The Road to GDC09, Ep. III: It's dangerous to go alone!

With my thesis complete, and a second paper (for Sandbox) nearly finished, I can spend some time planning for, and panicking about, GDC. The title of this post refers to two things.

First, Zelda. So, three things.

Just as important is the opportunity to meet the 24 other scholars who are going along for the ride. Many of us have already begun discussions on the forums so generously provided by… our benefactors (the IGDA). It looks like this is going to be an amazingly diverse and talented bunch. I’m really looking forward to meeting these people in person, perhaps having a beer, perhaps engaging in tomfoolery, but most importantly enjoying ourselves at one of the coolest academic game conferences around.

Second, I’ve been blessed with a new addition to my family. Now, I’m not one to jump on internet trends (yes, I am), but I felt it might be fun to blog or even, yes, micro-blog at various points during the conference. This involves a) setting up an Identi.ca account (and a Twitter account to reflect the former, since all the sheeple are on the latter), and b) not wanting to carry a large laptop everywhere I go… particularly my current laptop, the SatelliteOfLove, which has the all the battery life of a length of twine. In its place, I now how have a tiny new Acer Aspire One; 8.9” screen, 16GB SSD, 1GB of RAM, with Linux pre-installed. She may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts, and came out to $400 all told. With this baby, I can Twit/Dent/Blog from around the world in 80 days, and impress you all with profuse usage of hash tags. More accurately, I can take notes during lectures without being bound to a power outlet, or carrying around something significantly larger than the AA1. Look, it sounded more impressive when I was thinking it.

Those finding themselves with an AA1 might want to have a gander here for a handful of tips, trucs, and astuces for optimising the experience.

Finally, I have a few pics of the unboxing here, for the curious.

Onward to victory!