Something We Will All Do in 10 Years

We will all make better infographics. Ok, maybe a slight exaggeration but it seems more than likely that data visualization will become a mainstream activity. Three trends point in this direction. First, and we have heard this before, data is collected at unprecedented levels, so raw material is available. Second, current tools are still clunky and often have a high learning curve but newer ones will be more intuitive. Finally, visuals do better across the web, so infographics (especially the interactive) fill and growing need.

Best Surprise

Imaginary Radio’s Drennon Davis and Nick Stargu busted out their beatbox chops in an interview with Presarah Evans at the Paypal Lounge.

Mind-blowing Thought of the Day

Much of the wearable technology I’ve seen so far has had something of a nerdy cool-in-a-vacuum vibe, but the three SXSW Accelerator finalists who gave their final pitches today showed that they were designing for the real world. The stand-out in terms of shattering paradigms was the ultra-chic design of Dutch fashion designer and PhD student Pauline van Dongen, who weaves solar-receptive fibers into her sophisticated designs. When exposed to the sun, the clothing stores energy that can be used to recharge the user’s devices. Imagine high tech capability from the most traditional energy source we have.

Weirdest Moment

Mashable let house guests come in like a wrecking ball on a la Miley Cyrus, but not before they signed a liability release!

Biggest Disappointment

The public transportation. Our taxi laughed at us: it had better things to do so the our team decided to bus it. Unfortunately, the timing didn’t work out… Flip contributors Katya and Jenny both almost missed their must-see sessions for the day.

Celebrity Sighting of the Day

Flipster Jenny Burns met SXSW celebrity Randi Zuckerberg before her featured session interviewing Dana Burnetti.

Interruption of the Day

Dozens of people got turned away from a popular session on transmedia storytelling–an interview with Michael Simons and Paul Shoebridge, who are known as “The Goggles.” The Vancouver-based duo are best known as creators of “Welcome to Pine Point,” an interactive documentary that has won international acclaim. They are working on new long-form digital documentaries. “Touch” is an interactive story about the death of print. “Chasing the Sun” is a transmedia tale about issues facing the Arctic. The long line to get into the session looked all too familiar. Many popular talks have had to turn people away in recent years and grumpy conference goers talked about needing bigger venues. Given that the badge costs at least $795, it’s sad that organizers still haven’t addressed the problem.

Best Food Choice

A long over-due lunch, Texas-style BBQ

Outfit of the Day

In his cat-tastic top from LINKUrban Outfitters, and an evil queen homage on his wrist, Douglas was killin’ it style-wise.