Museum, Palace and Lunch

(This is a very graphics heavy post. And there are literally hundreds more pictures on Flicker if you want to see them)

Today was culture day. So early in the morning we headed off to the Seoul Museum of History in a bus with very funky ceiling

 

Rather sadly it was raining heavily, but fortunately we had each been provided with an umbrella. When we got to the museum they had set up a super little machine which provides you with a little bag to put your wet umbrella in, which was very cute.

 
Students in search of culture (shurely shome mishtake?)

The museum was great, although we didn't really have time to do it justice. In Europe we like to lord it over our American cousins, because we have stuff which is hundreds, nay thousands of years older than most of the history that they've got. Well, the Koreans have got us beat hands down. On the evidence of the museum they were building rich and complex civilizations whilst us brits were living in caves and running around painted blue.   

Next stop was Gyeong Bok Gung. This is a royal palace of the Jaseon Dynasty (it says here). All I know is that it was fantastic, and I got some lovely pictures.

Mist on the mountains

The team with their new best friend

Courtyard

Perhaps my favourite picture so far

I don't know what they are, but they look nice

After the palace we moved on to Bibimbob Olympic Stadium for lunch.

Big place....

The food was prepared in an enormous wok, big enough for the chef to actually get into.

I cooking with a step ladder...

Then some of the competitors were invited to have a stir with the biggest wooden spoons I've ever seen.

Stirring stuff

While we waited for the food too cook the Egyptian team managed amazing feats of balance...

Big Wok Lunch

Now, anyone who knows me well will have encountered my massive conservatism where food is concerned. I'm just not adventurous when it comes to eating habits. Steak and chips is about as exotic as I get most of the time. Having said that, I did my best and Matt Steeples from our team managed to excel himself by just about clearing his plate. Then it was on to the boat trip.

Greetings from the Future

It is now Wednesday morning. Except that it isn't where you are reading this. Probably. Because of the time difference thingy I find that I'm in tomorrow, whereas the readers of this might blog not be. Until you  catch up of course.

Very confusing, and yet somehow appropriate for Korea. I've had time to take a few happy snaps around the place.

Korean ganja fizzy grape juice.....

...with Korean ingredients (I wonder which one is sugar?)

the longest bar in South Korea. So they say.

Future phone, and a more traditional one

What we are here for

We are going out today (or is that tomorrow) for some culture. I hope that too much doesn't rub off on me. I'll post some more pictures from the future later.

Imagine Cup Update

Korea is an amazing place. I know we are getting 90% posh hotel and 10% Korea, but it is still amazing. Tomorrow we take a break from the competition and go for a look around Seoul, so that will be a chance to try and see what the real place is like.

For me, formal involvement in the Imagine Cup 2007 is pretty much over. Today, after a very intense but hugely enjoyable set of judging rounds I've completed my duties. In all I've sat through 22 team presentations, and I've enjoyed every one. I've a whole bunch of comments for each team and I plan to go round and try to have a chat with each at the World Fair at the end of the week.

Sadly,"The Seedlings" are also out of the competition. I've not seen their final presentation but I do know how hard they have worked and how much they put into their entry. Very well done guys for getting this far. It is a perhaps a bit of a cliche to say that "Nobody leaves the competition empty handed" but, in terms of the value of the experience and the way that having taken part in will change their lives, I reckon that for the Imagine Cup it is definitely true.

"The Seedlings" - Master of Complications all

I've got a garden shed full of respect for you guys, and your mentor from Black Marble, Robert Hogg. (You must come round and get it soon - I can't reach the lawn mower).

Imagine Cup 2007 Launch

I feel a bit of a fraud. I'm here at the Imagine Cup Finals in Seoul, in the poshest hotel I've ever stayed in (the room itself is worthy of a whole bunch of pictures - and it will get them) and all I have to do is watch some student presentations and write down how good I think they are.

I was lucky enough to go to the world finals last year in India, and they were incredible. The place and the people combined to give a once in a lifetime experience. And here I am again in the same position, but as a judge this time. I wonder if this means I'm getting two lifetimes?

We given a warm welcome when we arrived and that has continued right through the day. The organization has  been faultless and, like last year, everyone you meet is determined to do everything they can to make this a special occasion.

Imagine Cup 2007 Welcome Reception

Things got formally under way with a welcome reception. Joe and the rest of the team set the scene for the next few days. Wednesday looks like a particular highlight, with all kinds of cultural events planned, ending with dinner with the mayor.

Joe Wilson gets the party started...

 When a student competition is invited to eat with the mayor of a city of over 10 million you know you are in the middle of something special.

Competition proper starts tomorrow, with teams from the 100 countries taking part getting down to the serious stuff. The Seedlings will begin their progress through the Software Development Challenge with a presentation tomorrow.    

Gadget Trip

What do you do if you are in a strange city thousands of miles from home, you've had two hours sleep over the last day and you take twenty seconds to answer a hard question like "How are you?"

Well, we went gadget shopping. Having checked in, grabbed some food (in the most amazing place - pictures tomorrow) and sorted out a few bits and bobs we boarded bus "B" to the Techno-Mart. Apparently this is not the biggest one - only 10 floors of hardware -  but it is pretty darned huge. Think Harrods but with technology and you are about there. Although, unlike Harrods, there are actually lots of individual traders in there  - we saw a huge number of somewhat identical displays of hundreds of cameras.

The place to be

10 floors.

After a while we found two solid floors of computer stuff; including brand new, original copies of Windows 98. I wonder how many of them they sell a day...

These girls were outside. No idea what they were selling, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Sculpture

Seoul street

View from Bus B

Street corner

After an hour the jetlag was really getting to everyone and we staggered out onto the bus again. And I had bought nothing. I'm so proud of myself. Lots of tempting toys and and the credit card stayed firmly in the wallet.

But we are here for the next few days. And I know where it is.....

And So to Seoul

(For the next few days you are going to get some graphics heavy posts. But I hope you like the pictures people...... There are even more on Flickr.

We took off from Heathrow on time, which was nice.

Name that town, and win a prize

Leaving the White Cliffs of Dover behind...

La Belle France. Look closely to spot cars driving on the wrong side of the road....

The team make some last minute changes

Very cute airport terminal at Paris

Cactus at Seoul airport

We all wanted a go on this

Boarding the bus

The team on the poshest bus I've ever been on

Nice Bridge

Amusements

Riverside

Shiny building

Why we are here. I'm off for lunch now, more later

Team Building with Donuts

Went out with the UK Imagine Cup team this evening. Good food, good company, good stuff.

"The Seedlings": James Alexander, Matthew Steele, Matthew Steeples and their mentor Robert Hogg.

Then back to work for some finishing touches.

Donut powered programming....

Oooh. Nice sunset over Heathrow

We get up at 5:00 am tomorrow. Wish us luck....

Wonderphone

Well, I'm sitting at the Crowne Plaza in Heathrow typing on the teeny tiny keyboard on the teeny tiny machine and marveling at my little Smartphone. It is the best phone I've ever had (of course it should be, it is also the newest phone I've ever had - but I have been known to go backwards)

It can make phone calls, send sms, send mms, send email, receive active push email (like a Blackberry, but better). It has two movies and season one of Spaced on it, along with several hundred music tracks. I can browse the web, get maps, send pictures to Flickr, all kinds of stuff. In short it is pretty much everything I want in a mobile device.

As I write this it is providing a very useable Internet connection which just worked. Just worked! When I recall the grief I used to have trying to get on line with my phone I just can't believe how easy it was. Vista and Windows Mobile 6.0 really do get on well in this respect. I've had three hours of high quality music on the train on the way here too.

It is the HTC S710. And it rocks.

Very posh hotel room desk. But Internet at eight pounds an hour? I don't think so...

Travel Essentials

I'm setting off for Korea later today. So it was off to Cottingham to get a few travel essentials.

One of these items is not going to Korea....

Boggled

Number one daughter got me an uber-Boggle for my birthday. It does 5x5 puzzles. Wonderful.

How many words can you make?

Back from the smoke

Spent today recovering from the London day trip. We got up bright and early and were in London by 9:30.

Kings X

We drifted over to Tate Modern, had a look round and a coffee and took in the view over the river.

St. Paul's, wobbly bridge and boat

Then we wandered down to Covent Garden

St. Paul's rear entrance (so to speak)

Badges and bangles

Then it was on to Harrods for coffee and donuts.

Oh goody, they have a sale on....

And then back to Hull and a lovely sunset

The train wot brought us home.

Taking your memories with you

I've been spending some time scanning old photographs and loading them up onto the computer. It helps to pass the time whilst watching dross TV and I've found some gems in amongst the albums. The thing that has impressed me most is the quality of the results though. Using a fairly modest Canon scanner and 6x4 inch prints I've been able to get some very nice looking results, even when viewed on the big screen telly.

Today I used the Vista Media Centre option to burn a whole bunch of pictures onto a DVD. This is wonderful. It gives you a lovely, ever changing slide show of pictures which works in any DVD player. I've been dishing these out to family members, who have been very impressed. Even though the images include one of me wearing shorts.

Fair Weather Friends

Had a BBQ today to celebrate my upcoming annual event. Most surprisingly the weather was very good to me, with a break in the rain just long enough for Tim to cook some burgers and sausages, and us to sit in the garden and drink beer whilst solving the problems of the world.

Colourful cutlery

Folks turned up with presents and cards and I was supplied with a special T shirt to wear, celebrating the fact that tomorrow I'm very old. Unfortunately no photographs were taken of this.. Good stuff and thanks to all.

A great time was had, even though I was beaten at Mario Strikers on the Wii by someone less than a seventh of my age...

Sun, Sea, Sand and Certificates

Did the Scarborough degree ceremony today. Lovely. The weather was a bit brisk, but it never actually rained. I took the bigish camera and the wide angle lens. And had some fun taking photographs.

Fun on the beach

Grass

Graduand's Lunch

Funfair

View from the stage...

..and from the back.

There are a bunch more on my Flickr site.

Degree Ceremony Wide Angle View

I took the medium sized camera with the wide angle lens down to City Hall to try and take a picture of the congregation. It sort of came out OK, but I had to turn the speed up to get any kind of picture, and that makes some of the detail a bit noisy. Nevertheless, I'm not too unhappy with the results...

Can you find yourself on here?

...or here?

Embedded Reading

Went to Reading today to give a talk about the .NET Micro Framework for an Embedded Development day. I've often found that a bunch of academics make around the toughest audience you can get, but these folks were great - even though they showed a marked lack of appreciation for my jokes.....

My demos mostly worked and the tiny tablet behaved herself impeccably. And the trip back on Hull Trains was as smooth as smooth. And I watched "Love and Death", one of the best films ever, on the Smartphone. Wonderful.

I'd taken the camera, but I got the best pictures when I got off the train at Hull after the journey back.

Great to be back

Neat Sky

While I was going through Reading on the bus I saw a sign at Reading Baths that said "Learn to swim here". I thought about going in and asking "What if I want to swim somewhere else?".

But I didn't.

For those at the academic event, I'll have the slides and demos here tomorrow.

Cottingham Day

We went for a walk this evening, it was end of "Cottingham Day" and the fairground was just winding down. I had the camera with me (of course).

 
Hollywood comes to East Yorkshire

Barrel'o'Lights

All the fun of the fair

July Open Day

The university had an Open Day today. I shot back from town and then turned up suited and booted to do the talk. Thanks for being a good audience people.

Could have used a slightly wider angle lens.....

We will get C# books out to everyone as soon as we get another batch printed up. And we will be doing the draw for the PSP on Monday.

Anyone who was there but didn't get their name and address to us, all you have to do is send me an email with the name of the fish the Dutch audience didn't know, and we'll send you a book and enter you in the draw.

Got the Bird

When I got out of the shower this morning I found that I was being watched by a bird. Well, with a body like mine I suppose I should expect this to happen every now and then.

Actually, it was not quite like that. The bird was sitting on the bathroom window sill

I don't think she saw much

When I left for work the bird was still there.

I think that particular part of the house has the attraction of the updraft from the boiler flue, which is probably a good way to warm up (it was slightly chilly first thing).

Bonus flower pic

"Box of de Lights"

What kind of fool goes to Ikea after dropping number one son off at the airport, buys some garden lights and then takes 40 pictures of them in the box, before spending half an hour picking the best of them, image processing them a bit and then putting them on his blog.

That would be me then...

Pack shot

A close up

Colour fiddling