Piecing together tech scene from its spare parts

Whether you’re building an Ikea dresser, a car engine or a plastic airplane model, it’s always unsettling to find parts left over at the end of the project.

Sometimes it’s just a screw or washer. Sometimes it’s something more important that requires a bit of a rebuild. And other times, it’s tough to tell exactly what the part is or how it was supposed to fit into the larger picture.

Every now and then, you have to lay out all the pieces, take a step back and study the situation from a distance.

With the pandemic receding, the San Antonio and Texas tech scene is continuing to reboot. As it does so, here are some orphan storylines — some spare parts — it’s important to keep tabs on. Too bad there’s no schematic diagram to help put them together.

“That’s so Austin”: Several people reported hearing those words from attendees at the

Tech Reboot Rally on May 27 at Legacy Park. Tech Bloc, San Antonio’s tech industry group, hosted the event that brought 1,300 people together to celebrate the city’s growing tech district.

On the map: The San Antonio Tech District website features an interactive map that shows

where the city’s “burgeoning population of smart creatives” can live, work and play downtown. The website calls the map a “lifestyle hub.” Is it too soon to say, “That’s so Austin?” TaskUs: This New Braunfelsbased tech firm priced its initial public offering of company stock at $23 per share. It started trading June 11 on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “TASK.” It opened Tuesday at $31.56 per share.

Usio moving up: The San Antonio-based financial technology firm announced its shares would start trading on the Nasdaq Global Market on Tuesday. It was previously trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market. The company reported $1 billion in transactions in May, its highest ever.

Geekdom: San Antonio’s techcentric coworking space is revving back up. CEO Charles Woodin said people are returning to work at the space. July saw only 20 people a day. That number doubled in December. May averaged 99, and June is seeing more than 140 a day. UTSA vs. ransomware: The University of Texas at San Antonio

announced Monday that it will get $500,000 from the National Science Foundation to develop data-driven methods

and algorithms to fight cyberattacks. Elias Bou-Harb, director of UTSA’s Cyber Center for Security and Analytics, is the

project’s principal investigator. Seeing Ganymede: NASA’s

Juno spacecraft, with instruments from San Antonio-based Southwest Research Institute, captured images of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede on June 7. “This is the closest any spacecraft has come to this mammoth moon in a generation,” said principal investigator Scott Bolton.

Into the crypto game: San Antonio’s Victory Capital announced it plans to enter the cryptocurrency market. According to a statement, the company will offer “private funds that track the Nasdaq Bitcoin Reference Price Index as well as the Nasdaq Ethereum Price Index.” Big shoes to fill: Not Hi-Tec, but the city’s shoe company,

San Antonio Shoemakers, or SAS, scored a $25.4 million contract with the Department of Defense. Under the two-year deal, the company will provide women’s and men’s athletic shoes to the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force.

Tower watchers: At Boca Chica Beach outside Brownsville, SpaceX fans are closely watching crews build a new launch

tower for the Starship and its Super Heavy booster. The company has FAA permission to build a 469-foot tower. According to NASASpaceflight.com, the structure is halfway complete. Tiger King NFTs: Random, but interesting. Joe Exotic, the viral star of Netflix’s 2020 docuseries “Tiger King,” is selling some of his stuff via nonfungible token. He’s currently in federal prison in Fort Worth, and he’s working with Las Vegas-based MORE to sell items that include his pistol, holster and fringed-leather jacket.

So, that’s quite a smorgasbord of spare parts spread across the workbench for San Antonio’s tech scene. Some of these are likely to fit into larger stories, while others will fall into the dustbin.

Regardless, it’s good to see so many pieces moving. That’s so San Antonio.

Robin Jerstad / Contributor Some 1,300 people gathered last month for the Tech Reboot Rally to celebrate the city’s growing tech district. Among the reactions: “That’s so Austin.”

Tom Reel / Staff photographer UTSA is getting $500,000 to fight cyberattacks. Elias Bou-Harb, left, of UTSA’s Cyber Center for Security and Analytics, is principal investigator.

William Luther / Staff photographer Folks are returning to the coworking space Geekdom — more than 140 a day, its CEO reports. Here, a partner at LS4 3D Printing works in the space on Dec. 17.

NASA Juno, with instruments from Southwest Research Institute, captured images of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede this month.