Weird Science and Gaming @ JavaOne

Tonight was the After Dark Bash at the JavaOne developer conference in San Francisco. The theme was “Weird Science” which, as far as I could tell, was chosen because the guests of honor were those two dudes from Mythbusters. Their very first statement was that they were not going to blow anything up. [Insert sound of thousands of disappointed geeks. With echoes.] They did have a contest to see which team could shoot T-shirts the longest distance from an air cannon. I almost got hit in the head with one. Later, I managed to catch a fumble from a cluster of all-too-eager fellow nerds. Sweet. We likes the freebies. The room had various classic sci-fi-like decorations around the huge, huge room. They even had live-action displays of mad scientists and such. They also projected random scenes from sci-fi movies onto a huge spherical screen in the center of the room. To watch that and listen to the blaring disco-thump of the music (and almost being hit in the head with a T-shirt) was a little on the surreal side.

Pro-gamer Jonathan “Fatal1ty” Wendell was also on hand and playing Quake with any attendees brave enough to get fragged in front of thousands of their geek brethren. Not being a big gamer, I opted for the plentiful supplies of food. Mmmm…giant oatmeal raisin cookies… We likes the sugary freebies even better.

In a sugar-induced coma, I decided not to stay for the all-girl cover band, Ac/DShe, although now that the sugar buzz is gone, I might be regretting that decision. Or not.