the 200ok weblog

The Big Stonking Post continues for WDS07, with day two...

I had planned to liveblog these as the day went on, but as is now traditional the laptop refused to connect to the wireless network.

So, here they are in One Big Stonking Post™! :)

Friends, developers, geeks! Lend me your picnic blankets!

We believe that not all events require alcohol, extensive agendas and your entire weekend.

We believe lunch should be more interesting than a quick dash to the food court.

To this end, we present Geeks on the Grass: a chance to gather in the park with like-minded people, throw down the picnic blanket and chill out.

A few weeks back, Ajay and I were thinking about web events and we had a crazy idea. What if we - stay with me here - what if we went outside? Where there's stuff like sun, sky and grass...

Moments later were Twittering the idea; and shortly after that Lisa gave the idea a name. Thus Geeks on the Grass was born.

The first GotG is scheduled for Friday September 21st, 12-2pm in Hyde Park, Sydney; and has been kindly sponsored by News Digital Media. Further details will be posted at GeekWhisperer as they are finalised, so keep an eye on the feed.

Yes, we realise it's a weekday. Seriously, this is on purpose. GotG is an easy commitment - it's a leisurely lunch break in the park on a Friday, with the added bonus that you'll be chilled and sober when you go back to the office. Or you could bunk off afterwards and go to the pub, whatever mows your lawn :)

I've been tagged! The meme is to find photos of yourself from Web Directions... Although I escaped WE05 relatively unsnapped, there are still a few photos of me from that year. WD06 was a different matter. I usually tend to be a bit camera-shy (I'd rather take a photo than be in one), but frankly I had to get over that or I'd have had a meltdown.

As friends gathered the photos started and Amit used me to test stage lighting as a sort of speaker stunt double. The workshops were a bit of a blur, but I can say for sure that I ate muffins and lunch.

At the speaker dinner we made Molly a little worried but thankfully we didn't scare her away. Recursive photos ensued and apparently I nearly ate the man in blue during yum-cha. Then in the lift we proved that at Web Directions, you can't turn around without seeing a camera.

On Day One the Web2.0MFG levels started to pick up, as did the drinks. On day two, my nerves reached their peak and after some magic spells were cast Cheryl and I finally spoke. Then it was all over and we were at the Pump House. Beers, photos and hand gestures were flying and there was even some chimping to be observed. It appears that eventually my brain started glowing and somehow more yum cha was involved.

Last but not least there was a quiet after party and while saying farewell may be sad, people had to go home - all good things come to an end.

...now, I'm supposed to tag three people. However I think it's more fun to say anyone who took or appeared in one of the photos above - particularly if you were drunk - should consider themselves tagged! That includes Andrew K, who's been tagged already but won't get around to it if we don't all hassle him :)

Ahhh, September. Conference season!

For anyone thinking of going to Web Directions South 2007, remember that you've got until midnight tonight to register at the Early Bird price. Coincidentally, McFarlane Prize nominations also close at midnight. There's more info at the site: Discount Pricing and McFarlane Prize deadline.

Not only but also..! Oz-IA is on the weekend of September 22-23... they have one of the coolest (and most appropriate) website designs I've seen for a while. Aesthetics aside, I can't adequately praise the value of a really good Information Architect on your team. We should all be drinking the IA Kool-Aid.

I'll be at WDS07, but it looks like the only way I'll get to Oz-IA is if I win the free pass. Fingers crossed :)

Doing the rounds at the moment is a Five Things I Want In Opera tag-meme. Chaals tagged the world of connected people so that's good enough for me. Besides, I don't really want to wait for this meme to work its way out of Europe ;)

Here are five things I want in Opera (no particular order):

• An auto-update feature so people are less likely to let their version lag. This feature alone determined whether I recommended Opera or Firefox to my mother-in-law.
• Web developer tools similar to Firefox's Web Developer Toolbar. There are some add-ons which are pretty good but I'd really push for Opera to integrate more of them into the base install.
• Slicker handling of Opera mods like user js - they sound too techy so the average user won't try them. I'd also like a neater way to add Bookmarkets to a toolbar, even if the only change was being able to set the favicon permanently.
• Let me synch my Opera preferences with my account at my.opera.
• Default toolbars which are more consistent with competitors. Out of the box, the buttons in Opera don't look like other browsers. I have long since thought this was a reason many users "don't get" Opera, leading them to ditch it in that all-important "just trying it out" phase.

Who am I tagging? Anyone who wants to join in - comment with the URL of your post.

Social networking discussion seems to focus on which service will kill another, which ones are going to be the winners or losers. But as far as I'm concerned, I don't want them to kill each other; I just want them to let me publish once and syndicate wherever I choose.