... and google shall inherit the earth...

In case you need any further proof that we shall all be working in a Google labor camp soon, check out their "Street Level" feature.

Hopefully, the chain gangs will still get free food from their cafeteria ;)

daisexy time!

Daisk the Traveler has finally graced Boston with a visit, and even agreed to be hosted at the Royal Suite at 3 Holland St. Stan, of course, has tried to get Daisk inebriated even before he entered the door, but all such attempts have failed (something about "I have a wedding to go to" and "I'm too old to have fun").

On Sunday, Susan, Daisuke, and I took a leisurely stroll in the Boston Garden, where we took an opportunity to molest the brass ducklings:

Good times - always nice to reconnect with ol' pals, even ones that no longer call Boston their home. Even Hak made a brief appearance (... aaaand that was the last time anybody will refer to Hakeemy as "Hak").

presenting: Mr. Stan

Boston's UPA (Usability Professionals Association) is growing stronger and stronger - which is pretty sweet for all the parties involved. We just had our annual mini-UPA conference, where my coworker Sarah and I presented on the exciting subject of intranet standards. We had a pretty good turnout - maybe 80 people or so. I kicked things off by comparing intranets to undergarments ("everybody has them, they serve a useful support function - but nobody talks about them; plus, you can't see somebody else's unless you're their friend - or unless you pay them").

From there, we laid out our dirty laundry, and discussed how the mess that we call our intranet developed. Sarah explained how introducing a CMS system can be similar to trying to fix Boston roads the Big Dig way, and I tried to demonstrate what we're doing to clean up our morass. All in all, I though it was a good session - and the rest of the presentations were pretty sweet as well, not as academically-inclined as CHI's, but rather practical and even inspiring.

awww

At my company, the interaction designers sort of do it all - UI design, user research, monitoring feedback, and the occasional bargaining with the developers to get things done (or just doing those things, when all else fails). Anyhoo, every time we roll out anything new, we prepare ourselves for a barrage of messages ranging from "Sweet!" to "You have ruined me, my family, and my unborn children" (I may be embellishing a bit here, but only slightly).

Today, I got a message that made my eyes swell up a little bit:

"Having worked here for almost 30 years, I've watched the business process evolve as the development of desktop computers, software and networking produced an environment that facilitated our work and relieved our stress in ways the brilliant pioneers in your field never imagined.

People like you, responding one at a time to user feedback with empathy, skill, and creativity have brought this magical age into being.

Heartfelt thanks for being there!"

Sometimes it does seem like all the pushing and kicking that we do actually amounts to something...

nyc, hit and run

So on Friday, after I came back from work, I was informed of the fact that we decided to go to New York for the weekend. Last-minute sweetness! After surviving the Greyhound ride, we made it to the Overly Big Apple around 3AM.

On Saturday, we decided to hit up the museums - but first, we made several pit stops at the street fairs that they had. Apparently, New Yorkers have taken quite a fancy in closing down two entire avenues, and populating them with food stands. That, of course, does wonders to the already highly-efficient traffic system. But, the shih kabobs are good:

For dinner, we met up with Eugene & Heather, and our gracious hosts - Chris and Anne. We decided to hit up Nyonya (thanks again for finding it, Serene), and it was grrreat!

After feasting on stingray and frog legs, we skipped a midnight rendezvous with Sunny in favor of watching Saw III. Odd choice, perhaps, but we were feeling lazy. It's OK though - we still got some Sunny-time in the morning. Mr. Wong was visibly excited:

I had to take off soon afterwards (the work thing - ugh), and let me tell you right now - the Chinatown bus service is like a Cadillac to Greyhound's Ford. Lucky Star got the Stan Seal of Approval this time around!

san fran wrap-up

Big thanks to the Schrocks – not only did they give us a place to crash for two nights, but Eric volunteered to give us a tour of the business district, complete with a stop at his office. I could not understand how any work could get done next to a fridge stocked with beer, just as he could not understand why my company has a strict no-alcohol-on-premises policy.

San Francisco was absolutely beautiful. After filling up on free samples of organic food at the Embarcadero, we made our way to the Alma park, where it was revealed to me that the “Painted Sisters” were famous prior to their brief appearance in the “Full House” opening credits. The view from the park is unbelievable, with the entire city in plain view. Unfortunately, the view comes at a price of a fairly stiff breeze.

To complete the “gracious host” package, Eric gave us his car for a trip down to Sunnyvale, where we met up with Jonas, Melanie, and Jen for a Cinco de Mayo celebration. Of course, much of the celebrating (i.e., sangria consumption) was done by me – but hey, this important holiday had to be commemorated! Susan asked me afterwards what the day signified, and I couldn’t come up with anything – besides a wild guess that it was created by Corona, same as Xmas was made up by Hallmark.

In any case, Jonas invited us to his place for some Wii fun, and Wii fun it was! There is no doubt in my mind that many kilos of meth (is meth measured in kilos?) were consumed by the game designers. DDR has its good points, but the Wii is something else, let me tell ya… creating your character is a hoot in its own right, with “STANISLAV” coming out looking like a bastard child of Paul McCartney and Mr. Garrison from South Park. Good times!

sonoma

After CHI, we decided to trek through the wine country - so off we went, completely "Sideways". We only stopped in a few wineries, opting to spend most of the time in the open air. The scenery is beauutiful... and we caught a perfect day to enjoy it, too.

chi's over

The constant information overload of CHI is over. Unlike the last conference, I don't know if I can distill everything that I've seen into one or two main points, so I resigned myself to having to go over the proceedings a few times after I get back.

What I will remember are the afterparties. Google definitely took the cake by buying out the entire Tech Museum, and keeping alcohol and food flowing at all times. I, in turn, made sure that the janitors had something to do by spilling a few gallons of red wine on the floor. Good times.

It was nice to have a mini-SI reunion - even Judy Olson remembered who we were. Big thanks to Kathy Seyama, who took us to pho heaven one night. Definitely just what we needed to wash down all that free booze.

santa cruz

Susan finally made it to Cali today, so we got a chance to get away for a little bit, and visit Santa Cruz. A neat little beach town all right, but I'm sure it feels a lot different when the summer is in full session, and the surf's up, duuuude.

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.

do farmers like powerpoint too?

Flying over northwestern Texas, I saw the weirdest thing - piechart fields. Why, I ask, why? Wouldn't bar charts fit better?

hot import nights

I’m now in California, and that’s another story altogether. But, I have to write about things in chronological order, if this blog is to maintain any sort of validity.

So: Susan and I went to an import car show on Saturday. As you may have expected, the place was full of people from every walk of life (as long as the walking takes place in the ghetto), disturbingly slutty models, and way-over-the-top cars. There was the usual NSX/WRX/Supra contingent, with Scion making a good showing – and proving that as much as you try to pimp out a box, it’s still a box.

To Susan and I, this one SUV took the cake. We tried to count how many video screens it had, but honestly couldn’t. Here’s a partial listing:
- two in the sun visors
- one in a center console
- two in each front door panel (in case your left hip was bored)
- one on either side of the center console (in case your right hip was bored)
- one in each rear door panel
- at least three in the tailgate area
- one in each rear window, facing out – just so that the passing motorists can participate in all the excitement

There was also a Skyline, with all of its understated right-hand-drive goodness: