Live from PDC 2003: Countdown, One Day to Go!

Design an Avalon screensaver, win a Media Center PC or an Xbox
Microsoft evangelist Robert Scoble is reporting that the Avalon team is running a cool "make an Avalon Screen Saver" contest and will be giving away a Media Center Edition ($1500 value) and a couple of Xboxes. More info on that will be posted by Sunday, and the team promises to teach you everything you need to know to build a great screen saver in the hands-on-labs at PDC 2003.
10/25/2003 1:25PM EST

Packed and ready to go
From Paul: My direct flight to Los Angeles leaves Boston at 5:25 this evening, so I'll be heading to the airport in about an hour. Having just finished packing, I'm already dreading the inevitable search of my checked bag, which is positively brimming with electronics, and the amount of time my three-laptop carry-on bag is going to take to make it through security. I tend to travel with a lot of electronics on a normal trip, but this is ridiculous. I'll be setting off red flags all over the place the second I set foot in the airport.
10/25/2003 1:31PM EST

Off to LA...
From Paul: See you on the other side...
10/25/2003 2:20PM EST

Longest. Flight. Ever.
Well, not really. But I usually try to get work done while flying, but the cramp conditions on this particular flight necessitated some DVD watching (iBook) and light SuperSite editing (Thinkpad). As I write this, we're about two hours and twenty minutes outside of Los Angeles. Fun fact: This trip is my 33rd for the year, the second time I've been to Los Angeles this year, and the seventh time this year I've visited a city in California. And you thought I needed to get out more.
10/25/2003 9:13PM EST (6:13PM PST)

Landing in LA
From Paul: Kind of a weird experience landing today: The airport was covered in fog, and twice, the plane was just about to touchdown when it suddenly lurched upwards again and then made a wide circle over LA for another approach. LA is burning. Each of the three times we circled the city, we had amazing views of the wild fires raging in the hills outside of the city. It's incredible to me that something like that could happen this close to a place like LA. Anyway, an hour late, we finally made it in. Sweet sleep...
10/26/2003 1:13AM PST