California Dreaming: WWDC 2002 Day 5
Friday was the last day of WWDC, and it was time to tie up the loose ends. The only sandwich left was the salami, after I'd had the corned beef for the previous evening and pastrami for the previous breakfast. I was getting a bit nervous about where I was to spend Shabbos.
I went off to the convention center. Attendance was definitely down over Thursday. Session one was a performance session, which wasn't too interesting. Two was about compiler developments. Apple talked about their new GCC compiler, which, using its new PFE technology, cut a compile of PowerPlant down from 25 minutes to four minutes. Impressive, if it weren't the case that CodeWarrior could do it in 41 seconds. Project Builder is getting better, but it's still terrible.
I got a call from Michael L, the guy who I was set up with for Shabbos by Menachem. He was unable to find me any other place, so I was to stay by him. He gave me directions, and I ate lunch.
Only time for two sessions in the afternoon. First was the Networking Feedback forum. I don't usually go to feedback forums, but Mike R invited me. There were some frustrated people explaining themselves after their first year of writing network kernel extensions, but they weren't so bad and it was fairly calm. The second session was QuickTime and MPEG 4. I didn't go there for the talk as much as for the demos. Not incredibly cool, but interesting stuff. Nothing for me to use, but I'll wait until the content people get their hands on it.
I left at 4:30 and dropped by the info booth on the way out to plan my trip to the Ls. We looked on the map and picked the 82 bus as the simplest way. I went back to the hotel, packed my backpack with clothes, dressed nicely, and went to catch the bus.
One thing I hadn't done was check the schedule. The 82 stopped at my station on the hour and half hour, and I got there just after 5. It wasn't until 5:40 that the next bus came, and hopped on it.
Shabbos went pretty well. There was another couple there as well as another woman. There was a decent conversation, even considering the fact that political standings came up and they all were staunch Democrats. I tried to stay off that topic. There was no way I'd bring up what I thought about gun control.
Shabbos day I went to shul, went over to a different member's house for lunch, and then went back to the Ls' and passed out. That was pretty much it. I went back to the hotel room, cleaned up, and the next morning woke, packed, and flew home.
Overall, things went pretty well. I met some people, got problems solved, attended a whole bunch of sessions, and had a good time. One very minor bummer--on three mornings, Apple provided Krispy Kreme doughnuts for the attendees. I didn't have any since, as everyone knows, they aren't kosher. Except for the fact that the ones from the Mountain View store are! I learned that during Shabbos, far too late. Oh well. Next year I'll have to ask about them.