As if wandering around a conference centre before the start of the conference wasn’t enough, I also went to the south of the Bay Area to visit some of the major sights in Silicon Valley.

I started at the excellent Computer History Museum. I don’t doubt that most people would find this mind-numbingly dull but I thought that the large archive of “significant” computers was great. It would be easy to argue over the machines that were on display, the ones that were more significant or, well, less American¹.

Ever since I’ve been “into” Macs, Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference has been a draw. As an iPhone developer this years was especially interesting to me. Unfortunately it’s not a full time job to me so it was hard to justify the time off work or the expense of the ticket.

I was, however, in the Bay Area just before the event and managed to have a quick walk around Moscone. I felt a bit geeky taking pictures of a trade conference, but I wasn’t the only one doing so and I didn’t have my nose pressed against the glass unlike certain people!

We went for a longer-than-expected walk just north of San Francisco and stumbled across these mail boxes. I love that they’re so bright and cheerful. Maybe it takes the edge off receiving lots of junk mail and bills?

The cars in the Rally of Corsica were zipping through the streets at High Speeds, which I thought made this a good candidate for this weeks PhotoFriday challenge.

Please vote for my entry in last weeks challenge, “Shiny,” I’m entry number 162.

• Confessions of an Introverted Traveller – “We introverts have a different style of travel, and I’m tired of hiding it.”
• Towel Day – Celebrating the life and work of Douglas Adams – Do you have your towel with you today?
• Jews: No Jesus, No Reason, Just Whining; They’re Motivated by Anger and Boohoo Victimhood – “Now… if I actually believed that, I’d be called every name in the book. And rightfully so. Those are ignorant, bigoted, hateful remarks. They’re also wildly stereotypical and extremely inaccurate. When Charlotte Allen says the exact same things about atheists, however, she gets published in the Los Angeles Times.”

I have no particular reason for posting this picture of a fort in Porto, Corsica. I just like it!

My entry for this weeks PhotoFriday challenge, “Shiny,” was taken at the changing of the guard ceremony in Stockholm. I was very impressed with their smart and shiny uniforms and astonished when they started playing the Indiana Jones theme music shortly afterwards.


I was confused by these signs. Surely “Ej upp” is a greeting? And if so, why is it in red with a “no entry” icon?

At the risk of detracting from what it supposed to be humour, some northern English dialect is actually descended from Scandinavia. Though whenever I see most of these comparison charts I don’t recognise half the words!

• New Zealand Launches Hookup Airways – Not sure whether this is a good idea or a bit creepy. An intercontinental flight is a long time to spend cooped up with a bad date!
• Scientists put psychic’s paranormal claims to the test – If you can prove a paranormal claim under controlled conditions you can win $1mm. The prize has gone unclaimed since the 1960’s.
• A Brief, Incomplete, and Mostly Wrong History of Programming Languages – “Bjarne Stroustrup bolts everything he’s ever heard of onto C to create C++. The resulting language is so complex that programs must be sent to the future to be compiled by the Skynet artificial intelligence.” Despite the title I’d say it’s mostly correct, and funny if you’re geeky enough to understand the references!

This is another image taken on my recent trip to Stockholm. I have a fascination for doors and windows, especially when they contrast with the sky. In Sweden we were lucky to have bright, blue skies most of the time (don’t get too jealous, it was below ten degrees mostly). Combine this with a polarising filter and the right time of day and you get this really neat contrast between the roof and the sky.