Technology, Books and Other Neat Stuff

The coach back from the conference climbs high over the city, onto the slopes of Montjuic. The haze catches the light of the setting sun, and turns the city gold. The mountains are a pale shadow around the north of the city. Behind us the strange shape of the Olympic torch stands stark against a blue sky.

In the city the streets are crowded. Past 8 o'clock, and it's the rush hour. The grids lock up, and the coach is stranded across a wide avenue. Around us, the buildings reach up, shops at their feet, apartments above the offices. This is a city that is lived in, a city that knows that it is more than just a place to work.

TechEd is being held in the Montjuic 2 conference centre. Its wide halls are holding more than 10 streams of conference content, and over 5000 attendees. Around the breakout rooms are scattered exhibitions and food stations, while inside the audiences are confronted by giant screens of PowerPoint and code.

Of course, one of the key questions at any Microsoft conference is: "What sort of bag will it be?". This year, it's a doozy, a wheeled bag suitable for more than just lugging a laptop from A to B. And the crowds of developers trailing their little blue and green traveling companions look like a strange insect migration, or turtles struggling up a beach to lay their eggs...