Silicon Florist’s links arrangement for September 29

Via OurPDX “As I recall, in the first giveaway there were two dozen unbranded oil-free hybrid cars powered by the collective kinetic energy of a crowd of mad MacBook Air keystrokers and Power User iPhone/Blackberry text messagers. In the hand-stitched organic velvet gift bags, we each received free matching his-and-her HD videocams with a gift certificate for a lifetime personal satellite uplink (and stickers!), a complimentary Herman Miller Aeron chair (and a button!), and a lifetime subscription to pre-edited versions of StrangeLoveLive. And then there was the outdoor fully-immersive multiplayer virtual reality gaming arena, but that was kind of boring unless you’re into that sort of thing.”

Dane Hesseldahl writes “OK… so let’s talk about what I learned this weekend at Wordcamp Portland.”

Nate Angell writes “I’m pleased to report that the first ever PDX Powerball Venture Capital fund returned earnings worthy of a Wall Street investment fund. With a generous $155 in initial capital, #powerballVC returned a stunning $9 in winnings!”

Via the AboutUs blog “On one hand it’s a little embarrassing to toot our own horn. On the other hand it’s fun to celebrate milestones! As of last Friday, AboutUs.org has a three-digit Alexa ranking (top 1000 for the first time)!”

Via the WhereCamp PDX blog “A disturbing new trend is showing up among the consumer base. It has the potential to be worse than mix-tapes, worse than the VHS, indeed worse than online piracy. Consumers are taking it upon themselves to make their own maps of their own neighborhoods and their own issues. The HQ for this behavior appears to be at WhereCamp Portland in October – we need to infiltrate this event and put a stop to this kind of behavior!”

Jack Bogdanski writes “Or at least, somebody’s making great headway in restoring it.”