Base Camp 2008 !!!!!

lewiswadsworth

I'm going just to irritate everyone else...a sort of resident "troll."

fbartels

@lewiswadsworth said:

I'm going just to irritate everyone else...a sort of resident "troll."

I think Lewis should be outfitted with a wearable computer so we all get to experience his life as a troll.

Picture 1.png

lewiswadsworth

That's not a bad idea, in a weird sort of way.

You see, Google's business plan was inspired by this Cyberpunk novel called Snowcrash. In that near future, the CIA and the Library of Congress have merged and then held the mother of all IPOs. And their main computer interface is this virtual globe thing...

Oh, and in the novel they send out agents in what they call full "Gargoyle" wear, which probably looks a little like that...and their intelligence-gathering is re-marketed as a reality TV show...

Actually, I'll just be there with me souped-up Asus eeepc 900. That will be annoying enough.

Stinkie

@lewiswadsworth said:

Actually, I'll just be there with me souped-up Asus eeepc 900. That will be annoying enough.

Perhaps, but it never hurts to have a geeky laugh up your sleeve. Tip: Tom Hulce in "Amadeus".

lewiswadsworth

You know, the more I look at the program, the more I think to myself:

*OK, Lewis, you know how to do all or most of these things very well already, so

A) First thing, grab your goody bag and scarf up on edibles.

B) Sneak into the Google Restricted Zone and look for cyborgs and/or The Wormhole.

C) Be back in time for the party.*

lewiswadsworth

No joking, for the moment:

This message from Google ("SketchUp Basecamp 2008") just turned up in my Gmail spam box:

@unknownuser said:

Hello there,

With less than two weeks until the start of Google SketchUp 3D Basecamp 2008 in Mountain View, we thought we'd provide you with some more detailed information about the event. We've:
* added to our list of Frequently Asked Questions; please check them out.
* created an Event Map of places on the Google campus.
* published a Detailed Event Program which provides an hour-by-hour schedule.
We hope you have a safe trip to Mountain View and look forward to meeting you,

The 3D Basecamp Team Google Inc.
2590 Pearl Street, Suite 110
Boulder, CO 80302
sketchup.google.com

Interestingly enough, all the links in it were dead, and there was a big red warning from Gmail (!) not to trust it.

@unknownuser said:

Warning: This message may not be from whom it claims to be. Beware of following any links in it or of providing the sender with any personal information.

I assume this was some odd mistake on the part of the people in Boulder and not some fiendish phishing scheme. If someone has access to that FAQ, that map, and that detailed program view, would you mind sending me the links? Thanks.

(That's assuming that it's different than what is at http://www.google.com/events/3dbasecamp )

Gaieus

OK, Here you go Lewis (my system didn't mark it as phishing):

FAQ
Event map
Detailed Event Program
Seems to be quite dense, actually (considering that we need to squeeze some beers in between as well)

Androo54

I received the same email, it's legit, but interestingly, the links all went to Google Docs, not the 3DBC website.

Edit: Gaieus got the links to you before me...

@lewiswadsworth said:

No joking, for the moment:

This message from Google ("SketchUp Basecamp 2008") just turned up in my Gmail spam box:

@unknownuser said:
Hello there,

With less than two weeks until the start of Google SketchUp 3D Basecamp 2008 in Mountain View, we thought we'd provide you with some more detailed information about the event. We've:
* added to our list of Frequently Asked Questions; please check them out.
* created an Event Map of places on the Google campus.
* published a Detailed Event Program which provides an hour-by-hour schedule.
We hope you have a safe trip to Mountain View and look forward to meeting you,

The 3D Basecamp Team Google Inc.
2590 Pearl Street, Suite 110
Boulder, CO 80302
sketchup.google.com
Interestingly enough, all the links in it were dead, and there was a big red warning from Gmail (!) not to trust it.

@unknownuser said:

Warning: This message may not be from whom it claims to be. Beware of following any links in it or of providing the sender with any personal information.

I assume this was some odd mistake on the part of the people in Boulder and not some fiendish phishing scheme. If someone has access to that FAQ, that map, and that detailed program view, would you mind sending me the links? Thanks.

(That's assuming that it's different than what is at http://www.google.com/events/3dbasecamp )

lewiswadsworth

Thanks, Andrew, I have it now...thanks, Gaieus. Odd, considering that I have a fairly extensive Google Docs setup and that Google manages my domain's email that the message should get de-spammed.

Androo54

My suggestion is, to keep Google emails from going into spam, create a filter where all emails from google.com go to a label and get starred or something.

@lewiswadsworth said:

Thanks, Andrew, I have it now...thanks, Gaieus. Odd, considering that I have a fairly extensive Google Docs setup and that Google manages my domain's email that the message should get de-spammed.

lewiswadsworth

@unknownuser said:

My suggestion is, to keep Google emails from going into spam, create a filter where all emails from google.com go to a label and get starred or something.

That's a good idea...I just did it, and applied it to previous messages. What is interesting is that none of the forty-or-so other emails in my inbox originating from a google.com address had been intercepted as spam. I think it must have been semantics in the message contents that flagged it.

Grahama

@lewiswadsworth said:

You know, the more I look at the program, the more I think to myself:

*OK, Lewis, you know how to do all or most of these things very well already, so

A) First thing, grab your goody bag and scarf up on edibles.

B) Sneak into the Google Restricted Zone and look for cyborgs and/or The Wormhole.

C) Be back in time for the party.*

I'll bring my headlamp and Wormhole Detection Goggles.

lewiswadsworth

@grahama said:

I'll bring my headlamp and Wormhole Detection Goggles.

With my luck, I'll end up being made into a cyborg and then they'll shoot me through a wormhole. It'll be just like an outake from The Black Hole.

lewiswadsworth

Noticed, with the last set of directions from Google, that everyone who attends will have to sign a "Standard Google" Non-Disclosure Agreement.
EDIT: I removed the quote from the NDA, because I realized it is also labled Confidential/Proprietory.

Some of us may have seen something like this before, if we do beta-testing for any software developer.

I wonder if this will prevent us from discussing anything related to SU7, assuming they demonstrate it. Those of us who went to the last Basecamp might remember some very interesting demos of future features, including the items that ultimately became Layout and Photomatch. If such things are "revealed" this time around, will we be able to talk about them?

It definitely means that if I find any cyborgs or wormholes you'll never hear about it from me here, but that probably goes without saying.

Gaieus

Well, Lewis, this is an interesting point. Of course beta testers need to sign this NDA with Google as well and there's generally no discussions about beta issues outside the Beta Forums. But these 200+ people who are not Google employess nor beta testers (with an already existing and "valid" NDA) I don't know how Google will be able to "enforce" this.

Certainly they will only talk about things they think are not too "sensitive" and can be leaked out. Like they did in 2005 (and even some features mentioned there are not yet implemented in public releases).

So I'm really curious what's up for the summer!

todd burch

This seems pretty benign and mechanical to me:

IF you enter the Googleplex, THEN you sign an NDA. Period.

Todd

Stu

Thats OK.
All one of the people there has to do is open a new Hotmail a/c and mail the goss to have a dozen non-attendees...should do the trick

tbd

image from http://towst.blogspot.com/ | http://scf-3dbasecamp.blogspot.com/

Mike Lucey, Joe Esch(@Last CTO and co-founder), Brad Schell (@Last CEO, co-founder), Lewis, Gaieus, Solo

tbd

thanks Todd, I was not 100% sure, so I didn't want to risk it

lewiswadsworth

That's a good photo (by Eric/"Grahama", I take it). I have a few I'll post, along with some other items, once I finish traveling for a bit.

Brad, as this photo was taken, was talking about his original "vision" for SketchUp: he said he conceived of it as a basic "3D engine" that others could extend as they need. I would say that has worked out!