Skip to main content

Inside the #SXSWTechCab, where I traded my digital sins for a free ride

confession cab “SXSW is easy to get around!” said no one ever. The streets are jam packed, the music clashes, and everywhere you turn is yet another line that will make you want to tear your hair out. 

With this in mind, I knew I had to hop on a free ride any chance I could. Kendo UI is hosting a TechCab – a play on HBO’s “Taxicab Confessions.” Instead of the 10 uncomfortable minutes you sit in a quiet cab, host Irina Slutsky will ask you to confess a technological sin for a free ride. It was raining on our first day in Austin, and our team really needed to get away from the downtown madness, so we gave Irina a tweet and a few minutes later, there she was there in an orange car.

Recommended Videos

When you first hop in the cab, you are greeted to signs alerting that you are being recorded. Get out now while you can if you’re camera shy! Her fifth year running the SXSW TechCab, Irina’s heard it all from her passengers: Drunk confessions, guilty admissions … a guy who had just gotten on the cab before us had just admitted to hacking a website, she says. 

“For many people, the TechCab is a nice place to sit down and have a chat,” she says. Especially from the noise, entering the cab felt like a peaceful getaway from the outside world. There, you felt like you had to release some pressure and unload a confession onto Irina. Well, you had to, technically. What do you think paid for the cab?

“I used to go into my parents’ cameras and delete photos of me and my sisters,” Social Media editor Molly McHugh says. Gulp. “No one needs to see pictures of me dressed as Annie!”

Nonjudgmental, Irina nods and says it’s a fine confession. She feels bad for Molly’s parents and their memory keepsake, but no penance here. “What about you, Natt?”

This is being recorded. This is probably going to be published. People who knew me will hate me for this, but here goes.

“When I want to flake out of meeting up with people, I lie and say I have other plans and fake Foursquare check into places to make it seem like I was elsewhere,” I confess. I’m sorry guys, sometimes a girl just needs a night in with herself! Even Molly seemed like she was judging me, but Irina seemed excited. “Oh, that’s a good one!” she says as I wonder if she’ll share this story anonymously with her next passengers.

At last we arrive at our destination and Irina lets us off easy. After all, she’ll be running all day and night until Sunday night (March 10), so she’ll have plenty more riders who are sure to have made worst ways with technology.

As for me, the confession felt good. But friends who’ve made it to this last line of the article will definitely delete me off Foursquare.

Natt Garun
Former Digital Trends Contributor
An avid gadgets and Internet culture enthusiast, Natt Garun spends her days bringing you the funniest, coolest, and strangest…
Black Friday battery deals: Save on AA and AAA batteries
AmazonsBasics AA batteries being inserted into a game controller.

Black Friday may be one of the best times to buy electronics, but it’s also one of the best times to keep them charged up. Today’s early Black Friday deals include all sorts of rechargeable batteries, so if you’re looking for some spare AAAs or AAs to keep around the house, now’s the time to save. But there’s plenty of devices that run on battery power and plenty more battery sizes out there, so we’ve rounded up all of the best Black Friday battery deals you can find in the lead up to Black Friday. Reading onward you’ll find all of those details, as well as some information on things to look out for when shopping Black Friday battery deals.
HiQuick AA + AAA combo pack with charger — $21 $26 20% off

With this battery combo you’ll get four HiQuick AA batteries and four AAA batteries, as well as a wall charger that’s capable of charging both sizes. The charger has fast-charging capabilities and can charge all eight batteries at once. This deal is good for $5 in savings, which is 20% off the regular price.

Read more
Early Black Friday chest freezer deals: up to 40% off today
The Insignia 7-cubic feet chest freezer placed in a garage.

Update 10/29/24: This starts our Black Friday coverage of chest freezers, and we like what we see so far. The following deals are from a variety of good brands, show a wide range of prices, and most importantly come in various sizes, so you can pick what is right for your home.

While Black Friday officially starts on November 29, retailers are getting started early this year. That means great early Black Friday deals, including on things like chest freezers. Here, we search high and low for the best deals on chest freezers to hit the market. That means we're looking at sources like Walmart's, Amazon's, and Best Buy's early Black Friday deals among others to get you the best deals possible. Whether you're wanting to store ice cream, meat, or a party's worth of frozen pizza, these are the best chest freezers for you.
Hisense 5 cu. ft. Garage Ready Chest Freezer — $165 $189 13% off

Read more
Best cordless drill early Black Friday deals: DeWalt and more
A DeWalt drill being used.

Update 10/28/24: This marks the beginning of our drill coverage for 2024's Black Friday shopping season, and all of the major brands have at least one great deal. While we're excited for what is to come, this is a fantastic start and there's really no reason to not go ahead and get prepped by buying something now.
If you're buying anything this Black Friday, there's a big chance you might want a drill/driver to go with it. A drill/driver is one part drill, one part (screw)driver and it can help out in many situations. For example, say you take part in one of these early Black Friday TV deals, you very well might want to wall mount it. Then, say you grab up an easy coffee maker from Keurig's early Black Friday deals. An extra side table in your study would sure go nice with that and a drill/driver could very well make the table's construction much easier.
Really, with so so many of your early Black Friday purchases, there might be a chance to pick up a cordless drill or driver and get to work. As such, we've compiled a list of the best cordless drill deals throughout Black Friday deals that are available now, so you can get a head start on prepping for the savings that are to come.

Skil Pwr Core 12 Drill/Driver — $50 $59 15% off

Read more