OK if you have been hanging around theSpoke at all (and not many of you are lately) you've noticed that is's a pretty dead place. You may have been waiting/hoping/wondering if things would ever get fixed. Well sometimes fixing requires a complete "do over." Well this is one of those times. The "do over" is open at Channel 8 (channel8.msdn.com)

Channel 8 is THE place to be for STUDENTS who want to code, connect and create technology. Stay plugged into tech news and share in the experience with students around the world just like you who want to see their creations come to life. This is also a back door directly into Microsoft just like Channel 9 but from a student point of view. This means access to the inside scoop about our products and life working inside Microsoft and information on cool things coming out. This is your community – a place for you to share your tips and tricks and even your problems. Go check out what others are doing and talk about what you think is cool.

 

I'm busy planning a two week trip to Norway with my cousin in two months.  One of the questions in my mind is if I should bring a laptop along. I haven't traveled without a laptop in years and years. When I went to Norway 7 years ago I brought one and used it only to store pictures from my digital camera. Today I suspect that in the urban areas I am likely to be able to find wi-fi in many places which would make it more useful. On the other hand this trip I will be travelling around more regularly and a laptop is extra weight. I need to find out if I can use my Treo 700w in Norway. If I can, especially if I can connect to the Internet for email, that should be enough of a communication device. The memory devices for cameras are much better than the floppies I used 7 years ago so I don't worry so much about needing a back up.

And yet the idea of not having a laptop even on vacation feels funny. I could blog the trip with a laptop for example. The Internet is easier on a laptop than a phone as well. But there is the weight thing again. I guess I need to look into the phone question first. Sigh.

An interesting example of pop psycology. Some of it was hard. How do you pick your favorite landscape when the whole world seems wonderful to you? How do you pick your ideal bedroom when all you think about it is that it is a place to sleep?

Well I see that Tom Indelicato has moved his blog to Windows Live Spaces. Windows Live Spaces is a pretty nice place to blog. I like the tools there. 

The English language section of theSpoke is getting pretty quiet. There's me but I'm not posting here as often as I used to. There is Didith who remains active here and is always interesting. And occasionally someone else drops by to say something. But often what people are saying is "here is where I am now blogging." And of course there seem to be a rash of spam blogs that are not getting cleaned up in a timely way anymore. Is this the beginning of the end? Or are we close to the end?

I'm seriously thinking about moving the things I blog about here to my Windows Live Spaces blog. That one was created just to talk about social computing but it never really built up an audience so I'm thinking maybe I should expand the scope of what I write about there and condense my blogging to fewer places. Thoughts?

The saying in New England where I live is "if you don't like the weather wiat a few minutes and it will change." A couple of days ago I was talking about signs of Spring. Last night we had over half a foot of heavy wet snow. It took down trees all over the place. I have lost my favorite white berch trees in my back yard. For decades they have bent unter the snow but returned to stand tall when it wented. For some reason this time they uprooted themselves and are laying flat on the ground. I doubt there is any putting them back to rights. I am really upset about it too. I liked those trees.

The weather also took out the power lines and we were without power for several hours. My UPS system kept the Internet going for much of it. Then the power came back for an hour and when it went out again the Internet went with it. It took longer for the Internet to come back than the power. How dependent we are on such things. Cell phone service continued and I was able to make calls and check email that way at least. Once again new technology makes things possible that we never dreamed of when I was a kid. Cell phones and email were stuff of science fiction back in my childhood.

When I went out early to clear the snow - largely because I was to fidgity to sleep - the outside lights came on. They are run using a battery and solar power. It made me wish I could use that all the time. We have a way to go in the development of moth batteries and solar panels before that gets really practical. It's something we should be working on more than we are though. A lot of inovation and invention left for people with imagination. Would one of you young people go solve these problems for the rest of us? I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

In my corner of the world we often talk about the first signs of spring. The robin shows up. Daffodils  sprout. Buds appear on trees and bushes.  But it occurred to me that some of the "signs of spring" are actually signs.

A lot of these signs say "open." Our favorite ice cream stand opened for the season yesterday. One of our favorite seafood restaurants near the ocean opened recently and we had lunch there today. The sign at the Seacoast Science Center explains that they will be open all week soon. A lot of our stores and businesses are seasonal. They open in the spring and close in the fall or before winter starts. Of course there are some who only open in the winter - ski resorts for example - but those are stories for another time.

Well the Canadian Academic Team are at it again. They've just opened a new site to help people create their own Game Camps. Or you can go there and find out about new Game Camps as they become scheduled. The site is called the Develop Mental Institute and it is an interesting looking site to say the least.

So what is a Game Camp?

Game Camp is a workshop that is organized by volunteers who have information and ideas about programming games that they want to share. At the Develop Mental Institute site you will find content, tools and other resources to help create and run your own Game Camp.

What is The Develop Mental Institute?

The Develop Mental Institute is a virtual building where you can find out about planned Game Camps, find free resources for leading your own Game Camp, and interact with a rather interesting web site. The resources are available to people outside of Canada as well.

Oh and besides information about Game Camp, the site has tons of hidden features and games. Every element of the website is related to a famous game in history. Try to find them all!

They keep doing fun stuff like this in Canada and I may have to move north.

I went away for the weekend. I visited the family home in East Hampton. I was born there and even though I haven't live there full time in about 48 years it still feels like home.

And  I think I have found a way to completely de-stress over a weekend. From Friday night until Sunday morning I lived almost completely without reference to clocks. I went to bed when tired and got up when rested. I spent the minimum possible time worrying about meals. I ate when I was hungry and since I bought my food prepared I spent no time actually working at meals. Now I do like to cook and there are times when cooking is something to do for fun and relaxation but this was not the weekend for it. 

I hardly turned on the TV at all and when I did I usually wound up turning it off because there was nothing on. I was not in the mood to watch anything that didn't interest me.

So what did I do? I had good pizza. I took a walk along the beach. I drove to a vineyard and picked up a few presents. Had I been a wine drinker I could have tasted the wines as well but it was interesting just being there. I walked around town window shopping and occasionally browsing inside. I spent a while in a bookstore for example. I bought only bargains - much of them half off because it is not yet "The Season" and they are clearing out the remnants of last season. I went to a movie (300 - I'd recommend waiting for the rental) and ate popcorn. I went to church Sunday morning at the church where I was baptized 53 years ago. I walked to church which was nice because it was good preparation to worship and driving kills the mood afterwards. I ate a sandwich (meatball Parmesan) that was far better than what I can get at restaurants at home.  I looked at the fancy restaurants where the rich people eat but ate reasonably prices and very good food in places the year-round locals eat.

I watched a lot of people. There is a real stratification in resort towns and it is interesting to observe.Some of the stores were patronized by people who obviously have a lot of money. Some of the stores were patronized by people who are probably doing shopping for their employers.  Isn't it interesting how people will shop for some things for themselves (clothing, toys, jewelry) but will hire people to show for their food and household requirements? There are the year-round people in some stores but others they avoid unless they work there. 

I took a series of ferry rides for the trip home. I stopped and played some poker half way home. I lost a few dollars but I had some fun and it was relaxing and social. I also took advantage of being alone to try a restuarant that I had wanted to try for a while but that no one else I had traveled there had wanted to try. Still I think that next time I will spend more time in the village. East Hampton village is where the song "Home Sweet Home" is believed by many to have been written and for me home sweet home is what it is.

BTW here is a video of my little home village. You'll see some of the stores and the beach I visited in it. Khahn who you see in the video helped my figure out how to carry two surfboards home on Saturday. The houses you see are a lot bigger than the one I stay in BTW. But most of what you see is in easy walking distance from our home in the village.