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The interactive folks have mostly gone home, the movie awards are over (although screenings continue), and musicians are arriving in droves. On to the next part of SXSW!

I continue to enjoy sleeping late, which has the unfortunate side effect of limiting which panels I can attend. Furthermore, I got goofed up today and went to the wrong place for one.

That panel was "Policy Trainwreck: How Copyright Law Failed the Digital Age." I ended up catching about 3/4 of the discussion, which was mostly about music and ways for musicians to control their works. Interesting stuff, but not directly applicable to anything I'm doing, at least not yet.

After that, I went to the reception for the Film Awards. There, I bumped into Becky James, a delightful young animator whom I met earlier on the shuttle bus between our hotel and the convention center. She introduced me to her friend Matt Boch, a creative designer at Harmonix, makers of Rock Band. We talked at some length about the excitement over The Beatles Rock Band game that will be released on 09/09/09 (Number nine. Number nine. Number nine). While Matt stuck to his NDA and didn't reveal anything new, he was able to tell me that Dani Harrison, George's look-alike son, has been instrumental in making the game happen, and frequently visits the Harmonix offices. Matt says the Beatles game is fantastic. He gets to play it every week. I am so freaking jealous!

After that, I attended the film awards themselves. It was great watching the excitement of the winners. The aforementioned Becky James won a special judges award for the poster she and Lydia Corkin designed for James' film "Snake."

For the full list of winners, see sxsw.com/film.

Following the awards, I got in line to see "Saint Misbehavin': The Wavy Gravy Movie." Clown noses were passed out. I hopped into a seat and introduced myself to the guy sitting next to me, who turned out to be the film's producer, David Becker. SXSW is so cool! And I hadn't noticed, but in the fourth seat from me was none other than Wavy Gravy himself. I'd met him at a party a few days earlier and got a picture with him. But famed photographer Lisa Law set up to take a photo of the whole audience around Wavy, wearing their red noses! Becker had temporarily left his seat, and there was nobody between Wavy and me, so I popped into the chair right next to him for the photo. I can't wait to get a copy of that from Law.

The film itself was exceptional. In fact, they won me over with the very first bit of music, because the song was "Indian Lake" by the Cowsills, which just happens to be the very first record I ever purchased with my own money, back in 1968, when I was 10 or 11 years old. But the whole story of Wavy and his great kindness and charity was a delight from start to finish. Like his friends the Grateful Dead said, what a long, strange trip it's been.

The film ended after midnight, so I strolled over to 6th street, the main bar and music scene in Austin. I had a delicious burger at The Jackalope, and found friendly people who told me pirate jokes. This is a very friendly place to be.

Tomorrow: More movies and finally some music!

Here I am again, staggering in not drunk at 2 o'clock in the morning. With all the late night stuff here at SXSW, I'm finding it hard to get up in the morning. So I don't.

I did get up in time to see "TRIMPIN: the sound of invention." Its a documentary about a musician-inventor of the same name, who creates giant, incredible, sound machines. You really should check out the trailer. The film's centerpiece is a collaboration between Trimpin (he only uses his last name) and The Kronos Quartet. It was an amazing movie, and I got a chance to chat with the sound mixer afterwards. He said it was like being a kid in a candy store.

After that, I attended the Bruce Sterling session. Sterling is best know as a science fiction author. He did a very entertaining talk, even though part of it was about how journalists are fading away. I wish now I had videoed it; he had so many interesting things to day. Well, it should be available as a podcast when SXSW ends.

Then came Nuclear Taco. A very long line to get some free very very hot tacos. The first bite or two, I figured, ha! These tacos can't conquer me. But they did. Tears streaming down my face. And now, hours later, pain further on down. But it was worth it.

I then went to see "For the Love of Movies." This documentary traces the history of American film criticism. It was fascinating information, but I have to say it didn't make for a great film.

After that, I walked half a mile to the Mashable party, only to find a line several hundred feet long. I waited a while, but gave up and decided to hit another movie.

I was torn between "The Horseman," and "Lesbian Vampire Killers." I chose the former.

"The Horseman" is an Australian film about a man whose daughter has died of a drug overdose after appearing in a pornographic movie. The main character is set on revenge, and he gets it. I found it to be one of the most violent films I've ever seen, but then again, I don't generally go to very very violent films. That said, it was a good story, as long as you can stand up to the beatings.

Off to bed now. Good night, readers.

This will be a much shorter post than day 1. I did fewer things, but still am having a blast. Except for my blasted feet.

I slept until the clock went off at 10, and got out the door by about 10:30, taking the shuttle over to the Convention Center for my first session of the day, "Blog on Company Time and Get Promoted." This was an informal session in a relatively small room; perhaps about 30 people were there. Taught by consultant Daniel Hope, much of this was about how to convince numskulls at your company that they need a blog. Not a problem at the company where I work, which is getting more and more social-networking-savvy every day. Hope had a good suggestion called the "80/20" rule. 80 percent of a corporate blog should be relevant to the company or product(s) being promoted, 20 percent should be other stuff, such as links to interesting things, YouTube videos, photos from company parties, etc. I like that idea. He also listed a bunch of tools that he says can be helpful in blogging. I haven't checked them out in detail, but they were:

• Diigo, which allows you to highlight things and post annotations when linking to other web sites


• Posterous, which allows you to post items by emailing them


• Utterli, formerly called Utterz, another sharing tool


• Tumblr, yet another sharing tool


• Scribefire, a Firefox plug-in that integrates a blogging tool into the same window in which you're viewing the web, so you don't have to keep multiple tabs or windows open. This sounds useful to me.

After that session, I headed over to catch part of Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh's keynote. It sounded interesting, but I couldn't stay long. I had to go to Jeffrey Tambor's acting workshop. It was actually a seminar, in which he conducted a seminar with two actors he brought along, who already knew their lines. The way Tambor was able to guide them through breaking through barriers to get to the heart of the scene was amazing. I've got it all on video, and will post some clips "when I get around to it." Probably after the festival.

Next, I went to the movies, at the amazing Alamo Ritz. With a full menu of food and libations, I think this is a great theatre chain. I had some delicious green chilli macaroni and cheese. The film I viewed was "Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo," a fascinating documentary about Japan's obsession with insects. If you're at all interested in Japanese culture, try to find a way to see this movie.

After that, I headed to the party for "The 2 Bobs." It was damned noisy and crowded, but I got to spend some additional time with 3 of the cast members, including the lovely Tamara Jolaine, who greeted me warmly when she came in.

I skedaddled over to another movie, this time "The Last Beekeeper." There's an as-yet unexplained disease that is killing off bees in startling numbers. I knew that already. What I didn't know was the emotional toll that is taking on beekeepers. Dammit, the film brought a tear to my eye. See it if you can.

I have to say, AT&T is really falling down on the job with providing adequate data coverage. I could not pull up my schedule to save my life sometimes, which is why I missed the frog design SXSWi opening party. Frog design is one of the best industrial design firms on the planet, and I've read good things about their parties. Many of my twitter friends were shouting about the great fun at the Cog'aoke party. With no internet on my iPhone, it took a while to find out where it was. It was a 6 block walk, and I hemmed and hawed about whether my feet were to tired. But they carried me there and I enjoyed some enthusiastic karaoke performances by exceedingly drunk people. I found my Chicago friends Amy and Mary, and another friend of theirs who's name now escapes me, and we headed back to the hotel. And now I can't wait to go to sleep!

Back in December, I posted about the deluxe digital edition of The Fireman's Electric Arguments album.

If you, like I, have been waiting for it (we were told it would come in January.

Now it looks like April. I got this email today:

Electric Arguments Deluxe Limited Edition Order Delay
March 02, 2009

Hello,

We're emailing you because your Deluxe Limited Edition of Electric Arguments hasn't shipped according to schedule. We're very sorry for the delay and wanted to give you an update on your order status.

In an effort to ensure the highest quality deluxe product available, design and production have taken longer than originally anticipated. We are now looking at 4/15/09 as the delivery date for Deluxe Limited orders, and we are progressing well towards that goal. Again, we're very sorry for any inconvenience this has caused, and we sincerely thank you for your patience. We're very pleased with how the package is taking shape, and we can't wait to get it in your hands.

Best regards,
The Fireman Team

For the first and last time, Apple Senior VP Phil Schiller delivered the keynote address at Macworld Expo today.

It makes it all the easier to understand why Apple will not be attending any more Macworlds. The company has been forced to try to produce new products to meet an artificial deadline of early January. None of the products introduced today were revolutionary. They're good, they have cool features, but there were no big secrets hiding in the wings.

The biggest deal was the new 17-inch MacBook Pro. Like many of the other MacBooks, Pro and amateur (that's a joke, don't get peeved), the new 17-incher will feature Apple's new unibody construction, in which the enclosure is carved from a single block of aluminum. It is thinner than its predecessor, by one-fiftieth of an inch (measure that!). It's also an ounce or two lighter. The processor is a wee bit faster, and the graphics chips are improved.

This was emailed to me by Apple:

Dear Apple Community,

For the first time in a decade, I'm getting to spend the holiday season with my family, rather than intensely preparing for a Macworld keynote.

Unfortunately, my decision to have Phil deliver the Macworld keynote set off another flurry of rumors about my health, with some even publishing stories of me on my deathbed.

I've decided to share something very personal with the Apple community so that we can all relax and enjoy the show tomorrow.

As many of you know, I have been losing weight throughout 2008. The reason has been a mystery to me and my doctors. A few weeks ago, I decided that getting to the root cause of this and reversing it needed to become my #1 priority.

Fortunately, after further testing, my doctors think they have found the cause -- a hormone imbalance that has been "robbing" me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.

The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I've already begun treatment. But, just like I didn't lose this much weight and body mass in a week or a month, my doctors expect it will take me until late this Spring to regain it. I will continue as Apple's CEO during my recovery.

I have given more than my all to Apple for the past 11 years now. I will be the first one to step up and tell our Board of Directors if I can no longer continue to fulfill my duties as Apple's CEO. I hope the Apple community will support me in my recovery and know that I will always put what is best for Apple first.

So now I've said more than I wanted to say, and all that I am going to say, about this.

Steve

UPDATE: Apple's Board of Directors released this statement:

CUPERTINO, Calif., Jan. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- It is widely recognized both inside and outside of Apple that Steve Jobs is one of the most talented and effective CEOs in the world.

As we have said before, if there ever comes a day when Steve wants to retire or for other reasons cannot continue to fulfill his duties as Apple's CEO, you will know it.

Apple is very lucky to have Steve as its leader and CEO, and he deserves our complete and unwavering support during his recuperation. He most certainly has that from Apple and its Board.

It was bound to happen. The writing's been on the wall for a long time. Apple announced today that its appearance at next month's Macworld Expo in San Francisco will be the company's last at that forum. Not only that, but according to CNET, Steve Jobs won't be delivering the keynote.

There once was a time when the San Francisco Macworld Expo was the center focus of the Mac community. But so much has changed. Apple now has hundreds of stores around the world, especially in the United States. People all over can touch the products, and talk to knowledgeable sales people. As Apple points out in its press release, its been pulling back from other trade shows, such as the National Association of Broadcasters show. Macintosh is no longer the only focus of Apple, and many of the most ardent Mac faithful came to resent the role the iPod and the iPhone have come to play at the expo.

Other companies have disappeared. I don't think Adobe was at the last Macworld Expo I went to. Oh yes, there's that too. The last couple of years, I haven't felt the same passion I used to, to fly to San Francisco and immerse myself in all things Mac. There's enough immersion elsewhere. Every day, I can read a half a dozen great sites covering all things Apple in minuscule detail. Although I wasn't present for the last couple of keynotes, there was nothing too surprising in them.

I suspect this will be the end of the Macworld Expo altogether. Not so long ago, there were two Macworlds; the other in Boston, then New York for a few years, then back to Boston. Apple pulled out, and after that, the Boston expo was abandoned.

One other bad thing about this, Steve Jobs' failure to participate is bound to stir up a whole new batch of rumors about his health. I expect Apple's stock price (which closed at 95.43 today) will be a bit rocky tomorrow.

Its too bad. Because Apple's decision to leave Macworld makes nothing but sense.

Well, I got in to Playstation Home without a problem on Friday. Wish I hadn't. Its dull and hopelessly juvenile. About 10% of the people have names that include misspelled genitals, and much of the talk among Home's inhabitants seems to be based around misspelling other foul language, so as to fool Sony's language filter.

The technical achievement is pretty impressive. Inside the theater, after a download, you can see movie trailers and music videos, all while walking around, changing your perspective, and interacting with other Home inhabitants. Its just, why would you want to?

For the first day of the open beta nightmare, see my previous post.

Considering my obsessive fanship of The Beatles, I haven't listened to all of Paul McCartney's new collaboration with Youth, Electric Argument. Its the third album by the duo, known as "The Fireman," and by far the most accessible. It's been getting generally great reviews, and from the part I've heard, its much more interesting than Paul's previous effort (although I enjoyed that one too).

But what really has me exicited is a series of digital packages that are available. Although I had already bought the CD, Macca's marketing mind has suckered me in to spending another $90+, including shipping and handling. But its good for the budget conscious as well. Read on for more!

On the Fireman Music home page, you can listen to all of the tracks on line for free. That's a pretty good start. But go to the purchase page, and it's clear that Paul McCartney (and Youth) are not ones to fear piracy.

For $8.99, you can immediately download the entire album in non-DRM, 320Kbps LAME-encoded MP3 files, about as good as MP3 files can get. And, if you click the little links right below it, included will be lossless files in your choice of FLAC and Apple Lossless. That's a damn fine deal.

For four dollars more, get the downloads right away and they'll ship you a CD with a full colour (I love the British spelling) 48-page booklet. Shipping prices begin to get a little outrageous, but what can you do?

Vinyl collectors can pony up about $30 and they get the downloads, the CD, and a specially mastered audiophile quality LP.

And for me, the most exciting package, is the Digital + Deluxe Limited Edition. It won't ship until January, but in addition to the immediate downloads, the CD and the LP, you get another CD with bonus tracks and outtakes, a DVD with high-definition recordings of the music, an art print, a booklet, and... wait for it...

A DVD with multitrack session files of some of the album tracks, allowing weirdos like me to remix the songs with our own sense of creativity. It's $80, but I can't wait to mess with Macca tracks.

When I bought my PlayStation 3 over a year ago, it was primarily to enjoy Blu-Ray discs. And it has not disappointed.

But when I learned about Playstation Home, I was intrigued. It seemed like a neat idea, and it seemed to be coming soon.

Well, today Sony made Playstation Home available as a public beta. It had been available previously only to a closed group. I was unable to find it when I got home around 1pm today, so I started checking the comments of the masses on Sony's Playstation blog page. No one could find it.

After about an hour, it turned up. You only have to restart the Playstation 3 to download it. Yippee! It downloaded fast, and loaded smoothly.

Wish I had more to say about it. I can't log in, and the aforementioned masses commenting on the aforementioned Sony blog tell me I'm not alone.

I've seen "Request timed out," "Network Error," "Read error," you name it. I've been presented with the EULA several times. But I've not been able to log on.

They say there's no place like home. More like Home is noplace.

Update 5:52pm: There's a great forum at Sony where everybody's keeping track of their inability to log in.

Let me say at the outset: I love my iPhone. The App Store and its contents are amazing.

But I have had my problems.

Many have experienced various application crashes. They don't really surprise me. Its only been a little over two weeks since the App Store opened, and between this being a new version of the iPhone's OS, combined with the foibles of multiple developers, I think some recoverable crashes are to be expected. The situation should improve as both the OS and the apps become more stable.

But last week, I experienced an apparently unrecoverable crash. Some application, I don't remember which, froze the iPhone. Holding down the lock and home buttons caused a restart, but that restart stalled on the Apple logo. Forever. Or at least the minute or two I gave it to recover.

I tried again. Same result. After about 2 minutes, the iPhone vibrated twice, but the Apple logo never disappeared. I plugged in a cable to keep the battery going, and let it stew for about 3 hours.

I attempted to get the iPhone into Restore mode, but it was no dice. It was then that I called Apple Care.

I believe I was talking to a non-US support center, as the CSR I spoke with had an accent. But she went through the usual support stuff, having me try things I had already tried. She also had me remove the SIM card and blow into the slot. Nothing helped.

The CSR offered to make an appointment for me at the Apple Store on Michigan Avenue here in Chicago; but could offer nothing earlier than 7pm. Unfortunately, my job requires that I be at work at 4am, so 7pm isn't practical. The CSR transferred me to a local human at that store, Peter. When I explained my situation to him, he offered to help facilitate getting me on the standby list, to try to get me seen in a reasonable amount of time.

I arrived at the store at 12:30 the next afternoon, after work. Peter was working the front door, and took me right up to the iPod Bar, where I was seen by Mark in about 20 minutes. We spent the next three hours together. Mark seems to be one of the smartest people in the store. Many other store workers came in him with questions, and Mark tried to help 3 people at a time with their varied iPod and iPhone problems.

First, Mark managed to get a Restore going, using a slightly different technique involving holding down the home and lock buttons for a longer period of time. The phone appeared to restore as a new phone. But when turned on, Safari was nowhere to be seen. Mark declared the phone dead, and set up a second phone.

The second phone was activated, but kept alternating between 3G and "No Service." So Mark tried a third phone.

Even before opening the shrink wrap; Mark scanned the box, and his computer reported that the SIM card was already registered! So Mark when for a fourth phone.

This one, too, scanned as already registered. So Mark broke out a new SIM card. Finally, the phone set up, it saw the 3G network good and strong, and I left the store with a new iPhone.

I took it home and synced it as a new phone, with my additional 20 or so Apps, and music, movies and photos. All was well until the next night, when I was rearranging the layout of the Apps. I moved most of them, but when pressed the home button to lock them in place, the phone froze up.

I restarted the phone... and the Apple logo returned forever.

If this were a ghost story, I'd stop there. But I now knew the alternate method of getting the phone into Restore mode; and I managed to restore it myself.

It's now 4 days since that latest restore. I have not rearranged my Apps, but all is currently working well.

I do wonder if moving too many of the Apps without saving taxes the phone's memory. I'll try rearranging again, but I think I may move only 3 or 4 apps at a time.

How on earth did we survive before the internet?! Since a thunderstorm Friday night, my internet connection has been down. Dozens of times in my apartment today, I found myself wondering about things. But I've become accustomed to instant answers. More after the jump.