Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

photo credit: MMMMichelle

On the second day of Penguicon, the furries came out. Luckily, they weren’t drawn to the technical track, so for the most part, we were safe.

Most of the morning, Rick and I hung out. There weren’t any sessions that we wanted to attend, so we headed out for a few hours and wandered the local mall, which was roughly the size of the UCLA campus. It was two massive structures connected by a skyway over West Big Beaver Road¹. Astonishingly, it was filled with…nothing. Well…nothing for two computer geeks on the prowl. To be fair, there was an Apple Store, but even that felt half-assed.

Heading back, we met back up with Cmdln for his afternoon sessions. The poor guy looked like something out of Infected, his head cold threatening burst out of his skull and wreak havoc over the con. He held the beast at bay with liberal application of Dayquil. He and I headed off to his three panels.

I have to say, his Third Wave Power² was sorely tested by the panels he had that day:

Read the rest of this entry »

1. No joke. I’m not making that up.[back]
2. Cmdln’s Third Wave power is the ability to as intelligent on the last day of a con, after having little sleep, as he sounds on the first day. Personally, I think this definition needs to be refined thusly: he has the ability to sound intelligent no matter how tired he is.[back]

photo credit: paulgorman

There may be no place quieter than a con on a Saturday morning.

Still, I’m up. And this is the Penguicon Update: Day 1.

The con itself is good size…it’s pretty much taken over the Troy Hilton, which is not a small hotel. Like all Sci-Fi/Tech conventions, the glasses to non-glasses ratio is pretty high, and most of the other usual stereotypes about the population of geekdom also apply. I’ve seen all ages here, it does not skew young or old, and so far, there are no furries.

Read the rest of this entry »

This coming weekend, cmdln¹ is flying up to Cleveland and we are driving up to Penguicon together. This is exciting on three levels.

First, I get to spend time with one of the smartest folks I know². I’ve been a fan of cmdln’s work for a long time now, and meeting him at Dragon*Con last year was a real treat. As we are both software developers, gamers, geeks, and podcasters, we have a tremendous amount in common. I’m looking forward to getting back together and chatting with him.

Secondly, Penguicon is a combination Science Fiction and Open Source software convention. Talk about a perfect mix for me. Topics range from the future of programming languages to why to write short fiction to all manner of gaming. I’ll be in heaven.

Finally, I got the chance to meet and chat briefly with Matt Arnold³ at Notacon this year. We discussed his efforts to get a podcasting presence launched at the con, and he invited me to participate in the Podcasting Panel which takes place at 10pm on Friday night.

I’m hoping to get some audio from the con for The Secret Lair, but we shall see. My schedule is looking pretty jam-packed so far.

If you’re going to be at the con, drop me a line. I’d love to meet up and chat.

1. Commandline, to those who need vowels and such[back]
2. That would be cmdln.[back]
3. The Head of Communications for Penguicon, and newest member of Escape Artists, Inc[back]