Dave Winer and I had an initial exchange that I thought would be useful for most Davos newbies.

Is there going to be a computer room, a place where I can update my site?

Novell runs a “Web cafe” in the Congress Centre. I wish I could say there were 100 web browser machines — more like a couple of dozen. But it will certainly serve your purpose. Outside the Congress Centre, it gets more difficult. Davos still has analogue telephone switching, so some people have found it difficult to access anything. This year, for the first time, there will be an IT help desk that will extend to getting people an ISDN line for their hotel room, should they need it.

I plan to bring a digital camera with me. Is it OK to take pictures?

Pictures are fine.

Some conferences are off the record. Is there such a policy at Davos?

Plenary sessions are all on the record (and will all be webcast). Interactive sessions are theoretically off the record, but in practice most people report on them — generally checking on the sensitive items. Meals are generally really off the record (unless it’s with someone like Larry Summers, who understands that anything that happens in front of 100 people can never be off the record).

On a different level, my colleagues here are encouraging me to give some more practical advice. Here are some essential tips. Davos is in the mountains and it can be bitterly cold and snowy (it can also be sunny and beautiful — sunglasses are vital). You’ll need boots or sturdy shoes to walk around in. If you wear a suit (and most do, except for the Silicon Valley crowd), you annoyingly have to carry shoes in a bag and then change in the Congress Centre.

The air, both outside and in the Congress Centre, is staggeringly dry. You’ll need chapstick and possibly eyedrops. Hotels are mostly geared for skiers, not Davos participants, so they may not have alarm clocks.