Twestival Local is :

…a global series of events organized by volunteers around the world under short timescales, which bring people offline for a great cause.  Twestival is run 100% by volunteers and independently from any not-for-profit; although the organizing teams do work closely to outline an achievable and measurable fundraising target.

Events are being run all over the world, and I know that a huge amount of work has been done  to get Galway’s up-and-running; from sorting out a venue, to looking for sponsors & pushing ticket sales. This time around, you don’t even need to be from Galway to participate – you can contribute by buying one of the “Sorry I can’t make it tickets”, and even win prizes (like this nice iPod Touch that I want, sponsored by Gold Sponsor LookWest.ie).

I was at the last Twestival in Galway back in February, and it was great to meet so many nice people at it; including a few that weren’t using Twitter and didn’t know anything about it.  So, you’re pretty much guaranteed a good night if you drop in for a beer or two.

So, if you want to find out more, check out the Twestival Galway site (or on Twitter). There are still some tickets left, so you can buy them now, or if you can’t make it, take a look at the small donation you can make instead.

Niall give some advice for budding online foodies. Lots of the advice is good for keeping up with any subject you’re interested in.

Digital Rights Ireland suggest Taking a Closer Look at Surveillance.

Ever been taken by surprise by terrorism? “Don’t be caught unprepared in the case of another terrorism attack” – there’s a sales pitch. It’s for the Terrorism Survival Bundle, which includes a Terrorism Travel Planner (International & US versions)…always going to be handy I’m sure. [Via here]

ReadWriteWeb have some thoughts from some of their sponsor companies on whether a Product roadmap should be Transparent or Secret. Personally, I’d go for secret when it comes to particular features.

Here are some Dirty Little Web Development Tricks. And another list of freelance business advice. Some good stuff in both lists.

Interested in Open Source Software? The first OSSBarcamp in Dublin is on March 28th. They’ve started looking for topics & speakers.

First off, The Beauty Agent, which was launched yesterday by the lovely Jo. She’s started a blog there too looking at what’s new in the world of beauty products & tips, (there is also the disclaimer that I’m very biased for a number of reasons in linking to this!) .

Earlier this week Joe Scanlon launched his blog in Cork. He’s had the great idea of having guest bloggers write posts on “5 things you should know about…”. The first of which is about Advert Recording. Interesting & educational!

Some other interesting stuff:

• Enterprise Ireland have announced a Business Partners Programme. The idea being that it “…gives  participating entrepreneurs first choice from Enterprise Ireland’s portfolio of potential start-up companies”. Doing so gives those involved in start-ups access to valuable knowledge & experience, something which was highlighted as being needed in the excellent discussion some time ago on how to foster innovation in Ireland on Pat Phelan’s blog.
• Oxfam Ireland got their Christmas Unwrapped campaign underway; so why not buy someone you like a pig?
• Sitepoint gives some advice on Marketing for Christmas. It’s that time of year.
• On Startups have a nice list of soundbites – Wimps Wait. Revolutionaries Release Early. It’s slightly ironic that I post that all things considered.
• There are some interesting thoughts on software piracy on the Balsamiq blog. Balsamiq is a micro-ISV that was recently featured on ReadWriteWeb after hitting $100,000 in revenues after less than 5 months in business. Great story.