Hillary Lipko: Frustrated Bunny

My conbox.

I had every intention of writing this before Dragon*Con, since all five of you who read this blog regularly go to Dragon*Con and probably could have used it. But alas, school.

But convention season isn’t over (is it really ever over?), and even though I’m also a little late for those of you going to Anime Weekend Atlanta, I introduce to you: the con box. This handy little invention is not mine; I first came across it on ConSluts, which has a wonderful entry about them. I’m probably going to repeat some of the information in that article, but I’ve got a few additions and remarks of my own. Essentially, a con box contains everything you need to make your convention experience an enjoyable one. As with the other parts in this series, I’m writing this from the point of view of someone staying at a hotel during a convention, but this advice can be adjusted for those living out of their car. Also, many of the elements of a con box are equally wonderful for vacationers. I took mine with me when I stayed in a condo at the beach this summer, and it was positively indispensable.

The first thing you need to make a con box is, well, a box. Specifically, a durable box with a handle. I use a 10-gallon storage container (that you can see in the picture), but you may want to use something bigger, as a 10-gallon container is not actually that big. I just happen to be exceptionally good at packing things. I hum the Tetris theme while I do it. Anyway…I digress.

The next thing you need to make a con box is a first aid kit. This should be the first thing you put in your con box and the one thing you should never go to con without. To put it simply, shit happens. The American Red Cross and Ready.gov have some pretty good guides on what should go in your first aid kit. You can also purchase pre-packaged basic first aid kits in most pharmacies. That’s what I have in my con box, and I supplement it with things like allergy medications, decongestants and antacids. (more…)

GTACM officers with Ben and Richard from Engadget HD

Richard and Ben of Engadget HD dropped by to give a short talk and a long Q&A session with Tech students and local Engadget readers. They’re in town for the CEDIA Expo (which I’m hoping to drop in on tomorrow–we’ll see). The talk was held in the Klaus computing building at Georgia Tech and was sponsored by GTACM.

During the informal talk, Ben and Richard chatted about what it’s like to write for Engadget HD, how the writers only ever actually see each other at trade shows, and a range of other topics from sound systems to emerging entertainment technologies to working 20 hour days at CES. I’m still sitting in the talk as it’s winding down, and it appears that they may have brought some friends from the expo who have some fun giveaways. Before the talk began, I snagged a pair of Z-Buds earbud headphones, which admittedly, I’ve never heard of, but they’re pretty nice looking, and they look like they might actually be comfortable. I’ll give them a try and report back.

The talk continues, so there should be more to come!

Edit (9:30 p.m.): Ben and Richard chatted some more with the audience before we called it a wrap, including a couple of funny anecdotes about how the supposed rivalry between Engadget and its competitor Gizmodo doesn’t really exist. Then some representatives from ZAGG (the guys with the headphones) had a few more giveaways, including some $25 gift cards. They seemed to have enough for everyone who wanted one, so I snagged one myself so I can see what they’re all about. (Hey, give me a break. I’m a grad student without an assistantship during a hiring freeze. I’ll take all the free stuff I can get!)

Ben also offered to post links to the blogs of the people who attended the talk, so it’s entirely possible that the fragile little server this blog is sitting on (along with my internet connection) could come to a screeching halt very quickly. I’m self-hosted, so please be kind! Will blog for better hosting.

Before

After

I decided to try my hand at downsizing a couple of oversized polo shirts that I have in my possession, and I found that my experiment in tailoring was surprisingly successful. So I decided to post a photo tutorial of the process I used to Flickr. I’m not the greatest seamstress or tailor, but I can do most basic things, given enough time. The process to convert a shirt from circus tent to stylish takes me about 2 hours, but that’s probably because I don’t sew very much. My 1970s-era Kenmore sewing machine gets hauled out maybe about five or six times a year, at the absolute most.

The procedure could probably also be adapted to downsize other styles of shirts, as well, but it probably is best suited to polos and T-shirts. The entire process could also probably be sped up by using a Serger instead of a regular sewing machine, but a regular sewing machine is what I (and most other people) have, so that’s what I’ve got to work with. If anyone decides to try this with a Serger, let me know how it goes. Likewise, if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to comment here or on the Flickr set.

Most of my provisions for Dragon*Con 2008, including my con box, cooler and some food.

Conventions have a certain quality of being overwhelming; that is, there nearly always seems to be too much of everything and not enough time for it all, but there’s one, perpetual exception: con food sucks. It seems that regardless of the size or location of conventions, one recurring theme is that nobody eats well. It’s entirely possible to survive solely off of fast food and food from the consuite (if there is one), but by the time the show is over, you’ll feel the effects of your poor diet for days, if not weeks. And if you have any special dietary restrictions (like you have severe food allergies, you’re vegetarian or you keep kosher), not only is it nigh impossible to eat well, most find it difficult to even eat enough.

Dietary restrictions aside, if there’s no consuite (and sadly, consuites seem to be a dying tradition), feeding yourself during a convention can get really expensive. Restaurants near convention centers and large hotels often have inflated prices, and after a whole day of walking around and navigating crowds, you’ll find your appetite to be a bit larger than usual. Bringing some of your own food to, at the very least, supplement your diet will save you some serious coin, especially if you can take what’s left over home with you. (more…)

I have been trying to put this into words for so long, I think I might want to kiss this guy for formulating a statement I couldn’t. In his post about Congress’ healthcare “time-out,” Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com said:

“I don’t think the media has a liberal bias or a conservative bias so much as it has a bias toward overreacting to short-term trends and a tendency toward groupthink.”

That’s pretty much the long and short of it. Except for maybe Fox News. They’re just shameless.