Keynote – Kathy Sierra, Creating Passionate Users (SXSWi 2007)
Keynote – Kathy Sierra Opening Remarks
Kathy Sierra, Creating Passionate Users (SXSWi 2007)
10:00a.m. – Emerging Social and Technology Trends (SXSWi 2007)
10:00a.m. – Emerging Social and Technology Trends (SXSWi 2007)
Moderator: Laura Moorhead, Sr Editor Culture – Wired
Laura Moorhead Sr Editor Culture, Wired
Andrew Blum Contributing Editor, Wired
Robert Fabricant Exec Creative Dir, Frog Design
Eliot Van Buskirk Columnist/Blogger, Wired News
Peter Rojas Engadget
Daniel Raffel Product Mgr, Yahoo!
SXSW Friday
The plane trip wasn’t bad, aside from the fact that I forgot gum on the first leg and thus had a headache from my ears popping, and I managed to spill Starbucks on myself because the cup lid was borked. Nice.
We got in around lunch, checked into the hotel, went to the Irowworks BBQ (highly recommended – definitely eat there), and then got in the long, long line to register.
Internet celebrities we saw in line – Ernie Hsuing from little.yellow.different, and Garrett Dimon. In all, one of the largest collections of geeks and nerds I’ve ever seen congregated in one spot. And not coincidentally, one of the largest collections of snarky, funny t-shirts, too. I feel right at home.
After registering, we had a free beer in the beer tent, and spotted Shaun Inman, and Andy Budd hanging out there.
After registering we met up with our co-workers from New Jersey and went to dinner at Sullivan’s. There weren’t too many parties on the schedule last night, so we called it a night pretty early. We have a full plate today…
Panels I’m interested in:
10:00AM A Decade of Style (19AB)
10:00AM Better than 1,000 Words: Video on the Web (12AB)
11:30AM After the Brief: A Field Guide to Design Inspiration (18ABCD)
02:00PM Kathy Sierra Opening Remarks (18ABCD)
03:30PM Grids Are Good and How to Design with Them (18ABCD)
04:05PM Beautiful Algorithms: Design from Nature and Mathematics (10AB)
05:00PM High Class and Low Class Web Design (18ABCD)
05:00PM Mapping: Where the F#*% Are We Now? (Ballroom F)
And parties that caught my eye:
frog design SXSW Opening Party
AMODA Digital Showcase
BuzzFeed + Ze Frank + Juiceboxxx SXSW Party
SXSW anticipation
I’ve been busy getting prepared for the South by Southwest conference, and the closer it gets, the more excited I am. I am hugely lucky that we’re being sent by work – our whole web design team from both Indianapolis and New Jersey is going – which means I don’t have to foot the bill (yay!). Of course I’ll learn a lot that applies to my job, but I’ll also get a lot out of it that applies to my personal hobbies (like this website) as well. For one thing, some of the biggest, most high-profile bloggers will be there, along with the biggest website designers and developers. Also the folks who develop the content management software I use will be there, and I’ll get a chance to talk to them. And the SXSW film and music conferences are going on, too, so there will be lots of creative people converging in a small area.
Balcony Finished
The contractor we hired to re-deck our balcony finished in two days flat, which is pretty impressive. This was a new contractor we hired, because the guy who’s been working on our gutters for eight months couldn’t manage to get to the balcony job, and we’ve had water coming into our kitchen all winter.
It’s frustrating when repairs are delayed, especially when it affects the integrity of your home, like the water intrusion we experienced in our kitchen. A functioning gutter system is key to protecting your home from water damage, and when installation or repairs aren’t handled promptly, the consequences can be severe. Properly installed gutters, along with an efficient roofing system, ensure that rainwater is diverted away from your home’s foundation and structure.
The importance of choosing reliable, efficient contractors cannot be overstated. Learn more about Gutters 4 Less and how their team provides both gutter and roof installation services with a focus on quality and timeliness. By hiring professionals with a proven track record, homeowners can avoid unnecessary delays and prevent long-term damage. A timely, expert installation makes all the difference in maintaining the safety and durability of your home.
But now we have to paint the new balcony floor, post and rails, which we started on today. We need to get the wood covered so it doesn’t get warped and wet, but the off and on rain/snow keeps getting in the way. And I’m leaving Friday for sxsw.com, so we have to fit the rest of the painting in with not much time.
And regarding my old house, most of the repairs are done. We seem to still have an offer on the table as of today, as well. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I’m cautiously optimistic.
Exposure to rain and snow can warp the wood, compromising the integrity of the structure before the work is even complete. This is why sealing and protecting exterior surfaces as soon as possible is critical to ensuring longevity and durability. Investing in high-quality protective coatings can help safeguard these surfaces from moisture, UV exposure, and general wear, preventing costly repairs down the road.
For homeowners looking for long-term solutions to protect their homes, visit us at ThermaCote to explore advanced weather barrier coatings designed to shield your home from the elements. Whether it’s a newly installed balcony or an aging exterior that needs reinforcement, these coatings provide an added layer of defense against heat, moisture, and environmental stressors.
By incorporating energy-efficient, weather-resistant solutions, homeowners can maintain the structural integrity of their properties while reducing maintenance costs over time.
Big List of Things I Like
Posted for no apparent reason, except that I needed a pick-me-up because it’s been a crappy week. Feel free to add your own list in the comments.
Monkeys, especially:
– Curious George
– Hanuman
– King Kong
Board Games, especially:
– Clue
Dave, the Computer Table
– from Ikea, this laptop table is awesome.
Big Things
Pirates
Volkswagen Microbuses
Tinfoil Hats
Paper Craft
Dioramas
View-Master Viewers
Recycling
Old Advertising Murals
Zoltar, and other Fortune Teller Machines
Victorian Houses
The Winchester Mystery House
Food and Drink
Diet Dr. Pepper
Bengal Spice tea
Caesar Salad from Bravo
Crab Rangoon from Mandarin House
Chicken Piccata/Chicken with lemon butter and capers
Waffles
Crab Cakes from Oceanaire
Prime Rib from Colorado Steakhouse (its all about the perfect horseradish sauce)
My Mom’s Lasagna (which is really Better Homes and Gardens)
Words and Authors
Books in General
Shakespeare
Jane Austen
P.G. Wodehouse
Georgette Heyer (a guilty pleasure)
Umberto Eco
Good Slash Fiction (oooooooooo la la)
Bad Fan Fiction (like watching a train wreck where nobody gets hurt, but there’s lots of noise and smashing)
Geek Things
Kinetic Sculptures
Old Clocks
Weather Vanes
Lightning Rods
Monorails
Compasses
Windmills and Wind Turbines
The Internets
Apple Macintosh
Think Geek
American Science and Surplus
Action Figures
Sports Stuff
Water Aerobics
Adult Tricycles (I have no idea why)
Movies
Auntie Mame
Fight Club
Alfred Hitchcock
Jimmy Stewart
Cary Grant
Audrey Hepburn
Kate Hepburn
Television
Buffy
Heroes
Veronica Mars
Grey’s Anatomy
Music
I hate to even get started, the list is too long
Weekend Update 2007-02-26
We had a pretty quiet weekend around here. I went to water aerobics with my new suit, which is awesome. Stephanie went skating. Her dad decided against coming down to visit because Valpo got hit with a storm, which knocked out the power for Stephanie’s mom. We went over to my old house to check on the water removal from the basement and empty the dehumidifier bucket. The heat’s on there, and things are drying out fine. The plumber will come today, so I’ll be dropping by to check on things again. I’m hoping the plumber we hired does a thorough job, like the experienced Sydney plumbing services known for their efficiency and reliability.
We made lasagna for dinner last night, and fell asleep early and missed most of the Oscars, which is fine, since we saw barely any of the movies, and they’re all in our Netflix queue anyway. We have 470 movies in our queue. We’re very ambitious.
This is partially because for Valentine’s Day, I gave Stephanie a copy of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die and she went through and cataloged what she’s read. We found lists of all the titles from the book on the internets, and put them in google spreadsheets so we could track what we’ve read. Then we did the same with 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. And then we started adding movies to Netflix, and now our Queue ensures that we will never die, ever.
I spent most of the weekend cleaning up data; going over my lists of books I’ve read, checking that the links are valid and that all the links go to current, in print editions of books on Amazon.com. I also played around with getting all the lists into an Amazon Store for my site. I’m trying to figure out if I want to spend the time customizing the hell out of it, and integrating it into my site seamlessly. I’m not satisfied with it; I’m thinking I need to work with Amazon web services and just build my own version of a store on my site, with my own database. But maybe that’s more work than it’s worth, considering.
I am happy that I have pretty up-to-date lists, though; now I need to plug those book titles into my book cataloging software to make some progress on my library database, which we need to have for inventory/insurance purposes.
I have made some great strides getting old site pages organized after the move. The major outstanding piece is getting my old photo pages updated. Most of the photos aren’t in place on this host because I ran into some annoying customer service issues with them that it’s not worth going into. I’m thinking I just need to bite the bullet and post most of them on flickr.
Swimsuits
Who knew swimsuits wear out so fast? Apparently, everyone who swims regularly I guess. The suit I bought when I started water aerobics in September is already faded and falling apart, which really surprised me. I’m used to a suit lasting for a couple years. But then, I wasn’t getting in the pool three times a week before now, either.
So I bought this suit from a swim store here in Indy at lunch. It’s 100% polyester, so it should last 8 months to a year. And it’s more modest than most, which I really like, frankly. I’m pretty self-conscious about showing off my parts. Especially now that the pool room has giant windows facing into the wellness center and into the lounge/wireless area, since they remodeled at the Y. It’s like being in a fish bowl. And people love to hang out and watch the water aerobics classes; it’s a little weird.
(Yes the name of the suit is “Ocean Aquatard”. That doesn’t kill my enthusiasm for it.)
I also got a cheaper lycra/polyester blend Speedo suit from Costco this weekend, so I’m going to alternate wearing them and see which lasts longer.
Rheumatoid Arthritis and Wheat Intolerance
A friend pointed out to me that she has Rheumatoid Arthritis (which I’ve written about recently), and that under the care of her doctor, she has eliminated wheat from her diet to control her RA symptoms – because they’re triggered by a wheat intolerance. So I’ve been doing a lot of searches on the subject, which will be showing up in my regular links lists tonight.
I really need to talk to my doctor about wheat intolerance and the link to RA, because there’s a lot of information there about symptoms that sounds strikingly familiar. But from everything I’m reading, simply cutting wheat out of my diet without getting tested for wheat intolerance first wouldn’t be a good thing at all, because I would need to carefully supplement my nutrition at the same time, or I’d have other problems, so it’s not something I should just jump in and do.
But this gives me some hope that maybe if this is the source of the inflammation and is aggravating my joints and lungs, I could manage my health issues without long-term medication and maintenance, which would be awesome. Not that going on a wheat-free diet sounds easy if that’s the ultimate solution, but the medication route certainly has it’s bad points.
Meredith Grey’s Heart Surgery
I know it’s just a television show, but, really. There’s no way they could have her on heart bypass for over an hour, and then have her snuggling in bed with McDreamy not long after. That would fracking hurt – it was weeks/months before Stephanie and I could spoon in bed. I adore the show, but just a tad more realism, could we?
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