Monthly Archives: June 2006

The “It” Thing …

Some kind of event in Crested Butte, CO, July 18-21

Bruce Eckel was going to do a “Thinking in Java” Open Spaces conference in Crested Butte, CO in July, but interest (or at least enrollment) didn’t seem to be there. After a flurry of email between several of the people that were at his Programming the New Web Open Spaces conference (held in March), he is re-working it as potentially an even cooler event. Check out the link for more details at:

http://mindview.net/Conferences/ThinkingInJava

I really trust Bruce when he says, “We'll find something interesting to do even if we don't know exactly what it is yet. It's in the same vein as an Open Space — where you have a basic topic but you don't know what sessions will appear until people start putting sticky notes in time slots — but taken up a notch. Here, we're not sure what the topic will be, but we assume that something will appear by the time we actually convene.”

I hope that I can be a part of it. My attendance, right now, is only limited by family obligations. If I can work out those details, I will be there. If I can’t make it, I will be really bummed and anxiously awaiting news on how it all turned out.

To be able to go and build something for the fun of it (and for the educational experience)! It would be like summer camp!

BTW, there’s a hostel in Crested Butte. I hear it’s pretty nice and you sure can’t beat the price!

Conference Information
Summary of Potential Topics
Open Spaces
Discussion of Open Spaces Technology
Crested Butte Hostel
Best Value in Crested Butte
Other Lodging/Travel Info
Where to stay and how to get there

Teen mosquito repeller?

Turnabout is fair play

Interesting turn of technology against the adults!

An inventor in the UK developed a device to discourage teens from loitering outside shops by emitting pulses of a sound that teens can hear, but that most adults over the age of 20 cannot. Hmm, but then the teens turned it into a ringtone at a slightly lower frequency that they could hear in classrooms, but that most of the teachers (over the age of 30) cannot, and they’re using it for text messaging indicators in class.

You can hear an NPR interview with the inventor of the initial device and his teen daughter (who admits to having used it in class), at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5434687

The link on the NPR website also has an MP3 of the sound. And of course, curiosity got the best of me, and I had to try to see if I could hear the sound. My well-past 30 year old ears cannot really detect it as a sound, but I felt a weird sensation while it was playing. Not really irritating, just odd. But maybe I’ll keep the file around … never know when it will come in handy.