Went out for a meal with Andy and Andrew tonight. Andy suggested a place where they come to the table and cook your food in front of you.
We had "The Chef in the Green Hat". He was very cool. And the food was delicious.
The right way to burn an onion...
A great place to eat
Cunning use of minimal space on the ground. But I wouldn't like to live there...
Today we went for a boat trip out from Seattle to Bainbridge Island, which is around half an hour away. There was nothing particular on the island we wanted to see, but it was a nice trip nonetheless.
On the Boat
Seattle from the bay
The weather could have been nicer, but the views were excellent. It just made me more determined to come back here in sunnier times.
Today was the last day of the summit proper, and we had keynote addresses from Ray Ozzie and Steve Balmer
Gathering for the keynote
Ray Ozzie was first to speak and take questions.
Steve Balmer arrived looking like this:
..and left dressed like this
I think we had better find a University of Hull sweatshirt to give him next time.
I've never heard Steve talk before, and I must say I'm impressed. He was knowledgeable, smart, self aware and, above all, funny. A great way to end a very interesting four days.
Today was our final day on the Microsoft Campus. Yesterday I carefully scoped out the best place to sit on the bus for photographs and today I took some.
Driving past the bay
The view down the road
The road is interesting, in that for parts of the journey you are pretty much level with the lake, which is a bit strange. Once we got to the campus we again went off for some sessions, and then I got to "Have lunch with my publisher". I've always wanted to say that. We went to a very nice place and I showed my poise and breeding by choosing the one thing on the menu that came with chips. And very nice it was too. The good news (for me at any rate) is that I think I'm going to be writing another book.
After lunch I met up with Brian, another MVP who teaches with XNA (all these acronyms - don't we sound cool) and then I shot across the campus to meet up with Andy Sterland and Andrew Neil, ex Hull students who now work for Microsoft. As we were talking I noticed a chap outside the building who looked a bit familiar. It turned to be the legendary Phil Price, another Redmond employee from Hull. Out came the camera......
Andy, Phil, Andrew and Andy. If you see what I mean.
Then I shot back to another meeting (they have these amazing shuttles to ferry you around the place), and finally made it onto the bus. The journey back took a while, but I did get some interesting pictures.
This guy is using his laptop whilst driving....
I love the idea of a "Super Heavy" sticker. And talking of "super heavy"...
I took this at the Summit party, which was ace. They had Rock Band set up in a theatre and were letting folk have a go. These guys got booed off after around 30 seconds....
More entertainment
The party in full swing
Today was the first day of the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Summit. Before everything kicked off we went for a walk around Seattle.
We found this really cool magic shop. Check out the Elvis Zoltar inside...
I managed to blag a visit to Alan's room. His hotel room is rather high, with some nice views.
Overhead view of the monorail
Seattle skyline, with clouds
Gathering for the opening session. I've never been to one of these before, but the thing that struck me was just how many MVPs there are. This is a big affair. And there are people from all over the world.
This was the gathering before we went in for dinner.
The food, and the company, was excellent. On the way out I grabbed a picture of the view from the conference centre.
The quality of the weather dipped a bit overnight, but at least it wasn't raining. Went over to meet up with Boss at his hotel and it looked like they were prepared for him.
Did somebody call the cops?
Turns out the Dalai Lama was in town, and staying in the same place as Boss. These were the outriders for his trips out. We went off in search of breakfast.
This place does good sandwiches
This place does nice peppers
The Dalai Lama hits the road.
Boss and hired car
Boss in hired car
Lego bits, lots of them.
Lego pigs
I nearly bought lots of things, but was actually very good. Perhaps tomorrow.
We went out for a look around Seattle. And the weather was lovely. I'm breaking in a new camera (what a surprise). It is a tiny Fuji FinePix F50fd. I was unsure it would improve much on my old FinePix F10. But it does. It has already taken some lovely shots. Fuji seem to put some magic pixie dust or something in their cameras that make them just take good pictures.
Like this
Or this.
We had tea in a super little place on the waterfront. Seattle seems to give priority to the quirky, home grown kind of establishment, and I reckon this is a seriously good move. It gives the place real character.
This is where ate. When I took this picture they were playing a Bay City Rollers track ("Saturday night" if you must know..). If that's not personality, I don't know what is.
It had a good view of the bay too.
After tea we had a walk around.
How tasteful. But not as scary as....
Of course they have skyscrapers
"Pig and Pigeon" Sounds like a good name for a pub.
I think Seattle is going to replace San Francisco as my favourite city in the US. Then again, the forecast is for rain tomorrow.....
Woke up this morning feeling much better. So it was off to the airport and on to the plane. I'm going to the Microsoft MVP Summit in Seattle and to be quite honest I'm rather excited.
I've also taken the camera(s).
Obligatory Taxi shot from airport
Seattle skyline
The view from my hotel window. Might be a bit noisy tonight....
The weather was supposed to be horrible. Snow on high ground. Roads becoming impassable. Etc etc. But we went anyway. After all, we like Whitby very much. It is a strange place really, touristy in a way that only England can do properly. And we were dead lucky, because the weather, although very cold, was wonderful. Especially for photos.
Whitby church on top of the cliffs, and a few boats
The bay.
Steam Train. Mike knows which one.
Air Sea Rescue
They say Dracula is buried here somewhere. I'm not going looking.....
I'm in Schipol airport trying to answer the eternal question "What do you do if you have five hours to kill in an international airport?". I've spent 3 euros on 15 minutes of internet time. But what next?
After a very smooth trip last night I'm now in Lisbon at TechDays 08. I came along last year, to the sensibly name TechDays 07 and had such fun that I've come back again and to do two sessions. I've just finished the XNA one and it seemed to OK from my point of view (although I'm worried that I might not have mentioned the book enough....)
Where I'm speaking (they have lovely weather here)
As is usual for Portugal, I had a fantastic audience.
Left
Middle
Right
After I told my first joke (the people at the back are sound technicians who are paid to be there....)
I had a great time promoting the book and VerySillyGames. I've got another session this afternoon. Wish me (and the audience) luck.
I got back bright and early this morning. And then spent most of the day asleep.
Getting rid of the last of the silly pictures, I wonder what the aircraft cleaners will make of it?
Thanks to these folks for making sure that I had some legroom on the flights.
Quite a nice SF sunrise to finish off with.
Warren and John's hotel faces in a much nicer direction than mine. And they have a balcony. Cue Rob turning up with a tripod and a winning smile.
Straight out from the balcony
Looking towards the bay
I went to a couple of other sessions yesterday which were of note. The first was an Xbox Live session. This really has taken off in a big way. There was much description of how to improve "conversion", which is where you persuade someone to take their trial version of the game and pay money to convert it into the full game. As the presenter said, most of this is common sense, but it was nice to see it backed up by statistics and set down in one place. The key things are:
Another thing that came out of the discussion was that Xbox Live are very amenable to highly original ideas, much more so than "proper" game developers. If you have an idea this is a good place to take it. And with XNA games now appearing on Live, and a means for getting a following using the community stuff that is coming soon, things can only get more interesting.
The final presentation I went to was from Nintendo. Takao Sawano had come over from Japan to explain how the Wii Fit platform came about. This is the latest in the sequence of "disruptive technologies" that the Wii and the DS have brought to gaming. The presentation was simultaneously translated from Mr Sawano's Japanese text, but none the worse for this, with the translator keeping up admirably. The Wii Fit game took as its' starting point a pair of bathroom scales. Mr. Miyamoto, the legendary Nintendo producer reckoned that people might like the idea of tracking their weight using the Wii. The presentation showed how they developed prototype hardware using rotary encoders to measure the weight before finally fixing on the use of four strain gauges fitted at each corner of the platform.
I know a lot about strain gauges. I used them to weigh fish in a motion compensated weighing machine that I helped build a few years back. They are very accurate and highly sensitive. Using them means that the platform can measure changes in weight in the tens of grams, even being able to detect when you raise and lower your hand. They are also fast, so the game can get fresh readings 60 times a second. This has led to all kinds of games based on weight shifting and aerobics. In the exhibition they have some set up with a skiing game that looks ace. In Japan they've sold well over a million so far and the game comes to Europe in late April. Of course I'm going to get one. It might even help me get a bit fitter...
[Graphics Heavy Post Alert]
Derek knows San Francisco very well. And apart from his habit of walking very fast up hills he makes for an excellent tour guide. Today we started down at the harbour.
Ferry boat and the "other" bridge
View from the pier
Posing bird
Tugs
Pier amusements
Fancy boat - and no, it didn't hit the jetty
The famous Lombard Street
View from Coit Tower
Another view
Bridge and Bay
They had some great murals in the tower
I like this place
There are a few more on Flickr
I blame the jetlag. That and an over-confidence in the abilities of lithium ions. Anyhoo, whatever the cause it resulted in me not bothering to charge the camera battery last night, on the eve of our walk around SF, with the opportunity, nay obligation, to take hundreds of pictures. So, of course, ten shots into the trip everything shuts down and the camera becomes a paperweight. Wah.
Fortunately we were on our way to Best Buy, and I had intended to get a new battery at some point anyway, so I would have a spare in case this kind of thing happens. Yes, they do have a battery. It won't be fully charged, but it beats the heck out of nothing. And they also sell travel chargers at a sensible price. And Nigel, once he hears my sorry story, is even willing to plug the charger in for a few minutes to get me back on the road.
Go and buy lots of things from this man.
This was service above and beyond the call of duty. Thanks very much for that. And so it was off for a coffee at the local diner.
They have everlasting coffee cups here
Artistic use of mirror on way to bridge
The money shot
The view from the beach
Playtime
These folks asked Derek to take a picture with their camera.
Just a few kites
This is a graphics heavy post. Rob is on his travels again...
Up bright and early today to catch the 6:20 am flight out of Humberside Airport for San Francisco. It's a tough life. But mostly OK, right up to the point where I tip wine all over my travel documents on the plane. I also managed to fill one of my shoes with the drink of the chap sat next to me. I offered to let him finish it off from there, but he demurred.
So it was a squelchy walk through Homeland Security and into the land of the free. I had a plan to buy an 80 Gbyte Zune. I bought a little (30G) one last year, and I liked it so much that I planned to get another one as soon as we arrived. Bad things plans. They let the gods know what you are thinking of doing..... The first blow was that my favourite shop in SF, Comp USA, was closing. Really closing. I could have bought a yard of shop counter if I'd wanted, but no Zunes. After some research I've discovered that these devices are pretty darned popular over here. Everywhere I've tried so far has been out of stock. Derek and I went for a walk to find BestBuy, we didn't find the shop, but I took the big camera, and grabbed some snaps.
Funny thing photography. I've got a little camera that will take great photographs just by pointing it in the general direction of the scene and pressing the button. The big camera is a bit more tricky. However, once you have taken the picture and spent some time in Photoshop you can come up with some really nice results.
I just like the car
..and another car
..and a fire engine
I think their turn lights are broken
Lovely colours
..what happens if you point a wide angle lens up in the air
Fine Diner
More pictures tomorrow, or today, or whenever.
Went up to Durham today to see Number One Son. All seems to be going OK. I took the big camera and lens, in search of happy snaps.
Birds on the roof
Against the light
Durham Indoor Market
On the way back we stopped off to see Number One Daughter in York...
Lovely sunset
We were up bright and early for a "Breakfast Round Table" discussion with academics from all over Ireland about the teaching of XNA and Computer Science.
Some of the delegates had got up at scarily early hours to travel here and take part. Once I got over the disappointment that the table wasn't actually round a great discussion was had. It was interesting to hear how the computing scene in Ireland is not that different from the UK. Quite a few places are getting their students to write games as part of their teaching, others are starting game development courses. At Hull we have been doing this for a while, and so I delivered a bit of insight into how we make things work. And gave the book a good plug.
Then the student presentations started. Due to popular demand we were running two tracks and so everyone gave their sessions twice. I took some pictures of the audience looking happy at the start of my sessions (I always take the pictures at the start, in case it all goes horribly wrong).
The audience for session 1
The first session went really well with a great audience. Then I staggered out of the lecture room and into the second session.
The audience for session 2, how they appeared at the start....
However once I got the laptop working on the projector things settled down a bit and I was able to focus on the job in hand....
Another superb audience.
I had another great session with these folks, and then it was off to the airport for a flight back to Hull.
The XNA European tour goes on tomorrow to Vienna. You can find out how they are doing on Charles Cox's blog here.
Today Dave Baker and I strutted our Micro Framework stuff in front of our TechEd audience. Someone had rather kindly told Dave that "He must be mad to present with Rob". If I had a pound for everyone who has said that.....
We had some very nice toys to show off
The talk went very well, in spite of the fact that I told my favourite and second favourite jokes. I'm saving my third favourite for the talk tomorrow. We gave away a bunch of T shirts, a copy of the book and a complete development kit, so there were some very happy delegates. We had loads of questions, which I reckon is a good sign.
At the start of the Dave and Rob show
After the talk I headed off to "Ask the Experts" and spent a happy ninety minutes admiring all the new .NET Micro Framework platforms that seem to have appeared since I last looked, and meeting up with Roger and Colin, who had come al the way over from Seattle to run some porting classes and talk to delegates.
The way that Microsoft are prepared to send over the people who actually make their stuff always amazes me. Delegates can actually talk to the programmers who actually make the products they are working with. It must be hugely expensive in time and effort, but I'm jolly glad they do it.
Rob Miles is technology author and educator who spent many years as a lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Hull. He is also a Microsoft Developer Technologies MVP. He is into technology, teaching and photography. He is the author of the World Famous C# Yellow Book and almost as handsome as he thinks he is.
Begin to Code with JavaScript is now available for purchase and download. You can find it here
