A mile high

I am finally back in Denver after what seemed like the longest trip of my 2-year stint with Global. This install is overwhelmingly complex, making problems both fun to solve and mind-shatteringly annoying. At least the video chain isn't as complicated as some other installs (CAS), so it doesn't require a person starting over from the beginning with every single issue. I think the difference with this system, as opposed to the more common setups, is how wide the breadth of ad-ons are. There are so many different ways to use the system that we (and even the client) have no idea where to begin. This makes troubleshooting a bitch. A bitch with iron stiletto shoes trampling the balls of truth, or something.

The other unbelievably taxing aspect of this particular site is its being situated in central Texas. Next to an Army base. In August. To paraphrase Matt Daemon in "Syriana" describing the heat in the Arabian desert as akin to walking into a physical wall. It's an object you slam into. It is that hot. So, everywhere I walked, everyplace I entered, my body experienced the switch from 100+ (80% humidity) to dry, 70 degree A/C. If the heat is like running into a wall, the A/C was like having my lungs tore from my chest and dry-cleaned. The simple act of experiencing these temperature changes, really exhausted me. I felt perpetually out-of-sorts because of it.

Now that I am back in Denver (for a few days), I am really looking forward to coolish evenings and the simple joy of going to sleep before 2AM after working 14 hour shifts.

"I pay two hundred dollar for this!"

I am sea-sick sailor on a ship of noise, got my masts all backwards and my instincts poised, in a truth-blow gutter full of wasted years like blown-out speakers ringing in my ears... -Beck Hansen

Satisfied / Exhausted

I am sitting on an Amtrak train in Chicago waiting for it to depart. I am connected via a wireless cell modem that the company I work for has bought us to use around the US and in the UK. It's a nice fringe benefit for working there. It does, however, come at a cost, even if it's not a monetary one.

This past week (9 days in total) was IPS. The International Planetarium Society meeting. IPS is the single largest gathering of planetarium vendors, directors, content producers, immersive display engineers, and VR junkies in the world. It only happens every other year, and it alternates what side of the Atlantic it's held on. Next time (2010) it will be held in Egypt. Due to its size and our status as a relative new-comer to this field, it was vitally important that we showed well. In the end, I think we did that, though, and at the risk of repeating myself, it came at a cost.

We demoed two of type of ulta-black projectors (500,000 to 1 sequential contrast) that SEOS develops. These two projectors were placed in a 15' fiberglass dome and fitted with two tons (4,000 lbs) of gear shipped out from the UK at some exorbitant price. The dome assembly and subsequent fitting of gear began last week Wednesday (the 25th of June) and continued through the end of the show (July 3rd). To assemble the dome and make all of the gear function, we assembled a team of five engineers, two project managers, and a carpenter. In addition to that, we had to use union teamsters, electricians, and decorators. Apparently, this is required by law. Some of these guys were great, and I had a good time ordering them around. Others, however, were not. For example, we had to wait for 2 hours for a union decorator to arrive so he could Velcro our black curtains over the dome, a job any one of us could have completed in less than 10 minutes. The dome went up with little trouble. Since I have no experience assembling such things, I concentrated on getting the servers and projectors functioning. Here our troubles began.

I don't want to bore anyone who has read this far with all of the technical hurdles we had to overcome throughout the show, but I can at least say it was intensely frustrating. There were more times than I'd like to remember where the group of us would work for 18-20 hours straight and be worse off than we were when we started.

In spite of these difficulties (or maybe because of them) we came off as a very cohesive group. The general attitude from show-goers was that we were very professional, approachable, and technically adept. I think I'd agree with everything, but there is obviously much room left for improvement. These tradeshows need to be managed like any other project and have the same time and resources applied to them as there would be for any other project we do. If not, we're going to end up Egypt running around like headless chickens with flashlights. [Interestingly, in Egypt we will not be allowed to wear our black polos, since black is only worn by people in mourning].

Our central showpiece on the night we sponsored was a project called Space Confidential. It was sort of a contest to get teenagers to produce content using the our software. It worked really well. The two winning girls were flown out with their mothers to Chicago for the event, where they presented the space show they had created and answered questions about how they did it. It was especially good since all of the rest of the main-stage presentations were tech-demos. Ours really got to the heart of the idea that content still is king.

We finally have a new site up that goes into more detail about what we do, who we are, etc. You can check it out here. The web tester in me has already noticed a slew of grammatical errors and dead links and will be passed on to the company designing the site.

I've posted a bunch of pictures I took at the summit on our Flickr stream. The stream can be accessed by clicking on a picture on the little slideshow applet running on the right-hand navigation bar.

Rocket Man!!!

My work requires me to travel quite a bit. The traveling is pretty interesting as it affords me the opportunity to see how completely homogeneous the world is. It really is the same everywhere. From the music played on the radio, to the chain stores, to the types of cars. I'm sure this feeling would lessen if I had to fly out to Cambodia and consult on a display system in the middle of the steaming jungle, but so far it's just been Western cities and countries I've visited. So, my view is naturally skewed.

Anyway, to keep track of the places I've visited and to supply some information on the types of virtual reality displays and what the clients are trying to use them for. There is a new link added to the right-hand nav that says "Matt's Travels." Clicking the link will bring you to a custom Google map that shows all of the displays and, when not prohibited by Federal Law, I've included some information on the displays. I've included the Google API below for a quick view, but click the "View Larger Map" link on the right for a bigger display. Also note, both the map below and the map to the right are interactive. Click on a thumbtack for more info, and click-and-drag the map to look around. Man, I love the Google Map API.


View Larger Map

Grandma Updates & The UK

Quick Grandma Update: She is doing much better than expected. It turns out the initial diagnosis of heart attack + stroke was a little off. It turns out she had neither. Why she was found unconscious, with a dresser drawer on her back, and a broken hip, we're not exactly sure yet. In any case, and in spite of her broken hip, she's doing better. Tomorrow she goes in to have surgery to pin it all back together. This is a bit risky, due to her age and such, but it has to be done. I will post news as I get it.

(Our temporary office in the UK)

UK: So, yeah, I flew out to the UK for 5+ days. It was a fun yet baffling ordeal. England is a land of many different peoples and geography. In my mental preparation for the trip, I substituted Canada for the UK, so I'd have some idea what to expect. My thinking was: It will be just like America, only slightly, vaguely different. This assumption was incorrect.

My trip was essentially an exercise in learning how the business works, how to deal with the Brits, and whether or not I like them and they like me. At the end of the week, we were both mutually satisfied in the possibilities of a future relationship so they decided to make me a good offer and I decided to accept.

(Me, stuck in the Houston airport due to a delayed Continental flight)

In lieu of writing up a long explanation of my adventures, I have come up with something quick and easily digestible. A top 10 list. But, before I start, here's the obligatory Pulp Fiction quote.

DAY INT. CAR

VINCENT
But, you know what the funniest thing about Europe is?

JULES
What?

VINCENT
It's the little differences. I mean, they got the same shit over there that they got
here, only there it's a just a little different.

JULES
Example?

TOP TEN LIST

1. Cost

They use pounds sterling as their standard of currency, but they don't readjust for its strength against the US dollar. Right now, the ratio of dollars to pounds is about 2:1. That means, if you brought a pound back to the states and converted it into American dollars, you'd get $2. Their pound is worth two of our dollars. However, everything still costs the same in pounds. In short; it is so friggen expensive.

Example: A t-shirt costs 20 pounds, just like how in the states it would cost $20. Except, the 20 pounds is really worth $40. A coke still costs 1.50, but it's 1.50 in pounds. So, it's really $3 when you convert.

2. No Ice-Machines in the Hotels

I thought my hotel had an ice-machine. It didn't. I asked several coworkers if this is odd. Their response was, "Ice Machine? As in... a machine made out of ice or a machine that makes ice?" To which I would respond, "I'll take that as a no."

3. No Clock in the Hotel Room

Same as above, except dealing with clocks and the lack thereof. No clocks in hotel rooms. That made my getting adjusted to the time change all the more strange confounding.

"'Ello, front desk!"
"Yeah, can I get a wake up call in one hour."
"In one hour, did you say?"
"Yes. I want to take a nap, but you don't have any clocks in your rooms."
"Ah yes! One hour it is. G'bye!"

4. Trouser-Press

While the Brits have no problems with their hotels having neither clocks nor ice-machines, they do find it neccessary to have trouser-presses in each room. This is a machine that lets one iron their pants. This should tell you everything you need to know about England. They don't care so much about arriving places on time, so long as their pants are ironed and ironed well.

5. Driving on the Left Side of the Road

Yes, yes. Americans always say it's strange. They always carry on about how it's bizarre and unnatural. For once, I completely agree with the status quo. It's so strange. Imagine riding on the left side of car, where the steering wheel is on a US car, while the passengers drives you at break-neck speeds down the left lane of a tiny highway. It would be unnerving enough, let alone being ridiculously tired and jet-lagged while it's happening.

6. Tea Not Coffee

It's true.

7. Everything is Old

I ate lunch in a pub that was older than the United States of America.

8. Everyone Manages to be Cheerful and Depressed at the same Time

Pink Floyd calls it, "Quiet Desperation." It's also true. I don't know how they manage to pull it off. It's very disoncerting and funny at the same time.

9. Everyone Swears

Nice old lady at the grocery store trying to using cash register, "Oh fuckin' hell."
Receptionist at the hotel, "There's not much 'round 'ere. You are in the fuckin' hills, aren't you?"

10. No food. Just Beer.

These blokes go out, every night it seems, drink 3-5 pints of really good beer, and go to sleep about 1-2AM. Then they're back at work at 7:30 bright-eyed and ready for work. This may give some insight into how they manage that whole cheerful-yet-depressed thing.

And to wrap up this post, here is a video I meant to post while I was in England, but forgot about it until I got back home. Enjoy!

On the ground

I have made it back from the United Kingdom. I'm still vaguely jet lagged, so I will wait a day or so to write something longer. I'm thinking a quick summary and a list of the most noticeable differences would make good reading. I'm going to be crazy-busy this next week working with some coworkers on the planetarium here, getting my paperwork sorted out, and meeting with some other people from the company later in the week.

Also, my grandma on my dad's side had a heart attack and a stroke this morning, and is in intensive care in Mt. Pleasant in stable condition. I'm doing a lot of phone juggling as I try to coordinate details from Canada, the UK, and Michigan. Alas, this is one of the major drawbacks of living so far away from family: I can't just drive an hour and a half to see her. It's an 18 hour, two day drive or two expensive round-trip tickets just to stop by. My feelings are more frustration than anything else right now. Frustration at not being able to do anything to help and frustration at not being able to be there to show my support.

The only light-hearted thing I have to report, the thing that makes me look forward to the future is that the new Radiohead album has finally been announced. It's called In Rainbows. Here's a link.

10:00 GMT

Ok, so, again here's an apology. There is a trend of me apologizing on this blog before I write silly things. I think I'll stop doing it. This last apology covers all the rest of my bad, tired, grammatically-incorrect writing. Here it comes. Enjoy it.

Sorry.

I have arrived safely in the Old Kingdom. The flight over wasn't too bad. A quick two hour jump from Denver to Houston followed by a not-so-quick nine hour jump from Houston to Gatwick/London. The long flight was mostly uneventful. Some guy did pass out in the left isle and collapse to the floor. He was old and apparently short of breath because down he went and several people came to his aide. The flight attendants revived him with a quick wiff of oxygen. We had just started the three hour flight window over the Atlantic. I kept my eye on the little progress monitor to see if the plane was going to turn around en route and land in Canada or Iceland or something, but we continued on our merry way. We landed on time in Gatwick (6:45AM GMT).

After landing, I was stuck in the passport control line for nearly two hours. Once through, I met up with a dapper taxi-driving bloke who drove me to my hotel. I'll post what my room look like when I get back from work tomorrow and the maid has cleaned everything up.

I went to work today and did pretty good as far as staying awake with the time change. I got a couple demos of the software, worked on some servers, and saw a demo of the new projector a distributor of ours is building. It was absolutely amazing. The odd thing about interacting with these people, is I still get the feeling I'm being interviewed. In a sense, I am. There is a 6-month trial thing we're doing to see if I like the work I'm doing and they like the work I'm doing. It's just strange. Maybe it shouldn't.

That's about it from here. I think I'll post a video update tomorrow. Save me some time on typing.

Peace n' love!

And the details keep pouring in...

After posting my nearly impenetrable wall of words yesterday, I will keep this brief.

I have decided to procure a Nintendo DS. From various conversations I've had with people over the past couple of days, I've come to conclusion that a DS is the perfect thing to kill the many, many hours of traveling planned for the next week and thereafter. I'm still deciding on what games to get for it and where to purchase it, but I will be getting it tomorrow.

I have more updates on the impending travel. I will be flying out of DIA Saturday at 11:30AM(MST). I will fly to Houston (2 and 1/2 hours) where I will transfer to the flight that will take me across the Atlantic. I will arrive Sunday morning around 7:00AM (GMT). The flight is 9 hours, but since there's a 6 hour time difference, the clock will show the flight as being 15 hours. It's all very confusing. The nice part is I will have Sunday to relax and decompress from the traveling before I start work Monday--training on the new systems and meeting my new coworkers.

I still don't know where I'll be staying, or whether or not they'll have WiFi access, but I will post as soon as I know.

"I can't stand to fly. I'm not that naive."

This post is going to be all over the place, so I'll post my apology in advance. Here it is. Get ready for it. Sorry. There.

I gots me a job! Or, at least, I think I gots me a job. As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been courting a 3D display company for about a month now. The last thing I mentioned about the courtship is that I was going to meet with some of the peeps in New York City. That was last Thursday, and the fruits of that encounter have plopped out of the allegorical tree of design and technical what-have-yous.

Let's start with last Thursday. That's seems as good a place as any to start. So I shall.

(You've already been warned that this would be all over the place--no turning back now)

Due to Mandy's having to work very early on Thursdays (6:15gawdawful-AM), I had to drive myself out to the airport to catch a United flight to the East Coast. I mention this only because there are several reports that find people who are tired are much more likely to cause accidents than drunks. This fits me to a tee. I am barely conscious until around 10:00AM most mornings, and even then it's touch and go. I was up and about at 5:00AM to make my 7:30AM flight (gotta love the TSA).

Alas, I made it to the airport, and found I was able park my car in the garage. This is one of the few luxuries of arriving at the airport hours before the main rush of travelers arrive. I made a mental note of what direction, color, section, and letter my car was parked in (West-Red, 40-D). If you've never been through Denver International, take it from me: The airport is insanely large and insanely confusing. If you don't remember, or write down where you park, it's likely you'll never find your car again.

The flight was about three and a half hours from take-off to landing. It was a straight shot from DIA to Laguardia airport. We were actually about 30 minutes ahead of schedule, but that was eaten up by getting stuck in a holding pattern above NYC for thirty minutes. While it was frustrating to get stuck doing figure-8 2 miles above the ground, I did get to see all of New York. The view is simply incredible. It's amazing that people built that city. It's so ridiculously big. We landed on time.

From there, I hopped a taxi to the Hayden Planetarium. The Hayden is part of the Rose Center, which is, in turn, part of the New York Museum of Natural History. The Hayden is considered by many to be the best planetarium in the world. It formerly ran off a silicon graphics computer called the Onyx2. Well, 7 Onyx2s, one for each piped video signal. The system is now primarily used for astonomical research. Let me run that by you again: A 7-tier super computing complex that is now used to do the science of astronomy was formerly used only to create the display for the dome in the planetarium. It's basically a video card that takes up an entire server room. Here's a picture of the sphere the Onyx system is enclosed in:

(If that doesn't give you geek-wood, I don't know what will.)

The company I was going to meet with is replacing the projection system and the media-server system. At this point, I should tell you I'm not going to mention the name of the company outright. If you're interested, write me. This blog is personal, and my feelings about the company should remain separate.

I met with the owner of the company and one of the head engineers. After meeting, the owner conveniently excused himself to go to a meeting. That left the engineer and me to get lunch and "chat." This is the British equivalent of an interview. We ate at a local lunch joint and chatted about 3D displays, CRT projectors, geometry warping, and all many of super-geeky stuff I won't bore you with.

After the lunch meeting, we headed up and into the Hayden to see a show running on the new projection system they were installing. To say it was eye-popping is an understatement. I can say this from experience. I've worked around dome projectors for years, attended conferences with Chad where we saw the most advanced 3D modeling systems in the world demoed, and have coded for and supported said systems. This knocked all the previous ones I've seen out of the water (or, is it the sky?). More impressive than the system itself is the knowledge that this was being run on conventional CRT Barco projectors. The company has a brand-new projector in the works that has unimaginable black-levels (helps with contrast) and sick-fast response times.

After seeing Cosmic Collisions (narrated by Robert Redford), I and the owner of the company walked up through the empty corridors of the museum to an office buried somewhere within. As we wandered, it slowly dawned on me: This is the museum where "Night at the Museum" was shot. I've never seen the movie, but I could tell from the trailer. I asked our guide and sure enough it was shot there.

The owner and I chatted amiably enough for about an hour and half about the future of the company and whether or not I could deal with the travel the job requires. In the end it was determined I did. He asked me to sleep on it and give him my answer the next day. I had a flight to catch back to Denver, so I had to bid him farewell and head out to the street to get back in time.

Here's the coolest part of the trip: I hailed a taxi in Manhattan. It may seem unimpressive compared to the amazing technology at the Hayden, the prospect of getting a dream-job, and being in NYC, but it was so cool. I walked up to the street, saw a taxi with it's roof-light lit up and held out my hand as if I'd done this a million times before. The taxi pulled up, I hopped in, and said, "LeGuardia, please." I half expected him to say, "You got it, Mac." It was so cool.

The flight home took about 4 hours. It was long, uncomfortable, and occasionally the plane would buck around. This gave me plenty of time to contemplate the traveling-aspect of the job. It's no secret I'm not a fan of flying. I refuse to let my fear of flying dictate actions in my life, so I've never once missed a flight due to being afraid to board. That doesn't seem to make much of a difference when flying at 40,000 feet above the ground, at 500 mph, looking down on the clouds below me. I have this same problem with the bucket rides at Cedar Point. I will ride every ride in the park without hesitating. From the tilt-a-pukes to the PowerTower (a ride that lifts you 400 feet in the air and shoots you down faster than free fall), I have no qualms about riding anything in any amusement park. Except the bucket-rides. It's ride where you slowly float through the air on a cable-line, taking in the sites. My palms get sweaty, my heart races, I go bonkers.

I've often thought about the connection between the two. Upon reflection, two things become pretty obvious. One, when the ride is slow enough for me to gather my wits and actually contemplate how high up I am, how there is no hope for rescue if the cable breaks, and how a good gust of wind could kill me, I freak. The second is, I hate not being in control of the ride/plane. I understand the aerodynamics of a plane, I just finished reading "Beyond Fear" (a fantastic book on the state of security in the US) and know how astronomically low the odds are of a plane crashing. I know all that. I even understand the silliness of knowing that no matter how nervous I am, I will always get on a plane and therefore there is no reason to worry since I will always get on the plane no matter what. None of that knowing seems to help my sense of worry. The only solution I can think of is what's called "Exposure therapy." This is the idea that repeated exposures to something that triggers a phobia will reduce it's effects, and bring the worry in-line with reality. If a person is afraid clowns, a good treatment would be to expose them to clowns over and over until they get over the fear (or kill the clowns). So, I'm self-medicating myself with what will be repeated exposures to commercial air flights. Hopefully, this will reduce anxiety over flying and help me get to the point where I will actually enjoy the flights. Well, as much enjoyment as a 6 foot 4 inch man crammed into economy class seats for ten hours over the Atlantic ocean can have.

There's also the thought that if do go down in a fiery wreck, everyone will know I had a smile on my face and was saying, "I told you so." all the way down.

When the owner called the next day, I told him I was on board. He said he'd get me in touch with my line manager based in Canada and that he would figure out the details of compensation, benefits, etc. That's the holding pattern I've been in since Friday of last week. He and I have been ironing out all the little details that go into a British company hiring their first American employee. It'll all be ironed out by this Friday, but I was tired of waiting, so I posted this early.

I realize I haven't even mentioned what it is I'll be doing. Basically, the company I now work for bids for contracts on anything a high-tech 3D display facility will need to get their job done. The clients range from planetariums (primarily), aircraft simulators, NASA "Reality Rooms", and a few projects I have to get a security clearance to even know about. The company builds, tests, installs, and maintains the 3D projection systems, controllers, media storage systems, and media creation tools used by their clients. The case of planetariums, they also produce content to run on the systems.

My job will be to work on display systems they have installed around the US. This ranges anywhere from a phone call to flying out the facility to work on the physical system. I'll also be doing consulting for media production, this will entail working with the small, but growing, team of content producers in the UK until we establish more of a foothold in the North American region and setup a production shop here. This is a year or two out, but that's where it's headed.

To learn more about the management culture of the company as well as how these crazy-complex display systems actually work, I'm flying out England this Saturday. I'll be gone for a week at their headquarters learning the system and, likely, drinking a pint or two of bitter with my new mates. I've never been to the British Isles. I've been to mainland Europe, but never crossed the English Channel. It's extremely exciting and flustering. I'm trying my best to have internet access at the hotel I'll be staying at, so keep an eye to blog next week, as I'll be posting my experiences and pictures of the area of England I'll be staying.

___

I'm debating buying a Nintendo DS (a small hand held gaming system) to help pass the long hours of flying, driving, and train-riding I have stretching out before me. The problem is, I don't really know what games to get for it. If anyone has one and/or knows of any good games for it, let me know.

That's it for now. My fingers are bleeding from typing. If you've made it this far, good for you. You must be a glutton for punishment. We still haven't posted the pics from our trip to Maine, I know. Hopefully, we'll get to some of that tonight. I've added an RSS feed-reader to the right-hand navigation bar. It shows the last five pictures we've posted to Flickr. So, if you ever wonder what we've posted to the stream, but don't have a Flickr account of your own, you can alwats check there.

I also posted a snazzed-up picture of Mandy and I looking sweet and hipsterish on the right side near the top. Thanks to Dean for the sweet-ass picture I used as the source for it.

Also, this is a nod to my dad who found out about my trip to NYC by reading the blog. That's so cool. It's great that people are reading the stuff we post here. It makes being a thousand miles away from friends and family easier to deal with. Remember: Post comments if you have the time. They always make us smile. Also, comments can be questions. If you want us to post pictures of something or have a question, just post it, and will answer it as quickly as we can.