This could have been my video….thanks FedEx! Damn you and your slow boat plane to from China.
Update: Looks like he’s disabled embedding of the video. Here’s a direct link.
Archive for January, 2008
If you’re planning on heading to Austin in early March to attend South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi), here’s a few tips that might be helpful to you. I’ve been twice before and this year will be my third trip to Texas. Every year it’s gotten bigger than the last and I expect this year to be no exception.
SXSWi is actually only one part of the whole South by Southwest conference. Interactive happens the same time as the Film conference with the Music one starting when the film/web geeks vacate the hotels. Judging from the pictures I’ve seen, the music part is pretty amazing but I’ve never been able to stay for the full run of both conferences.
1. Pack light and bring a big suitcase.
You WILL get a lot of swag (or at least offered it) so be prepared to bring a bunch of stuff home and give it to your friends/coworkers that didn’t get to go (unless it’s cool).
Since it’s usually very warm in Austin so you can wear shorts and a t-shirt most of the time and a light jacket at night. You can even just wear the swag you get to save even more luggage space….last year I came home with about 15 t-shirts. Last year was a little cooler and it rained but it was still shorts weather.
2. Bring/wear comfortable shoes
You’ll be doing a LOT of walking between the panels, parties and your hotel so bring a good pair (or two) of comfortable shoes. Hopefully they’ve changed the panel layout this year after last year’s craziness of having a panel end at one end of the convention center and the next one begin at the other end. It is Texas and the convention center is easily the size of a small Alberta town.
3. Don’t stress about note taking
This event is easily one of most blogged/photographed/podcasted events and since you can’t expect to be everywhere at all times, you should have no problem getting the full scoop from someone else. SXSWi also publishes videos and podcasts of many panels. Although these seem to be posted over a very long period of time (like months) and not right after the event.
4. Get your DSLR tagged
kk+ gave me this tip last year (unfortunately before I had my Nikon) – if you have a ‘pro camera’ (or something that resembles one) you may be asked (but do it if not) to get your camera tagged by the Event staff. This lets people know you’re taking event photos….however they didn’t seem to care about my little Casio point and shoot. This also has the added benefit of helping you get into some places you may not normally (think Press Pass) when combined with your SXSWi lanyard. YMMV on this one.
5. Plan your power usage
EVERYONE brings a laptop to SXSWi and there are so many Apple computers there, you’d think that you were at MacWorld. Plan on charging your laptop at night for the next day. As long as your battery is decent, you should be able to last through most of the day unless you’re Twittering the whole time. If that’s the case, expect to have to share the power outlets that are strewn throughout the place with a bunch of others. Forgot your power adapter in the hotel room? No worries, as someone is bound to have the same device as you and I also witnessed some of the event staff lending cords to forgetful attendees (again it was Apple adaptors as most of the event is powered by Macs).
6. Stay in touch
If you are going to SXSWi by yourself, be prepared to meet a ton of people – you WILL leave with new friends. Chances are there are already a few people that you know going. You can find out by stalking the Online Registrants Directory, and watching Twitter/Jaiku/Pownce for SXSW messages. You might also want to get some Moo cards and be prepared to go through them all. As March draws closer, there will be a ton of online services to help attendees get organized. Panel schedules, party planners and more will be everywhere. If you want to get a head start, check out the SXSW Insider.
You’ll also want to find out about your mobile situation. Depending on your plan, make sure you understand the implications of using your cellphone in Texas. If you’re from Canada like me, prepare to get screwed on roaming charges. Even if you forward your phone to voicemail, you may be charged the roaming fees if it rings through in Austin. A better bet is picking up a disposable (don’t really throw it out when you’re done) cellphone or pay as you go SIM card if you rock the GSM. AT&T has a cheap phone you can pickup almost anywhere south of the border for $10-20 that will give you a cheap local number while down south. I got my phone/sim from Radio Shack for $10 with a $10 credit (free+tax) then added a $25 card. T-Mobile also has SIM cards you can get from ebay but they apparently don’t let you use data on the prepaid SIMs unlike AT&T. Make sure if you do get a phone down there that you can find additional add on cards for it…the first year I took a US Virgin Mobile phone with me and couldn’t find the cards anywhere and they didn’t accept my Canadian credit card to top up online or over the phone.
Unless your company is paying (and doesn’t care), the pay as you go route will be infinitely cheaper than anything a Canadian provider will charge you. Don’t forget to change/disable/reroute your Twitter/Jaiku/Facebook mobile notifications as well as those can get costly when roaming depending on your plan.
That’s all for now….more as SXSWi gets closer!
Impatiently waiting for this thing to arrive.
At least it’s been shipped a few days ahead of schedule…although I appear to have missed the cutoff but is expected (by Apple) to be delivered on Monday, Feb 4th.
I must be looking forward to that ‘new Apple product’ smell you get when you open the package….I wonder if this one will smell any different since it’s now a greener device with no bitter arsenic aftertaste.
UPDATE: The anxious fanboys (myself included) in the forums are scouring the internets for cool ways to track the bundles of Air and found this site that tracks your package on a Google Map (or even Google Earth):
I felt a disturbance in the force….now I must help Duane battle the evil in our midst.
Charging up the lightsaber.
UPDATE: This post is now obsolete – see this one for the simple, easy method.
I haven’t tried it yet but the iPhone forums seem to be abuzz with people successfully upgrading their iPhones to the latest firmware (1.1.3) and software unlocks still working. Thanks to Nate True, there is a software jailbreak method now available for 1.1.3.
Detailed instructions for Mac users (the title tag is wrong) and for PC users.
Nate’s site has the instructions but this one has screenshots of the entire process so that should be more reassuring….although don’t blame me if you’re left with a nice Apple branded paper weight when you’re done – make sure you READ EVERYTHING before you do it as there are some issues with certain versions of iPhones (baseband and unlock method) – you’ve been warned!
I’ll probably try it out this weekend and will post back here when I’m done.
UPDATE: Nate has posted a FAQ for helping those that have attempted the jailbreak and run into problems. You should avoid this method if you have a PowerPC Mac as well.
Last year, a coworker and I made a submission for a panel at SXSW Interactive. Unfortunately, we didn’t get enough votes (but thanks for yours if you took the time!) – that or it was because we’re not internet rockstars (yet).
But I’m still going as an attendee and finally took a closer look at the sessions that did make the cut. It’s not a final list yet nor is it a list with the full details of each session.
As you can see from the list below, it’s pretty huge and I’ve chopped out a ton of sessions simply because I don’t know more about them yet. This is usually the problem at SXSW – there are too many great sessions going on and they always seem to be in the same time slot. I think there is something like 8 sessions going on at any time during the conference so it’s impossible to have a perfect schedule. Somehow, I’m sure I’ll manage, possibly with the help of some good BBQ.
Ironically, I had gone through the schedule before the names were attached and had actually circled the “Blame Canada” session without even knowing that kk+ was the one giving it so I’m sure it will rock. I’m also glad to see Kathy Sierra on the list again – she’s made SXSW worth attending every time I’ve been to her sessions.
Here’s a few sessions that have piqued my interest based on title or speaker alone – hard to believe this is only a small portion of the sessions too:
AJAX and Flash Mistakes (Jonathan Boutelle)
Behind the Scenes at the Onion News Network (Sean Mills)
Filching Design: When the Shoe Fits (Lindsey Simon)
How to Rawk SXSW: Achieving Geekgasm (Ariel Waldman)
The Rise of Authentic Media (Derek Powazek)
Social Marketing Strategies Metrics, Where Are They? (Tom Parish)
Social Network Coups: The Users are Revolting! (Annalee Newitz)
The Suxorz: The Worst Ten Social Media Ad Campaigns of 2007 (Henry Copeland)
Taking Your Web Talent to the Video Game Industry (Adam DuVander)
Top Ten Lessons Learned in E-Commerce (Tony Hsieh)
Worst Website Ever: That’s So Crazy, It Just Might Work (Andy Baio)
You’re the Pawn, Sucker: a Google Maps-Nintendo Mash-up (Rodney Gibbs)
Keynote Speaker: Mark Zuckerberg
A/B Testing: Design Friend or Foe? (Corey Chandler)
Career Transitions: From DIY to Working for The Man (Jason Garber)
Does Tomorrow’s World Need Designers? (David Merkoski)
Everyone’s A Design Critic (Jason Santa Maria)
From Frustration to Elation: Getting Emotional by Design (Dan Rubin)
Logos: Why They’re Irrelevant and Can Actually Hurt Your Business (Bryan Zmijewski)
Magic and Mental Models: Using Illusion to Simplify Designs (Jared M. Spool)
Make It So: Learning From SciFi Interfaces (Nathan Shedroff)
Mobileactive: How Mobile Technology Impacts Politics and Vice Versa (Justin Oberman)
The Science of Designing Interactions (Andreas Weigend)
Scope Creep and Other Villains (James Archer)
Social Design Strategies (Emily Chang)
Tools for Enchantment: 20 Ways to Woo Users (Kathy Sierra)
A Critical Look At OpenID (Jason Levitt)
The Art of Self-Branding (Lea Alcantara)
Blame Canada: 7 Ways We’re Ahead in New Media (Kris Krug)
Browser Wars: Deja Vu All Over Again? (Arun Ranganathan)
Building Developer-Friendly Web Service APIs (Ben Vinegar)
Building Portable Social Networks (Jeremy Keith)
Hardware Mashups: Introducing the Long Tail of Gadgets (Peter Semmelhack)
How Piracy Will Save the Music Industry (Jason Schwartz)
Make Your Audience Love You (Tom Merritt)
Mobile Phones: International Devices of Mystery (Michael Sharon)
Self Replicating Awesomeness: The Marketing of No Marketing (Brian Oberkirch)
Social Networking and Your Brand (Jina Bolton)
Startup Metrics for Pirates: AARRR! (Dave McClure)
Content Management System Roundup (George DeMet)
Creative Collaboration: Building Web Apps Together (Paul Hammond)
Data as Art: Musical, Visual Web APIs (Peter Kirn)
Designing for Freedom (Gina Bianchini)
The Future of Corporate Blogs (Lionel Menchaca)
Futurists’ Sandbox: Scenarios for Social Technologies in 2025 (Michele Bowman)
Getting There Faster By Using Open Code (Jack Moffitt)
How to Rawk After SXSW: Staying Inspired (Kevin Smokler)
Life After the i-Phone (Kate Ryan)
Roll Over Gutenberg, Tell McLuhan The News (George Kelly)
Secrets of JavaScript Libraries (John Resig)
Take Municipal WiFi Back (Joanna Rees)
Taking Over the World: the Flickr Way (Simon Batistoni)
Using Entertainment to Create Effective Mobile Advertising (Adam Zbar)
Whew…it’s going to be a busy conference.
In a shocking move that is both good and bad at the same time, Rogers has apparently changed their data plans. Bad because it’s still woefully overpriced compared to the rest of the planet but good because now instead of raping you in overages if you go beyond your data allotment, they now just bump you up to the next tier which actually seem relatively fair.
They’ve got a long way to go before they can expect anyone other than corporate users to start using mobile data in any significant way on their network. I guess rollover data is also a pipe dream at this point.
via Engadget Mobile
As if there was any doubt that the Blogger team would win CBC’s Test the Nation.
Check out Rebecca (aka Miss604) on national tv talking about her blog and podcast:
Get the full scoop and pictures on her blog. Way to go Bloggers!
Note to YouTube: I hate your videostill chooser thingy….it is teh suck.
Looks like it’s working now.
How do you track comments?
Just wondering how people deal with comments. I don’t mean on your blog, but rather on posts you’re interested in reading the responses to or that you’ve responded to.
You could bookmark that post/page, subscribe to an RSS feed to that post or blog if they offer one or …?
This site has a feed for every post (and that may be a default behavior of WordPress) but that usually involves a few extra steps in order to keep track.
For the last few months, I’ve been using Co.mments.com thanks to a tip I got on Twitter from Jonathan Snook. It works very simply: you simply drag a link to your favorites/links bar and as you surf just click on it when you are on a page with comments you want to track. Then when you want to see if there has been any new responses, just visit the co.mments tracking page (you create a free account first or just use a cookie) and it will display the latest responses to any tracked posts. It doesn’t seem to matter how the site is built or displays comments, it seems to figure things out pretty well.
Another nice thing is that you can subscribe to an RSS feed of your tracking page so you can just through that in your feed reader and check it like any other feed. They do offer an email digest of any new comments as well but I found it to be too far behind….I’m impatient.
For a free service, it’s pretty solid….occasionally it’s a little slow to respond but overall I recommend it if you want an easy, passive way to keep track of any discussions or debates on a blog.