I’ve been catching up on my photo processing and my SXSW 2004 photos are now online. I took 31 photos and posted 6 — I probably would have taken more, but there are only so many gadgets I can carry around at once. I could really only comforably carry either my PowerBook or my camera and on some days I just needed the PowerBook more. (For that reason, I’m halfway-tempted to pick up one of those tiny digicams for next year’s SXSW so that I can carry both a camera and a laptop.)

I ended up taking most of my photos on the last day, Tuesday, as I didn’t really need my PowerBook during any of the panels that day (it seems that the last day’s panels are always a bit on the fluff-side). After the morning’s panels, a bunch of us went to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant and that’s where I got most of my photos.

Standard photo-entry text: All my photos are released under a Creative Commons license which roughly states that you’re free to “copy, distribute, display, and perform the work”. Also, I’ve resized all the images to 1024-width before uploading them as it can be a bit hard to get your head around a full 5 MP image. However, if you want the full-resolution version of any images, just ask.

Once again, I’m heading off to SXSW. I plan on leaving around lunchtime today (Friday) and driving back Tuesday evening (after the last panel of the day). In case you’re going also, here're some of the panels I plan on attending:

Saturday:

• Accessibility is for Everybody — a general web-accessibility panel[3:30 - 4:30]
• Web Navigation Without A Guide Dog — accessbility techniques with JavaScript, Flash and CSS [5:00 - 6:00]

Sunday:

• Virginia Postrel Presentation — she wrote The Substance of Style about the look-and-feel of people and places [10:00 - 11:00]
• Red Vs. Blue Case Study — Red vs Blue is an amusing set of animated shorts created with the Halo game engine [11:30 - 12:30]
• Wikwiki, What? — a Wiki is a collection of Web pages which can be edited by anyone [3:30 - 4:30]

Monday:

• Hi-Fi Design With CSS — with Doug Bowman [10:00 - 11:00]
• CSS: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly — with Tantek Çelik, Eric Meyer and and Doug Bowman [11:30 - 12:30]
• The Frontiers of User Experience — on information architecture and user interaction [3:30 - 4:30]

Tuesday:

• I haven’t yet decided on the panels for Tuesday.

I’ve occasionally had throughts about buying a laptop and, especially with WiFi proliferation, they’re becoming more and more useful. In particular, I started reconsidering Apple when those switch commercials came out. Mac die-hards, at least the ones I’ve talked to, tend to consider them cheesy, but I found them rather down-to-earth and unpretentious.

More than that, MetaFilter had a post back in June about some switch-logs (for lack of a better term) where regular users would write about their experiences switching from Windows to Mac.

Switch. Apple launches its first major ad campaign since “Think Different”. Rather than preaching to the converted, it's gunning for the other 90% — the unhappy Windows users. Can Apple double its marketshare to 10% as Steve Jobs is hoping? Does this represent a less smug, more aggressive Apple? Are you considering switching, or have you switched already?

Interestingly, I now realize that I’ve met Jish (linked to the word “switched” above) at SXSW, so that gives his account extra credability to me.

However, the PC-to-Mac Log at EdgeCurve.com is even more comprehensive. It chronicles one user’s Mac expereience from opening-the-box and onwards over two months. With that level of detail, I really got a feeling for what switching might be like (of course, in my case, it’d only end up as a somewhat-switch since I’d still have Linux and/or Windows on my desktop machine).

What finally sealed it for me was SXSW. At such a geek-friendly festival, I wasn’t particularly surprised to discover that the convention center had WiFi throughout. And, it wasn’t uncommon for attendees to bring along their laptops and browse the web and check their e-mail between or during panels.

What astounded me was the breadth of Mac users. Of attendees that had laptops, I estimated thatg about 9 out of 10 had a Mac. Jish, Leia, Ruaraidh, and even Ben and Mena Trott — all Macs. If I had a Real Web Job, I would have been tempted to borrow someone’s Powerbook, load apple.com/store, and order one right then and there.

PS: I considered titling this entry “Oh, my beloved Powerbook, how I love to lick your creamy center”, but it was too long and also a bit osbscure.

I’m leaving for SXSW around lunchtime, and returning late Tuesday evening (sometime after Mena & Ben Trott’s panel). So, updates may be a bit sparse for a few days.

Since I couldn’t find a roommate for SXSW, I’ve booked at the Austin South Hawthorn Suites (4020 IH 35 South, and I would have linked right to that location’s page, but the site doesn’t cooperate when ripped out of its frames).

I’m checking in on the Friday (March 7th) and checking out on the Tuesday (March 11th), as I didn’t want to miss either Richard M Stallman nor Ben & Mena Trott whose panels respectively form bookends around those dates.

I won’t have access to e-mail while I’m there. (I was about to add “of course”, but then I realized that some lucky bunnies may be able to mooch access via their 802.11-equipped laptops and some freely-available wireless-access points.)

So, the best way to contact me while I’m there would be via my cell phone (469/569-7421) through either text messages or voice (my plan includes 500 text messages/month, so you needn't worry about using up my allotment).

I haven’t had much luck in finding a roommate for SXSW, so I may end up just booking a hotel on my own. So, does anyone have any suggestions for hotels? Something close to the convention center would be convenient, and free breakfast would be a plus (since I’m trying to save on costs here and there).

Apparently, there’s a new Hampton Inn near the convention center which is becoming popular with some bloggers. According to that post at SXSWBlog, the rate is $76.50 (for AAA), though I’m currently getting errors at Hampton Inn’s website when I try to get a rate quote to confirm that :-/. (Perhaps it’s full already.)

I also checked Hotels.com for prices. There, the Wellesley Inn & Suites North (8221 North Ih-35) caught my eye as it’s just $60/night but it includes breakfast and a kitchen in each room.

There’s also the Wellesley Inn Town Lake which is closer than the North location. However, it wasn’t showing up on Hotels.com and wasn’t able to get a rate quote on their website either, leading me to believe that it might just be full (not that I’d be terribly surprised, considering how close it is to the convention center).

If you’ve already booked your hotel, we could even carpool to and from the convention center if I were to book there as well.

I would like to attend South By Southwest and I’m trying to figure out whether I can afford to go. SXSW Interactive runs from March 7 - 11 and I was initially thinking that I could go down for just a few of those days, to save money. However, there’re speakers I’d like to see on either end (Richard M Stallman on Fri March 7, and Ben & Mena Trott on Tue March 11).

In order to make an informed decision, I figured on calculating a cost-estimate and comparing that to my funds (it sounds so simple…). Here’s what I’ve come up with (on the assumption, so far, that I would drive down Friday afternoon and return Tuesday night), but let me know if I’ve forgotten anything:

• SXSW Fees: $120
• Hotel for Friday night through Monday night, assuming I can find someone with which to share a room: $40 x 4 = $160
• Breakfasts for Saturday through Tuesday morning: $5 x 4 = $20
• Lunches for Friday through Tuesday: $10 x 5 = $50
• Dinners for Friday through Tuesday:$20 x 5 = $100
• Additional Beverages for Friday through Tuesday evenings: $10 x 5 = $50
• Gas, one tank in each direction, but figuring on three tanks just to be sure: $15 x 3 = $45

So, that comes to about $545. Did I miss anything?

[Dow update: -141.45 to 7,989.56]

I’ve signed up for SXSW, including the discount for the DFW Bloggers (South by Southwest is a film, music, and technology festival in Austin). However, I now need to find a room. So, if you’re looking for a roommate, let me know.

I'm looking forward to so many of the panels there:

• Joe Clark will talk about “High Design, High Accessibility” [Sat, March 8th]
• Lawrence Lessig will elaborate on the Creative Commons Project. [Sun, March 9th]
• Katherine Parrish will discuss barriers to participation in Internet communities. [Sun, March 9th]
• Davezilla will school you on how to make your site funny. [Mon, March 10th]
• Eric Meyer, Tantek Çelik and Jeffrey Zeldman will de-mystify CSS. [Mon, March 10th]
• Ben and Mena Trott will lead a discussion titled “Beyond the Blog.” [Tues, March 11th]
• Josh Ulm will dissect the latest trends in web design. [Tues, March 11th]