Discussion: Get the latest on the 2011 Freedom Player Summit!

Lucky people I wish theyd hold something in Chicago so I could come

@ChiaoFeng and I (@Redlynne) will be arriving in San Jose City Airport on Southwest Airlines Flight 1453 at 900pm on friday. We will be arriving with our recovery debuffed, our endurance drained and everything detoggled (coming from Central Time Zone).

The two of us need to be back at SJC airport in time to take our 145pm flight on sunday to get back home.

It's the end. But the moment has been prepared for ...

About to go to bed WAAAAY too late so that I can get up at 4:00am EST. My plane leaves at 7:10am, and I'm due to arrive at 11:30am.

It just dawned on me that some of you might already be in town or arriving and looking for things to do until registration on Saturday. I went to Mountain View/Palo Alto in May, and here were some of the things that I found really cool:

Computer History Museum: This place was AWESOME. If you're a geek like me, it's like heaven seeing all of these old machines. If you're also getting to be an old fart like me, it's a little unnerving seeing stuff from your childhood and even your adult life in a museum. Still, the tour was fascinating, I learned a lot, and it's well worth the trip. General admission tickets are $15, and you should plan on three hours or so for the tour and self-paced "wandering around" time before or after. It's open 10am - 5pm Wed. through Sun.

NASA Ames Exploration Center: Some people might not care for it because it's not glitzy, but they have some neat exhibits. By far the coolest one was the moon rock. Yes, it's just a rock in a vacuum-sealed container, but for god's sake, it's FROM THE MOON! If you can ingratiate yourself to someone who works there, DO. Although there is no official tour and everything is pretty much "Go look at this stuff yourself," I got to talking to one of the guys who was there, and he ended up walking around with me. It turns out that he was retired from the Ames Research Center. We talked about the history of the space program, the future of manned and unmanned exploration, and he really made the visit worthwhile. Plus, admission is free, which is a price you can't beat. (Though you might want to take a few bucks to buy some cool NASA-logoed souvenirs.)

Apple Company Store: According to their web site, the company store at One Infinite Loop is "the only place in the world that sells Apple logo t-shirts, caps and accessories." If you're an Apple crispie, consider making a pilgrimage to the Mothership. If you know an Apple crispie, this stuff makes awesome Christmas gifts.

Stanford University: Unfortunately, they only offer public tours of the linear accelerator like three times a year and on a weird schedule. Believe it or not, though, Friday the 18th is one of those days! Unfortunately, the tour is already filled up. However, it's still a famous college that you might want to stop by. If you do, make sure you go up in the Hoover Tower for a very scenic view of Silicon Valley and drop by the bookstore for souvenirs.

In addition, there are some places that you might want to ride by. Though they generally don't offer public access, it might be worth a photo op. PLEASE NOTE: These places are on public thoroughfares, so please DO NOT park your car on the shoulder to get pictures! The best way to get to most of these places if you want a photo op is to take a VTA bus to the location (an all-day pass is like $6) so that you're not blocking traffic and generally being a nuisance.

Google corporate headquarters: Unfortunately, they don't offer public tours of their campus. Still, it's a neat place to say, "I've been there." It's right down the street from the Computer History Museum (see above).

Hewlett Packard corporate headquarters: Why? Because it's there. Honestly, if you're into HP, I'd suggest dropping by the HP Garage (below) instead of corporate headquarters, unless you just want a picture of yourself in front of the sign.

Mozilla Corporation: I sure wish they had a store there to buy souvenirs, I'm a HUGE fan of Firefox.

Symantec corporate headquarters: In case you have a virus. No, not THAT kind of virus.

Former Atari Headquarters: Fair warning: This stop will probably be underwhelming, given that the reason to stop here is no longer here. This is where Atari was based back when they made products like the Atari 2600. When I was a kid, I thought the streets of Sunnyvale must be paved in gold for such a cool place. I honestly thought the corporate headquarters looked something like this. If you just want to breathe in the vestiges of what was once a very historic place, here you go. Here's a good read about someone who made the pilgrimage here.

HP Garage: This is where Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard built their first oscilloscopes that they sold to Walt Disney, and is considered by some to be the birthplace of Silicon Valley. PLEASE NOTE: This is a residential neighborhood, and the house and garage are not open to the public. You can take pictures of the garage and/or the historic marker, but please don't be a jerk. Don't park in other people's driveways, don't block traffic, etc.

Paragon Studios: I know you're tempted to just drop by uninvited to the magic factory. PLEASE DON'T. No, I'm not speaking on behalf of the developers, but keep in mind that these people are working, and you'll just mainly be making the poor receptionist miserable. You don't want random people you don't know coming by and bugging you at your job, do you? (If you work at McDonald's, don't answer that.) And while I'm sure they wish they could visit with us one-on-one for hours on end, that's why they have events like Saturday's, so that they can visit with us AND continue publishing a kick-a** game. Still, I know you're dying of curiosity to see the place, so if you want to ride by and wave from the street, I'm sure they wouldn't mind.

San Francisco: There are too many AWESOME cool things here to talk about all of them. It's about a 45 minute trip north of Palo Alto/Mountain View to San Francisco. You may want to seriously consider taking the Caltrain there. Those trains are very nice double-deckers that go really fast (not bullet fast, though), and if you're like me and live in a city with kind of a crappy transit system, it's actually quite enjoyable. Plan on at least a day or two in San Francisco if you want to do anything but barely see anything. Popular touristy stops include places like Pier 39 in Fisherman's Wharf, the Golden Gate bridge, Alcatraz, Lombard Street/Coit Tower, and... Well, I said I wasn't going to name them all; google a guide if you can go.

This isn't an exhaustive guide to the area, and people who live closer than 2,500 miles away might know better or more interesting places. Feel free to add your two cents' worth!

Just to add one other thing to Tony's post of great places to see and/or do. You can't get in the gates unless you know someone, but you can take a trip to Pixar Studios (Emeryville, CA) is about a 40min drive (1hr if traffic). There is a great place to eat next door to Pixar called Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe (was on Diner, Dives, and Drive-Ins).

Link to Cafe website: http://iamrudy.com/

Been playing this game since patch 2ish, and this is my first Hero-Con can't wait to meet everyone!

Finishing last-minute packing and super excited!

I'll be arriving at SFO at about 5:45pm (thankfully I have a ride) on Friday!

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

I hate you all.

That is all.

Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.

Just touched down at SJC, waiting to deplane. ("Deplane! Deplane!") I have a couple of pictures on Faces, you can find out what I look like... Oh, wait... Right.

Oh well. I'm the tall kinda big guy with a red Falcons t-shirt and black leather jacket. If you see me, say hi.

Will be departing with @ChiaoFeng for the airport here in the next 30 minutes or so. Looking forward to seeing everyone in ... ah fork it ... TOMORROW!

It's the end. But the moment has been prepared for ...

Touched down, had a nice Fred's Steak sammich lunch with crayhal, who then had to flit off to go get the next arrival. Also harassed Zwillinger at the front desk... sorry, man... hee.

If you're staying at Dinah's, PM me if you wanna hang and I'll shoot my room # off. I'm occupied this evening for a bit, but I imagine things'll free up around 10pm (although I might pass out, it'll be 1am my body time and I woke up at 4:30am for the flight)!

@TURGENEV - Freedom Server / IRON / B.A.N.E / HORDE

Turg Fiction: Ghost in the Machine Acts III & IV coming 2012!
Turg Fiction: IX is now LIVE on Architect Entertainment!

all well here thanks

OMG On my way to Player Summit stuck in NYC airport with delayed flight till 4:00 tomorrow. What a waste, my return flight is on Sunday A.M. HAVE FUN

The Transcendent One
Level 50+ PB (Badge Count 1404)

Graaaaar. Up since 4:30am due to jet lag.

On the upside, I get to call my wife in DC to complain. Hey, I guess I'll get ready... anyone got breakfast news? My room # is 109 if someone wants to dial over and clue me in!

Btw: Water pressure for showers is AWESOME. I'm getting bruises from this thing!

@TURGENEV - Freedom Server / IRON / B.A.N.E / HORDE

Turg Fiction: Ghost in the Machine Acts III & IV coming 2012!
Turg Fiction: IX is now LIVE on Architect Entertainment!

Waiting on my ride, see you all soon!

Awesome time, panels were very cool. I don't know what all has been recorded, but I hope everyone gets to see the panels. The raffle prizes were killer impressive. And the devs are AWESOME.