The flight was amazingly painless -- an MD80 that was about 1/3 full -- everyone boarded at once -- first boarding call was final boarding call. We taxied out -- we took off immediately -- we flew to O'Hare -- we landed early -- our baggage was on the carrousel just as we got to it. So far this trip must be a dream (a really good one). I was worried about cancelled and delayed flights and everything else that can go wrong at O'Hare (and usually does), and zoop - everything was perfect. We got to the hotel and the room is splendid and the view is stunning and it's all good.

... until

I unpack my laptop, and I have a mess. The collapsing hinge on the case has given up the ghost. I opened it up and up pops the button cover, exposing the guts of the chassis, and out fall a couple of pieces of plastic and metal, and the monitor is hanging precariously off one of the two hinges. I managed to put it back together mostly, but it is not going to be portable until I get the chassis repaired. I called around to try to find a shop that has the pieces I need, and got no positives, but one smart fellow suggested that I call Dell. It turns out that I have a couple of weeks left on my "Next Day" service and "Complete Care" plan, so they will be sending out a technician tomorrow to rebuild my computer chassis, in my hotel room here in Chicago. I am very very happy with Dell service (or I will be tomorrow if the tech. gets me up and running). In the meantime, I picked up a 500 Mb USB disk drive to back up everything ... just in case the tech. touches something wrong.

That being settled, we took a Lake and River cruise, which was pleasant, and walked about a bit. Unfortunately, my brand new sneakers seem to be collapsing as well.

I've been thinking a little more about the use of computer forensics tools and techniques, or customized versions of same, in order to archive "electronic personal papers." There are privacy issues: like, are the unwashed surfing log traces part of the record of an individual's activities? What about the interludes at recreational web sites in between serious research? Someone would have to sanitize (or to use the proper terminology - restrict access to) anything that is personal, or proprietary -- then assess what parts of the trace of activity is relevant for posterity and then arrange that into a context that is meaningful and usable.

Tags: chicago, murphys_law, saa2007
Current Location: In our hotel room
Current Mood: tired

This blog has been a fine candidate for Boring Magazine's "Best Blogs of 2007" so far. Perhaps I'll do better at SAA2007 in Chicago.

They have set up an Unofficial SAA 2007 Wiki. I'll be posting and updating my tentative schedule under my profile if you want to meet up at the conference.

Tags: chicago, conference, saa2007