Wednesday started for me with the KansasFest Kookout; Kirk Mitchell grilling burgers and hot dogs (both the meat and not-so-meat varieties). There was great camaraderie and goofing off while we ate, hanging out in front of the dorm. The weather was much cooler today, so we were able to do so without unfortunate consequences.After eating, Tony Diaz, our new Head Cheese, welcomed everyone to KansasFest, and Eric Shepherd provided a quick get-me-started on the HackFest programming contest.
Then it was time for the first session of the week, with Bruce Baker leading an interesting rap session on AppleWorks and the things people use it for. Bruce was followed by Eric Shepherd, who explained the code tricks used by Wolf 3D on the IIgs to optimize its screen refresh and to read multiple keys being pressed at the same time.
After that came Austin Phelps presenting a session on WiFi networking, including security advice. A very handy and informative session, indeed! Austin was followed by dinner — our first meal served by Avila’s kitchen this year. The strange might-be-meat patties were a surprise, but the pasta and beef goulash-like substance was fairly tasty.
After that, a few of us made a run out to CompUSA — Syndicomm needed an SD memory card for its video camera’s still photo mode as well as a microphone, and other people had items they needed as well. We barely made it back in time for Steve Weyhrich’s fascinating keynote address, comparing the history of radio and of automobiles to that of personal computing. (Okay, in reality, they had to wait for us to get back because they wanted Syndicomm to be able to tape the speech — thanks, guys!)
After the keynote, we had about an hour of goofing around time before the Juiced.GS pizza reception began — ten boxes of large, original crust pizza goodness, provided by Syndicomm free of charge to all attendees. Yum!
Shortly after being inspired by pizza, Eric “Sheppy” Shepherd announced he was recusing himself from judging HackFest, as he had an idea for a program that he wanted to try to do and submit as an entry. Howard Katz will lead the judging committee in his stead.
The rest of the night was spent having fun and goofing off, and generally staying up too late for a bunch of people expecting to have breakfast at 7:30 AM.