Ambient interestingness

Mikal is back in Philly, and glad of it. The things I took for granted while I lived here I now miss. Like the funky mix of architecture and people and culture the place has, the food, and just the whole damned vibe.

I haven’t posted for awhile because I spent the last week on the road. Four of the most heady days of my life found me again at SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin. If there was any doubt the internet is back with a vengeance, it was dispelled by the wall-to-wall crowd estimated at two or three times last year’s attendance. The topics explored in panels and impromptu meetings in the hallways and at parties were mostly new from those just 12 months ago. Words I hadn't heard before were dropped casually by the digerati, concepts like the knowsphere (the collective knowledge of those of us who are not dead), interestingness or the social Web. I’m still processing them in my head, and I had an "aha moment" when I realized the internet is mutating exponentially in ways we can only glimpse at this point in time.

After SXSW I flew back to Indianapolis and then drove East over the next two days so I can oversee the work needed to get our fixer-upper shore cottage ready for this summer. It’s down to minor things now, but there are still a thousand details to take care of.

The weather’s beautiful here, I’m back online and will be posting more regularly for awhile. If you'd like a copy of the photo accompanying this post, it's the free image of the week at istockphoto.com.

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