san jose

Finally catching up to present time – the moving event horizon, so to say. I’ve been in San Jose for the past couple of days, attending the CHI 2007 conference. The conference is run pretty well - then again, I may be biased by the relatively large selection of free food being offered. On the downside, some of the sessions are so full that people are sitting on the floor, and the wireless network is struggling to keep up with the sheer amount of laptops.

The highlight so far has been the squirrel that somehow got inside the main gathering hall. How it made its way past several sets of doors, up the stairs (and in general, into the heart of San Jose) is a mystery. But, it was certainly entertaining to watch several usability professionals and rent-a-cops chase it around.

I've done a little exploring of the area, and I'm not sure I'm a big fan yet. It seems that the city has been scrubbed clean of everything - including character. Maybe it's the streets that intersect at too-perfect 90 degree angles, or the bums that are too placid to harass you for change, or the lack of frenzied crowds... San Jose would benefit from an injection of a few Slummerville townies, that's for sure.