Gnomedex

WeatherBug

Steve Rubel and his client, Chris Sloop (CTO at WeatherBug) are talking about WeatherBug’s ongoing struggle to overcome a bad business decision 4 years ago (a distribution deal with Gator, a known spyware distributor).

Jeff’s got CDs of WeatherBug Plus in the back (I just installed it, holy cow — it’s 96 degrees back home right […]


Julie Leung at Gnomedex

Julie Leung is giving a fascinating presentation about the boundaries of personal and professional writing, involving family without exposing them, maintaining balance between what’s hidden and what’s revealed.

I love her technique of using photos to illustrate her points, rather than the standard three bullet slides. It’s powerful, and forces you to listen to what she’s […]


Rotary cell phone

I’m two rows behind P.T. of Make Magazine, and his rotary cell phone is on the table next to him. It’s a funny, clever little hack. And it really works.

I hear some people got copies of Make in their swag bag… which makes me wonder why I didn’t get one… I hear it’s a remarkable […]


Yesterday’s connectivity problems

So it turns out that yesterday’s connectivity problems were due in part to someone sending a live video feed from their laptop.

Good Lord.


Thoughts on Day 1 from Gnomedex

Given the horrendous connectivity problems throughout the day, I chose not to do any real-time note-taking during the sessions. Some random observations:

Dave’s OPML app is cool. I remember when I first “got” the outliner built into Radio a few years ago and getting really excited about it, and I documented how I managed my then […]


Is this thing on?

Spotty wifi is conspiring to force all of us in the room to (gasp!) pay attention.

I feel bad for Dave, whose demo requires net access… memo to conference planners: get the speakers a wire. Don’t make them dependent on the stability of the wifi connection.


Gnomedex Theme Song

It’s raining men.

If ever there were a need for gender equality, it’s this conference.


In Seattle for Gnomedex

Just arrived at my hotel in Seattle for Gnomedex. On my flight out here, I realized this may be the first conference in at least a half dozen years where I’m here as an attendee, not as a speaker, a vendor or a sponsor. Ordinarily on the afternoon of arrival, I’m realizing how woefully under-prepared […]