Let me introduce you to traffic in Boston... I-93 was going great until the exit...

Fortunately, I don't have road rage, so I just had to remain calm.

I took a quick nap...

Sullivan Square. Almost there!

Between this picture and the last took place in the span of 8 minutes. Didn't get too far.

We're finally here!

Step right in!

The visit was great! In addition to BHCC students, there were over 150 high school students attending a STEM/Non Traditional Careers program event that encourages students to look at careers non-traditional to their gender.

Some photos of the different groups:

I explained that whether or not they plan to study in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) field, whatever job they end up getting will most likely involve some technology. Think about it - if you're a marketing or business major, how important is it to be able to understand the technology you are promoting or using?

Today we decided to try a different game: Hover Ball!

Happy winner of the LifeCam VX-3000!

All in all, it was a good day. I think the students were more informed about the different careers available to them and decrease the perception that technology jobs do not

Off to Bentley College!

Ok so I'm back in my home state! 

We setup the visit right outside the UMASS Boston Campus Center. It was a great location since the MBTA buses stopped right in front, so we were quite visible!

I decided to spice up the inside of the DDR. It was pretty boring inside... (see blank walls below)

What dorm room isn't completely with out some posters. The Zune team gave me some awesome posters I've been giving away.

Remember the Cash Cube? Well, Philip gave me an idea and we decided to call it "Win Edwin's $$$$". I took one of my own dollar bills and threw it in the Cash Cube. Someone grabbed it and we decided to give her a copy of Office 2007 Ultimate which is selling on Amazon.com for $579.99!

That's my dollar bill!

Click here for some Office 2007 tips!

Rock Band never gets old...

Hey is that Wesley Snipes?

  Wow, is that really me? I look like I'm glowing/burning and can almost pass for Korean...

My awesome MSP, Ania, who was doing demos of the HP 2710 Tablet.

Jeff asking a trivia question for a XBOX360 game...

Me and Deborah Boisvert from BATEC - one of the most amazing people I know!

I guess people like brining their food on the DDR.

Other random pictures...

Next stop... Bunker Hill Community College!

One of the big swag we're giving away is Office 2007 Ultimate!

If you're still stuck on Office 2003 and/or familiarizing yourself with the new Office 2007 ribbon, you really need to check out these really helpful Interactive Guides. It's definitely worth fooling around with it.

For example, below is the Word 2007 interactive guide.

When you hit start, you are presented with the Word 2003 interface.

Chose an option, and it will show you exactly where in the Office 2007 ribbon it is located!

Pretty cool!

I love the DDR, but I've noticed when taking long drives, the radio/speakers are just not cutting it...

Hofstra University! It's only 15 minutes away from where I grew up (Baldwin, NY), so it was great to be back home.

We landed a pretty awesome parking space right outside the Mack student center.

It was about time we unleashed the additional capabilities of the XBOX360 while on tour, so i decided to sign up for a XBOX Live account since we are connected to the internet.

Sorry, the Gamertag isn't terribly original or interesting, but it's easy to find. I tried to register the GT as "Microsoft DDR", but I kept getting errors because you can't use the word "Microsoft" as part of the GT name. Makes sense I guess.

So I'm feeling my age now, but I was really excited because through XBOX Live, you can download so many old school games like Paper Boy, Golden Axe, Street Fighter and more!

And I downloaded some movie trailers. It's pretty sweet watching it on the Samsung HDTV with the Denon Home Theatre system!

The cash cube was popular once again! It's not as easy as it looks...

Overall, we drew a pretty good crowd and gave a way all our swag for the day!

One of the students brought in their lunch, and I was wicked stahvin to begin with! But it was getting cold, so I offered to heat it up in our microwave.

All I need is a toilet and shower, and I could have been living here! Oh well, it was great to be back, but 'we're off to UMASS Boston for Day 3 of the tour... Bye NY!

Go Red Sox! (Burn!)

I'm am a bit behind on my previous visits, but I promise they will be up tonight!

Here is an updated schedule for the tour including my previous visits (subject to change):

I'll be writing a lengthier update by tonight, but wanted to at least post some pictures. It was a real blast as you can see from the pictures below.

We arrived at 845AM and parked at the West corner of the Student Center.

Things were a bit slow in the morning (students still waking up), but once we had the music blasting from Rock Band, and the common hour came into play(no classes during this time), things were rolling smoothly!

Common hour  

+ crowds

= happy students! who win prizes like XBOX 360 games!

And we're off...

I feel like I'm a school bus driver. "Hop on aboard if you dare, ye rascals!"

The first day is when you usually run into most issues.

I decided to test the equipment before heading to Brooklyn. One "minor"problem. The generator wouldn't turn over. Hmm...

The generator switch (well hidden)

At this point I was a bit concerned. Having a DDR without any of the "Digital" aspect would be pretty lame. I called the folks back at HQ to help me out. 2 common causes:

1. Attempting to start the generator while the engine is running (not in my case)
2. Low Fuel.

Ahhh!! I had about 1/8 tank of fuel. So I decided to fill up en route...

Then this happened... Remember how I mentioned that the first day is when you usually run into issues? well... Maybe someday I'll go into details, but for now, let's not talk about it...

Poor DDR :(

Pretty expensive tank of gasoline...

I finally arrived at the designated parking spot around 12:45PM. The generator issue was resolved - stupid empty gas tank...

The equipment was ready and secured. However, after getting the generator started, none of the equipment would turn on! Another call to HQ. Well, apparently there is a huge plug on the inside of an exterior panel that needed to be plugged in... right....

Awesome! The XBOX and TVs turn on, but none of the cameras or phones powered on... All the batteries neither installed nor charged, so that took an extra 15 minutes finding the boxes for each device.

Oh yeah, I kinda need ink cartridges for the printers...

<sarcasm> yay </sarcasm>

But now we have an awesome setup! Denon Receiver, Samsung LCD TV and XBOX 360!

Apparently there were elementary and middle schools nearby, so the typical age range of our crowd spanned between 10-23.

Look both ways before crossing the street! well, this was a one way street, so i guess that rule doesn't apply.
 

  While Jeff and John were setting up the Cash Cube tent and Rock Band...

A huge crowd started to form!

Then we let them loose and it was pure madness until we ended at 5:45PM!

Rock Band was definitely the most popular piece of technology today! Everyone was pretty good about finding a group of 4 and alternating, so it was pretty self-sustaining with minimal supervision. Always a plus!

The Cash Cube was also a hit! But it got a little messy after a while. If you scored big and found the "special" bills, you'd win prizes such as:

• Zune points to redeem online for songs,
• Keychains
• Stickers
• or even the Microsoft Life Cam VX-3000!

There was always some traffic in the tour bus as well...

Some other pictures and videos...

  Great day for Italian Icee!!!

Ok, so i took a quick Rock Band break on the drums...

Group photo

It was a pretty long day, but the first day proved to be pretty successful. I was starting to lose my voice at the end of the event, but at least I was having fun doing it!

What really made my day is a complement from a passerby who happened to be a Google employee. :)

Off to Hoftra University tomorrow! I plan to go into a bit more detail regarding the actual technology on the tour. Stay tuned!

The essentials:

  Everyone needs a fridge and microwave in their dorm room. mmm.. boiled water and ramen...

  A "not-so" comfy bed with an air-conditioner right above

  Couch! Where you can sit down to play video games, or eat

All that's missing is a toilet and a shower...

And please be considerate...

Ok, so I have a few more pictures from the pickup around 12:38AM. I almost felt like I was waiting for arrival of a new Ferrari, but it just wasn't quite the same.

Well thanks to Anthony from Rusty's Towing Service, it arrived safely. Apparently there was a 3 hour backup around Philly that caused the delay. Poor guy, he was planning to make the trip back to Ohio that same night! Doesn't that break some DOT regulations? I offered the guy Starbucks and/or Diner food yet he declined! Oh well. What a trooper.

Here are some picture of the arrival:

Below are videos of the truck being unloaded and a short tour in the dark. At the time, it was pretty exciting.

Now the DDR is on its own 4 wheels ready for the long journey ahead.

License plate is somewhat funny:

What does it look like inside?

Well, you'll have to find out tomorrow! Off to CUNY Brooklyn!

Anthony drove this monstrous thing from Ohio, got stuck in traffic, and arrived at the (wrong) hotel at 12:03am. Poor guy... It finally arrived at the correct location at 12:38am. I took a couple of pictures, but here's a teaser for now. It's ready to roll for the first visit tomorrow at Brooklyn College! w00t!

Here is the schedule for the tour (subject to change):

See the schedule on Maps.Live.com

I even started to create an interactive pushpin map with Virtual Earth via maps.live.com.

Take a peek at http://maps.live.com/?mapurl