Giddy With Geekery

A new iPhone, no Gizmodo, and Netflix, too: Welcome to WWDC with a jokey SteveJobs

If you think WWDC is anything like WWJD, please click the CultureMap logo at the top of this page. This article is not for you.

For those of you reading this on your iPad, which you will then chat about with your geekdafied cronies on your MacBook Pro, and maybe skim it again before bed on your iPhone, then by golly, the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (that's WWDC, if you're nasty) is your bloody Christmas, Easter, and holy wedding day, all rolled neatly into one techtastic summit.

Perhaps WWDC is closer to Jesus that we'd originally surmised.

Billed as "the most important annual event for anyone innovating with Apple technologies," it's really the biggest cyberdork convention of techtards since the ninth-grade national chess tournament. It'd be fair to liken it to the Geekdom Prom. And of course, Steve Jobs will always be crowned the effervescent, black-turtlenecked Prom King.

So it kinda sucks that Gizmodo had its invitation to the ball rescinded, s'posedly as a result of that pesky iPhone 4G scandal. You know, wherein Gizmodo kinda disassembled the phone and totally blew the cover off a notoriously secretive new version and some junk. But who was keeping track of whether Gizmodo was naughty or nice? Apparently Santa Jobs.

But the show must go on for the Jobs-fearing nerd population, and on went the infamous keynote indeed.

Since Gizmodo already blew the surprise, the reveal of the new iPhone 4G wasn't a huge epiphany. One would think. "Stop me if you've already seen this," Jobs cheekily quipped, referring to Gizmodo's faux pas in Appleland. "But believe me, you ain't seen it."

And you know what? He wasn't joshin'.

Although the design was spot-on with the leaked device, the wet dream became more and more of a reality, with the introduction of the phone's new "retina display (in short, a super duper brilliant screen)," a six-axis, motion-sensing gyroscope, a five-megapixel camera with an LED flash and front-facing lens (perfect for getting a case of the MySpace angles), an iMovie video-editing app, a brand new operating system, oh, and um, Netflix. For the iPhone.

Yes, we said Netflix.

If your diaper's wet, Apple fanboys, we certainly won't tell your mommies today. WWDC, look what you do to us! Damn, it feels good to be a geekster.

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50 years of TRF

First Renaissance Festival since owner's death draws strong attendance

Photo by Steven David Photography

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Those who were worried about the Texas Renaissance Festival (TRF) not performing well the first year after a court mandated its sale and the death of its founder can rest easy. The final gate totals show that the 2025 season was just as well attended as previous ones.

“The 51st annual Texas Renaissance Festival was another successful season thanks to our wonderful guests and dedicated team members,” TRF marketing director Tyler Moyer said. “Our team worked tirelessly to bring the magic of the Renaissance to life every weekend, and we’re grateful that our patrons love us more and more with every passing year. We’re so thankful to everyone who helped make this another great event, and we can’t wait to welcome folks back in 2026.”

In total, 492,910 patrons visited TRF over its eight themed weekends, with almost 100,000 coming through the gates for the final, extended Christmas weekend alone. On Friday, November 28, some, including this reporter, might have felt the event felt too crowded. Still, people made merry in medieval Santa costumes and the occasional Krampus.

While attendance was down about 8 percent from 2024 (533,356), that year featured many 50th anniversary celebrations. Over the past five years, TRF has averaged about 486,000 visitors according to the TRF media office. The numbers for 2025 are even more impressive considering that the last week of October featured torrential rain across the Houston area.

There was much concern about how well the festival would run. Earlier this year, founder George Coulam lost a court case mandating that he sell the festival after Coulam attempted to back out of a deal with Austin developer Meril Rivard. The matter was further complicated by Coulam's death in May, throwing the appeal process into chaos.

Throughout the tangled legal maneuverings, everyone running the festival vowed to keep it going just as it is. Grimes County Judge Gary W. Chaney appointed a pair of special masters to administrate TRF at the top while the matter sat in court, which they appear to have done flawlessly if the gate receipts are any indication.

Now that the season is over, all parties involved with the lawsuit will have free rein to continue the fight and another indicator of how popular and profitable TRF is. The 90 day appeal window open to Coulam's beneficiary closes in early 2026, Hopefully, the matter will be settled before the next season looms.

texas renaissance festival

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50 years of TRF

First Renaissance Festival since owner's death draws strong attendance