Las Vegas is Weird

It’s still hard to put ointo words just how weird Las Vegas is. Probably the easiest way to relate is what would happen if a hotel chain decided that rather than building around a Venice theme (which is what the owners decided to do with The Venetian, where Mix06 was held), they decided to do […]

Back From The USA

For those of you following the trip, I got back to Scotland on Friday afternoon, and I’ve spent the weekend decompressing. Back to work and websites properly tomorrow (Monday). In the meantime, for everyone who helped out with my trip, from beds, sofas, collecting and dropping me off at the airports, bringing me Dairy Milk […]

Mix06 Bingo

Having fun at Mix06, waiting to see if anyone is going to slip ‘off-message’ at The Venetian? Then while you’re waiting, why not take part in Mix06 bingo!

Simply print off the card, mark out the target phrase or buzzword, and the frist to shout “I’ve got the mix to shout Bingo!” with a full […]

SXSW Interactive 2006 Thoughts - The Fringe, but for Geeks

So the second major conference of my March mega-trip is over. South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, Texas, has been something that I’ve heard mentioned by many people over the years, and now I’ve finally attended I can see why it’s held in higher regard in some circles than the O’Reilly conferences.
The atmosphere is completely […]

Why I Still Like Flying American

One of the strangest things that I’ve noticed in conversation over in the USA is how many people raise a questioning eyebrow when they ask who I fly with - and I reply “American [Airlines].” This morning, leaving Austin and SXSW to get to the Bay Area, is a good example of why I stay […]

Etech 2006 Thoughts - Prepping to Jump The Shark?

So my time in San Diego is at an end (heading over to Austin for SXSW) and I’m trying to recap O’Reilly’s Emerging Technology Conference 2006. To me it seemeed to run at a slower pace this year, but then because I’m in the USA for more than just ETech, I’m pacing myslef very very […]

Kudos From Others ETech Coverage

Now this is both humbling and high-5 territory at the same time. Watching the blogosphere ETech coverage in the downtime between sessions at SXSW (hint, there’s not a lot of downtime!) I came across this paragraph of praise for attendees over at Attention Trust.
Bruce Sterling was refreshingly contrarian and had at least one killer line. […]

The First Rule About Robot Club Is…

…Americans have never heard of Spaced, so the irony of organising an ‘illegal’ Robot Wars (Battlebots) ‘demonstration’ at an undisclosed location in Austin for SXSW and BarCampAustin attendees was probably lost on them.

In any case much merriment was had and, indeed, there was ‘no smoking.’

Flickr Goodies From ETech

This works on so many levels! Congrats to Privateye on the words - had me chuckling while I pack up after Etech (thoughts soon) to move over to SXSW.

I’m The Seer…

…he’s a werewolf, and they are villiagers.
In actual fact the truth was he’s the seer, they’re werewolves, and I’m playing an insane villiager.
Last night at ETech saw an awesome single round of Werewolf. It pretty much guarantees that in any subsequent game at ETech I’ll get lynched in the first round, but if you want […]

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