But it’s probably not a good sign when your first thought about a pole dancer is “she could stand to lose about 20 pounds.” The young ladies at last year’s Rock n Rave in New Orleans were more worthy so this may reflect yet another conference economic cut back. … One ISV told me that years ago, “I first thought you were nuts. Then I decided you were brilliant. It’s probably somewhere in between.” I told him to play it safe I’d lean towards nuts. … At an executive Q&A, Steve Elop, president of the Microsoft Business Division, discussed Project Natal, well known to gamers, via which the company is developing gesture recognition that can be used in games. For example, there would be a camera under the display which captures the Xbox player’s gestures to drive a car. Combine that with 3D video and the future of Internet porn has never seemed brighter. ... The universe is filled with symmetry. In this case, it was the fact that the only two exhibits with tiki huts, long-time tiki displayer Avalara and newcomer Advanced Distribution for Dynamics, had booths placed back-to-back on the show floor. The Avalara, which pioneered orange as its primary booth color, was placed in the increasingly large orange-booth ghetto. I have this vision of future Convergences: a vast ocean of orange and a forest of tiki huts.  … One booth had someone providing massages, not an uncommon floor spiff. I waited patiently for several minutes until she finished and stepped forward. “We’re saving this for prospects,” she said, with no hint of a small. In the noise, I didn’t hear and she repeated her stern rule. The curse of the press badge. … Mark Rockwell of Rockton Software was dressed in a pirate uniform, perhaps not the best metaphor for a business person, well, except maybe for Goldman Sachs. Another booth had cheerleaders poured into their outfits. At a third, featuring Heidi-like girls, I asked one lederhosen-clad man, “Practicing for the Sound of Music?” ... The political mud-slinging must  be fierce in the South. A large billboard visible from the Georgia Congress Center proclaimed, "God is not a Socialist."