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Sci-Fi Software Linux

Linux + Sci-fi + Detroit = Penguicon3.0 198

Posted by CmdrTaco from the places-to-go dept.
AciDive writes "Everyone's favorite Michigan based Linux and Scifi convention is back for another year. Penguicon is pleased to announce that this years guests will include: Cory Doctorow, Kevin Siembieda, Nat Torkington, Joan D. Vinge, Dr. Peter Salus, Eugene "ROD" Roddenberry Jr, Kathe Koja, Joey deVilla, Cathy Raymond, Alice Taylor, Eric Raymond, Jeff "Hemos" Bates, Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda, Howard Tayler and Luke Ski. Pre-Registration for Penguicon will be open until Friday April 8, 2005, and yes if you miss the pre-reg date you can register at the door. Penguicon has a full schedule of Linux and Sci-fi related panels slated for this year so don't miss it (we have panels for everyone from the beginner to the l33t h4x0r). Penguicon will be held on April 22-24, 2005 @ the Novi Sheraton in Novi Michigan." I don't usually plug local stuff, but this show is a truly unique blend of Linux & Scifi and one of my favorites. This will be my third year speaking, and I'm really looking forward to it. I'll post more in my journal as I figure out scheduling. At the very least, we should pack the hotel bar with Slashdot readers for some quality beer time after my session.
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Linux + Sci-fi + Detroit = Penguicon3.0 More

Linux + Sci-fi + Detroit = Penguicon3.0

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  • Why does this have to be so far away when I am stacked with so many bills?!

    Please, those of you who do go, blog away. I want to hear how this went. Many people will be very appreciative since we're stuck as desks half a nation or more away.

  • So... (Score:1, Funny)

    by jwthompson2 ( 749521 )
    I can go to a linux con dressed as darth maul? Wow, that sounds like a great blend...

  • Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi-Con (Score:4, Funny)

    by kevin_conaway ( 585204 ) on Tuesday April 05, 2005 @10:36AM (#12143593) Homepage
    Bah, this has got nothing on Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi-Con.

    Be there AND Be square.

  • Not very many panels, I guess. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by bigtallmofo ( 695287 ) on Tuesday April 05, 2005 @10:36AM (#12143596)
    we have panels for everyone from the beginner to the l33t h4x0r

    Based on my experience, those considering themselves "l33t h4x0rs" are beginners.
  • [...]and Luke Ski

    walker.

    Come on, I know I'm not the only one who added that when I read his name.

  • *shudder* (Score:2, Funny)

    by timtwobuck ( 833954 )
    I cringe at the thought of how many gallons of Mountain Dew and pounds of Doritos are consumed while this is going on...

    • Re:*shudder* (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Matt_Arnold ( 873560 )
      This year there will be a Mountain Dew Drinking Contest. We will also be brewing up open-source cola called OpenCola (google it) in the consuite. -Matt Arnold Communications for Penguicon 3.0

      • Re:*shudder* (Score:2, Informative)

        by BlastedBill ( 873561 )
        We bought a PALLET of Dew last year. Loaded it on the truck with a fork lift



        -Bill Putt
        Conchair Penguicon 3.0
        penguicon.org
  • * conference the same weekend. Arg...

    Next year...!!!

    Wil W. wont be there anyways...
    • Yes, but both times Wil cancelled on us it was because somebody was offering him an acting work. At least this time, he actually GOT the work...

      I'm under the impression he's trying to set up some kind of videoconference from his living room into our theatre to make up for cancelling again. (Dunno if we can pull it off, but it'd be cool.)

      Wil's been really nice to us ever since we got one of last year's guests of honor (Neil Gaiman) in touch with him to do the foreward of Just a Geek, even though Wil canc

  • NOVI????? (Score:5, Informative)

    by manganese4 ( 726568 ) on Tuesday April 05, 2005 @10:40AM (#12143636)
    Well at least it wasn't South Lyon, but surely there must have been a more exciting location in southeast michigan for a conference to attract people from across the nation than Novi. On the extended drive from the airport, visitors will get a good view of the concrete/asphalt jungle that is the suburban sprawl of Detroit and Oakland County
    • Oh, and the trek from the airport bypasses the photogenic (to my twisted eyes) Detroit downtown area. Why bother?
      • Don't they get to drive by the big tire, though? Can't remember if that's on the way from the airport to Novi, but it's something...
        • Nah, the big Uniroyal tire is along I-94 on the other side of the airport, east of the Southfield Freeway. Unless you're headed into Detroit from the airport, you'll miss it.
    • I don't understand this one either. Novi is dismal, depressing and ugly. Why not in Ann Arbor ? Or how about Windsor :)
      • Windsor wouldn't work out... If 90% of the attendees of the con had to cross the border, I think people would get pretty pissed quite quickly.

        I'll be coming from Windsor myself and I don't mind it too much but it can be a real hassle for some people.

        Also there is no infrastructure in Windsor capable of hosting penguicon. Let alone find parking!
        • Well.. how many people usually show up for Penguicon ? There is the Casino in Windsor that has convention space, and the Cleary Center just a few blocks west of that..
          • I think there were about 300/400 ppl last year.
            And the casino hotel is pretty expensive and they don't like conventions too much as they tend to take over the entire hotel.

            Parking is also an issue... on a weekend, the casino's parking garages can get pretty busy without the hundreds of cars from the convention...
      • There aren't any conference facilities in Ann Arbor (or Ypsilanti) big enough to hold more than about 500 people. Trust me, Tracy Worcester and I (the co-founders of Penguicon) looked a _lot_ back in 2002.

        Downtown Detroit may be deeply frightening (I'm from Austin Texas, all I hear about Detroit is people making fun of it), but the suburbs aren't so bad. This year's hotel is on the northwest corner of the beltway around Detroit. You can avoid the actual city entirely.

        Rob
    • they should have had it downtown - that way we could go to the bouzouki...

    • Re:NOVI????? (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Commander Doofus ( 776923 )
      True about Novi, but people rarely go to cons to sight-see, they usually stay in the hotel the whole time. The cons I've attended have all been tucked away in suburburbs with reasonably-priced hotels -- not the five star luxury places in the heart of downtown. (I was at the first Penguicon, it was in a hotel across from a dilapidated golf dome and bowling alley in Warren. Later that year the hotel was converted into a senior citizen home).
      • Later that year the hotel was converted into a senior citizen home

        Appropriate...the hotel itself was elderly, and showed it.
      • The Van Dyke Park [ofdoom.com] wasn't across from the golf dome. It was across from the White Castle.
        It was actually closer to the GM Tech Center than the golf domes.

        Personally, I thought it was a good hotel for cons. The furniture could be quickly disassembled, and reassembled with simple tools, by getting a suite; you had a private room plus place for friends to crash, and when you got hungry at 3:00 am, Telly's was right down the street.

        The new location [ofdoom.com] is pretty good.
        I know that area well, because the local HP
    • I believe there is a Best Buy right next door to the Novi Sheraton, so maybe that will brighten some geek's day. If they decide to leave the hotel that is.........

    • novi is a HUGE convention town now. if it was not for the conventions there almost every stinking day the town would dry up or turn into a subdivision for detroitites looking for a $500,000+ home right on the highway. (Note to non michigan people. we have LOTS of the "stupid rich" here. paying huge sums to build their GIANT homes right on the highway so they can hear and smell those disel trucks...)

      Besides, Novi makes it easier for the chicago people and others not wanting to drive into the traffic mess t
      • I like how in Detriot 500k+ is a huge home, while here in SF 500+ is a 1 bedroom condo with windows on one side...

        Yeah I'd move but what are my options? Some depressing dead city, one one of the many Hicksvilles...

        • Where I live (60 miles east of SF, essentially a hicksville with suburbia tacked on), 500k+ is a reasonably-sized house with no yardspace whatsoever. Some days, I hate California.
      • Well I would bet that a lot of the rich in Detroit got rich on the backs of those deisel trucks. So to them the smell of deisel may be the smell of money.

      • Besides, Novi makes it easier for the chicago people and others not wanting to drive into the traffic mess that is Detroit.

        Every time I've been to Detroit the streets are deserted.

      • if it was not for the conventions there almost every stinking day the town would dry up or turn into a subdivision for detroitites looking for a $500,000+ home right on the highway. (Note to non michigan people. we have LOTS of the "stupid rich" here. paying huge sums to build their GIANT homes right on the highway so they can hear and smell those disel trucks...)

        The Detroit post-riot White Flight (TM) continues... Now Brighton is the next Novi. Novi is too big and overdeveloped, so all the rich Republ

    • Re:NOVI????? (Score:2, Informative)

      by BlastedBill ( 873561 )
      Novi is where the second biggest hotel in Michigan is. The next hotel up is REALY huge.

      -Bill Putt
      Conchair Penguicon 3.0
      penguicon.org

    • Re:NOVI????? (Score:2, Interesting)

      by jcdick1 ( 254644 )
      They could have chosen something like Dearborn. That wouldn't have been too bad. The Ritz or Hyatt at Fairlane across from Ford World Headquarters would have been nice. Then I could just go straight across from work...

  • I'd love to come... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Stalyn ( 662 ) on Tuesday April 05, 2005 @10:40AM (#12143642) Homepage Journal
    and watch the KDE vs GNOME flamewars come to fisticuffs after a couple beers. Nothing like a bunch of nerds slapping each other. Oh well someone tape it for me.

  • Is it just me? (Score:3, Funny)

    by mao che minh ( 611166 ) on Tuesday April 05, 2005 @10:44AM (#12143668) Journal
    I only recognized two or three of those names, and of those two or three, only one can actually contribute anything to a speech.
    • I don't recognize some of them, but Howard Tayler is the author of Schlock Mercenary [schlockmercenary.com], a webcomic that's far better than it has any right to be based on the artwork alone...
    • You only recognize two or three names?
      Well, let's see... Two of the names are the guys who brought you Slashdot! If those are the only two you recognize, you'd better get out more. :-)

      Rodenberry... Rodenberry... I know that name sounds familiar....

      As far as cons go, this one has more names I recognize than any other con I see advertised (well, except maybe GenCon). But I guess that's why I'm going and you're not. :-)

  • Quality beer time eh? (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    At the very least, we should pack the hotel bar with Slashdot readers for some quality beer time after my session.

    Maybe then will you listen to our complaints of all the dupes, Picquepaille posts, ...?

  • truly unique (Score:2, Flamebait)

    by smittyoneeach ( 243267 ) *
    <pedantic>
    Is a "truly unique" object better than a false non-singleton?
    </pedantic>

    There is much humor to be found in the written word...

  • Oh Please Oh Please Oh Please (Score:3, Insightful)

    by El_Smack ( 267329 ) on Tuesday April 05, 2005 @10:52AM (#12143736)
    Linux + Sci-fi + Detroit = Flying Car?

  • I can't go (Score:1, Redundant)

    by PaxTech ( 103481 )
    I've already committed to Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi-Con in Springfield that week.

    "Be there AND be square!"

  • And a guy in a funny costume. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Jay Maynard ( 54798 ) on Tuesday April 05, 2005 @10:55AM (#12143779) Homepage
    All of the Slashdot kiddies that had such fun at my expense a year ago will get another chance, in person: I'll be there, with costume. I'll even be doing a panel (tentatively scheduled for Sunday at 1 PM) on what the last year has been like for me.

  • Oh goddammit. (Score:3, Funny)

    by govtcheez ( 524087 ) <govtcheez03@hotmail.com> on Tuesday April 05, 2005 @11:05AM (#12143871) Homepage
    As if this city didn't smell bad enough already!

  • Linux + Sci-fi + Detroit = being lost (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anita Coney ( 648748 ) on Tuesday April 05, 2005 @11:07AM (#12143888) Homepage
    As Detroit is about 40 miles away from Novi.

  • I can see it now... (Score:3, Funny)

    by goof21 ( 872039 ) on Tuesday April 05, 2005 @11:12AM (#12143923)
    At the very least, we should pack the hotel bar with Slashdot readers for some quality beer time after my session.

    I can see it now...

    Miller Lite
    Color: +2
    Taste: +1
    This beer modded Hot Waitress! +10

  • A Linux *and* Sci-Fi Convention Combined?! (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Wow! Think of all the incredible possibilities to pick up hot chicks!

    (Hustling into my extra-extra-extra-large "Tux the Penguin T-shirt, and strapping on my lightsaber...)

    -- A Geek
  • Everyone bring your LAN and computer gaming equpment. Ill be hosting the computer gaming and we have PLENTY of hosting power but everyone needs to bring their own gaming station and LAN cable. If you have a hub or switch you could bring I would love you forever and it would be returned at the end of the con.

    This is a lot of fun, show up, bring a gaming station.
  • A similar convention is Linucon in Austin. [linucon.org] Last year's guests included Steve Jackson, Eric Raymond, John Ringo and Tamara Gorski. This year's convention is scheduled for October 14-16.

    Crow T. Trollbot

  • While you are there Taco, get them to change the name of the town "No. VI" from a Roman Numeral reference to something in binary. Or maybe hex.

    Wish you would have hyped this one more than just a few days before it started!

  • Ewww....Detroit is like a bombed out Mad Max style City. Think Robocop and that is EXACTLY what it's like. The roads suck, and it's COLD in the winter.

    About the only good thing Detroit has for it is decent radio.
    • You're talking about (what's left of) downtown. The burbs are far better all around. The roads are getting lots of improvements just in time for the super bowl. I went to lunch today without my coat - it's almost 70 here already. Besides, Michigan will be the technology hot-spot for the robot building generation - just look at the results of the regional FIRST competitions. If you want electro-mechanical stuff, Detroit (or the surrounding area) is the place to design and build it.

      "About the only good thin

    • Re:Detroit (Score:3, Informative)

      by milesObrien ( 707364 )
      As a life long Detroiter, I am motivated to respond to the spate of anti_detroit sentiment in this thread. First off- SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN IS NOT DETROIT! Detroit ends at Detroit's borders. Novi is not Detroit. Dearborn is not Detroit. Ann Arbor is not Detroit. Get it? Driving from DTW to Novi has NOTHING to do with Detroit (except for the name and county of the airport)! A lot of Linux/ IT/ open source types tend to be drawn to artsy-fartsy/academic cities like Ann Arbor/ Royal Oak (Michigan) or places
    • Decent radio??? Years ago, maybe. I've been listening to too much internet radio these days.

      Lessee... I'll go through the dial:

      88.7 fm: Based outta Windsor, plays mostly death metal and extreme alternative stuff. Grates on my nerves after a while.

      92.3 fm: Someone decided to resurrect the old WDRQ call letters and the station sounds like competition for WJLB on 97, which is fine if you like R&B/Soul/Rap.

      93.5 fm: Lite rock from Windsor with a definitely Canadian bent, but too sugary-sweet for my
      • A few corrections:

        93.5 is actually 93.9.
        105.1 was the classical station. 102.7 had the distintion of being the station that Ted Nugent owned. Even he couldn't make a go of it in the Detroit radio scene.
        97.1 Deminski and Doyle are one of the few reasons to listen to this station. Greg and Michelle are about as interesting as watching straws dry in McDonalds.
        Also there is 93.1, which used to be the worst hip-hop mix, and music for drag queens. From what I've heard, they've changed the format to something mor
        • 93.1 is now DOUG-FM, a "Jack FM" style station, meant to resemble an iPod on shuffle. This is as of April Fools' Day, to the dismay of many teens in my area. I like it.

      • Some commentary:

        88.7 fm: Based outta Windsor, plays mostly death metal and extreme alternative stuff. Grates on my nerves after a while.

        Eh? Death metal? *laughs out loud* I've never heard *any* metal on that station in my life! Just the opposite! They play "light alternative" which has been getting lighter and more high-pitched with every year. If you want some death metal check out Cannibal Corpse [cannibalcorpse.net]. Not my cup of tea, but some people are into it.

        93.5 fm: Lite rock from Windsor with a definitely Can

  • You might be a geek if.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by catdevnull ( 531283 ) on Tuesday April 05, 2005 @11:50AM (#12144262)
    YOU MIGHT BE A GEEK:

    -If you pronounce unix commands
    -If you get agitated everytime you hear someone use the term "information super highway."
    -When you heard the Ricky Martin song, "She Bangs" you thought "#!"
    -If you think the GUI was the downfall of computing.
    -If you consider reading "the news" is going to "Slashdot."
    -If you've ever used the words "grep," "sed," and "awk" in a sentence.
    -If you've ever been in a heated debate with someone over "vi" versus "emacs."
    -If you just picked one of the above.
    -If you know who RMS is.
    -If you've ever looked at a household appliance and wondered, "Can I install minix on that?"
    -If your sp3llin9 b3ginz to l00k l1k3 th1$.
    -If your entire wardrobe is made up of IT vendor T-Shirts.
    -If you have ever attended a LAN party but left because they didn't have a gigabit switch.
    -If you've ever attended a movie opening in costume.
    -If you own a Batleth or know someone who does.
    -If you've ever uttered a word in Klingon.
    -If you've ever argued with someone regarding Kirk or Picard being the better Captain.
    -If you can name more than 3 planets in the Star Wars movies.
    -If you're not offended by the term "BitchX"
    -If you know what a "Tardis" is.
    -If you've ever dressed as a Sci-Fi/Fantasy character at a Rennaissance Festival.
    -Actually, if you dressed up as anything at a RenFest.
    -If you kept a journal of all the things changed or left out of the Tolkien novels while watching the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
    -If you've ever used "geek code" in your e-mail signatures
    -If the value of your comic book collection exceeds your annual income.
    -If you attend any sort of convention plugged on Slashdot. ....you might be a card-carrying hard core geek. :-)
    • YOU MIGHT BE A GEEK IF:

      -If you've ever tried to explain the difference between a "cracker" and a "hacker" to anyone
      -If your tan comes exclusively from CRT radiation.
      -If you've ever been used by a woman for your "computer hacking skills" rather than your nunchuck or bow hunting skills.
      -If you downloaded the leaked copy of the new "Dr. Who" show.

      --I'll write more :)
    • You have captured the essence.
      speaking of essence, no personal hygiene references?
      • By public demand:

        You might be a geek if:

        -If your barber needs to use "Gumout" before cutting.
        -If that smell from behind your ear reminds you of "Cheetos."
        -If your laundry is piled in the categories "wear again," "throw away," or "get mom to wash."
        -If you can't read the letters on your keyboard because they're covered with a sebaceous tar.
        -If your dandruff shampoo bottle quakes with fear as you reach for it.
        -If your complexion reminds you of a field of gopher holes stuffed with mashed potatoes.
        -If your cl

  • In future years, Penguinconers will tour Detroit's lovely Africatown [spectator.org].

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