Kiwicon

An addition to my Big Trip has been Kiwicon. Not a new thing by any means, I've gone many years, but it's squeezed in between Ireland and the Round-The-World, so I've put it as part of the Big Trip.

Kiwicon is an international even with a particularly kiwi flavour. Retro old school computing is the general theme, but the spefic theme changes each year. This year it's army (think MASH mixed with 1980s movie Wargames)

The conference is the NZ smaller version of Defcon. That said - it doesn't lack for quality or quantity with an international line up of speakers and a cyber expeditionary force of over 1400 troops (attendees).

Kiwicon now falls at the end of what is rapidly becoming NZ's security week, with a large number of security events scheduled (regrettably) during the same week.

Recovered!

Well, I seem to have bounced back pretty quickly. A good nights sleep and I'm feeling awesome. Woke up early, though now surprising since I went to bed so early.

A nice "surprise" was waiting for me when I got home:

Helping

So on my transits and travels through airports I've come across people who appear to be confused or having trouble finding the way. I've always just walked along side and asked if they are on (my flight).

Almost always they've replied with some relief that they are and they make some remark about how difficult it is to follow the signs. Airports are like that, it's not unusual.

Apparently the unusual part is what happens next: I tell them I'm having trouble too, and suggest we see if we can find the way together. We obviously then find the way to the gate, and I make sure they know what zone they are for boarding, etc.

They always remark that people don't do that (help) anymore. Umm. What? Why not? Seriously, it's always a pleasure to help someone, especially in airports where they are notoriously difficult to navigate if you're not paying the utmost attention. The arrows all appear to point to the plumbing, presumably because they're functional, and never point to the actual gates, presumably because they aren't.

Please, if you're transiting through an airport and see someone who appears lost, please just ask them nicely if they need help. Even if they aren't going your way, you can at least point them in the right direction.

NZ, I'm home

I'm rather pleased to be home. I shall how I feel tomorrow, but today I'm ready to sleep. I'm trying to stay awake as long as I can.

Somewhere over Western Australia

I can't believe I'm doing this again in only a few weeks.

Location: somewhere over WA

Speed: 559mph (482kts 897kph)

Attitude: 39,000ft

Temperature: -51°C

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, again

Movie: San Andreias

Oh, I'm in the air

Bit of a rough start to the flight. The crosswind was so strong we had to wait for it to die down before we could fly. The takeoff was a bit bumpy.

Anyway, this flight has wifi too, it's like we're in the future.

Altitude: 37,000ft

Speed: 547mph

Temperature: I dunno, cold?

Location: in the sky

Dark selfie

Pretty lights

Last day in Ireland

So today's the last day in Ireland, hence the imaginative post title. I spent the day doing more walking around Dublin, visited the National Library, walked in a direction I'd yet to go (I think this means I've now walked 4 points of the compass in Dublin).

Apparently I should be taking selfies. Presumably to prove that I'm not actually sitting in some hotel room and posting publicity shots, pretending I took them. So there you go, I went outside at least once, and took that one photo. The rest, you were right, I stole them all from flickr. :-P

I'm pretty exhausted from all the walking around, and am looking forward to a nice "relaxing" 26 hour plane flight. I suppose thats a good thing, better than being idle, bored, and wanting to do stuff on the flight.

Last time I flew it was 7am. Everywhere. All. The Time. Whenever I looked at local time, it was 7am. I guess since I'm going the other way it'll be 7pm? :-D (The irony being I'm updating this entry at 7:30pm).

Time: 1630h
Location: Back at the O'Callahan Hotel, usurping free wifi, and drinking whiskey - regrettably not free.
Whiskey: Bushmills - It's nice, smooth, and easy to drink.
Temperature: 12C - You gotta give Dublin credit, it's been relatively stable, except for that one day.