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Today we completed the last meeting of the tour, and disassembled the van. This van could write a book about its travels, and it's only a few thousand miles old.

We've removed webcams, power and internet connections. We've discarded about a dumpster full of garbage. And shipped leftover swag back to the Plaid headquarters.

And then we removed the wrap. A little bit depressing, and a whole lot hot - as we de-plaided the van in 108 degrees of Las Vegas love. Professional grade heat, as Bill calls it. Watch the entire de-plaiding process in the wrap up video, tomorrow.

After a few hours of uploading, blogging and editing, we're headed out for some end of tour celebratory fun. Watch out, Vegas. The web cams are off.

Labels: las vegas, technology, van

posted by darryl ohrt at 5:42 PM 0 Comments

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Our tweet up tonight took place at the British Banker's Club. Kind of appropriate for a town living on loads and loads of VC cash.

Really cool people stopped by to chat about good times, bad times, gossip and technology. Plaid love was shared (through swag and free drinks), contact info was exchanged, and potato chips were eaten.

We met Brian Shaler, Ryan Kuder, Shel Israel, JJ and a bunch of other really cool people.

We snapped some pics and then hit the road for a long drive to San Luis Obispo. Thanks to the Social Media Club for setting this up and making it all happen!

Labels: san francisco, swag, technology, tweetups

posted by darryl ohrt at 11:01 PM 0 Comments

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GEEK ALERT: This post is all about cameras and technology. Politely ignore if those types of things bore you.

Here's proof that even with advance testing and preparation, things can go wrong.

We've planned for three live webcams when the van is rolling. Each camera has a laptop dedicated to it, to maximize streaming. Of course we're rolling with Macs. Since Mac laptops come with a webcam built in, they're picky about which webcams they'll recognize.

Apple made a webcam years ago (the iSight) that works seamlessly with Apple laptops. Only one problem. Apple stopped producing iSights many years ago. We had purchased two of them on eBay prior to the tour, and had another Logitech camera in the office, successfully running off a Mac. Figured that would be no problem.

Luckily we arrived in Seattle with a pre-production crew so there was time for one last road test. After wiring the van, we fired up all of the cameras for a test broadcast. But the Logitech camera wouldn't work.

Made a quick stop at BestBuy, for another "mac friendly" cam. Which didn't work. Next stop: the Apple store in SouthCenter Seattle. Purchased another Logitech that is guaranteed Apple friendly. Nope. Two hours and two Apple "geniuses" later, we're all stumped. After attempting many scripts (thanks Brian!!), drivers and patches, we've concluded that the iSight is the only camera guaranteed to work for our situation.

We put out a tweet to our Twitter friends. Asked the Apple fanboys at the store in Seattle. And called the team at home on the east coast.

Sara found a used iSight in Derby, CT. And spent her Saturday evening on a wild adventure through Connecticut purchasing a camera from who knows who. It's on a JetBlue flight with Matt as we speak, who joins the tour this afternoon.

So tomorrow morning - we'll be live. With three cameras. We'll dedicate the dashboard cam to Sara. The SaraCam. Thanks Sara, for saving the day!!

Labels: dashboard, technology, van

posted by darryl ohrt at 10:28 AM 0 Comments