BIL conference

[spoonless]

I spent all day Saturday at the BIL conference in Monterey. Had a spectacular time socializing with people there... lots of people I already knew, plus lots of new people to meet. Dinner and pub crawling afterwards, followed by some very relaxing yet titillating hottubing with wine and chocolate!

Blog coverage here: http://bilconference.pbwiki.com/Blog+Coverage

A few of the photos someone took and put up on flickr (had no idea someone was taking these!):






Lots more: http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=bil2008&m=text

Here are some friends and new people I met to at BIL:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mengwong/2305215538/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mengwong/2305211684/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mengwong/2305217214/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mengwong/2304415737/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mengwong/2305199552/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mengwong/2305175352/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mengwong/2304379443/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mengwong/2305176152/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mengwong/2305157362/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mengwong/2304350157/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mengwong/2305152408/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mengwong/2305112068/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mengwong/2304336225/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mengwong/2304320101/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mengwong/2305107926/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mengwong/2304325173/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mengwong/2305116750/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mengwong/2305113282/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mengwong/2304306433/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mengwong/2305120494/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mengwong/2305125678/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mengwong/2304377083/

Partial list of livejournal people who were there: geheimnisnacht, weiskind, browascension, radium, catithat, tinkerbell_mk, lightling, resipisco, snarkyshark2, mauitian, radiantsun, pjammer, nasu_dengaku, crasch, _elle_, reichart... I'm sure there were a lot more, but those are just the people who's lj names I know/remember.

I particularly liked radiantsun's talk on Social Bonding, and the one on "gifted education". Aubrey de Grey's was good although I'd seen very similar ones before online... (and I'm no closer to having any idea whether SENS is really feasible). Brad Templeton gave one on self-driving cars, and later ended up in the hottub just about the time I was taking off to head back to Santa Cruz. Fun day!

I would have liked to go back today (Sunday), but I had way too much other stuff to catch up on that I've been falling behind on... and an appointment with someone to look at the apartment.

Comments

[savorie.livejournal.com]

It was great to meet you!

[spoonless.livejournal.com]

Remind me of who you are (as I don't see your name or a clear picture in your profile)?

[savorie.livejournal.com]

I'm in the foreground of this shot, looking puffy and not yet awake or abuzz. But we spoke, having previously met at a Halloween shindig, about string theory. :)

[spoonless.livejournal.com]

Ah yes,... not the best picture, but I remember you. I enjoyed our conversation... it was a good wake-up call to remind me of what a lot of the public perception of string theory is :)

[gustavolacerda.livejournal.com]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mengwong/2305173514/sizes/l/

is this Aubrey's talk?

[spoonless.livejournal.com]

I don't think so, as that slide doesn't look familiar, but it's possible as it looks like it was uploaded by the same person who uploaded most of the BIL pics.

The title of his talk was "How To Be a Successful Heretic". I'm pretty sure I watched a TED talk by him at some point that was nearly identical. Cosmologist Sean Carroll has a good essay on the same topic, which I think Aubrey borrowed from heavily (adding his own personal anecdotes). Nothing about his actual research, which is what disappointed me. But still entertaining.

[radiantsun.livejournal.com]

It was nice meeting you in the flesh!

[weiskind.livejournal.com]

It was great to see you! I wish I'd seen you again after dinner, but I had a great rest/talk with browascension that evening, which was also good.

[spoonless.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there wasn't exactly a lot of space in that place, so we had to move on. I regretted not seeing you after that too, but it sounds like we both had an enjoyable evening. See you up in SF i a few weeks!

[litovka.livejournal.com]

heya, it's good to meet you sort of in person.. (nick and others make it kinda friendly.. er they're kinda friendly and remind me of.. I have to hang out with Rawls and

[litovka.livejournal.com]

Oops that was not the end of it, I meant to mention Sean and Vicki and Chris and y'all, erp. It was good to virtually meet youj. You're an old tech person, yes? Friends with nickblack and um, Fred and Wayne and Marylin and Stevie and Hunter etc? glee....

[spoonless.livejournal.com]

heya, it's good to meet you sort of in person..

? I think you may be confusing me with someone else. Yes, I'm an old Tech person and I knew (most of) the people you mention, but I live in Calfornia now so I doubt we met in person.

Although I wonder if you are the "Di" whom I used to hear tales about occasionally back in the day. Were you dating nick at one point?

[litovka.livejournal.com]

oy vay, I think I did confuse you with someone else, my apologies! I'll gladly trade my thinkpoint fingerprint widget for a breathalizer that magically disconnects internet when my blood alcohol content reaches a certain threshold.

I was dating nick at some point back in the day. There were tales about me? @_@

[spoonless.livejournal.com]

There were tales about me? @_@

Nothing in particular... I think it's just that your name would come up every now and then. I'm pretty sure I've even seen pictures of you at some point, as I have a mental image of what you look(ed) like, although I honestly can't remember when or why I might have seen such pictures (possibly my own stalkerish behavior?). Anyway, I'm happy to finally meet you virtually, even if it's about a decade late :)