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November 25, 2008

Going To MacWorld? Come Say Hi!

MacBU is gearing up for the annual pilgrimage to MacWorld Expo in January; a good chunk of the team will be in San Francisco for the entire week of the show, meeting customers, taking questions, and showing off our products.

In addition to working in the booth (which, truth be told, is a ton 'o fun), I'm participating in two public sessions:

• The two-day "Power Tools" session called, "Getting the most out of Office 2008 for Mac" (Monday and Tuesday), and
• A "Birds-of-a-Feather" called "Office For Mac: After Hours" on Wednesday, January 7 from 6:30 to 7:30 PM.

Both should be pretty interesting for productivity-minded Mac folks.

If you're attending the show, please swing by and say hello!

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated November 25, 2008 10:09 AM.
Posted to Apple | MSFT. Permalink for this entry.

November 24, 2008

"it's a small world" Re-Opens

After a 9-month refurbishment, "it's a small world" has finally re-opened at Disneyland. However, the apocalypse-inducing placement of Disney characters in the ride is on hold until the new year:

The changes to the interior of the attraction are more subtle, and those who were eager to see how the Disney characters would be incorporated into the show scenes will have to wait until the post-holiday refurbishment is complete. A few characters from the rainforest scene have been relocated, reportedly to make room for a new America scene after the holiday overlay is removed.

Photos and more detail are at MousePlanet's weekly Disneyland update.

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated November 24, 2008 10:54 AM.
Posted to Disney. Permalink for this entry.

November 17, 2008

"Star Trek"

The new trailer for JJ Abrams' reboot of Star Trek hit the wire today, and I'm ... enthralled. It's got a vibe, an energy, a freshness that's been missing from Trek for, oh, about 15 years now. It's damn exciting. Give it a look and decide for yourself.

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated November 17, 2008 3:00 PM.
Posted to Entertainment. Permalink for this entry.

November 15, 2008

DCA Makeover: The Motion Picture

I know I've been covering the makeover of California Adventure a lot of late, but if you're interested in getting another perspective on what's coming down the pike, turn your eyes over to YouTube. There's a terrific video presentation on what's being done, where, and when - and although it was put together in March (thus predating the opening of Toy Stoy Mania), it's still pretty interesting.

(Tip of the hat to RansomThink.)

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated November 15, 2008 6:09 PM.
Posted to Disney. Permalink for this entry.

November 12, 2008

Space Mountain Wait Times On Your Cell Phone

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Disney and Verizon have cut a deal that will let visitors to the parks use their cell phones in a more intelligent, interactive way:

Visitors to Disneyland or Walt Disney World would be able to download an application to their mobile phones to make trip plans, including booking hotel rooms and creating a checklist of attractions and shows to see. Once they arrive, they'll be able to use their phones to check wait times at Space Mountain or find the nearest pizza.

... Using technology in a mobile phone that pinpoints the device's location, Disney would be able to recommend activities or restaurants to users. For example, Disney could help parkgoers avoid a long wait at Pirates of the Caribbean by alerting them to shorter lines at the Matterhorn Bobsleds, or exploit the phone's location awareness to suggest burgers at the Tomorrowland Terrace to visitors who've just exited the nearby Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters ride

It's launching in early 2009 at Epcot, and will initially require a special, Disney-supplied device. However, given who Disney's largest shareholder is, I wouldn't be surprised to see the iPhone supported sooner instead of later.

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated November 12, 2008 7:50 AM.
Posted to Disney. Permalink for this entry.

November 11, 2008

Seattle Transit: 2023

In addition to last week's Obama hoopla (I'm still grinning), one of the big pieces of local news was that Proposition 1 (aka, "Mass Transit Now") passed by 10 points.

This means that our soon-to-be-opened Link Light Rail system will be growing from its initial 16 miles to a whopping 55.

(We also get a streetcar on First Hill, better bus service, all kinds of crazy stuff - check out the plan.)

Well, somebody's been busy envisioning what this new system is likely to look like, and has gone to the trouble of mocking up a transit map from the future - Puget Sound Rail, once everything's been built out, hooked up, and turned on.

It's incredible. And incredibly exciting.

(Tip 'o the hat to the always-excellent Seattle Transit Blog.)

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated November 11, 2008 8:23 PM.
Posted to Transit. Permalink for this entry.