Brent: By now, you may have already heard about allegations of racist and anti-Semitic images and comments tied to the Rainy Street bar Unbarlievable. But, what you may not have seen is how these troubling things caught the media’s attention and may have helped spur an investigation by the Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission.

And it’s very much a tech story. It was online reviews and comments that first made the complaints public — and it was the comments and responses attributed to bar owner Brandon Cash that have led to the most outrage.

Meanwhile, it was a crowdsourced effort led by Christian Rodriguez, the founder and CEO of Burstworks, an Austin-based market research startup based at Capital Factory, that helped many fellow Austinites, reporters and other connect the dots and identify a trend in the commentary and actions attributed to the bar and its owner.

I spoke with Rodriguez Thursday night to learn more. You can read the full story here — but here are a few highlights:

“This wouldn’t have been possible without Yelp and Google reviews,” Rodriguez told me. “That’s the only way I was able to find information about what occurred.”

Certainly, this isn’t the first time the mindhive of the Internet has brought massive pressure and spotlight to a person or business doing or saying inappropriate things. But, it’s the first time I’ve seen a shared Google Doc used by a group to piece a story together through links, screen shots and other narratives. There were about 10 people in the document at midnight Thursday, which shows the level of intensity going into it.

And, perhaps one of the most important factors in this story is that it’s a big news item now, which could have the positive effect of bringing attention to any similar hateful activity at other businesses — and remind everyone that people are paying attention and do care.

“A lot of people have come to me with a lot of incriminating material about a lot of different bars, and people should be careful and watch out,” Rodriguez said. “This is no longer one person… it is bigger than anyone individual. The Internet decentralized this effort.”

– Robert F. Smith, founder and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, one of the most active tech buyout firms in the world, will speak at Social Solutions Global’s Impact Summit in Austin Sept. 27-29. It’s a relatively rare opportunity. Smith, who lives in Austin, has rarely granted interviews or sought any media attention for his work — which includes climbing the ranks at as an engineer, becoming the first person at Goldman Sachs dedicated solely to tech mergers and acquisitions and being one of the nation’s leading philanthropists. (And there’s a lot more… see this Washington Post profile for more insight.)

– Last night was DivInc‘s Demo Day where diverse founders pitched in front of a packed house at Capital Factory. You can watch a replay of the entire event and pitches here.

– Blue Apron, the New York-based meal kit company that has offices here in Austin, has had a rough go of its IPO. The company’s stock today fell below its lower-than expected initial price to $9.34 a share. But, as MarketWatch noted, a bad first day doesn’t always portend a long-term tumble — Caravana, for example, had a rough start and turned itself around. That said, Blue Apron’s IPO comes in the wake of Amazon‘s purchase of Whole Foods, which seems to have sent shivers down the spines of almost everyone in or near the grocery industry. One more Austin tie: Blue Apron founder and CEO Matt Salzberg is also a founding board member and business advisor for Embark, the Austin-based dog DNA kit startup that launched last year.

Not many organized tech events going on this 4th of July weekend. So, cut loose and do your thing — or take the time to finally get that side hustle going. Here’s where to catch the fireworks.

– Austin’s main Independence Day celebration starts on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. with a concert by the Austin Symphony. The fireworks start around 9:30 p.m. The event draws tens of thousands of people to downtown Austin, so plan your trip accordingly. I’d suggest hiking the trail along Lady Bird Lake (bring a flashlight) to easier parking or do the RideAustin/Lyft/Fasten/Uber thing.

– You can also catch fireworks on Tuesday at the Hill Country Galleria. The party starts at 6:30 p.m. with music by The Watters and Vallejo. Fireworks start around 9 p.m.

– And don’t forget you can do the 4th of July all day and all night with Willie Nelson and a long list of other country artists playing Willie’s 4th of July Picnic out at the Austin360 Amphitheater at the Circuit of the Americas. Yep, they got fireworks, too. 

• From Kara Perez: How I Started a Business For Less Than $2,000
• From Molly Connell: How we all benefit from more women in Engineering
• From The NYTimes: Hacks Raise Fear Over N.S.A.’s Hold on Cyberweapons

For any long-time reader of Austin’s primary Reddit page, the Chili‘s at 45th and Lamar is something of a legend.

With so many people asking about where to eat in Austin (years ago), people started snidely suggesting the Chili’s at 45th and Lamar. It’s chuckle worthy since Austin is generally known for favoring local businesses over chains and for having an abundance of kick ass Mexican and Tex-Mex food.

Anyway, the joke lives on — on Reddit, naturally. Someone built the Chili’s at 45th and Lamar in Minecraft and shared the images on Reddit… for apparently no good reason other than why the hell not?

One commenter applauded the creator, saying: “You deserve a nice pixelated frosty marg.”

And another added: “And it only costs 8 bits.”

Send news tips, feedback and rants to: brent@austininno.com.

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