Where's Wil?

I guess the saying goes that "You can't please all the people all the time". After a good few months of being a panelist on TWiT, I finally got my first negative comment from the audience! Here it is, reprinted in full:

Wil
Submitted by for_dprefect on Wed, 2007-01-24 23:33
Get rid of Wil Harris.

I cannot figure out why you continue to have him on the show. He knows pretty much zero about anything of any importance and gets caught out on no brainers all the time. Where I am come from he would be known as a spoofer. I.e. talks a lot of hot air about things he knows nothing about.

The British accent might appeal to Americans but to Europeans his accent and attitude grates and he comes across as pompous and arrogant.

At least AC has put his money where his mouth is and is successful not some nerd in middle England modding a MOR Dell.

D'oh! I guess the guy doesn't like me. Most TWiT listeners seem to dig the English accent, and I really do think that I know what I'm talking about. But hey, even Leo gets flames, so I must be doing something right!

Just to even it up, for my own backslapping pleasure:

Wil Harris
Submitted by davefretty on Mon, 2007-01-22 21:29
I really enjoy listening to this Brit but the guy is too polite for his own good. He obviously prepares for the show and is up to date with all the tech news........the problem is he is drowned out by Mr Self Promotion Adam Curry.

At least some people still love me, eh?

The lake at Bellagio. Every half hour or so, in the evening, the lake lights up with a massive fountains light show, set to music.

It's very fun and a great tourist attraction. The view of the Paris in the background is rather nice, too.

I have to say, I love my Nikon D50. I got a new lens for Christmas, a 17-70 Sigma with a 72mm fitting, and it works like a dream in these kind of situations. I took this with fully manual exposure control, and the effect is far, far better than anything I got using auto or programme modes.

Well, I'm bag from CES and Vegas. What a time. I had an absolutely bonkers show, and then I stayed on for a few extra days and flew Alex out so we could have a holiday.

Some thoughts on the show:

Busy, but not as busy as in previous years. Why? Well, MacWorld, really. The press room was practically empty on Tuesday morning, and those that were in the pressroom were all frantically F5ing Engadget trying to get the latest news on the iPhone.

It was great to hit the Bloghaus: one of the stealth successes of the show. The suite in the Bellagio was open 24/7, sponsored by Seagate, Microsoft and PodTech, and I met a wealth of cool people, including Irina Slutsky (GETV) and Tim Street (French Maid TV). Hello to those guys - you rock!

I also met a couple of people I've wanted to meet for ages. Ryan Block, rockstar Engadget blogger, and my Editor (when this Legal column finally gets up). I also took an afternoon out to go down to LA to meet with Jason Calacanis in his new pad (with stealth office next to the pool). He's doing some really interesting stuff for Sequoia, and I look forward to seeing what comes of it. Also, Scott Alexander, one of the Editor's on Playboy magazine responsible for technical stuff. He's a TWiT fan, which is always cool!

Some thoughts on the holiday:

The Bellagio is a nice place. There are a gazillion gorgeous places to eat, and I thoroughly recommend Jasmine, the Asian place that's inside. Amazing, amazing food and a great view over the lake!

We hired a car and took a trip out to Zion national park, about 2 hours north of Vegas, in Utah. That was an absolutely beautiful experience, with the scenery simply breathtaking. Check out my Flickr for more of the details.

I saw two shows - Lance Burton's magic show (amazing how he just does stuff that looks impossible) and the Beatles Love Cirque du Soleil show at the Mirage, which was an interesting departure from the normal stuff they do.

Now I'm back, over the jetlag, and settling into what is going to be an exciting new year. More to come.

My resolution to learn new things is still going well. Yesterday, I learnt quite a bit about in car audio, after having a new Bluetooth kit fitted to my car. The chap at the installation place was very knowledgeable, to the point of pulling my car's dashboard apart in about 5 minutes flat. Cars, these days, seem to be constructed like bits of Lego - easy to pull open and reassemble. Top stuff.

My friend Rich wrote a column a couple of days ago which compares the world of Web 2.0 with Communism and Marxism. A fair comparison? Read it for yourself and let me know. I feel like the column gives me plenty of conversation material that should get many a web activist riled - top stuff.

The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas starts on Sunday. I'm flying out to Vegas on Saturday to get myself set up, along with a couple of other members of the bit-tech crew. If you're in Vegas and you fancy a beer, drop me a line!

I'm looking forward to the show - there's always a wealth of top tech around, and it's a great place to meet up with old friends. I'm hoping to catch up with Dvorak, Patrick and Robert from TWiT, as well as Molly and Veronica from CNet - not to mention Ryan and the Engadget dudes. Unfortunately, there's not going to be a CES TWiT, since Leo, Kevin, Alex Lindsay et al are all going to be at MacWorld down in SanFran!