I took the 5A bus to Dulles to catch my flight to Austin. The 5A is probably the best way to get to IAD from downtown. I think I might even like it better than driving myself. It's on time. The ride is comfortable. You can zone out. Relax. I highly recommend it. It was cold in DC when I left. In the 30s. Sweater, coat, scarf, gloves. You needed it all. Things were a little different in Austin. Fifty degrees different, actually. It's in the 80s here. It's pleasant in the mornings and evenings. But in the high afternoon it's a little on the hot side. So, for me, walking involve sweat. Because I do. I sweat.

I'm renting a PT Cruiser. I've never had an urge to drive a PT Cruiser. I got it because Enterprise had run out of 'economy' cars, which is what I had reserved. So they bumped me up to the Cruiser. The P-T. I told them I wasn't really keen on the PT Cruiser. I told them it really wasn't my cup of tea. But the next model up was a Grand Am, which wasn't any better. And I would have had to pay a bit more for it. So I took the Cruiser. The problem is I sit rather high in the car, and the top of the windshield is in my line of sight, which is annoying. I know you don't need to see the sky when you drive, but I like it like that. It makes me feel more comfortable. In Hoshi, you can sit low. You can see the sky.

There are more people at SXSWi this year than last year. Apparently, a couple thousand more. This thing just grows and grows. And I guess I feel a little jaded this year. When you're here, you're supposed to get out and meet people. That's the cool thing to do. And last year I was feeling that vibe. This year feels different. I'm here, and that's all good. And I'm excited about seeing people I know who live in town, like Bill, Jay and Yancy, JP and Liz, Alan, and Chris. And also people I met at last year's conference, like Patrick. But going to the parties just doesn't interest me. I gave it a try last night, and there just seems to be a lot of 'hero worship' going on. It's about seeing and being seen. It's like Hollywood for Geeks.

Here's a recap of the SXSW Interactive panels I attended on Saturday:

Emerging Social and Technology Trends
Interesting remarks on negotiating the public and private self, and having a sense of 'place.'

After the Brief: A Field Guide to Design Inspiration
Good quotation: "Inspiration is the sum total of your experiences reacting to new stimuli." While I'm not a graphic designer, there were some good gems in here to apply to other arts.

Kathy Sierra Opening Remarks
Her presentation was basically on how application FAQs pages are usually completely ineffective and unhelpful. It came with plenty of cute puppy photos. We don't need FAQs. We need 'WTF?' buttons.

From Blog to Book
A good discussion on non-traditional publishing routes.

Ruining the User Experience: When JavaScript and Ajax Go Bad
This one seemed promising, but was a little disappointing.

From Tags to Riches: Life After Code
DC-area's Cyndi Li was a panelist on this one. Good discussion on career tracks for Web Developers, or lack thereof.

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