sbisson: (Default)
sbisson ([personal profile] sbisson) wrote2002-07-02 06:54 pm

Scenes from Barcelona

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.
Sunset over Barcelona

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.
The streets of Barcelona

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.
Inside Montjuic 2

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...
A strange migration...

[identity profile] codepope.livejournal.com 2002-07-02 10:03 am (UTC)(link)
Mistying the last picture....

"So who knew the aliens would infiltrate as squat wheeled creatures with their
genetalia in the shape of a handle, desperate for the moist grasp of geekdom...."

[identity profile] marypcb.livejournal.com 2002-07-02 10:11 am (UTC)(link)
have you read A boy and his god, charlie stross's weird cthulu pet story?

[identity profile] codepope.livejournal.com 2002-07-02 01:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Still looking for a CD drive that's safe to put Charlie's card in :)

[identity profile] sbisson.livejournal.com 2002-07-02 10:25 am (UTC)(link)
You is evil.

Bored now

[identity profile] green-amber.livejournal.com 2002-07-02 10:20 am (UTC)(link)
It IS the Microsoft jamboree I went to last year!! Is the final do in the Parc Guelle?? I wonder if Steve is there again..
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[identity profile] sbisson.livejournal.com 2002-07-02 10:24 am (UTC)(link)
And I was there then, too! Let me find out...

Ah yes, Steve Swartz - he's doing one of the 10 am sessions tomorrow...

[identity profile] green-amber.livejournal.com 2002-07-02 10:26 am (UTC)(link)
God isn't that weird!
I know it's vast but if you see Steve, say hi..
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