Geeks unite!

This morning, I got up early (couldn't sleep) and got down to Moscone Center West to pick up my badge for Apple's WWDC. I got there around 7 am and people were lined up for the 10 am keynote. After I got my badge, I went back to the hotel and then met people for breakfast. Maybe I'm just an old fart, but I don't see the big deal in waiting in line for 3 hours to get a good seat to see Steve Jobs speak. I did get a seat and could see the keynote clearly on a large screen (I could see the stage a little bit, but who cares). Others must be more fanatical than I am to want to sit in the front; last year I got VIP seating which meant I was closer to the stage. My world didn't change because I could see the stage.

To me, the keynote was uneventful. I saw the new machines coming and the key features of Leopard had some nice eye candy, but not a whole lot of meat. One feature I really like (as an end user) is the Time Machine backup. While I'm one of the 4% that does backup, any easier backup strategy is music to my ears.

Other than that, I can't talk about the rest of the week as all the content is covered under NDA; however, I'm sure there will be leaks. The leaks won't come from me.

Traveling, is there an easy way?

Every time I have to travel and pack, it seems to consume me for a few days no matter how short the trip. Today I left for San Francisco to attend Apple's World Wide Developer's Conference and I spent the last day or so packing (just for a one week trip), figuring out what I'm going to take, and getting anxious about the flight and trip. Granted, the trip to Oakland is about 1.25 hours which isn't a huge deal, but it always makes be antsy.

I'm sure people that travel often have it down pat, but I don't and frankly, I don't want to travel even that it becomes second nature.

Learning new computer technologies

There are so many computer technologies that I need to/want to learn, that I have no idea where to start. I learn all the time, but never really have the time to spend to sit down and learn something new unless I'm going to use it immediately. My current list of technologies/programs/whatever I want to learn include:

• MySQL (how to make queries, create new databases, etc.)
• Core Data
• Sync Services (actually how to program it)
• php
• perl

I'm sure there are other things I want to learn, but I can't think of them now. If I had tons of time and didn't have to move forward developing with what I already know, I'd have plenty of time.

I won!

Today I ran the Chron's and Colitis Foundation's Guts & Glory 5K Run/Walk to raise money for the foundation. 5K was pretty easy for me, but I started out using way too much energy as I tried to keep up with the young kids who must have been on their high school track team. Turns out, I didn't do so poorly. I finished first in my age group (30-39) with a time of about 21:30. As usual, I wore my Garmin Forerunner 305. I felt pretty good and was pleased with my performance; yes, there were a few people there, so I wasn't 1 out of 1! Unfortunately the foundation isn't one of the largest charities, so the turnout wasn't huge.