Monday Mish-Mash

SXSW is a fabulous conference and we're lucky to have it right here in town. I like that they've added some satellite venues and such for locals to get in on the activities without having to take a whole week off to stand in lines, hoping to get into events, even with a badge.

The downside is that everything is overcrowded, especially our typically "Austin" restaurants and music/event venues. It's just a matter of keeping that in mind all week and avoiding those places unless you have an extra hour to dork around.

The best part of SXSW is people-watching. Tourists don't need a badge to give us a hint that they're from out-of-town. We can spot them right away in their blazer and scarf combos, with hats and ironic facial hair. Blending in here requires a very casual, almost careless sense of fashion. And flip flops. ;)

On a serious note, the nuclear situation in Japan is getting a lot of scary press. My good friend, a college classmate who is now a professor of physics and radiation safety engineering (health physics), has this to say this morning:

Getting quite frustrated at the national media and the misinformation regarding the nuclear events in Japan. It is a serious situation over there, to be sure, but for some reason the media refuse to interview people who actually KNOW about such things, preferring instead to interview "think tank" folks and other scientists who have never worked in or near a nuclear reactor.

For all my friends who have watched the news and have been alarmed by the discussion of radiation sickness, etc., as reported on the media, bear in mind that the highest radiation dose reported thus far to a WORKER on the site is less than 5% of what would be needed to cause any radiation sickness. The public dose is much much less.

Read more of his knowledgeable take on the situation, in simple terms, here.