…and, what SXSW event would be compete without Robert Scoble (pictured, left). The man is everywhere!

So, I slithered into the conference center Saturday morning after an appalling breakfast at a Chowhound recommended spot. I won’t go into the gory details, but suffice it to say, avoid El Arroyo at all costs.

Went through the usual registration process, which was much shorter this year. It also felt alarmingly spacious this year, even with press reports of attendance numbers being much higher than in previous years. Almost immediately, I stumbled upon former co-worker/serial entrepreneur Jesse Thomas and his co-partner-in-crime Leslie Bradshaw. Together we explored the hall and made our way down to Screen Burn, which was twice the size as last year and much more interesting. They’ve added a competitive gaming “arena,” which looked akin to an American Gladiators set. Shortly after, bumped into Chris, the fifth party from yesterday’s fiasco and we struck up a short convo.

Ambled about for awhile, then spotted Tim Ferriss, who I consider a mad genius. Proposed my pared-down, snail’s-pace approach to his 4-Hour Workweek methodology, which he seemed to take with good measure. He offered that he was currently dealing with a “water obsession” that I didn’t get the full details on. Generally, he seemed like a cool guy, approachable and not ridiculously full of himself, like could be imagined.

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What time is that, you say? SXSW time. The grandfather (probably not a term they’d choose) of all modern conferences. And generally, when people think SXSW, the popular consciousness thinks “music,” but alas, even though I’m a musician (with a semi-professional past), I have never been. No, I’m talking about the red-headed stepchild here (no offense to any red-headed stepchildren out there). And that child, of course, is the Interactive portion of the show.

Looks like this year will have a Twitter hangover, as there seems to be no leading contender to fill it’s shoes, though some might say it’s Meebo. Alas, some trend or app will dominate by show’s end.

Nice this year is the panel picker (or did that start last year), which is a user-generated and submitted process that allows the masses to choose from a long list of panel “ideas,” ranging from the sensible to the outlandish. Seems as though outlandish is in this year (and well, that’s no surprise, eh?).

Just noticed Microsoft is pushing Silverlight on us unsuspecting non-PC and PC types uniformly, though I’m not sure I want to install anything by Gates & Co. on my precious (or is that precocious) Mac. Ah, but maybe since Frog has something to do with, I’ll give it a second thought. And they’ve got a swell-looking opening bash to attend, so maybe I can just view their version instead.

More coverage once I’ve landed. Cheers!

As a rail/Metro commuter, I am now faced with filling up my time. Books. Check. Newspapers. Check. Magazines. Maybe. Music. Definitely. Video. Yes. While I’m hesitant to watch movies on my iPhone (I’m a purist), I’m OK with watching things educational and even the occasional bite-size morsel of entertainment. YouTube videos are too hard to sift through on the iPhone, so that leaves TED. Perhaps I’m missing some other good sources. Note: If you know of any, please email me or comment below.

TED is the Super Bowl of tech conferences, so who knows if I’ll ever get to attend. They book up way ahead and the tickets are a bit too cost-prohibitive for the average Joe/Jane. So, it’s a good thing TED offers their videos in a Mac-friendly format (yes, they’re available to PC’ers as well) on their website. There are some truly fascinating talks available, which open the senses and engage the mind in ways you may have not thought possible. Once you’ve purused subjects you find interesting, you might start to explore categories you may not have considered before — like, oh, the study of ants, for example. Who knew they had lazy ants who sit around and do nothing? Sounds like the real world.

Ranging from high science to film to music to architecture, TED has something for everyone. A few worth checking out are J.J. Abrams’ “Mystery Box”, Philip Starck’s “Think Deep on Design”, and John Maeda’s “On The Simple Life”, for starters. Get on in there and start watching. It will open your eyes.