• The knowledge sharing and efficiency that come from an open-source software development model can also be applied to hardware design, as detailed in the keynote discussion between Limor Fried and Make magazine Senior Editor Phil Torrone. As they put it, building upon the open and shared software, kits, and schematics of others enables engineers to move on to ever more complex designs.

  For example, one of the major problems with building robots is getting the robot mobile and rolling around. iRobot, the manufacturers of Roomba robot vacuum cleaners have actually shared their API enabling a lot of robot fanatics to build a base upon which a robot can move and function. They can then go on to design whatever it is that the robots are meant to do. Building upon the popularity of this model, iRobot have since even developed a purchasable kit called the Create programmable robot, which is even more open, to enable this trend.

  Although this example is simply sharing software and providing robust APIs, Fried and Torrone shared several other examples of businesses that they are involved in that make money while sharing the actual schematics and even electronic piece kits for their designs.

  Network Performance Application: This trend could certainly hit the enterprise quickly if companies put out open APIs to hardware on routers and other appliances though ultra-specialization and customization. Having the best router on the market on your WAN is good. Having the best router specifically for your WAN is better.

• Writers lament, for procedurally generated content is nigh. Up to now, stories in games have been either created by game designers in linear (Resident Evil), branched (Fable), or gated structures (Wing Commander); or chosen by players in open, non-narrative game worlds (Sims or Second Life). There are also those games that incorporate a bit of all of these (most MMORPGs).

  However, the coming advent of Spore with its impressive reliance on procedurally generated graphics and models as well as the German .kkrieger (a perpetual beta that relies heavily on procedurally generated content) led to some discussion at SxSW of where the future of game narrative design lies. The exciting possibility of procedurally generated narrative was discussed in both Will Wright’s key note speech and Warren Spector’s game narrative panel. As they described it, in this new model, the game itself tries to form a picture of who the player is and what type of story they are “trying to tell” or would be interested in playing. The game then tries to provide appropriate obstacles and add dramatic tension to that story accordingly (Ender’s Game anyone?)

  For example, if the game can somehow calculate that a player is interested in trying to tell a creepy story in which a troll and a talking dog are in a haunted cave, perhaps the game would play scary music and start a lightning storm outside. If on the other hand the player seems to be trying to have the troll and the dog learn how to survive in the wilderness as a team, maybe the game would threaten their food supply or separate the pair from one another by a rather menacing ogre.

  Network Performance Application: Innovations in procedural content generation could also make their way to network applications. If the programming can “learn” that there needs to be a bandwidth-sapping backup once a week, and it “knows” the traffic patterns week after week, it might be able to dynamically, and automatically schedule the backup at the best time to avoid congestion – even if the traffic pattern changes significantly.

Expecting very little except a neat Spore demo from Will Wright (which was delivered as promised), I took so much more away from the Interactive side of South by Southwest. The ideas I listed above are just a smattering of thoughts from the 15 or so pages of notes I jotted down during the 5 days of panels.

Besides interesting ideas, I also collected a bit of motivation during my week at SxSW. Sometime in the middle of another round of margaritas at the SxSW Gawker/Lifehacker party, after the Firefox barbecue, I realized what it was that made these people do what they do. And it’s something that all of us can change in ourselves if we want to. All that makes these tech stars achieve such amazing feats (like building laser etching machines or robots out of Roombas) is just a little bravery and a lot of motivation. They try new things, not just the same old passive activities they’re used to. They try making things, creating things – and when they find something that seems cool, they pursue it with everything they’ve got.

What I took away from my immersions in the projects and plans of some of the most creative and logical minds in the tech industry is: The stars aren’t any more special than the rest of us geeks. More famous, from working on more notable projects, perhaps; but in the end, they are just a bunch of excited, friendly nerds with nothing better to do with their creative energy than take it out on their computers.

This realization has gotten me pretty excited about stepping out of my routine. I mean, one day I could be coding the next big Web 2.0 app, or designing a really amazing Alternative Reality Game, or writing a blog that changes everything. All I have to do is keep poking around, learning new skills, trying things out and eventually I’ll find my niche.

Beth McAfee is a Technical Writer at NetQoS.