SXSW's young, alternative-lifestyle demographic doesn't get excited by standard trade show booths and PowerPoint presentations. To get their attention, Intel has turned to young (or at least young-sounding) bloggers and gimmicks that include a taxicab in which attendees are interviewed while being driven around.

Intel is marketing its product category. MIDs, as the company calls them, are handheld devices such as the Asus R2H or Samsung Q1 that are built around Intel's Atom processor, the same chip found in hot-selling, low-priced computers.

As marketing efforts go, Intel's isn't a surprise. Nor are the handful of Twittering Intel employes. More interesting is "Techcab Confessions," a video series in which San Francisco video blogger Irina Slutsky (it's pronounced "sloot-ski") drives a Chrysler 300C Intel-branded cab around the conference area, asking them flirty questions about their work and lives. "How big is your stack?" Slutsky prods one attendee.

What's the point of all this? It seems to be that Intel, which recently jumped on the "25 Random Things about Me" bandwagon about , wants to convince self-styled geeks that the company and the gadgets its chips power are hip. They're cool. They're edgy!

Suggestion for Intel: Next year, offer to guest-edit for SXSW week.