thewunderbar

Last year, I did the majority of my Christmas shopping online. I got the convenience of not having to brave the crowds in December, and could have everything I wanted shipped to home, or work. It seemed like such a good idea at the time. But, at the end, what actually happened was that I ended up spending more than I had planned for, not a huge margin, but noticeable, and I still had to go out and do a bit of brick and mortar shopping less than a week before Christmas, which is not a pleasant experience. So this year, I thought I’d buck the trend, and try to buy most of my gifts the old fashioned way, by actually going to a store and buying them. I am on holidays from work this week, so I decided I’d spend the day, go to West Edmonton Mall, and get everything done. Granted, this year I have fewer people to buy for than I did last year, so that also makes it easier to get everything done at once

Microsoft’s new operating system, Windows 7, is officially out on October 22nd. I’ve been running Windows 7 since early this year when the beta launched, and moved up to the Release Candidate, and I have been running the final version since July. Windows 7 has been highly hyped, and has brought much praise in it’s pre-release test versions. So how good is Windows 7? Read on to find out.

The Default desktop of Windows 7

Windows 7 is based very heavily on Windows Vista, so much that in some circles it has earned the moniker “Windows Vista Second Edition.” This is not a bad thing, as I discussed in my three part series on Vista. Upon booting up Windows 7 for the first time, you’ll see a very familiar feel. the Start menu is very similar to Windows Vista, Windows Explorer looks nearly identical, except for the revised side bar, which I will discuss later. Many of the UI dialog boxes are almost identical. If you are coming from Vista, you will feel right at home here. If you are coming from Windows XP, as many people will no doubt be doing, there is a much higher learning curve, but it is not terribly difficult, and very similar to the learning curve going from XP to Vista. Lets start breaking down Windows 7.

The Taskbar

The Taskbar of Windows 7

The Taskbar with Paint and Wordpad running

The Taskbar is by far the biggest change in Windows 7 if you are coming from XP, and is one of the biggest changes if coming from Vista. the Windows Taskbar remained virtually identical from Windows 98 all the way to Windows Vista. The basic design we’re all familiar with was, from left to right, Start Menu, quick launch, program bars, and the notification area. Windows 7 marks the first change to this paradigm in nearly a decade. To put it simply, the new Taskbar takes the best elements of the Windows task bar, quick launch, and Apple’s OS X dock, and rolled it into one package. Gone are the traditional long application bars and quick launch. In their place, a hybrid system. Much like the dock in OS X, a large icon now represents an application. Applications can be “pinned” to the task bar, so an application will always be there, regardless as to whether it is running or not. This allows many more applications to be put into the Taskbar at any given time. Window management has also received a significant overhaul. Along with the single icon for desktops comes application grouping. Application grouping has existed in since Windows XP, but Windows 7 is the first time where it really feels natural to me. Mousing over the application icon will show a live preview of every running window, and clicking on that window will bring that window to the front. The live preview, using Aero, will even show a video playing in real time in Windows Media Player. Regardless as to whether you are coming from Vista or XP, there will be an adjustment period to the new Taskbar, but after several months of use, I find it hard going back to Vista, and especially XP. If you simply cannot adjust to the new style, you can change the task bar back to the same behavior found in Vista.

The Start Menu

The Start menu will feel instantly familiar to both users of Windows XP and Vista, slightly more so for Vista users.

Jump Lists

Another feature new to Windows 7 are jump lists. Jump lists are a a feature present all through the start menu, and in the Taskbar. Unfortunately at the time of this writing, very few apps take advantage of the features. Jump lists allow for an app to have quick access to important things pertaining to the application. The three apps that I have used that take good advantage of Jump lists to this point are Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer, and Windows Live Messenger. Each app uses jump lists in a different, and functional way. In Internet Explorer, the jump list displays recent web pages, in Windows Explorer, recent folders are displayed. Windows Live Messenger arguably takes the best advantage of jump lists, allowing you to change your status, sign in/out, go to your email inbox(if you use hotmail), and start an IM conversation, right from within the jump list. Jump lists are a feature of Windows that will become more useful over time, as more applications are updated to support them, and take advantage of them. I am excited to see what will be done with jump lists, and the creative uses that will be found.

Libraries

A view of Libraries in Windows 7

Libraries actually are not a new feature in Windows 7. Nearly the exact same functionality existed in Windows Vista, but for Windows 7 Microsoft really brought the technology to the forefront and called it Libraries.

A library looks like a folder on the computer, but it is actually not. What a library is is essentially an aggregation tool. It allows the user to bring multiple folders into one container. In Windows 7, a user starts out with 4 default libraries. Documents, Music, Pictures, and Video. These do not replace the actual folders of the same names where the content would be stored, but rather sits on top of, and in front of them. When I first heard of the concept of libraries I wasn’t sold. In fact, when I started using the Beta back in January, I didn’t even use them. But over time i came to see their usefulness, and now make use of libraries on a daily basis. My largest example of how I use libraries is with video. I have video files across 3 different hard drives in my computer, in many different folders. Using a library, I can aggregate all of those folders across all of the hard drives into a single location, instead of having to find which hard drive the file is on, then which folder, I can click on a single icon, and everything is in one spot. Libraries will probably be the most under appreciated feature in Windows 7, but will eventually become one of the most useful.

As a side note, the same functionality also exists in Windows Vista, but Windows 7 really brings it into the forefront. What a library is is essentially a saved search, set to look at a single or multiple locations. Windows Vista has this same functionality built right in, but it was never really publicized, nor was it clear in Vista how to use it. Going back to Vista, i find myself actually using saved searches and making them into pseudo libraries.

Homegroups

The Homegroup screen

To go right along with Libraries, Microsoft has introduced a feature called homegroups. Homegroups is the latest attempt to make home networking easy. And for the first time, Microsoft has truly succeeded in that. The concept is simple. A homegroup is set up on one computer in the network and sharing center, and a homegroup password is created. Then on the second(or third, or fourth) computer, again from the network sharing center, enter in the home group password, and that’s it. The computers are connected. sharing a file, folder, or an entire library, is as simple as right clicking on it, and choosing the share with menu, where you can share it with anyone, the homegroup, or nobody. The homegroup menu appears in the left pane of Windows Explorer(what most people know as My Computer), where all computers, folders, and files in the homegroup can be accessed. I must give real credit to Microsoft here. They have finally made networking as simple as it can possibly be. The only caveat is that to get this ease of use, every computer must be running Windows 7, otherwise the previous folder sharing methods will still apply.

Applications

the “ribbon” first seen in Office 2007 is making its way into more and more applications

When talking about the applications in Windows 7, I’m actually more driven to talk about what’s *not* included, because that is the biggest news. Microsoft has stripped out many of the core applications we used to find in Windows, and made them separate downloads. Gone are Windows Messenger, Windows Mail(itself the replacement to Outlook Express), Windows Photo Gallery, and Windows Movie Maker. There are 2 primary reasons for Microsoft choosing to remove these applications. The first is the courts. As many of you know, Microsoft has been under fire for years for bundling applications with it’s operating system, even though it is a trivial matter to use another application instead. By not including them, Microsoft essentially eliminates that argument. The second is that by pulling these apps out of Windows, it is much easier for Microsoft to take the apps, and develop them at a faster rate than if they were built into Windows. So now, instead of including them, they are part of the Windows Live Essentials suite, which can be downloaded from download.live.com. The applications included in this suite are Windows Live Messenger, which is the most popular IM solution in the world, Windows Live Mail for email, Windows Live Writer, an excellent blog composing tool, Windows Live Photo Gallery, which is in my opinion the best photo organizer available, and Windows Live Movie Maker. Also included are a tool bar for Internet Explorer, a Parental control module called Family Safety, and 3 minor components, an Outlook Connector, the Office Live add-in, and Silverlight, Microsoft’s Flash competitor. Windows Live Essentials are just that, essential. I know that there will be some people who will not need any of the applications on that list, but in reality, most people will use at least one of those applications. Windows Live essentials are also available for Windows XP and Windows Vista, with the exception of Windows Live Movie Maker, which is only for Vista and Windows 7, and will not run on XP.

The only remaining Windows staples left are Internet Explorer, Windows Media Center, Paint, and Wordpad.

Paint and Wordpad bring in the ribbon interface first seen in Office 2007. Some users will not like this, but for those that have used Office 2007 extensively, the Ribbon is a large improvement to the traditional toolbars and is a welcome addition to Wordpad and paint. When it comes to Paint, that’s about where the changes end, beyond that it’s essentially the same application we’ve seen since since Windows 3.1. It is very simple, but it’s meant to be simple.

Wordpad actually got some significant improvements. It definitely can’t/won’t replace Word, but for those who only do the most occasional of document creation, Wordpad is actually a usable solution now, and should not be ignored. The only drawback is that Microsoft curiously removed .doc support from Wordpad entirely. It supports the .docx files that were introduced in office 2007, but does not support the .doc format used in office from office 97 until Office 2003. I understand that Microsoft wants to push the .docx format to the spotlight, but not having .doc support is very short sighted, as most documents today are still written in .doc. Wordpad can also natively save, and open, the open document .odt files, if you so desire.

I don’t personally use Windows Media Center very much, but from what I can tell, it’s gotten some subtle, but welcome improvements from Windows Vista, and looks to be a very goot 10-foot interface for those who will use Windows 7 as the base for a Home Theater PC.

Internet Explorer 8 is included in Windows 7. Unlike Internet Explorer’s of the past, IE8 is quite usable, and not nearly as vulnerable as previous versions, most notably IE6 are. I have no issues recommending IE8 for general purpose use for most people, however I personally don’t use it as my default browser.

User Account Control

User Account Control was another feature born in Windows Vista, and another feature that was generally hated. And while Microsoft’s first attempt in Vista was not perfect, User Account Control represents the single largest measure of defense in protecting your computer from viruses and other malware. This feature is actually something that Microsoft has played catch up on. Apple’s OS X has had this feature since the very first version came out in 2001, and the various other Linux and Unix operating systems are based around this model. I wont’ get too technical with it, but User Account Control allows the computer to run a user in a state that cannot damage the computer, and must ask for permission when taking an action that makes major changes to Windows, like installing a program or doing Windows updates. While some people get annoyed with this, in Windows 7 it really isn’t an issue once the computer is set up. Once all of your programs are installed and all of your settings configured, User Account Control is barely even seen. With my computer running Windows 7 now, I see a User Account Control prompt maybe twice a week.

There are people who like turning User Account Control off, and that is a very bad decision. Turning it off not only gets rid of the prompts, but removes all of the security features around it, essentially making Windows 7 no more secure and safe than Windows XP. User Account Control is an important feature that should be left on at all times.

Compatibility

When Windows Vista was released, compatibility issues were huge. I have discussed previously that while Microsoft shares some of the blame for that, application and hardware developers also share much of the blame for that. But, that was in 2006. In October 2009, the good majority of those issues are gone. Almost all software runs in Vista now, and if it runs in Vista, it will run on Windows 7. If it’s a piece of software that will not run in Vista, well in my humble opinion unless it’s custom software that is truly mission critical to you, it’s time to move on and replace that software.

32-bit vs 64-bit

No compatibility talk would be complete without discussing whether to use 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 7. Microsoft’s foray into 64-bit Windows on the consumer level dates back to Windows XP, where a 64-bit version of Professional still exists. In Windows Vista, a 64-bit version was also abvailable, but that suffered even more driver issues than it’s 32-bit sibling did at launch. Many hardware and software makers chose not to support the 64-bit platform in 2006. However, in late 2009, things are much different. To put it simply, 99% of all applications and hardware will work with Windows 7 64-bit. Unless you are running an odd-ball piece of software, or some custom written software, it will probably work. The same goes with hardware. Your 7 year old printer may not work in 64-bit windows, and any older hardware might not either. However, most recent, and all current hardware will. This is as much of a choice of the hardware vendors to not dedicate a team of workers to write new software for an old device as it is a marketing decision on their part, trying to get you to buy a new printer. The best bet is to simply do a quick Google search ahead of time to see if anything you have will not work

But wait, there’s more?

I’ve only touched on the most major of features with Windows 7. Microsoft literally went through windows with a fine tooth comb for Windows 7. Nearly every feature of the operating system has been tweaked or changed, and updated in some way. From usable, robust parental controls to improved networking to new versions of every included app, everything in Windows 7 has been cleaned up, and improved, if only slightly. I have been using Windows 7 for the better part of a year now and there are *still* some things in it that I’m finding.

Okay, but should I get it?

At the end of the day, that question is what it comes down to. I am not afraid to say that Windows 7 is the best version of Windows Microsoft has ever put out. Does that mean you should get it? Not necessarily. Most people will get Windows 7 when they buy a new computer, and for most people, that’s the way it should be. My general rule is that if you are someone who can put together your own computer, you’re capable of dealing with installing Windows 7 on your own. If you’re not, then it’s best to wait. I say this because while Windows 7 takes great strides in ease of install, and detecting all of your items, it still isn’t quite perfect, and you have to know how to handle yourself if something does not go right.

I really believe that everyone will be running windows 7 eventually, whether it be through an install, or by buying a new computer. It really is that good. I’m up to nearly 2300 words in this review, and there are several very good features that I haven’t even mentioned yet. In fact, I have read one review of Windows 7 that has 12 separate 1500 word parts. There is just that many new things to talk about. I will end by saying that Microsoft has delivered a massive success with Windows 7, and should be applauded for it. Any doubts with Vista have been completely erased now, and all that is left will be what will probably be the most successful version of Windows ever.

Okay, so it’s been waaaaaaaay too long since I put anything up here, my bad. Sometimes it’s just hard to find enough hours in the day to eat and sleep, never mind put a good blog post together. Instead of coming back with an epic blog post now, I’m going to just post a mashup of a bunch of things, the epic one is coming soon

I got myself a Palm Pre, and it’s pretty awesome. It doesn’t have the app store that the iPhone has, but having an always connected device is something that, as cheesy as it sounds, has really changed the way I think about mobile phones. It’s less and less about the phone and more about the fact that it’s basically an all in one communication device, and it’s really amazing to have. Now Palm, lets get Windows Live Messenger support, and a bigger app store, and I’ll be sold forever.

Speaking of Phones, Bell and Telus here in Canada are launching their GSM HSPA+ network here in November 2009, as in next month, and will both be offering the iPhone. This is actually a *really* big deal in Canada, and worthy of it’s own blog post, which I will be writing. Suffice it to say that it’s probably the most important event in the Mobile phone world in Canada in over 5 years, maybe even since it because a 3 horse race between Bell, Telus, and Rogers many years ago

The Fall 2009 TV season has started. I don’t watch a whole bunch of TV anymore, but the shows I do watch I really enjoy. I don’t even watch many of them live on TV, I either watch shows either by streaming them online legally, or buying through iTunes. Most I’m streaming, but the few that I really do enjoy, I buy. The shows that I’m watching Religiously this year are: House, Dollhouse, Flashpoint, The Border, and Being Erica. I will be watching 24 in January when it starts up again. Other shows that I am looking at are Glee and Stargate Universe. I really do enjoy two and a half men, but I watch that show on DVD when the season comes out. You know, I just listed a lot of shows, and while it seems like a lot, compared to what’s out there to watch right now, it really isn’t a lot of shows.

October really is the best month of the year if you are a sports fan. Lets run it down

Hockey season has started. My Oilers are off to a decent start. They look like they can score goals almost at will this year, but aren’t looking very good defensively. Hopefully they solve that soon. It’s nice to see the leafs in the tank, and I’m not at all surprised to see the Red Wings off to such a slow start.

CFL football is coming down to the wire, and is as exciting as ever. It would be more exciting if the Eskimos hadn’t lost 5 of their last 6 games, but with 4 to go the playoffs are still within reach. Hopefully they wake up and get there.

NFL football is in full swing. I’m a Packers fan, and so far i’m happy with how they are doing. Hopefully they can improve as time goes on. The Raves are really surprising me, as are the Bengals, and I’m quite happy to see the Patriots struggling. i have a soft spot for the Dolphins, and hopefully Chad Henne develops quickly without Pennington.

Baseball playoffs are on, and while I don’t like it, we seemed to be destined for the Yankees to go back to the World Series. The Angels have a really good team, but the Yankees were the best team in baseball this year, I’m not sure if there’s any stopping them.

That’s it for now, I have a couple posts on the docket for the next week, one of them is the biggest post I’ve ever done, should be fun!

At this point, Fragapalooza 2009 has been finished for well over a week. I wanted to get this post out earlier, however business travel for the week after the event prevented me from uploading all of the pictures and photos that I took, and I wanted to make sure they were all up on the internet before posting.

Fragapalooza 2009 was a fantastic event. This was my third year attending Fragapalooza, at a third different location. When I first learned of the location change, I was worried. However, Fragapalooza 2009 came away as my favorite event, except for the lack of a rock-paper-scissors contest of course. That was desperately missed.

I have already posted detailed accounts of what I brought, initial setup, Tent city, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, and Day 4, which you can read. What I don’t necessarily convey in those posts is just how much fun the event really was. The smaller size of the venue actually made the event feel a lot more fun, and it felt like I was closer to everyone, even sitting near the rear of the venue.

The venue itself was fantastic. We were on the indoor soccer field at the DOW Centennial Center. Actually being on the field was nice. The turf was still down, and provided a us with a nice environment to walk in. The aisles were a little narrow, but nothing terrible. Overall the event felt very cozy, much more than my previous times.

The staff were awesome. I could say so much more, but there isn’t much more to say. Aside from a couple hiccups, which can be expected when you set up a network for 400 people in 16 hours, everything ran very, very smoothly. The staff pour hundreds of their own hours in to make sure we can have the best experience possible, and every year they pull it of beyond my expectations. They should be applauded for their near herculean efforts.

The contests this year were very good, except for the lack of my favorite, the afore mentioned rock-paper-scissors contest.  There were random contests like usual, a foam dart war, a dodgeball game, the wall sit, and the Rock Band tournament.  I participated in everything except for the Rock Band tournament, won nothing, but came out happy.

Were there hiccups? Yes. There always are. You cannot run an event with 400 people and keep all of them happy. The air conditioning broke, and the DOW staff were amazing at keeping what was left of the AC running, and allowing us to keep extra doors open at night for air flow. Tent city was small, and cramped, and not a great experience this year, but I managed.

Overall the event was the best one yet, and if at all possible, I will be there next year, without a doubt.

I took a ton of pictures and videos of the event. You can find the pictures at my flickr page here.

You can find the videos on youtube. The Pencil Sharpening contest has 4 videos, heat 1, heat 2, heat 3, and the final. The foam dart war can be found here. I don’t have a full video of the Foam Dart War, as I only started taking video after I got knocked out. Lastly, I took video of every single performance at the Rock Band tournament. Sorry for the ones that are not in HD, my mino HD was full and had a dead battery, so I was forced to use my digital camera for some of them. The playlost with every video is here. The staff band is here.

This is the conclusion of the three part series about Windows Vista, for parts 1 and 2, click here and here.

In 2001, Windows XP was released to the world. At the time, it was Microsoft’s best operating system release. Windows Vista improved on it in nearly every way. Let me say that again. Windows Vista improved on it in nearly every way. The biggest problem with Vista was the high barrier to entry, however, it was no more higher than the barrier to entry Windows XP faced in 2001. As I wrote previously, we were spoiled by lower hardware costs, and the fact that running Windows XP on cheap hardware from 2006 was akin to running Windows 95 on hardware from 2001. It could be run very well on very cheap hardware. In 2009, pretty much every computer except for the netbook class computer can run Windows Vista very well, and this is where Vista truly shines.

Many of the technologies that make Windows Vista so good are beyond the scope of this article, so I will concentrate on the features that the end user will see.

The first, and most useful, is start menu search. Windows XP had the add-on Wnidows Desktop Search software for years, however it was slow, not integrated into the OS, and in my opinion, just plain not useful. In my experience, it actually slows down a Windows XP PC quite a bit. Windows Desktop Search 4.0 for Windows XP did address some of those issues, but the simple fact is that Windows XP was never meant to have a built in quick desktop search application, and using an application like Windows Desktop Search or Google Desktop really highlights that deficiency. Windows Vista was designed with the instant search built in. This instant search, appearing in the start menu, allows you to quickly find applications, documents, even specific email if you use outlook. simply hit the start menu, or press the windows key on your keyboard, and start typing. Usually the first few characters of the application is enough for what you are looking for to appear. Type “word” and Microsoft Word will be the first result. You can even search for a particular document, and open it directly. Start menu search has many more functions, but at it’s core it is used as a fast way to launch a document. Ever since my first experience with the beta of Windows Vista way back in early 2005, it has been my preferred way of launching applications. I truthfully rarely even go into “All Programs” in Windows anymore, as start menu search is a much faster and more efficient way of getting to where I need to go.

Speaking of the start menu, it received an overhaul for Windows Vista as well. Gone is the word “Start” present in every version of windows since late 1994. Also gone is the multi-column all programs menu. Instead going into all programs places the menu in a scrolling list in the left side of the start menu. As someone who regularly dealt with 2, 3, sometimes 4 columns of applications in Windows XP, this change is welcome for the few times I need to go into all programs. Other changes are more minor, but appreciated, including more streamlined access to the networking section of Windows, and more.

The second feature, which is arguably the single most important feature of Windows Vista, and remains integral in Windows 7, is User Account Control(UAC). Windows Vista represented a fundamental shift in how Windows handles user accounts and security. In every Windows version up to, and including, Windows XP, a normal user ran as a system administrator, meaning that the user has unrestricted access to the computer, and can make any change without prompt. The “limited account” option that existed in XP was an attempt to stop this, but in reality the limited account was so restricted a user could not really do many day-to-day applications with Windows. This method of user accounts remains the single biggest security vulnerability in Windows XP, even after 3 service packs and hundreds of security updates. Many types of malware take easy advantage of the fact that that they can make changes to Windows, install applications and services, and generally have their run of the operating system. Windows Vista changed all that. Instead of operating with unlimited permissions, all accounts, even computer administrators, operate under the principle of least privilege. This means that a user runs as a limited user, and when a change is made that requires administrator access, UAC will display a prompt. A computer administrator may simply click continue, and a standard user must enter an administrator password to continue. This ensures that no operating system changes are made without the user’s knowledge, and any changes that are made are done so as a direct result of user interaction. This is the security model that UNIX and linux based operating systems have been based off for decades, and what Apple as adopted for OS X, which is UNIX based, back in 2001. UAC in Vista is not perfect, and many people feel that it prompts too many times. This is partially true, however, many people turned UAC off because of this, and they really shouldn’t. UAC is the biggest piece of the security puzzle in Vista, and while turning off may add some convenience to using Windows Vista, it is much more open to attacks. After Windows Vista is set up, and most of the users applications are installed, UAC is much less obtrusive, because 99% of the day to day operations of Windows do not require elevated permissions. UAC is also much improved in Windows 7, with the same security as in Vista, but with far fewer prompts.

Windows Vista also introduced Aero. The Aero desktop is the visible component of the Windows Presentation Foundation, which was a complete re-write of the Windows User Interface. the new UI design allows for Windows to use more advanced graphics effects, such as transparent windows, the “glass” look of the windows, live window previews, and new transition effects between Windows. Many skeptics of Aero in Windows Vista say it was nothing more than an attempt to make Windows Vista look “pretty” and did not offer any real benefits. On the surface, this is actually true. However, like many things in Windows Vista, the underlying system was completely re-written, and Windows Vista represented the growing pain, and Microsoft implementing a brand new system for it’s user interface. The truly advanced elements possible in Aero are evident in Windows 7. Going from Windows XP, to Windows Vista, and up to Windows 7, it is very easy to see how Windows Vista is the stepping stone, and many of the advancements in Windows Vista are taken and improved upon in Windows 7.

These are just a few of the changes in Windows Vista. As I have stated, Windows Vista represents a change that was as big, if not bigger, than the leap from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95. Many of the changes are good changes, and many of the changes represent brand new ideas for Microsoft. For that, Windows Vista will fall in place as a transitional operating system. Is it perfect? No. There are many things in Vista that drive me crazy. But I do not let those things detract from what is otherwise a very solid operating system from Microsoft.

If I had written this 6 months ago, Windows Vista would have gotten a 100% recommendation from me. In fact, 6 months ago, I was urging people who were considering buying a new computer, but afraid because of the stigma of Vista, to upgrade. Very few people that I know that have purchased a new PC with Windows Vista on it have told me they dislike it. Give Vista a chance, a real chance, and you will generally be surprised with how good it is. However, with the release of Windows 7 just 2 months away, there truly is no point. Buying a new PC today will come with Windows Vista, but many will come with a free upgrade to Windows 7 anyway. I have no qualms telling people to run Vista, but cannot recommend people buy a new computer right now. Wait until Windows 7, and buy a new computer with the new operating system. In many ways, it is a shame, because many people will never really know just how good Windows Vista is, and how it provided the critical stepping stone to Windows 7, which is being regarded as the best release of Windows ever. So, as you move on to Windows 7, know that at it’s core, you are using the technology of Windows Vista, and working day to day with everything Vista had to offer.

Day 4 of Fragapalooza. It may not seem like a long time, but after 3 straight days of playing games on a computer, fooling around with the various contests, and getting significantly less sleep than normal, everyone is pretty wiped out. As a result, the 4th and final day of Fragapalooza is a pretty toned down day, and not a huge amount of stuff goes on. All the tournaments are done, not everyone even plays games.

Waking up and knowing the rush to get out later on, I took a bunch of my stuff out to my car right away, to minimize the time it would take later in the day. I played my last bit of Team Fortress 2, but mostly just for fun to kill time until it was really time to pack up. I snapped a few more pictures, and took in the sights of the final day of Fragapalooza.

There was one contest held on the final day, the wall sit. The wall sit is a great exercise, and a good test of stamina. It is literally as it sounds. Each person has to put their back against a wall, and crouch down to their knees are at a 90 degree angle. I participated knowing full well I wouldn’t win, but it was fun anyway.

The final event of Fragapalooza is the closing ceremonies. The Staff take the time to thank the sponsors, participants, volunteers, etc, and talk about the event. This year’s closing ceremonies were particularly important because the staff talked a bit about how Fragapalooza almost didn’t happen this year because of the recession. Gil Amores, the President of Fragapalooza, made a truly heart-felt thank you to everyone who attended, and thanked us for our support of the event this year. Then, it was prize time. Closing ceremonies are where the majority of the prizes are given away, at random, to the participants. T-Shirts are thrown into the crowd, and there are draws for prizes, everything ranging from Mouse pads to keyboards to motherboards and processors. I didn’t win anything this year, in fact, in 3 years I’ve come away not having my number drawn. Still, that part is fun. Everyone enjoys free things, right?

After the closing ceremonies is the traditional rush for the exit. After the ceremonies the event is officially over, and everyone leaves. I had taken my computer out before the closing ceremonies, which is by design, since the security setup means that on exit each bag must be searched and photo ID must be shown to get computers out. The security is amazing, and why i feel safe at the event, but also causes massive delays trying to get out. Planning ahead easily saved me an hour of time this afternoon.

Fragapalooza 2009 was an amazing event, one I am very happy to say I was a part of. I will be posting a full write up of the event, as well as will be putting all of the pictures and videos I have taken online in the near future. I have some work travel to do this week so no firm dates, but look for it soon.

Day 3 of Fragapalooza is always the one with the most “stuff” going on. It is the Saturday, so everyone for sure is there, all the Tournaments run into high gear, most of the prizes are given away, and some of the whacky contests are held. This year was no exception.I actually don’t game as much on Saturday as I do on Friday, because we get interrupted by trying to win prizes all the time. My one disappointment this year was the lack of a Rock-Paper-Scissors contest. The past 2 years Ive made it to at least the final 8, from a starting of 256, and was feeling good about my chances of winning this year. I imagine it was due to a lack of space. Lining up 128 or 256 people takes up a lot of space, and this year we didn’t have it.

Other contests included a pencil sharpening contest, a contest that pitted two groups of 50 people in a 1700′s style “we’ll shoot at you as you stand in a line, then it’s your turn!” A couple “the first person to the stage wearing [insert random t-shirt here]” contests, a few random drawings, and one contest where everyone had to sit up in the bleachers, and random seats were picked for prizes. There was also a game of Deal or No Deal, with an actual banker, where the 20 “cases” were prizes ranging from a kick in the nuts, and a hug from one of the staff on the low end(although is a hug really a low end thing?) to an intel motherboard and an intel processor on the high end.

The most fun contest of the evening though, was the Rock Band Tournament. An elaborate setup was erected to make them look like a real band as much as possible, and a number of bands competed in a contest that was more about the actual performance than it was about technique. It featured special judges from a local radio station who scored the bands, and declared a winner. Some of the performances were just plan drab, but the finalists were very good, and put on very good shows. there were also performances by a band featuring staff members, and a band featuring event volunteers.

There was much gaming going on between these contests. There were quite a few people who chose not even to sleep, and many like myself stayed awake into the wee hours of the morning to get as much out of the last full day of the event as possible.

I took quite a few videos and pictures of the happenings on day 3, but to help save the internet here at the event I am waiting until after the event to edit them and get them on YouTube.

I have also agreed to have a guest author write a post about her experience this year as a volunteer. Look for that coming soon as well.

Day 4 here is already underway, and I’m going to enjoy the last bit of Fragapalooza. Look for my final daily report tonight, after the event has ended.

Day 2 of Fragapalooza has come and gone. I already spoke of tent city here. I didn’t think day 2 would be a good day after such a restless day, but here I am at the end of the night and the day was fine.

Today was dominated by gaming(what else). The games of the day were mostly Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead. I enjoy TF2 quite a bit, however it can get very repetitive. In the morning we had som very good games of TF2, and that kept me hooked for a few hours. After a break, I played quite a bit of Left 4 Dead, the first time I had really put any significant amount of time into the game. And I must say that Left 4 Dead is fun. With a good group of people playing, it may be the most fun games I’ve played in years. It would be very easy to get wrapped up in the game for hours. L4D’s biggest limiter at an event like this is that the biggest game mode only supports 8 people, and in TF2 we were seeing 32 player games at the high point. Overall, between TF2 and L4D there were some quality games being played.

That’s not to say the day went smoothly, however. Unfortunately there were several network/internet outages. There were only 1-2 network wide outages, but the internet went out several times. Unfortunately for games that are Steam based, like the games I spent most of my day playing, the servers went offline just long enough for us to lose our game. While not a huge deal, was a bit of annoyance. The staff did an awesome job at minimizing the downtime when it happened though. And while the internet went down 7-8 times that I could notice, it never lasted more than 5 minutes or so.

Today was also the day the tournaments began, starting in the afternoon and running late into the night. I confess that I don’t pay too much attention to the tournaments, as I don’t participate in them, nor do I wish to. That’s not the reason I come to Fragapalooza.

The day ended with a showing of the documentary “Second Skin.” Second Skin is about video games and addiction, specifically about online games such as World of Warcraft. I watched the whole documentary, and came out with very mixed feelings about it. The main purpose of the video was to show that playing video games can be an addiction, and that that addiction could have some very bad consequences. While that is very true, I feel that the documentary sensationalized and played up the stereotype that people who play video games have. I understand this approach. Going for a little more of a shock factor will get more people to pay attention to what is a much larger problem in general addiction to anything. In some ways that is necessary, however the people that are shown in the documentary represent the 1% of people who play games, and it’s unfortunate that it looks as if they are made to generalize and be the majority. That is unfortunate, and is the biggest reason why I walked away a bit turned off to the show.

There were a couple of other fun things going on during the day as well. in the afternoon there was a massive dodgeball contest outside, with the winner taking home a new video card. The game was not so much about dodgeball as it was about the Fragapalooza staff throwing balls at everyone lined up against a wall until there was only one person left. I didn’t win, and there are videos on youtube of the contest that are at the bottom of this post.

The other things that happened were me receiving my T-Shirt and zippered hoodie that I ordered. The T-Shirts are very nice this year, by far the best one of the 3 years that I’ve attended, and the zippered hoodie is also very nice. Lastly, one of the sponsors, BFG, is holding a free raffle, and gave away a T-Shirt and foam darts. It’s amazing how quickly 300 people can move when you say “free stuff,” and also amazing how orderly we were getting into a single line I got a free T0Shirt, a free foam dart, which was used in a friendly little war with the people around me, and a ticket for the raffle. I honestly don’t know what the prize for the raffle is. I guess I will find out if I win it, whenever they call the numbers.

With that, I’m off to sleep. This has been a very full day, and I’m actually pretty tired.

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I have already posted pictures of what Tent City this year looks like, and I must say that compared to the spacious experience last year the sleeping experience this year kind of sucks. Perhaps it would be better if I had a tent, but since I don’t, I am sleeping out in the open.

When I went to bed last night the first thing I noticed when I walked in was the snoring. There were 4-5 people snoring, one of them VERY loudly. Then, I had to find my air mattress. The spot I have was literally a piece of floor that was near the back, and very small, since that’s almost all there was left. To get to it, I have to walk pretty much on the sides/edges of other tents, hoping I don’t disturb other people too much. Once i found a path that I was actually able to navigate, I then placed the majority of my worldly possessions with me, including “loose” items from my computer like the keyboard and mouse, on a piece of floor about 24 inches by 6 inches. Sandals were stacked on top of eachother, phone went inside one, and the bag with the computer stuff was placed sideways on the floor. I then crawled into the sleeping bag, and could not sleep at all. The snoring was just too loud. My solution was to just pop my earbuds in and listen to some soft music, just loud enough to drown out the snoring. Stuffing the iPod into the sleeping bag with me, and using my hoodie as a pillow(I forgot mine), I fell asleep.

Waking up was very uncomfortable. I got about 5 hours of sleep, but it wasn’t exactly a deep sleep. Getting up, and out of the tent area was just as difficult as getting in.

Needless to say, I’m not looking forward to the next time I’m going to sleep. Hopefully tonight, there will be less snoring. That would actually make all the difference in the world.

So, if you’re reading this, and sleeping in tent city. STOP SNORING. That is all.

Well, Day 1 at fragapalooza 2009 is nearly complete. Actually, day 1 is complete, since it’s about 2:45am on day 2 as I type this out. Day 1 is always mostly a setup day. The really heavy gaming doesn’t start until later in the evening, after the opening ceremonies. Thursday is also a day to work out network kinks, make the internet move as smoothly as possible, and ensure every facet of the event runs smoothly. And there have been some kinks. The network was lightning fast when I got here around 12pm, but by evening, it had slowed considerably. The internet went up and down a few times. All of the networking staff have done a very good job of minimizing downtime, and making things run very smoothly. The biggest source of downtime we had was actually someone trying to hook up their own networking equipment to the setup that is here, which broke the network for the other 350 people at the event. But since then it’s been relatively smooth sailing.

The venue itself is very nice, just much smaller than in past years. We are actually on the indoor soccer field, set up on the Astro Turf. It is a nice setup they have, if a bit cramped.

Tent city this year is *very* small. As you can see in my previous post here there is not a lot of space. The room we are set up in with the tents is small enough to begin with, and a chunk of it has to be kept clear as a fire lane. Tents are very close together, and I didn’t actually get to set up my tent, just the air mattress in a space barely big enough to fit the air mattress. To get to it I pretty much have to walk over a bunch of tents. I hope I dont’ wake anyone when I go over there to sleep later.

Overall, the venue is very nice, and I’m happy with the gaming area. Tomorrow, or later today I guess, is when things kick into high gear, and I can’t wait.

I leave you with pictures of the gaming area, before and after the lights were turned off.