Random Snapshots of My Life:As Reflected in One Week at Google I/O

Google I/O is a fascinating developer conference. In two days, you can learn what the folks at Google and their followers are doing. Though very densely 'technical', it is nice to see that the folks have a sense of humor. Thus, when walking up to the Moscone Center, you know you're at the right place because there's a giant 'map pin' that looks just like the one on your screen when you plotted the path using Google Maps:



However, that was only part of the fun for me this year where it seemed that the news I was hearing and the things I was seeing were eerily reminding me of random parts of my life. I was almost expecting my trip to San Francisco to turn into an episode of This Is Your Life:

• While settling into the conference, the word was spreading that Microsoft was re-launching their search service as Bing. Interesting, I thought to myself, since there was a phase (probably age 10-12 or so) when my neighborhood nickname was Bing - thanks to a poem called (I think) 'Jonathan Bing does Arithmetic' by Beatice C. Brown:
  
  
  
  But I didn't think much of it since it was just a random word.



• At Thursday's keynote, Google announced Google Wave - a web-based collaboration tool that allows threaded conversations and group document editing. This got my attention. Not only is it a web application tour-de force (letting you see another person's typing - character-by-character - remotely) but it had some features of its group document editing that were highly reminiscent of the work we did on Scrutiny at the Bull HN US Applied Research Lab back in the 1990s.



• Ok, so 2 things don't exactly start a trend. But I did notice and, perhaps, started paying more attention. Since I was taking the red-eye home on Friday night, I decided to venture out during the day and visit U Cal Berkeley. It is, of course, a great university but it was also the first home of the server where the ELP Digest web site (now www.brain-salad.com) lived. I couldn't track down any of the people who let me use the disc space on bliss.berkeley.edu but I did stop by the CS department, walked around and saw People's Park, and had lunch. Then, on my way back to the BART station, I came upon this sign outside a small storefront:
  
  
  Yup – the old Digital logo still in use. Of course, here it's just being used a graphic of the word 'digital' to show that they're not using those old-fashioned analog photocopiers. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
  

Anyway, my trip to Google I/O turned into a series of 'blasts from the past' while also providing me a glimpse into the future (or Google's view of the future, anyway).

- John -
  30 June 2009