Happy Monday to you all! As another day dawns, the SXSWi countdown continues. Only 17 more days until the interactive madness begins!

Creating Oscar Gold

SXSWi’s Sunday keynote, Nate Silver (FiveThirtyEight.com), is often called the statistical guru of our time.

He first popped up on the scene  forecasting baseball players’ career development and performance with his PECOTA system. After his first success, Silver turned to politics and created the site FiveThirtyEight. He amazed many when he accurately called every U.S. Senate race and 49 of 50 states during the presidential race. Now Silver is taking on Hollywood to predict the 81st Academy Awards.   Before last night’s Oscars, Silver used statistical software and a process called logistic regression to predict the big winners of Oscar night. 

Nate Silver’s results v. The 81st Academy Awards results:

(4 out of 6- not too shabby)

Supporting Actress

Taraji P. Henson……………………51.0%

 (winner)   Penélope Cruz……………………….24.6% 

Viola Davis…………………………..11.6%

Amy Adams………………………….11.6%

Marisa Tomei………………………..1.2%

Supporting Actor

Heath Ledger………………………..85.8%  (winner)

Josh Brolin……………………………5.0% 

Philip Seymour Hoffman…………..4.4%

Michael Shannon……………………3.6%

 Robert Downey Jr. …………………1.2%

Lead Actress

(winner)   Kate Winslet………………………..67.6% 

Meryl Streep………………………..32.4% 

Anne Hathaway……………………0.0% 

Melissa Leo…………………………..0.0%

Angelina Jolie ………………………0.0%

Lead Actor

Mickey Rourke…………………….71.1%

Sean Penn……………………………19.0% (winner)

Brad Pitt……………………………….5.9%

Frank Langella……………………..3.4%

Richard Jenkins……………………0.5%

Best Picture

(winner)  Slumdog Millionaire……………………….99.0%  

Milk……………………………………………..1.0%  

Frost/Nixon…………………………………..0.0%  

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button…….0.0% 

The Reader……………………………………..0.0% 

Best Director

Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire………99.7% (winner)

Gus Van Sant, Milk……………..0.1%

David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button……0.1%

Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon……………..0.0%

Stephen Daldry, The Reader……………0.0%

March 15th Keynote

Nate Silver will be interviewed by Stephen Baker, BusinessWeek reporter and author, Sunday, March 15th at 2:00pm in Room A of the Austin Convention Center as one of SXSWi’s keynote highlights.

In Other News…..

Hyper Island, world renowned digital education company, has announced that CEO, Mattias Hansson, in cooperation with the University of Colorado at Boulder, will host a workshop on March 14th at SXSWi.

The workshop offers advertising, web and design professionals an opportunity to learn how individuals can help themselves, their work groups and company to perform even better. Hyper Island will reveal how they have been creating some of the world’s most pursued creative talents for more than 14 years.

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If you are already registered for SXSWi and would like to attend this unique workshop, all you have to do is send an email to sxsw@hyperisland.se to reserve your place on March 14 from 3-6 pm in the Austin Convention Center.

SXSWi Screenburn Arcade

As SXSWi lurks around the corner, ScreenBurn Arcade is getting revved up to fill its a public space of gaming. Explore the newest innovations in video games, play hands-on in casual and advanced tournaments and meet the Game Design Winners. The third annual ScreenBurn Arcade runs Friday, March 13 – Sunday, March 15 and is located in Exhibit Hall 2 of the Austin Convention Center.

 Come get your game on, it’s FREE!

Friday, March 13 from 2-6pm

Saturday, March 14 from 12-6pm

Sunday, March 15 from 12-6pm