LIVEdigitally

Monthly Archives: January 2007

Hold on to your popcorn

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First, thanks to Jeremy for inviting me to join his blog and be one of his “friends” musing on consumer technology. I have started my own blog but we both thought it would be fun to combine a few things. Here is my first post….

Recently at the Barrett-Jackson auto auction in Scottsdale, Arizona I had the chance to test and talk to the folks at Custom Theater Solutions. They are the creators of a new and impressive custom motion seating design. After testing their new setup, all I can say is
spill your popcorn

Their motion seating puts you into the movie like never before! After sitting in their seats I expected clunky movements, a little vibration and swaying. What I got was full action movements, smooth, fast and completely natural. There are not many things that can impress me this much, to actually make me grin like a child, but this was definitely one of those times. We were watching scenes from Terminator 3. Every movement, vibration, explosion you feel. Camera zooms in, you zoom in, vehicle accelerates and you feel as is you are too. But it’s not just all about the action scenes, you feel it when the camera zooms in, pans, or just sit there quietly during slow scenes.

How do they do it?
They don’t use hydraulics or bulky mechanisms, they use metal actuators. These actuators are fast and strong.
They can give you up to 2Gs of acceleration! They simply hook up the actuators to their seats and using a pivot point they can give you complete pitch, roll and yaw.

How do they tell the actuators what to do?
My first guess was from the audio portion of the movie, boy was I wrong.

The seats, mounted on a platform with all the electronics inside the platform are programmed with something called, ‘motion codes’. “When you need motion codes for the latest DVD, you connect a special set-top box to your internet connection and also to your DVD player. All your motion codes will be downloaded automatically as soon as they come out. Keep in mind that the motion codes aren’t part of the actual DVD, so it doesn’t matter if your movie is rented, store bought or downloaded from the internet. The system will automatically find the specific motion code for that movie and cue it up in real time. There are already over 600-plus movie motion codes available, with more than five new movies coded every week. The CTS system also has an alternate audio feedback mode for video games and TV shows.

They also can hook the actuators to almost any seating setup. Want your whole couch to move, no problem. One, two, three or four theater seats, no problem. This makes the system very versatile.

All in all I give this system a wow factor of 10.
Pros and Cons

  • Pros

    • Less expensive than other systems on the market. A three seat system is around $17,000.
    Very versatile, can be made to fit any home theater environment.
    If local they can bring their special built demo trailer directly to your home to test.
    Wow your friends factor of 10.

  • Cons

    • Have to download the motion code before watching latest released movies, or check if availble before you purchase the movie.
    It’s almost too much. After watching for awhile, it’s so intense you need a break.
    Doesn’t work with regular TV… Yet.

    Heading to the Beach

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    Well, I haven’t done a real vacation in a long time, so the wife and I are heading to Mexico tomorrow morning.  We’re staying at the Iberostar resort, which looks wonderful.  While I’m gone, please hold all my calls.

    ps – gadgets I am bringing are down to three: cell phone (which will be off, but I like to have it for emergencies), laptop (mostly for the 5+ hour flight, but I like to write a journal when I travel), and digital camera.

    Mac vs PC – a NONreligious debate!

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    IMG_2838 jt robert scobleHad dinner and great conversation at Robert Scoble’s last night, which most of the time would be a good enough excuse for a blog post.  But to add a little icing to the cake, I got to spend a few hours chatting with some really brilliant people: Fred Davis (former Editor in Chief of MacUser and Editor at PC Week!), Sam Levin (influence marketing expert and die-hard Mac pro-sumer), and Harry McCracken (current Editor in Chief of PC World).

    Now we actually had a purpose for the evening beyond just hanging out and chatting (which was entertaining on its own).  Our focus was to discuss OSX vs Vista, from a variety perspectives.  Typically these discussions turn into nasty debates and people throw out terms incuding “monopolistic”, “egomaniac”, “incompatible”, and “blue screen”, then a fistfight ensues.  Interestingly, none of that occurred.  More interestingly was the lack of side-taking we as a group had.

    I’m not going to give any other “spoilers” away, since Scoble video’d the whole thing, and I’m sure the edit will come out pretty well.  You should be able to see it on the ScobleShow right around the Vista launch.  Make sure you have the volume up, because in addition to our pretty faces, you’ll often hear Robert add some of his own thoughts into the discussion.

    Thanks for hosting us Robert and Maryam, and thanks for the great conversation everyone! You can read more from Fred’s perspective on his blog too and I threw a few pictures up on Flickr.

    Classic Games: Redo, Remaster, Rerelease, or RIP?

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    Warning: this is one of my geekier posts! 

    Brett Thomas over at bit-tech wrote a nice piece on games he felt needed a “remaster” job.  Remastering, in this context, means the gameplay is just fine, but the graphics and sound need an overhaul.  I liked his list for the most part, and its inspired me to make my own.  In addition to the “remaster” category, I’m adding “redo” (which means the game has a good storyline, but should be rebuilt using current tools and interface concepts), “rerelease” (if the game is perfect as is, but might need new drivers to work in XP or Vista) and RIP (which reflects a game that was great, but should remain in our memories – kinda like the movie “The Dark Crystal”). 

    I’m not exactly sure if this is my “all-time” favorite games list, as I’ll probably forget as many great ones as I remember.  Also, the list is in no particular order:

    • Civilization 2.  It’s now 10 years old, which means I’ve been playing it for 10 years.  The original version is actually still installable on XP, although it seems there was a ‘refresh’ edition in 2002.  The graphics are poor, the sound is bad, but the gameplay is terrific (although I’d love it even more with a non-cheating AI) and I wouldn’t sacrifice the speed of the old version just for prettier icons.
      Verdict: Rerelease (already done)
    • Wing Commander 2. Still the best “space shooter” I’ve ever seen, with a fun, vivid storyline and great gameplay.  I really liked the ‘mortality’ aspect of the story arcs – failing a mission early on had long-term impacts, something that I find lacking in more modern games.  Would love to revisit the game in HD.  By the way, never, ever, ever watch the movie.
      Verdict: Remaster (especially on an Xbox 360)
    • Ultima 4 and 6. Best. RPGs. Ever.  Both were playable and beatable without needing cheats or hints.  Both took tremendous time investments to play, but had extremely rewarding storytelling (I literally had chills when I beat Ultima VI).  Check the links for both games – apparently both can still be run in DOS emulators.  I’m happy to have my fond memories here, especially because I just don’t have the time anymore!
      Verdict: RIP
    • Out of this World (aka Another World).  This groundbreaking game was probably the last game I ever really got into until this past year, as I didn’t game all that much in my 20’s.  Again, I loved the storyline and the polygon graphics were state-of-the-art at the time.  I believe with a refresh it’d do very well in the current crop of games and gamers.
      Verdict: Remaster
    • Kaboom!.  Nothing made better use of the Atari paddle controller than Kaboom.  Nothing.
      Verdict: RIP
    • NHL 94. While the modern versions of EA’s NHL series are wonderful to behold, they are so much more complicated than video game hockey used to be.  I still think hockey is the best video game sport to play, as the games have the most auto-intelligence (in other words, if the guy you are controlling screws up, the rest of the players still play “right”).  I’d love to see NHL 2008 leverage the simplicity of the original, but with the gorgeous graphics the series boasts today.
      Verdict: Redo
    • Bubble Bobble.  How about turning it into a first-person shooter?  Just kidding.
      Verdict: RIP
    • Blood Money.  This is the first of the Amiga games I’m mentioning.  This great side-scroller had one of the most amazing soundtracks I’ve still ever heard in a video game.  No real need to bring it back to life, but if you get the chance to hear the sound, check it out.
      Verdict: RIP
    • Cyberball.  I like this game so much I actually had a full free-standing arcade version of it in my home in Pittsburgh, back in the late 90s.  Football. Robots.  Explosions.  Multiplayer.  Awesome.  Bring it back as it was, or refreshed, or whatever it takes.  Just bring it (supposedly coming to Xbox this year)!
      Verdict: Remaster or Rerelease.
    • Gauntlet II.  I think I gave up more allowance quarters to Gauntlet II than any other game in history (maybe Ikari Warriors, but it’s close).  I played and beat the Secret Room Challenge enough times to win a t-shirt!  Atari revived Gauntlet a few years ago, but I don’t think it had the same magic as the original.  Red warrior needs food… Badly.
      Verdict: Remaster
    • Lode Runner and Lemmings.  Two games that suffered through way too many derivatives and sequels, none of which touched the original.  Both allowed “user-generated content” (ooh!) and both had virtually endless replayability.  Unfortunately something tells me they’d both be best left preserved as they were.
      Verdict: RIP
    • Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I know most people seem to pick Zork for the legendary Infocom games, but Hitchhiker’s was my favorite.  The humor combined with the amazing challenge (I did need to resort to a hint book for the damned “dark room” early into the game, as well as the whole “tea – no tea” thing) just made for a wonderful combination.  In fact, I think this game and the original BBC TV series both rate higher for me than the original books!  I’d love to see a new take on the content with all the current technology, or just see how ‘the kids today’ handle the difficulty of the original (which is playable online). 
      Verdict: Redo or Rerelease
    • Populous.  The second Amiga game on the list (even though it was ported elsewhere, the Amiga version was hands-down the best.  Why?  The breathing).  Invented by Peter Molyneux, the guy who then created Black & White and other amazing AI-heavy games, Populous was the original RTS game in my book.  I recall struggling for hours to get serial-to-serial connections or 9600 baud modems working just to play it multiplayer.  You can actually still play the DOS version (downloads here), but this would be spectacular if recreated today.
      Verdict: Redo or Remaster
    • Total Annihilation.  The king of RTS games.  Better than StarCraft, WarCraft, Total War, and Command & Conquer.  Once called the best game ever made, it’s definitely in the tops of my lists.  The fan base even today is amazing, and there is a “spiritual successor” coming in 2007 in the form of Supreme Commander.  Getting the original TA to work in XP is a pain, and should be supported.
      Verdict: Rerelease
    • Wizardry. My favorite “old-school” RPG.  Gave players all the geekiness required to enjoy D&D, but in a very playable way.  The story was so-so, but the game was very addictive because of the simplicity of the interface.  Back when you had to actually make your own maps in a game (I miss grid paper).
      Verdict: Redo
    • Zak McCracken/Maniac Mansion.  Two of the funniest “adventure” games ever made, back when LucasArts was a bit more of a light-hearted studio.  Took the whole concept of in-game puzzles and easter eggs to a new level, so much that you didn’t really care if you didn’t “get” all the inside jokes around you.  Both games’ plotlines were extremely well thought-out, and would do great today.
      Verdict: Remaster
    • Mind Walker. Now I’m going old-school.  Considered by some to be the original Amiga game (by the way, I never even owned an Amiga, but yet 3 of their games made my list!), Mind Walker lived in a category of its own, and still doesn’t fit in any genre.  Should be refreshed and put on the market for every console ASAP.
      Verdict: Redo

    And I’d like to give a special mention to Nethack, for my all-time most-played game (I still play it occasionally both on the PC and on my PPC-6700!).  Now, nobody touch it, please.  If you’ve never played it, you are missing out.  It’s free, and you can start playing immediately.  It has more depth than any other game, in the history of games.  It doesn’t need any pretty graphics or surround sound, and I don’t think it ever will get either!  And with that nod, I officially out-geek even myself.

    Make a $10 Donation to try to win a TiVo Toaster!

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    Dave Zatz has a wonderful idea, he’s created a memorial fund to benefit James Kim’s family.  The reason the idea is wonderful is because it’s so spot-on.

    It’s cheap ($10).

    It’s easy to sign up (PayPal).

    It’s got a simple prize (a fun TiVo Toaster).

    It’s meaningful.

    And if you like the idea so much, I’ll provide the “entry conditions” right here so you can get your $10 into this good cause right away:

    So, if you were waiting for an excuse to make sure the Kim girls have a paid ticket to college, here’s your incentive. For every $10 you send via PayPal (davezatz@yahoo.com) through 1/31/07, you will get one entry in the raffle for the unique TiVo Toaster.

    Got more to give? How about this: for every time a CNet review helped you make a buying decision on a product, give $10.  Oooh, good one, eh?

    How to actually Make Money off Second Life

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    It’s pretty easy: Become a consultant/studio who provides services that get First Life companies onto Second Life.

    I say this because it’s about the only way I see to actually be profitable off the site/game/world.  The guys at Linden Labs (the company behind Second Life, or SL as they call it) are possibly the best hype-masters I’ve ever seen.  For example, today their partner Universal Pictures issued a press release with the title “‘Smokin’ Aces: Second Life Assassin’ Game Proves an Unprecedented Hit in Virtual World.” Unprecedented Hit, eh?  There isn’t a single stat of any kind in the release text – no usage, performance, subscribers, etc.  Nothing.

    I’ve watched two main themes emerge on SL in the past two weeks:

    1. “Tech leaders” think Second Life could be a “gold mine” (discussion: BlackRimGlasses, CNNMoney)
    2. Second Life is a pyramid scheme (discussion: ValleyWag, Capitalism 2.0, Duncan Riley)

    I also enjoyed Mathew Ingram’s and Webomatica’s thoughts on SL and these issues. All stats below come from one of these or the above sources.

    Now I don’t know if it’s a game or a world, and I don’t much care.  I know I believe the ~100,000 users number more than I do the 2,000,000 users number.  But fundamentally it doesn’t matter to me.  When clients come to me to ask my opinion on SL, I just don’t want them spending money on it today. When I see companies like ShowTime launch a show property in SL (congrats to Akela, a former LD blogger!), I don’t understand how they cost-justify it.

    Today, like it or not, SL is a small number of people enjoying their free reign in a fantasy world.  They are, for the most part, very technically savvy. There’s a lot of gaming, gambling, and sex in SL.  When I read there’s a Second Life millionnaire, I want to see that person actually cash out before I get excited.  I’ve seen virtual press conferences and read about someone finding a job there.  That’s nice.

    The bottom line is there are few users and it’s a very narrow niche.  Furthermore, in order to get in as a big company, you have to be willing to invest a lot of money, since it requires a very specific skill-set.  While some might say “sounds like 1995 and the Web all over again” I point out one quick difference: when new users try Second Life, most do not return.  The same was simply not the case 12 years ago. 

    So, want to take advantage of the Second Life “gold mine”?  Jump on the bandwagon and ride the gravy train as long as you can.  That is, until the pyramid begins to crumble…

    Geek Dinner 2007:01

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    When I first started my Geek Dinners last fall, I figured they’d be quaint affairs, with 4 or 5 people getting together to pseudo-geek out, chat about tech trends and whatnot.  Little did I expect last night’s crew of 20 guys & gals (yes, actual gals – plural even!) to come enjoy the finest in Italian Haute Cuisine – Buca di Beppo.

    As usual, here’s a list of our merry crew (from left to right):

    • Geek Dinner January 23, 2007Thomas Hawk – photographer, photowalker, and blogger extraordinaire
    • Jason Whitt – venture capitalist with VantagePoint Ventures
    • Scott Cronce – CTO of Electronic Arts
    • Melanie Westlake – the queen of Yahoo! Mobile
    • Jeremy Toeman – him?
    • Lisa Whelan – business development consultant and social media blogger
    • Andrew Kippen – “technology scout” for the French Trade Commission
    • Daniel Riveong – technology marketing expert at e-Storm
    • Davis Freeberg – prolific digital media blogger and photographer
    • Esther Lim – VP, Client Services and Interactive Strategy for e-Storm
    • Mehrshad Mansouri – still unemployed
    • Cindy Wang – Technical Yahoo! for mobile Web applications
    • Joel Sacks (or at least his eyes and forehead) – account exec for CNet
    • Sam Levin – influencer marketing expert
    • Kristopher Tate – founder of Zooomr
    • Guy Horowitz – venture capitalist with Gemini Ventures
    • Brian Meckler – product manager at Sling Media
    • Jeff Allen – reformed VC, now founder of a new stealthy startup
    • Heidi Pollock – another Technical Yahoo! (thus making it Yahoo 3, Google 0 for Geek Dinners)

    Dinner was a lot of fun, we even had a little “musical chairs” moment where we shuffled the whole seating arrangement to confuse the waitress help get more people meeting each other.  I overheard and participated in discussions on topics ranging from CES (not much new, lots of bigger/smaller products, with more convergence) to truly converged mobile devices (not gonna happen) to Second Life (wherein I pronounced my desire to start a SL Mob that goes around graffiting things, then charging for “protection”).

    IMG_2831 iphone surveyWe also had a little “around-the-table” on the iPhone, with the simple question of: will you buy it in the first 30 days?  13 said no (primary reasons: no keyboard and locked-down with Cingular service), but 6 said yes (although one was technically a freebie).  While that might be the minority, that’s clearly a good indication of how much excitement Apple has generated so far. 

    Lastly, I had a few gadgets from CES that I showed the group, and here were the quick reactions:

    • Cell phone call light-up bracelet – didn’t really work
    • Netgear travel router – nice idea, but too big compared to Airport Express
    • Ethereal’s high-end HDMI cable – don’t spend a lot of money on cables!
    • Shure SE420 and E500PTH headphones – tremendous waves of jealousy
    • CameraBright – nead idea, might not work well enough
    • The Tornado file transfer USB tool – great concept, a little big
    • quik-pod solo camera “tripod” – awesome, huge round of applause

    I also did a giveaway with a variety of products from the show (and some chocolate), to the people with The Most Video Game Consoles (10), The First Cell Phone Owner (1992), The First GPS Owner (2002), The Most Computers in their Home (12), and the First Portable Computer Owner (I don’t recall the year, but it was a while ago).

    Thanks again for coming everyone, please don’t hesitate to add any comments for any highlights I may have forgotten!

    No more trades shows in 2007. Please!

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    IMG_2807 ari fancy food show boothJust finished three days at the San Francisco Fancy Food Show, and I hope (pray) that I’m done with conferences for the year.  The show went great for Cocoa Designs (my wife’s chocolate business), and I had a couple of friendly drop-bys (no hop-ons though).  It’s actually a very fun show, especially in the last hour when virtually every booth is either giving away their supplies, or trading for other wares.  I walked away with oodles of oils, vinegars, jams (and jellies), crackers, chips, and a nice bottle of port. 

    Funny coincidence #1: John Dvorak (yes, of PC Magazine fame) was walking the show with his camera.  We talked a little chocolate, but mostly tech.

    Funny coincidence #2: I saw a guy walk by with the CES press bag and we chatted for a moment.  He informed me that rather than leave my bag (which I didn’t much care for – two zippers jammed during the show) in my hotel room, I could’ve sold it for upwards of $200!  Oops!

    Funny coincidence #3: A woman staffing the booth next to ours actually spends much of her time in tech, working with a consumer electronics distributor.  We talked tech.

    Funny coincidence #4: My CES tips were pretty valid for this show.  Ironically, I caught a cold.

    Updated: first post said 2006.  that is how out of it I was!

    You know how I know the RIAA doesn't care about consumers?

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    We all know and love the RIAA for their “consumer-friendly” policies and behaviors (an image about which they are trying to pass the buck – and while you are reading on the topic, go check out Ryan’s DRM-free day), but at CES 2007 I got first-hand knowledge of how they feel about consumers.  I dropped by their booth…

    IMG_2712 RIAA booth

    ps – if you need can’t guess the title reference on your own click here…

    Bye Bye Sitemeter and Delicious plugins

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    One of my favorite VC bloggers, Fred Wilson, recently posted on removing some widgets from his blog.  Now Fred clearly attempts to try every plugin ever made, and I applaud him for the efforts.  I’ve tried a few from time to time, and the two that I’ve decided caused the most hassle for LD are now gone.

    1. Sitemeter
      Why I used it: Built-in server statistics are less reliable than Windows ME.
      What I liked: Seemed to keep pretty decent stats, and the stats views are real-time.  Very handy for determining who is linking in.  Considered mostly reliable for site metrics.
      What I didn’t like: Tangibly slowed down page-loading, occasionally prevented site from loading in single-digit-seconds.
      How I’m replacing it: Google Analytics.  It doesn’t boast the same real-time capabilities, but I realized that I don’t care enough on a day-to-day basis to watch the numbers anyway.
    2. My Del.ici.ous
      Why I used it: Very convenient way for me to link to a story I found interesting without having to add a full blog post for it.
      What I liked: Helped keep content “fresh” on the home page.
      What I didn’t like: Extremely buggy, caused really ugly script errors that were all-too visible.
      How I’m replacing it: I’m not.  I’ll keep bookmarking sites I like, and those who care can track them here.  I’ll probably try to add more short-form blog posts anyway, since my unbelievably long essays are a little much for the average reader.

    Anyone have any other plugin recommendations that I should check out?  I browse the WordPress codex intermittently, am I missing the boat on anything?

    That's Janky: CES 2007 Edition

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    When I first started LIVEdigitally, a good friend suggested I include the category “That’s Janky” for all the stuff that was a little goofy or poorly designed. As a refresh, here’s a definition from the good ol’ Urban Dictionary:

    (adjective) inferior quality; held in low social regard; old and delapidated; refers almost exclusively to inanimate material objects, not to people

    We tried to pick up on these girls waiting for the bus, but I was driving my sister’s janky 1989 geo metro so we just got clowned instead.

    Still cracks me up. Anyhow, I thought it would be a fun idea to put just a single post with all the pictures I took at CES 2007 that I felt fit into the Janky category.

    IMG_2300 line for unveiled

    Too many lines – lines for the Bill Gates keynote, CES Unveiled, press conferences, etc.

    IMG_2542 sandisk giveaway frenzy

    After the DirecTV press conference, Dave Winer and I stumbled upon this Sandisk Sansa giveaway where the crowd nearly mobbed the table, and I had one literally pulled out of my hands!

    IMG_2552 hivi

    Has anyone told this company how bad their name is?  I mean, it’s certainly a step up from their old name, SARS Electronics…

    IMG_2579 thedreammachine

    The Dream Machine and other weird gaming furniture – it’s neat and all, but who is going to put this thing in their homes?

     IMG_2580 tv games

    I love the TVGames products, but Deal or No Deal: The Video Game?  It might as well just ship with a drool guard for anyone who follows the intensity of the show.

     IMG_2690 futiro skype non-wireless phone

    Well-designed gadget? Yes.
    Skype phone. Cool.
    Wired??? Janky!

     IMG_2696 FVD format

    We’ve covered this one before. 

     IMG_2697 Pierre Cardin GPS unit

    Chinese manufacturers who yoink reputable brands to try to sell their wares, and…

     IMG_2698 Chinese GPS OEM company

    Chinese manufacturers whose booths feature hand-written posters, and…

     IMG_2700 gooten or guten

    Chinese manufacturers who can’t spell their own name consistently (if you can’t read, it says Guten and Gooten)! 

     IMG_2711 bad booth design

    Booth designs that look great in the 3D rendering, but nobody takes the time to make a real sample to test the concept.

     IMG_2775 alcohol tester mp3 player

    Ridiculous convergence gadgets.  Although you could market this one to the law enforcement community, that way they can listen to their jams while they arrest people. 

     IMG_2792 accufat

    Er.  No comment.

     IMG_2791 lg booth

    Traditional consumer electronics manufacturers who overspend on their ridiculously large booths.  Earth to Sony, LG, Panasonic, Pioneer, and everyone else: this is not 1992, your tactics must change.

    No picture to show, but a special mention to the CES Web site for not making it abundantly clear to people how registration worked and that non-trade individuals would not be allowed in. 

    There you have it, the CES 2007 Janky Report!

    Actually, I’m adding one more: to the organizers of the one and only press/media event (which I shall leave nameless) who decided I wasn’t welcome because I am not a full-time member of the media. Yet the same organizers let in over a dozen bloggers that I know personally, none of which are full-time bloggers/members of the media.  If anyone who works for that event has taken a moment for CES coverage follow-up, I hope you note how much more CES coverage I had than most of the bloggers you let in, and maybe you’ll do more than a cursory check on everyone’s backgrounds in the future.  You win my personal “Most Janky” award.

    Booth duty at the Fancy Food show

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    The annual NASFT Fancy Food Show begins tomorrow at the San Francisco Moscone Center, and my wife’s chocolate company will be on display.  I managed to escape booth duty at CES this year, but no matter how hard I try to get out, it keeps pulling me back in.  It’s a fun show with lots of tasty treats to try out.  If anyone wants to stop by, look us up! 

    Cocoa Designs. North Hall, Booth 302.

    ps – I’ll bet nobody’s liveblogging this trade show!