Con Report 2: Penguicon
In Detroit once a year is Penguicon, which originally was an Open-Source con (hence the con being named after the Linux penguin). Now it's not only a computer geek con but also a Sci-fi con. This year I decided to go so I could go to the Smithee awards I missed at the UofM because they were the same weekend as FCN. Even though the door price for one day was an amazing $40.
First thing I did was go to a panel I wanted to check out on a group programming a zombie game for Android. Turns out the group works in my city so I might check them out... I did just finish an Android class last week.
Like I mentioned before I burned myself with a soldering iron. There was a maker's space (a place for geeks and hackers to make electronics stuff), and I was making an LED badge for myself, and although having not soldered in ages, my soldering skills apparently are pretty good. The blue LED on my badge wasn't very bright despite many attempts to fix it, and one of the resisters broke and had to be glued together again.
As for the burn, it wasn't serious, but hurt like crazy. The hotel bathrooms had no cold water (automatic faucets), so I had to get ice in a cup from the bar. The ice numbed it immediately, and the pain went away by that night. It's a blister now.
Most of the rest of the con was at the Smithee Awards that I mentioned before, which is an audience-voting show where we vote for the worst moments in bad b-movies. Was enjoyable.
Oh, and like I mentioned before, I passed by someone talking about being in underwear and being spanked with a paddle in a room party, and nudity was involved later on. Yea, thanks for the details... :/
As for the rest of the con, I almost had myself painted up as a zombie but had to skip out because it would interfere with the Smithee Awards. I collected several ribbons (apparently this con is famous for giving out ribbons for EVERYTHING! Some people had dozens!). I made a box (and a notepad) out of old floppies. At the end of the day I played a game of Munchkin and We Haven't Play-Tested This Either before bugging out.
In conclusion, you gotta love a con that has panels like "How not to get arrested for your alternative lifestyle", "BDSM 101", "Polyamory for beginners", "What is BDSM and how do I know if I like it", as well as about 10 different brewing, mixing, and tasting panels.
First thing I did was go to a panel I wanted to check out on a group programming a zombie game for Android. Turns out the group works in my city so I might check them out... I did just finish an Android class last week.
Like I mentioned before I burned myself with a soldering iron. There was a maker's space (a place for geeks and hackers to make electronics stuff), and I was making an LED badge for myself, and although having not soldered in ages, my soldering skills apparently are pretty good. The blue LED on my badge wasn't very bright despite many attempts to fix it, and one of the resisters broke and had to be glued together again.
As for the burn, it wasn't serious, but hurt like crazy. The hotel bathrooms had no cold water (automatic faucets), so I had to get ice in a cup from the bar. The ice numbed it immediately, and the pain went away by that night. It's a blister now.
Most of the rest of the con was at the Smithee Awards that I mentioned before, which is an audience-voting show where we vote for the worst moments in bad b-movies. Was enjoyable.
Oh, and like I mentioned before, I passed by someone talking about being in underwear and being spanked with a paddle in a room party, and nudity was involved later on. Yea, thanks for the details... :/
As for the rest of the con, I almost had myself painted up as a zombie but had to skip out because it would interfere with the Smithee Awards. I collected several ribbons (apparently this con is famous for giving out ribbons for EVERYTHING! Some people had dozens!). I made a box (and a notepad) out of old floppies. At the end of the day I played a game of Munchkin and We Haven't Play-Tested This Either before bugging out.
In conclusion, you gotta love a con that has panels like "How not to get arrested for your alternative lifestyle", "BDSM 101", "Polyamory for beginners", "What is BDSM and how do I know if I like it", as well as about 10 different brewing, mixing, and tasting panels.