blackbird banned at gaming confab: "too bloody powerful"

WTF? This is just hard to believe, who are these wankers? I guess our crew did too good a job designing it?

IPCGA disqualifies HP Blackbird 002 from 2008 International PC Gaming Tournament...International PC gaming association determines next-gen PC gaming rig is simply too powerful for this year’s competition.

Hey, decide for yourself ;-)

like hope but different

hope (yes we can)

the sky remains

going to bristol for mscapefest '07?

Let me know if you're going to be in Bristol UK for the Mediascape conference on 3 December, mscapeFest '07. I'm hoping to go, and the more fellow pervasive gamers and pub crawlers, the better!

separated at birth?

Wired Gadget Lab finds a remarkable similarity between our little Blackbird 002 and...the iPhone. LOFL!!! And they wrote a very nice review saying among other things, "Gaming PC manufacturers take note: The bar just got raised into outer space."

Must...live...up...to...hype...

blackbird rising

A little something from the day job...

UPDATED: Lots of good coverage coming out...
* The inside scoop from partner-in-crime Rahul Sood
* CNET.com: “HP's Blackbird 002 earns the highest rating this editor has ever given a desktop PC."
* PCMag.com: "Five Stars"
* Gizmodo: "The Love Child of HP and Voodoo"
* Business Week: "Game On for HP"
* WSJ: "Gaming PCs for the Masses"
* Kotaku: "Project Blackbird Lands at my House"

in silicon valley, millionaires who don’t feel rich

Wow, this NY Times story really says it all about life here in Silly Valley.

Mr. Kremen estimated his net worth at $10 million. That puts him firmly in the top half of 1 percent among Americans, according to wealth data from the Federal Reserve, but barely in the top echelons in affluent towns like Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Atherton. So he logs 60- to 80-hour workweeks because, he said, he does not think he has nearly enough money to ease up.

“You’re nobody here at $10 million,” Mr. Kremen said earnestly over a glass of pinot noir at an upscale wine bar here.

Well that's a bit overwrought in my book, but there is a lot of money here, and a lot of overt materialism. It is very hard sometimes, not to fall into the trap of measuring your personal success in terms of flash cars, enormous homes, VC deals, and the number of staff you have managing your lush life.

BTW, it was interesting to see former HP colleague Celeste Baranski profiled in the article...hey Celeste, we're neighbors -- drop me a line and we can talk story sometime when we both aren't chained to our desks ;-)

the killer app for the iphone?

One month into my iPhone experience, I have to say that Google Reader is the killer app for this juicy little telefruit. Actually I suppose I should say, other people's ideas are the killer app, but Reader on the JesusPhone provides a very elegant conduit for bringing those ideas to my brain. What's really great about this is, now I can easily keep up on my feeds in those empty interstitial moments (waiting in lines, riding the train, walking the dog) instead of when I'm sitting at my PC supposedly working, paying bills etc. It's pretty much addictive, and I use it way more than any of the other apps on the current iPhone deck.

It seems like Google is detecting the iPhone, because the Reader interface on the iPhone is different than the normal mobile version of Reader. It also appears they are adding features to Reader to enhance iPhone use. For example, I noticed that the list of feeds changed from a simple list of text links to a formatted list of text links with graphics for the number of unread items, sized nicely for the screen.

At first I was a bit disappointed because there was no "share" button to add items to my link blog. But a fews days later, "share" became a standard part of the interface at the bottom of each item. Thanks Googlers, that was a great addition. I love it when web services get better like that. Anyway, now you will see a lot more stuff flowing through my link blog (feed) as I am reading a lot more feeds and sharing a lot of interesting things.

why the apple store rocks customer experience

Reason # 518: Human Beings Instead Of Robots

So -- I'm fairly unhappy because the pricey Monster Cable mini-audio-jack-to-stereo-RCA cable I bought last month has failed. I use it to connect my iPod to my car audio system, and music is just no fun with only the left channel playing. Worse, I'm predisposed to be unhappy -- I had to buy the new cable because the damn JesusPhone audio jack is incompatible with standard mini audio plugs (and how annoying is that, I mean really). Anyway, I take the defective cable back to the Apple Store, the fellow behind the counter looks at my receipt, and notes that I am past the 2 week return window. I'm supposed to send it back to Monster, he tells me. But then he says "Let me see what I can do to swap it for you", and a few minutes later I have a brand new cable installed, and Metallica's The Unforgiven is playing in sublime stereo as I roll away from the curb.

I'd like to see that kind of goodness from the return desk at [insert your favorite digital electronics retail outlet here], instead of the usual robots. Todd's right, those last 30 feet make all the difference.

san jose grand prix

We were guests of the RSports racing team at the San Jose Grand Prix, and it was an amazing weekend. RSports driver Justin Wilson ran a blistering qualifier on Saturday to win the pole position, but sadly both Justin and teammate Alex Tagliani experienced car trouble during the race on Sunday and lost several laps in the pits.

It was startling to see downtown SJ blocked off and turned into a racecourse; there must have been four or five miles of concrete barriers and fencing trucked in, to say nothing of all the Champ Cars, classic stock cars, drift cars, and all of their mega-trailers of equipment and crew.
Strange to think that this movable micro-city came and went in less than a week, and would be re-established many times in different cities along the international racing circuit. Racing people are just crazy I guess ;-)

Extensive Flickr set here.

dream theater @ berkeley

I think I'm going to quit my job and go on the road, following Dream Theater from show to show. Flickr set here.

a cold dark night with margo timmins

Despite the ill-tempered chill wind, it was good to see the Cowboy Junkies last night in Saratoga. They have a new record, and they played a generous, soulful show drawn from new and classic material. Never a band to dwell on the happier moments, they segued a very pretty Anniversary Song into the lilting but dark To Love Is To Bury. Their cover of Neil Young's Powderfinger was a highlight of the evening. I wished for 200 More Miles, but alas. Margo Timmins wandered offstage several times to attend to her 4 year old son Ed, who had banged his head and needed motherly ministrations. Michael Timmins seemed a bit distracted on guitar, but his presence was nonetheless deeply resonant in the lyrics of his songs. Peter and I had hot dogs and beer, not necessarily in that order. It was a good night.

[more pics in my Flickr set]

gabriela y rodrigo, guitars on fire

O. M. F. G. Beautiful, savage, astonishing, unbelievable.

so you thought you might like to...

...go to the show...to feel the warm thrill of confusion, that space cadet glow...I've got some bad news for you sunshine, Pink isn't well, he stayed back at the hotel, and they sent us along as a surrogate band...we're going to find out where you fans really stand!

Update: see more pix in my Roger Waters flickr set

must-see tv: copyright and fair use explained with disney clips

Absolutely brilliant and high-larious educational short that explains the basic principles of copyright and fair use, using a collage of clips from Disney animated films. See if you can count them all: Snow White, Toy Story 1 & 2, Aladdin, Little Mermaid, Lion King, Pinocchio, Monsters Inc, and lots more (there's a full spoilers list in the credits). Done by Prof. Eric Faden of Bucknell, found via teach42.com and the future commons list.

sony's flexible color display

Sweetness, a full color flexible OLED prototype from Sony's labs. There's a short demo video too. I feel an attack of ubi-lust coming on!

pics from the maker faire 2007

I took some fun pictures wandering around the Maker Faire with Scott last weekend. Makers = ubigeeks plus knitting circles plus sideshow carnies plus ecowarriors plus heavy metal machinists plus friend artistes, apparently. Very trippy, with lots of 21st century homespun charm.

sign o' the times: ubivending

I think this is maybe what Patrick was thinking when he invented "UbiVend". Click to enlarge.

scooterman -- you drink, we drive