In the past, James has written SXSW posts on his personal blog, Vivisecting Media, which were in-depth long hour by hour editorials of the experience.  This year, our goal is to do more condensed notes, just because writing long recaps at four in the morning is kind of exhausting and we know you want the real content.  So we will try to link audio and video of the presentations as they become available by SXSW.

• Our cab ride to the hotel involved a classic cabbie persona who decided to update us on his current life plans.  Aaron missed part of the conversation and thought that the cabbie was taking us by his house to pick something up.  Due to this misunderstanding, Aaron was worried that we would end up at some meth-house/trailer park (we did not).
• Got our hotel room, it had two beds.  If you have read or read James previous SXSW series, this will make a lot more sense.
• Grabbed a bite to eat, drank a few pints, made a few client calls (darn you AT&T losing the connection in the middle of a call)
• Picked up our passes, met Mark from eGuiders, and had a wonderful in-depth conversation about technology, film, TV and video production. We got deep into aggregation, writer strike benefits for web based exclusive content, and of course BBQ.  A quick summary about eGuiders, Mark explained his site as a TV guide for online video content, with industry leaders reviewing and suggesting content they find appealing.  Guiders range from Jerry Stiller & Anne Meara to the Executive producer of Lost Damon Lindelof.  If you want expert suggestions in this ever growing blackhole of content, check out eGuiders.
• Dinner was the at Moonshine.  Fantastic trout... like, seriously best we have ever had. www.moonshinegrill.com, make sure you turn down your volume, the play some annoying music.
• Slept.
• Headed out to our first sessions (stupid cold rain, it was warmer in SF). James went to "Minority Report is Real" which delved into the concept of tactile and immersive UI experiences.  The focus was how Film represents futuristic experiences in movies, how this inspires technologists, how technologist are applying these visions, and where are we at today by comparing the film to reality.  Examples of this is the Microsoft Surface, CNN "holograph vision", Oblong {http://flowingdata.com/2008/11/17/minority-report-physical-interface-in-real-life-oblong-g-speak/}, etc.
• After the first session James headed over to catch the "Open Source Flash" presentation but ran into Danah Boyd and decided catching up with her was WAY more important.
• Aaron caught  "Everything You Know About Web Design Is Wrong" presented by Dan Willis.  Dan argued that web design is stuck in the same dilemma film faced during it's creation in the early 19th century, when the first camera was invented, and technologists created films that were stuck obeying the same framework and rules conceived and followed in the world of theater. "Everything we know about web design, is what we know about print design" As D. W. Griffith did for film , the web needs to create a grammar (1+1=3) that combines elements to create an enriched experience.  For the web the idea is to break out of the norm, create new elements and as artists combine those elements to provider users with an experience they can control.
• James' second session was The "Ecosystem of News" which covered how news and media are changing due to the Internet. Very exciting and deep examination of how news media has changed over time, including both bad changes (newspapers closing) and good changes (in-depth focused coverage, such as Ars Technica or the 2008 Presidential Race).  The presentation was led by Steven Johnson who used the term "old growth media" to describe technology news reporting.  Currently, technology news, is the oldest form of new media based news and how other news topics such as local, war, politics, etc. can learn and adopt methods used by technology reporting.  He also defined his vision of the new structure of news media.  Hopefully, it will be posted online so that we can share it with you.
• Aaron attended an inspirational session entitled "ooh That's Clever".  The presenter Paul Annett explored a wide range of web trickery that showed how designing and implementing a little extra feature can not only inspire the community at large, but also provide a viral channel to drive traffic to your product or service.  This presentation shows some amazing links which Aaron is currently compiling. Expect a secondary post that highlights each link example.
• James and Danah met up with Judith Donath (MIT Media Lab) who is amazing.  Great conversations about privacy, technology, social networks, cultural structures and how most of this is dependent upon context.
• Dinner for Friday was at Stubb's BBQ, we just had to have it.  Aaron commented on how he has never seen a restaurant move in and out customers so damn fast.  They must turned each table 7 times in a night.  So our suggestion is, go there for the good quick food, not a long well served dinning experience with friends you are trying to catch up with.
• Slept again.