Yesterday was a far busier day at the convention for me, followed by a couple of after parties that led to significant delay in posting the daily update. It also happens that the evenings festivities ended with my most epic night of gambling ever, culminating in a nice increase in personal wealth. Ended might not be the best word, as I still haven’t slept yet. But I showered and changed, and unpacked last nights swag with some pretty epic grabs.

I don’t really have much of an order for these, save the last 4 items which I am particularly proud of:

RunCore SSD Tshirt - I decided I need 1 t-shirt a day, because they provide nice photo backgrounds, saving you, gentle reader, from having to stare at the duvet cover of my 1970’s disco colored room at the IP.

VIA Instant coffee sample - Wifes been wanting to try this without buying it, and now she can. Brownie points were earned in case gambling didn’t go so hot.

PURE Alkaline rechargeable batteries and recharger - in 2008, I managed to snag some energizer swag of the battery kind. This year PURE has the best stuff, and I now shouldn’t need to buy AA’s for several months at least.

SHUTTLE USB Drive - Coming in at 2GB, it’s the first quality thumb drive I’ve picked up this show.

Lego Figures x 2 - My desk may well have an entire road construction crew when I leave here considering there are still 2 days left to swing by the Lego Universe booth.

GelaSkins iPhone skin - I broke my own rule about taking something I can’t use with this one. I figure there has to be someone I know with an iPhone who can use a nice skin.

MusicSkins iPod Nano 5G skin - I dropped and scuffed the corner of my G5 on day 1 of ownership coming in from a run. I expect to apply this to the player on the plane ride home.

A pen - I don’t know where I got it or from who, but it’s metal and built solidly.

BlackBerry water bottle - The biggest piece of swag from last nights blogger party, also the most useful thing in the bag by far.

Earphone grips - I don’t know anyone who has trouble gripping earphones, but as I run in the rain a lot, I figure there are worse preventative measures I could take.

Kodak bag - Ive been needing a new environmentally friendly grocery bag, and now I have one.

Finally, the best pieces:

3. Tie: Photos with Geordi and Data - Yep, Brent Spiner was the advertised guest at the BlackBerry blogger party. But evidently, even though he’s no longer wearing white face makeup, Brent still needs Levar Burton to follow him around and make sure he’s ok. Actually, they were terrific guys, both fun and interesting to talk to. If you don’t follow @levarburton on twitter, you really should. I have now met 4 of the ST:TNG cast members (Wil Wheaton @ PAX, Marina Sirtis at convention as a teenager), so I just need to track down Professor Xavier and the token Klingon to round out the big 6.

2. MusicSkins Beatles skins 8 pack - iPod/iPhone Beatles skin kits #’ed to 250 and never to be released to the public, these are pretty sweet kits. The fact that I may or may not have a second one of these will be a subject for later discussion.

1. Gunnar Gaming glasses - with an SRP of $99, this was the most expensive individual item from yesterdays work. They have a special UV coating and other features designed specifically to reduce effort on the eyes under intense video game situations. This is the swag catchers dream, something highly sought after by a strong niche market, but not easily available in someones booth. The best part about these is that they are the customized model for MLG, which clearly labels the wearer as elite.

Finally - These next few days will be a myriad of meetings and meandering, with some gambling and drinking on the side. If you find or know of swag you think I should have or that others will want to know about, send me a tweet @techknowgn and I’ll put my swagger into action.