Media.

Thank you to all those that have contributed to Twiistup’s success – so many in the LA tech scene made this a true community effort, but I have to call out Nicole Jordan and Jeremiah Abraham. Another is my wife, Steph Macadaan, the self proclaimed Director of Pretty Much Everything. While I’d love to say that I am some kind of genius-magician pulling off these events on top of my day job, it just wasn’t the case and she deserves way more credit than she ever received.

See you at an event soon!

@macadaan

Photos and video from all 5 Twiistup events

Twiistup 1 / Feb 2007 / Zanzibar in Santa Monica / 200 attendees

‘Sketched Video’ made with a sketch pad and a sharpie on my kitchen table.  Can you find the typo?

Photos from that hot night at Zanzibar.

Twiistup 2 / Aug 2007 / Air Conditioned Supper Club in Venice / 300 attendees

‘Showoffs’ video

Interviews!

Photos

Twiistup 3 / Jan 2008 / Air Conditioned Supper Club in Venice / 300 attendees

Covered on CBS

Photos

Perez Hilton chats with Shira Lazar

TechZulu’s take

Twiistup 4 / Jul 2008 / Viceroy in Santa Monica / 600 attendees

Steve Weibe of King of Kong chats with Robert Scoble

More Video

TechZulu

Photos

Twiistup 5 / Feb 2009 / Hangar 8 at the Santa Monica Airport / 1000 attendees

Rich DeMuro of Synchedupshow.com

From lalawag

From Bub.blicio.us

Photos

Random fact: We infused our sister event in Vancouver BC with some Twiistup love. Here’s one of the many videos..

I’ve been living on this plane for a while.  Right now I’m heading for Vegas with @stephmacadaan, sipping le tourment vert absinthe, writing a blog post.  life is good and so is this chilled beverage.  i guess virgin is the first to serve absinthe and it’s the first airline that i’ve surfed the web on.  yes, there’s a joke in there somewhere.  my one complaint about virgin america is that usually only 20% of the TV channels come in but there’s also movies, games, chat, web, food, drink and nice lights to distract you.  Well this is starting to sound like an ad for V so I’m going back to my bev and Steph.

Over at Birdbrid you can sift through Andy’s sketches, book covers, t-shirts and his beautiful art.  You can also check him out on Flickr or MySpace which would be quicker than meeting him in person unless you’re in Rochester, New York.  Nice work Andy – I want some of your work on my walls but I’ll settle for on my t-shirt.

Influences: Herzog, Jodorowsky, Cage, Reich, Fahey, Svankmajer, Tubby, Perry, Marr, Cober, Kircher, Fludd, Blake, Rauch

Crème de la Crème is a fragrance and beauty care boutique that opened located in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.  Why should you care?  It’s a gorgeous space! Aside from what the space is intended for it is very sexy, smart, comfortable and interesting.  I’m aiming for this feel somewhere – work, home or maybe both.

The first time I really heard anything from Sean was at a Mixergy event last year.  I told him that night that I wanted to hire him and he became the Director of Content at Tsavo a few weeks later.  I had the pleasure of meeting Laurie shorty thereafter.  Great article in LA Weekly about them both.  You can read more from both of them at lalawag or seanpercival.com.

(photo by kevin scanion)