LED Matrix in Comcast Center Lobby

This friday is the public grand opening of the Comcast Center. Friday
is also the day my group, Comcast Interactive Media, moves into the
floors adjacent to CIM City.

Starting this week if you visit the Comcast Center you will find a
massive high definition, very high contrast, LED matrix fully covering
the lobby wall above the elevator portals. I am guessing 9-10 meters
tall and assuming 1080p.

The fascinating thing is that one image displayed is a simulated wood
paneling which makes the screen appear to vanish.

I have an affinity to LED matrices because that was the display
platform I used for the Live8 call to action system back three years
ago. I am going to feel good each time I come into work. Perhaps when
I get exasperated at work I can go down to the lobby and listen to
some Linkin Park

The Wrong Platform

In an attempt to catch the 5:41 R5 Express to Wayne from Suburban
Station Thursday, I ended up going to the wrong platform. Most of the
time the Paoli R5 leaves from 4B platform. The exception is the 5:41
PM express which waits on the far platform 7B. Matthew's game was on
that night and I was trying to get to Immaculata for most of it. I
jogged pretty much from 2000 Market to platform 4B and the train
waiting there was the R7. When I rushed over to 7B, not only did the
closed train doors taunt me, but a few passengers got a good laugh as
they watched me rant and bitch to myself, weezing. What a grind.

Finding CIM City

With the help of an evil canine and a construction elevator CIM City
has been found. I checked out the 15th floor of the Comcast Center
earlier this week. Fantastic. The color reminds me of the orange red
carpets we had in our house in the mid 70s. Ironically, it seems to be
the same color in one of the Sun corporate brands. The can be nothing
more different than 2000 Market CIM floors and the new floors at the
Comcast Center.

Bring your vertical polarizing sun glasses!

Outsourcing Mother's Day

Started month four at Comcast today. I feel like I have been there a
year. The most precious resource I have these days is time. I am sure
that most of this issue is that I am in a very different pace in a
totally new job. In any case I am not finding time to get to all the
things I want to. I would have liked to help the children get
organized for Mother's Day but it was impossible. I enlisted a foreign
national to get this work done. Dani, our nanny, is creative and would
hardly consider it a task or chore to go to the mall. I told to just
take care of it.

Dani did a great job. Jack and Jillian helped pick out a #1 Mom
pendant and they made a T-shirt with handprints and a family cheer.

I did my part and let Tara sleep in a little and we all brought
breakfast up to her in bed. I cook breakfast weekends anyways so this
all worked out well. At this point any Mother's Day is better than
2001 when while retrieving flowers for Tara at Waterloo Gardens
Matthew feel on his face and cut his lip - I believe he screamed
until dinner that day.

FiOS STB Widget Platform

I was a friends loft in Phoenixville Saturday and he was showing me
the good and bad in the new FiOS TV set top box guide. The negative
was that it was too slow. Latency in the percieved results from a UI
gesture is always bad. Apple defeats these problems on Apple TV with
animations (wipes and fades and the ubiquitous spinner. The good parts
included search feature.

I noticed a top level menu item labelled "Widgets". Clicking this
raised a modal dialog asking for zip code. After submitting zip code a
traffic and weather widget showed up in header carosel. I think it
worked pretty good as STB platforms go. I can't see how this would
scale and hold a candle ever to an open widget platform with a more
capable UI engine, especially anything which is cross platform.

Best Job in Philadelphia

I have been walking to and from 30th Street Station 10 blocks down to
2000 Market each day. There is hardly any people around so its
relaxing and a good time to think. While there is far less hustle and
bustle than there is at Suburban Station, it is a drought as girl
watching goes.

I snapped this picture of the rear wheel man on the ladder truck
cutting a tight turn off Market just before the PECO building. This
fire fighte has to have the best professional job in the city.

Waiting for Greg

Greg Ayre claims to have some great seats for this rare game. There is
a hot breeze and 80 degrees and it is April. We're the ones with three
kids and two little games to coach and yet Tara and I are here, have
beer and Greg and Dana are late. Come on guys!