Blythe & Toys

Sorry for being so remiss, and not giving you any new goodies for a little while.

The simple fact is I’ve been flat tack with work (that thing I do for money, web design) and attending the Microsoft conference - Remix2007 here in Melbourne.

Remix was brilliant - getting a copy of Expression Web for nix always makes stuffy lectures more bearable - and the panel discussions especially got the mental juices flowing.

It was surprising to see what some of the guys on the panels actually looked like - most were as expected - youngish to 40ish, slightly overweight, slightly underweight geeks. Like me. Some thought they were rock stars, and might need a little less ego next time. But all were damn smart, knew their respective fields like the back of their hands, and were not afraid to share their secrets.

Russ Weakley did a fantastic session on better CSS, which I hope will be available as a podcast soon. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t told me before (not that he even knows who I am) but it was great to be reminded how to do things properly, and not cut corners. I wish I had taken photos and sound bites, cos he had some fantastic things to say.

Things I loved:

1. Russ Weakley’s fantastic talk on CSS
2. The catering
3. Free XBox (hello Forza2!)
4. Wacom give-a-ways
5. Webjam (although as usual, Galactic Circus is the suckiest venue in the world)

Things I didn’t love:

1. One Microsoft employee giving a talk who kept making comments that “designers will find this simple code too confusing, go make coffee”, “we all know designers can’t code”, “this will be over the head of any designers here” - I wanted to punch him in the mouth and let him know that “most” of us web designers do in fact code/markup in PHP, Perl, HTML, Javascript and CSS. We are NOT morons, we simply choose a different creative path.
2. No free internet. C’mon Microsoft - this is a WEB conference and no net? What the hell?
3. Lack of seating areas to chill, chat and network with other attendees.
4. Paying for my coffee in a take away cup? WTF? At least the stuff in ceramic was free.
5. Water that tasted stale and stagnant. Bottles please next time.
6. The male-oriented talks and extras. E.g. Xbox, the blokey jokes, no women speakers or panel members (Microsoft’s one <strike>token</strike> well not token, she is the boss afterall! (albiet kick arse!) woman hosting does not count).

Anyway, back to the slave yard for me, I’m on a deadline!

This ridiculously cute Hello Kitty hat is just mind-blowing. I mean, who do you know that has the sheer guts to wear it?

I wish they came in pet size! I’d turn my kitty into Kitty-chan!

The March visit to Tokyo may be for as long as an entire month!

You know, like 4 whole weeks.

This is because we have discovered you can rent apartments for less than two thirds the cost of a basic hotel room. In Tokyo. On main train lines. Incredible!

So far, I’ve only investigated Sakura-House, which looks pretty good. The only issue I have is that I can’t seem to book now, for the dates I know I want in March. It’s a “email us and we will try and match you up” type of place. And some of the apartments have huge waiting lists.

Do you know of similar, well known and respected services in Tokyo? Please let me know!

From the makers of Darth Tater and Mr Potato Head, we now have Optimash Prime.

In the tradition of Transformers, Optimash is ready to take on Optimus - or is he?

At only US$9.99, which one of you is going to suprise me with a tater-head gift?

I can’t wait to see some mash-ups of Optimash and Optimus doing battle.

Hasbro Optimash Prime Product Page

Then you are now looking at pixelkitty.net at my new hosts, mediatemple.

After a little over 3 years with my previous host, it was time to find something that better suited my needs. Hopefully, this also will be a long and happy relationship.