the many thoughts and reviews of Gnomedex 3, which about 11 months ago I swore up and down I would be at, but was not, and the overall impression is good, but I am sure that no one wants John C. Dvorak back, for a few people commented on his strongly expressed dislike of Cats, Macs, and blogs. Knowing the crowd there, I am sure that the majority were bloggers, many likely had Macs, and there was likely a few cat owners. The most unprepared speech was likely CmdrTaco, who seemed to be expecting a more Gnome Project crowd, not the one he got. Hey, Rob, check that out next time. I liked a lot of the coverage, especially the last Emc2serv A/V blog, which had Lori peaking in on the shot of Scott at the Mindstorm booth, and the reviews by author, not only the entire show.
Recently in Gnomedex Category
Yup. It's time. I can tell. I have seen Chris popping up on web cams all over Des Moines and area. I see Mike is there, and so is Jim. I just met another person from Mindstorm, Scott, who also went to Ohana's, along with 70 others. I am still home. Damn, this depresses me. I should be there. Had I begun planning for it in like December, I would have been. I didn't, and I am not. I am talking in the LG IRC channel to people there(on dial-up yet) and those who like me wish they were there. I kind of miss the scenes, the people, and the fun. I even have a good camera, so I might have actually had a chance at getting these memories on decent memory, in decent quality, to make them good for another calendar next year. *sigh* I miss it all. I hate this city this day.
So, I waited as long as I could. I pushed deadlines no person should push. When I go into work tomorrow I will be emailing my supervisor and letting her know that I wish to cancel my vacation time in late July, as I will not be going to Gnomedex. I tried my best, for the amount of time I had to do it, having wrongly assumed it would again be in August, and I was unable to get together the money I needed to make it to the show. I wanted to go more than anything, but the money didn't work, and neither did spending a full year paying off a loan used to get there. I let Jim know I will not be able to accept his offer, so right now it seems unlikely that even a last minute offer would help. I hope all of those going really enjoy themselves, and that they all toss me a few blog greetings and pictures during the show.
Ok, so I am going ot give it the best chance I can at going to Gnomedex. A friend said that if I give my best try(no more Mc Donald's lunches, 5 bottles of pop, and 2 chocolate bars during the day) to save up money to go to Gnomedex, he will help me out as best he can. So, it looks like I have about 17 or 18 days to prove I am doing my best to get there for a decision to be made. At this point the person who has offered to cover my costs at the show(entrance and rooming essentially) has said I need to figure out if I can make it by the 15th of June, so I have only a few more days to get things figured out. Hopefully by then I will have enough sales through the store to get a check sent out pre show($25 USD minimum) to help towards the goal.
Café Press has some truly awesome limited time deals available, from a Fleece pullover for $10 off to the soft briefcase for $7 off. I am not raising my prices on any of these items, but then again my lowering the Calendar by $2 didn't really do much to the sales(still 0), so I am not sure if this sale will boost mine. Maybe I need a more... well known logo. I see Chris has a new opportunity, and while I am not sure what the whole deal is, $7 for a logo is a sweet deal. I tell you, if I weren't saving up to party with Chris this year, I'd pay it just to see how it works.
Now, for the bad news. First, it looks unlikely I will get my own room this show. No biggie, my mother taught me how to share. Now, for the really bad thing. This post to the Canadian Gnomedexer's weblog shows that the party is likely off this year that is usually hosted by the threesome. Kirk is getting hitched, and Mark is coming to my hometown for a family thing. Chris likely won;t go without them, though I may try to see if Matt is interested in getting Chris in on his trip if he goes. So, unfortunately, unless someone else with a decent room in a centralized hotel wants to throw a party, there will be none this year. I will be there, as I hope will other Canadians. Any others from the GWN going?
Ok, the name of the attempt to get me to Des Moines in July, preferably in a time frame that allows for Gnomedex attendance, is now named Project: Gnomedex. As well as the post I made before linking to the store, and the two great hosting deals, I now have another way you can contribute. Here is the 'I am page'. this is a listing of books I am reading, software I am using, games I am playing and hardware I am using. right now it is a small list, only totally active stuff I could think up at the time. The lists will grow, and yes each list item does link to Amazon.com, and earns me a little from each. gotta raise funds some way, because with the sick day I took a couple weeks ago and the debt I owe to the government, it will be tough to raise the funds. Sadly, I am told by Mr. Williams over at Mindstorm that no one has yet accepted his offer. It is a great deal folks!
I told myself, I told you I wouldn't do this, but, well, that has changed. Jim at Mindstorm has made me a deal I could not resist, that if I can get airfare, I will be in the show. So, I am going to save as much as I can, but it may not be possible for me to get all I need for this. Therefore, I reach out to you, my loyal readers, for your help. No, this will not be the G2G campaign, but it will be regular mentions of ways you can help me make some money towards this endeavor. The first is the fact that Jim has an awesome deal over at Mindstorm for:
500 MB Storage
Unlimited FTP & EMail
25 MySQL Databases
25 Subdomains
25 parked domains
1 GB transfer
CPanel administration
Free add-on scripts
For only $125 USD for a year. That is a third of the normal cost! I tell you, if I weren't saving for Gnomedex(and didn't go through 1.5 GB for a slow month) I would certainly buy into this deal.
For the less power of users, Jim has this great Gnomedex special:
100mb Storage Space
10 FTP Accounts
25 Email Addresses
10 mySQL Databases
10 Subdomains
10 Parked Domains
10 Addon Domains
750MB Bandwidth
PHP, MYSQL, cPanel
FREE Add-on Scripts
For only $99 for one year. Not only that, but "Act now, and be one of the first 25 people to sign up for service, and you will be in a 1-in-25 drawing for a cool prize package including:
iVista's See Me Now Software
Mindstorm Hosting Hat(Hey Jim, where's mine? LOL)
A Mystery Prize"
Make sure if you sign up you tell him that The Geek sent you.
Next, I have made some more updates to the Geek Blog Store where most items get me $5 per sale, so a few items go a long way. I plan to between now and then have a special item of the week, and the more sales I get on those items the lower I can make the price. For instance, the Gnomedex 2.0 Calendar that I made based on the pictures I and others took has been lowered by $2, and sits at $17.99 USD plus shipping. I apologize for picture quality, but this year I hope to improve on those. The calendar is 12 month(yes, I know it's May already) and printed on glossy 100 lb text weight paper. They measure 8.5" x 11" when folded, and 11" x 17" when hanging on your wall. So, the item of the week is the Calendar, and if you come back on the 26th, there will be something new. There are now 40 items in the store, and I hope to have almost every possible item up there on the 26th.
Jim announced what he had told me a week or so ago, and moved forward with an add on to his business portfolio. The announcements where these. First, he has officially launched the company Mindstorm Hosting, which hosts GeekMeltdown, and many of the blogs, like his, Candi's, and Matt's. I was even thinking of moving mine there, which is still possible in the future if the current situation goes bad. The second announcement is that that same company is officially a sponsor of Gnomedex 3.0, with the promise of swag and deals for attendees. I have never known a sponsor before the show, and regret that I won't be there to harass him with many stupid questions and unnecessary tech hypothesis. someone be sure to make up for my absence, ok? Also see this.
In what is simply making my torture for not being able to go to the show, Chris just IM'ed me before posting to the Gnomedex site that he has just signed Tim O'Reilly. This is added to Jim Louderback, John C. Dvorak, and Rob Malda of Slashdot. Darci posted that she and her boyfriend Kevin Mitnick had been invited to the show as well, but they needed to look into scheduling because he has several international speaking engagements at the same time frame. I can see now that the closer we get to the show, the more I will be sad and regret filled that I will not be there. Chris has said it is likely there will be a webcast offered, so I will be sure to sign up for it.
Well, I just got word. My vacation time for the 23-25th of July is off due to someone else already having the 25th off, and us only having one vacation slot per day available for the hole group of 16. This means that I am not going to be going to Gnomedex this year, as there is no longer any chance I can get paid for that, and doubt I would be able to get that as my second day off for the week. They rarely allow for 3 day weekends, especially on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday. So, while I recently reposted my thoughts on the second annual Gnomedex, it appears the third will be held without my attendance, and those who had become friends last year will have to enjoy the show without me.
Well, there may be a problem. You see I checked out the schedule for days off, and since I got my request for July 23rd to the 25th off, having the 26th and 27th off already, on Friday, which is unfortunately too late for another co worker who got his in about 2 hours earlier, and cannot change his. Sadly, July is a very busy holiday time period, and therefore unless we can work something out with the fact he will be working days then and I will be on nights, and our holiday not conflicting there anyway, unless it is worked out, I may not be able to make it to Gnomedex in Des Moines. I hope this changes come tomorrow night, but I honestly don't think it will, and at this point without a major influx of a couple of thousand dollars, it is not looking too likely I can go anyway.
I just got an IM from Chris Pirillo himself a moment ago with a link to Gnomedex.com the site for the annual silicorn valley show in his home town that he puts on. I am a fan of Lord of the Rings to several very strong degrees, and am overjoyed to see the front page, with the map of Middle Earth err... Des Moines?!? Umm, well, Ok, but what part of Des Moines is Mordor? The Shire? I saw no mountains that could make up for my mind's imagination of Mount Doom, not to mention any of the Elven abodes. I guess I am just being picky, I can't wait for the site to launch! Watch here for info as it is released! The countdown is on to Gnomedex: Fellowship of the Geeks!
Well, I have looked into a few more things while sitting at work bored out of my tree, worrying about the health of Zeus, and a few things have hit me. First, I have no idea what to plan for in hotel cost's for Gnomedex. The math I am doing now, showing a need of $1,500 to $2,000 CDN for the trip is based on $79 a night and little or no food. You see, having the kind Mr. Raven covering my needs last year, I was spoiled. I ate nicely, and had no worries about money. This year I am on a far tighter budget, and my needs are not so clearly taken care of. No, I am not asking for help, I am just putting my thoughts to pixels and bits. Second thing, while my group lead at work's sister is a travel agent, I don't know how well that will be. I worked out my flight to be $400 USD, but I am unsure how much it will be improved by someone else getting a commission. Bleh! More of my Gnomedex thoughts soon.
As I found out yesterday, I have been made permanent on the floor, meaning I am now able to begin earning vacation time. This rocks. Another good thing, I did a little look into the future, and the weekend of Gnomedex, if it remains on the 26th of July, is a weekend I would have off already, so I can simply take a day off to either side and be set. Wish me luck!
Ok, so :jim: posted a blog alert on a Gnomedex mention on :gnome:'s blog, so I went to check it out. There is little info in the post, but the info we know, that it is July 26th and is likely to be held in Des Moines, is good news for a lot of gnomies who were afraid of being out of luck with a SF or Vegas based Gnomedex, and it is staying in the heart of Iowa where it was born. I am also happy to see Chris giving the city another chance to make hm proud, and I can only hope this time the city does the right thing and promoted the show to the hilt. So, now I need to look into cost's, and the possibility of going to the show, hopefully without huge donations and charity.
So, assuming that Gnomedex is in either Des Moines or Vegas, I need about $800 CDN for airfare to th location, though when the location is set I will know more. So, I am beginning right away to put some cash aside out of every paycheck for that. Assuming that the planners can get an equal deal for rooms, I should be able to do this for around $1,500 CDN. This means I need to get my company up, and get some extra cash coming in, as $50 a paycheck right now will not cover the costs of the trip. If I toss $50 a check into savings, that will give me around $800 or so, and a couple of nice contracts for sites or tech services, and I could easily be at the needed goal. So, the march to Gnomedex, wherever it is going to be, is on. See you all there?
It is done! The last of the albums for Gnomedex is up, as I decided to spare you all the doldrums of my flight back, including pictures of the plane, and the ground below from the air. They really are very boring, I assure you. So, with the run down here, we have pictures form Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, but you could just as easily go to the index and save us all trouble. Enjoy, pass the word, and let me know what you think. Yes, some are bad quality, but you know what? Fro $20 the camera was worth what I paid, though I will not use it much more due to bad focus and so forth. Enjoy, as I said, and I expect to see you all there, wherever it is, next year. Oh, and check out the Gnomedex Roundup!
Ok, in an attempt to streamline how folks get to my Gnomedex album, you can now go through either http://www.geekblog.net/Albums/GnomeAlbum/ or http://Gnomedex.geekblog.net/. This will make it easier for me to track who comes in, and make all the albums, when the last 2 are done, accessible from one central page. Check out the two first links, and I will try to get the rest done soon enough. Enjoy! [Update: Saturday's album is now up.]
Not news, but still appropriate to these blogs. I finally got two of the four days of the Gnomedex albums done and online, to go along with the article posted a couple of days ago. The Thursday album is here, and the Friday one is here, but the Saturday link is not good, as it still needs to be generated, and the same goes for the Sunday album as well. The end picture and beginning picture of each album, when they are all done, will be links to the next days, and Thursday and Sunday will back link across the weekend. I hope you enjoy them, and any details missing or in error, please let me know.
I need some help. Does anyone who reads this blog have access to the stream, or a recording thereof, form the Leo Laporte session at Gnomedex? I want to listen to it, especially to the questions I asked, and his answers of course, but preferably to the entire speech as I have completely lost the entire memory of his speech, and don't want to wait 6 months for my long term memory to bring that memory back to my mind. I wouldn't mind listening to all of the speeches, including a few I missed, but I cannot spare the $20 or whatever the price to listen to the audio, and know no one who got video of the speakers. I guess I know where my priorities will lie next year, eh? Either a laptop to write about it live, or a tape recorder to grab the talks with. Email me if you can help.
Caught You! is the caption on this picture of me that Lori took. I swore a long time ago I would never let one of these picture taken of someone taking a picture be taken of me. Sadly, I was in the midst of taking pictures on Friday and :lori: sneaked in front of me, but just out of my camera's view finder, to snap this one. Oh well, I got plenty of her in return, let me assure you. ;-) Ahhh, but it was fun, and enjoyable. I still very much enjoyed the show, all of it, and you can all hear about it soon enough.
So, I read with great interest that Doc Searls did a much anticipated write up on the show, a show unlike any other show, as he appears to be saying. I guess a show that can have Microsoft employees who are Linux fans, Linux idols who are signing boobs, t-shirts and Frisbees, and much, much more, well, then I guess it can't be all bad, right? Doc did a great write up, along with gratuitous linking to many sites and sights on the web, though not to any of mine as clearly he lost it along with so many others. I found out that someone I look up to, someone who was one of only three factors in this blog's existence, was amazingly approachable and friendly. I tell you, the show would have been somehow lonelier without Doc Searls and the words from the Penguin side.
Ok, so a lot of people have written and ranted about Gnomedex. Some about the most recently passed one, and others about the next one in about 350 days or so. I have already ranted enough on those dissenters, and will have to rewrite my GeekTorial on Gnomedex because it was lost with a spark as I was trying to pull it off the old 4 GB drive from RivenDell that killed the drive apparently. Instead I will talk for a moment on the idea of Gnomedex's move, be it to Las Vegas or a more supportive location in the Midwest. Yes. I agree, though I have heard nothing from Chris that this is a possibility, even though I am told he spoke about it during the conference, I would agree with the move. I know those in Des Moines enjoyed the locale, but something has to change.
The show, as admitted by those who I spoke to in private, was horribly attended by the people and completely ignored in the media in Iowa and Des Moines. this is a show put on by a person(:gnome:) and a company(LockerGnome) that have been #1 in their support of tech in Iowa, and proving the nay sayer's wrong when they say that Iowa Technology is an oxymoron. It was clear by meeting Bob, who drove me to the airport(thanks again, bud) who lives in West Des Moines and had to go to Germany to find out about the show! Yes, they may not have advertised, but they are a small, struggling company with few for cost products and a lot of stuff they give away for free.
They relied on the interest of the locals and the media to get the word out and no one cared. The media, those who did show an interest in doing spots on the show, did small spots that barely gave time to speak about the show, and didn't allow for enough advanced notice to the listeners, as at least one was the early morning before the show. At least when they did tech shows here in Winnipeg, a city of similar size as Des Moines really, the local news shows scramble to do at least one live remote per day, if not a new one each running, and often once an hour. Yes, they don't have tech show here, simply because no one has the money or the patience to put on such a show. It looks like those in Des Moines have earned themselves the same spot, no tech show for you.
As for where it should go, well, Winnipeg is nice in August. Seriously though, there have been a lot of suggestions, from Vegas to St. Louis, Columbus to Minneapolis. I doubt many will go for Vegas, even though it might be easier to plan and expand there. I think Minneapolis would be nice and close, but may be far too northern for many attendee's who like the more central location of Des Moines. Personally, as long as the hotel is cheap, the flights are regular, and the costs kept equally as low, I couldn't care where it is held. I have no attachment to Des Moines, nice, but not spectacular(sorry to the locals) but I think Vegas would be too expensive, and distracting. Chris, you may not read this, but while I agree with the move, please be sure to listen to the community members.
If you left Gnomedex early, this is the kind of stuff you missed, and why that one weekend, 4 days, are something I will never forget. To set this up, I want to explain a few things. This is the image of me(and others) in bed with Lori Lockwood, the planner and manager of LockerGnome, on Sunday morning after the show before all of us headed to our respective places of residence, be that Winnipeg, Des Moines, or Minneapolis.
We polished off my Crown Royal, had a good talk about a variety of non repeatable topics, and just had a good time. Nothing sexual, just a good time talking on a Sunday morning, having a drink. This was one of the best times I had at the show. So little of it was spent just talking without needing to raise one's voice, fear of interrupting the speaker, or rushed off to another talk. I know :candi: wished there was more focus on the events, but I wish there was more personal, close knit talking. Ahh, a weekend never to be forgotten.
Ok, well, I have been back for awhile, but I have been trying desperately to organize, while also downloading the images from the camera, figuring out the status of a few balls that have relaunched themselves into the air, ones I though had fallen and were going to stay down. My last day in Des Moines was a blast, with many autographs obtained on the Gnomedex Frisbee, several very good discussions on the topic of Leo's speech and the future of TechTV, which I will not say more on, and then when most of those I knew had left, I invited a few people, including the lovely Lori Lockwood(I have pics, rest assured) up to my room to help finish off the bottle of Crown Royal I brought with me.
Lori said I was the first guy all weekend to proposition her(I find that shocking), and I simply replied that if I was propositioning I would not have asked for the other's to come up as well, and besides, I had as much change of getting her in bed as I do of buying Microsoft in the next month. Ok, not those exact words, but you get the hint. Well, while my camera was dying(losing a pic of myself and the lovely :gretchen: when she was all dressed up Saturday night), Lori's was not, and I expect to get a copy of a pic where I am, quite literally, in bed with Lori. Thanks to Jim for taking the pic! ;-) It was a good day, that's for sure!
I did miss my 4:50 flight, due to a last minute need to stop at somewhere to get batteries for my camera, which led to a stop at the electronics store and a buy of Diablo II(Yeah!) while checking for memory sticks for the camera. No, I didn't find any, but the search of the store for the electronics dept. was more then worth it for Diablo II at a significant discount from CDN at Radio Shack. For those gnomies who have pictures, I am planning to get a collection together of as many photo's from the show.
I will be asking parties if an pictures of a less then G rated nature are contributed, but otherwise I will be posting a massive album up on a server that was offered up. So, friends, gnomies, countrymen, fellow Digicam owners, send my your photo's for inclusion in the Geek's compendium of Gnomedex pics. If you get an error back about lack of space or a problem with file sizes, let me know and we can figure out something for them to get to me. My goal is for 1,000 pictures, like this one of myself(the new 'The Geek' pic, perhaps?), so let's get on this! I want some up by the 5th of Sept.
Ok, so I am blogging at 4:40 am for a reason, really, but more on that later, promise. The day went well, with a little more good, and a little more bad. On par with the weekend, I will not go into the bad, but tell you the good. The speakers for today were Pud from Fucked Company, Mark Thompson from Analog X in the morning, and another killer set of Doc Searls, Evan Williams, and the keynote speaker Leo Laporte. I asked several good questions of Leo, and tried to ask some from Mark, but he apparently couldn't see me.
I will be doing a write up on the whole show for you on Geek Meltdown, whcih if you were listening to :online: this evening you heard Jim mention, just as soon as I can. I am very tired, need to check out by noon, and need to find a camera place that just might sell a rechargeable battery for my camera, which is dying continually, and I am not sure if it saved any of the shots I took, including one of me and the ravishing :gretchen:. I will be heart broken if it didn't. So, therefore, I will write more tomorrow. On an unrelated note, huge congrats to Jeff Gordon in the Dupont #24 who powered(ok, bumped) his way to a win at Bristol. Glad to see he brought the sinless streak to a close. Night!
