We're tired. The kind of tired you can only get from walking a trade show floor. If you've never been to a trade show imagine a mall full of things you actually want to buy, things you just need to have. And just when you think your feet are ready to give out, your over stimulated brain gives them one last push to walk the never ending floor. This is how we felt last night when we got a sneak peak at the Bead Expo, one of the largest consumer bead shows in the country- right in our backyard for the entire weekend at the Oakland Convention Center. We settled on a fine loot of vintage beads, pearls, chain so cheap we don't know how we only bought a yard's worth, tons of charms and lots of beads we know we don't really need but couldn't pass up for the price. We had wholesaler badges, but it didn't seem to matter at most booths, except for the one where we were told some wire we were looking at was $64 a spool but then when our badge was seen the price went down to $32, we didn't need wire that badly. If you are a wholesaler you can buy in large quantities and get a great discount at the show, but the public is also welcome and the prices are still great. ...

We were going to blame our missed post on Hurricane, Tropical Storm, Summer Shower Albert, but you see how that went, so we have to level with you. We were in Orlando last week on business, holed up in another convention center, this time without a laptop. We were supposed to be sharing one with someone from work, but if you've ever had to do that, or if you've ever had siblings, you know how......

Any post that starts "I'm in a light, summery mood today," in spite of the weather, well, that deserves to lead off the round-up this week. The rain's affecting everyone, including Cookiecrumb up in Marin, so we can only imagine the impact this is having on larger farmers and growers. For us, when the weather gets too awful, we always like tea. We like the steam and sweets and the way it makes us feel......

The tech lab crew took a field trip to San Jose last week for the RoboNexus international robotics convention. It's the second year of the convention, and it's the largest robotics convention in the US. That says more about the state of robotics in the US than it does about the size of the show. Only one of the convention center's exhibition halls was being used, and much of that was empty space. But......

SFist attended the 36th San Diego Comic-Con International (SDCC) this past weekend. Last year's SDCC drew almost 100,000 attendees; after trying to negotiate the crowds, we can't see how there could have been any fewer this year. The place was a zoo -- over stimulation from every angle. The event is put on by the same folks that bring the Alternative Press Expo (APE) to our fair city every year; it's really interesting to compare and contrast our little slice of chaos with the behemoth-like SDCC. For one thing, it's not only comics that are spotlighted down in San Diego; representatives from film, television, video games, and more traditional publishing ventures (i.e., "books") help to fill out the San Diego Convention Center's massive eight halls and both meeting-space floors ....

Sorry to plagiarise the title, but there's something about Austin that makes us think of Dylan, both the good parts and the bad. If Austin were a person, we have a feeling that it would be a folk-singing kid from Minnesotta with a talent for songwriting. It also makes us think of Kinky Friedman, but we're not sure if that isn't just because he wants to live in the Texas Governor's mansion. Now there's......

For those of you who were wondering, yes, we are actually here for the panels. Kind of. We're also here to get drunk and make out. But only after discussing copyright reform, comment spam, the need for more diversity of voices in the blogosphere, the nature of journalism and the latest trends in technology. Because that gets us hott. Ever since the computer meltdown, though, we've been beholden to the computers in the press......