Hillary Lipko: Frustrated Bunny

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.

For the first time since 2001, Georgia Tech has beat U(sic)GA in the annual rivalry game. This breaks Georgia’s 7-game streak in the series, maintaining Georgia Tech’s record of the longest streak of 8 games from 1949 to 1956. This is also an exciting win because this is a season in which Georgia was pre-season ranked at #1 and that Sports Illustrated predicted that Georgia Tech’s season would be 3-and-9. Paul Johnson, hired after the firing of Chan Gailey (whose contract was bought out at a cost of $4 million to Tech following last year’s loss to U(sic)GA), brought a whole new strategy to Tech’s game–a triple option offense and a totally fearless way of playing the game. Commentators repeated the refrain that Johnson’s strategy wouldn’t work in the ACC. I saw more 4th-down conversions and turnovers-on-downs than I saw in my entire (5-year) undergrad career at Tech. All of the sudden, our special teams didn’t suck. We succeeded at 2-point conversions. Tech finished its regular season 9-3. So much for a “building season.” Suck it, talking heads.

On a slightly lower note, Virginia’s loss to Virginia Tech cost Georgia Tech its trip to the ACC championship. However, Tech’s standing in the ACC (something like 3rd by default) in addition to its win over Georgia makes it somewhat of a favorite for the Chick-Fil-A bowl here in Atlanta. The Gator Bowl, the Champs Sports Bowl and the Music Bowl are also among the possible bowls that might pick Georgia Tech to play. Most Tech fans will likely agree, however, that beating the mutts is totally worth both missing out on the Orange Bowl and the $4 million we’re paying Gailey to be rid of him. (more…)

We get space shuttle flyovers before our football games.

Three Georgia Tech grads will have the ultimate nosebleed seats for pre-game activities before their alma mater’s big football game with Miami tonight.

They’re aboard space shuttle Endeavour, which is scheduled to be above Atlanta about 6:10 p.m., according to the school.

The shuttle will track from southwest to northeast and look like a very bright moving star.

From the center of campus, look kind of in the direction of the CRC (southwest) and trace up toward the direction of the Coliseum (northeast). If you’re in Home Park, looking toward the intersection of Northside and 10th will be southwest for most residents, looking toward the 17th St. bridge is northeast.

Photo: Endeavour STS-126 launch on November 14, 2008. Credit: Josh Hallett

In 2006, the Office of Policy Analysis and Research (OPAR), a small department within the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), piloted a conference that brought together researchers, businesspeople and legislators to discuss a handful of issues in the domain of science and technology that was of interest and consequence to the state of Georgia. I was among the small group of interns in OPAR that helped launch this event. The format has essentially remained the same: five or six state legislators, typically associated with Assembly leadership or S&T committees, sit on a panel moderated by a notable research professional from within the Georgia Tech community. OPAR sets the agenda via a handful of policy briefs that provide the framework for the topics discussed by the panel.

Each year, the event has been fine-tuned; repeat panel members seem to have become more comfortable with the format, as have repeat attendees, resulting in a much more interactive (and much more interesting) experience. New to the mini-conference this year, a number of companies with products, services and ideas within the areas of discussion were invited to set up exhibits. The combination of these elements resulted in what I think is the best roundtable event that OPAR has done yet.

This year’s panel was moderated by Dr. Mark Allen, Senior Vice Provost for Research and Innovation at Georgia Tech. The panelists, all members of the Georgia General Assembly, included Sen. Cecil Staton, chairman of the Senate Science & Technology committee; Rep. Amos Amerson, chairman of the House Science & Technology committee (a committee I used to work for, might I add); Rep. Hardie Davis; Rep. Kevin Levitas and Rep. Jimmy Pruett. This year’s discussion topics included the use of virtual worlds (like Second Life) in education, particularly as how it relates to increasing and maintaining interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); state-level legislative analyses of community wireless, innovation and biotechnology; and renewable energy portfolio standards. Many of the topics flowed well into others, which helped the discussion move naturally. Dr. Allen did an excellent job in facilitating this and keeping all of the panelists as well as members of the audience involved in the discussion. (more…)

LAN gaming at GT Gamefest

So I’m spending my evening at the Klaus Advanced Computing Building at the semesterly (?) GT Gamefest. In other words, I’m spending my Saturday night at a LAN party. I don’t actually plan on playing any games; it’s just as fun to hang out with the admins, eat the free food, drink the free caffeine, and watch other people play while checking out some pretty badass gaming rigs. It also continues to blow my mind that it’s possible to do serious gaming on laptops these days. It’s really surprising how many people brought laptops to game on.

Speaking of laptops, this entry is brought to you by my laptop, courtesy of one of the admins, Chris, who was kind enough to loan me the power adapter to his Gateway laptop so that I can charge mine, since my adapter (#2 for those of you playing at home) is now, literally, in two pieces. I’ve ordered a new one, but delivery isn’t estimated until the 14th. Suck. But at least charging up the laptop to 100% will allow me some breathing room to get stuff off of here if/when I need to.

Update 11:01 p.m.:
Laptop is still charging. They ordered 110 pizzas from Dominos, and they pretty much got destroyed in under an hour. I again found myself recruited to help the admins, though I don’t mind…I did this last time, too. I get to hang out with fun nerdy people, eat their food, watch the money, and answer questions as I can. I’m also enjoying taking some pictures. The towers of pizza were something to be in awe of, so I shall share some pictures: (more…)