Saturday, January 24, 2004

STC meeting results Talking recently with the other NorCal STC chapter presidents, it seems that everyone's seen a drop in meeting attendance, even after membership numbers have started coming up. It's all rather disheartening--we put on good programs and no one shows. Well, last Thursday was different. The Silicon Valley chapter had Jared Spool in for a presentation, and we filled the room that the hotel gave us (at least 80 people, perhaps 100) for dinner, coffee, networking, and Jared's show. And we had 15 people in attendance for the Santa Cruz branch meeting the night before. So it appears a name speaker with some targeted PR will still bring them in. What a relief. 7:34:54 PM    Questions? Comments? Flames? []

Easy on the blogging, again No, I haven't been on vacation. It's just this aging brain of mine can only handle so much input these days, and it's been pretty frazzled with the various STC and CHI projects, not to mention the day job. And some days I just don't have anything to say. So there. 7:23:23 PM    Questions? Comments? Flames? []

R.I.P. Captain Kangaroo Jenny notes the passing of Bob Keeshan, Captain Kangaroo-- Another Icon Buys the Farm. Bob Keeshan, Who Played Captain Kangaroo on TV, Is Dead at 76 I'm so old...All the icons of my childhood... [the creative tech writer] Come on, Jenny, you're not that old. I remember almost nothing about Captain Kangaroo except that I watched the show every morning when I was a youngster, many, many years ago (the show started in 1955, sometime after my life began). Some people leave monuments to themselves as their legacy, others leave a generation or two of kids who are brighter, better people because of the educators and entertainers--Bob Keeshan, Fred Rogers--who were part of their young lives. Farewell, Captain, thanks for everything. 7:17:43 PM    Questions? Comments? Flames? []

QOTD "Nothing shocks me. I'm a scientist." Harrison Ford. [Quotes of the Day] 6:52:53 PM    Questions? Comments? Flames? []

Hotel internet access AP: "Best Western will offer free high-speed Internet in all 2300 of its hotels in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean." [Scripting News] After the positive experience with WiFi at a Best Western in Dallas (at the STC Con in May), I look first for a Best Western when I travel. OK, it's not that often, but hey, free WiFi is going to ensure that I stay in their hotels when I do travel. More from Boing Boing: Free WiFi coming to Best Western. Every Best Western hotel in the US, Canada and the Caribbean will have free open WiFi by Sept 1. Tell you what, I've got a new default choice for hotels when I travel. Let's start finding ways of holding conferences at BW's instead of high-ticket Hyatts and Marriotts with their craptacular $10/day WiFi. "It's the No. 1 amenity requested by virtually everyone, especially businesspeople, said Tom Higgins, CEO and president of the Phoenix-based hotel chain. "High-speed Internet for free is going to be where it's at." Link (via matthowie) Update: Glenn adds, "It's a mix of hardwired and Wi-Fi. They're actually not precisely promising that you'll have access in every room. They'll loan you a wireless card for rooms that don't have a hardwired line, but that doesn't necessary mean (at least initially) that every room will have a good Wi-Fi connection." [Boing Boing Blog] 6:46:55 PM    Questions? Comments? Flames? []

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